EDSEL DOPE
Dope vocalist
www.dopearmy.com

Live Dope pics

(Summer 2005) by George Dionne

New York industrial metal group Dope is all about survival. The group formed in 1997 and was singed to Flip Records shortly thereafter. Label downsizing and corporate number crunching left Dope caught in the middle. Eventually leaving them with no label and no tour support. Unlike other bands that would pack it in and call it a day, Dope decided to move ahead on their own. Most bands claim they tour non-stop, but Dope hasn't left the road in years. While on the road they managed to drop Group Therapy in 2003. With their fans in mind, not only did Dope include 13 songs, but they also had a bonus disc of videos for every song on the record.

Now it's 2005 and the long-awaited follow-up to Group Therapy has arrived, American Apathy (read CD review). Once again living up to their fan-friendly reputation, Dope delivers 18 new songs plus 3 remixed bonus tracks. If that's not enough, the Limited Edition version comes with a bonus 6 song CD and DVD. Dope is currently on tour with longtime friends Mushroomhead. Before their show in New Hampshire, frontman Edsel Dope took the time to speak with us. This marks the second time that Edsel has spoken with us (read 2004 interview).

Rock Is Life would like to thank Matt from the Official Dope Message Boards for submitting his question (Matt drop me an e-mail through the contact form).

RIL: If I knew absolutely nothing about Dope how would you describe them to me?
ED: Oh boy (sigh) that’s a tough one man. I think you should answer that one. Especially on this record; I think it’s loud, I think it’s dirty, its heavy and a little bit political…and did I mention the word angry, that’s got to be in there somewhere.

RIL: If you didn’t, I probably would have thrown it in for you…
ED: However on stage, even though it process all those elements, our live show which has pretty much kept the band alive as long as we have been around, is extremely energetic and full of ( I really don’t want to use this word but) fun. People that come see this band aren’t just five hundred guys, there’s a lot of girls and a lot of people just there to sit back at the bar and have a good time. It’s very reminiscent to me of an old Motley Crue show, Van Halen, or something where there is just an electricity in the room; a fun, exciting, entertaining evening…and that’s what we always go for. A lot of what we try to capture on this record…I mean there’s some angry stuff, always a sexual side to this band that we try to exploit to keep people understanding that we have those roots and the excessiveness of what the 80’s were. That’s what inspired us at a very young age wanting to do this. You know, Motley Crue, Kiss, Guns and Roses, and that kind of stuff.

RIL: Last time we talked was last fall (2004) and we discussed that American Apathy was going to be released in February of 2005. What caused the delay?
ED: Well, originally I think that the goal of this record wasn’t to be an entire album. There were a lot of talks in the beginning of us just delivering six or seven brand new cuts and they were just going to take a couple tracks from each record and do a remix; almost put out like a celebration of Dope. Not necessarily a greatest hits, but something sort of like that. As we were on tour, writing more music, and having talks with the people we were in business with, the idea became that this was just going to be a new record. We delivered the final American Apathy record with all those bonus tracks I spoke of and their ended up being extra bonuses added at Best Buy. I know if you buy the limited edition at Best Buy there’s twenty four songs I think, and a DVD. So we were just able to continue to dilute the content with so much stuff. So that’s what the delay was.

RIL: You were previewing the tracks from American Apathy during last year’s tour, what songs were received extremely well?
ED: We were only playing two of them and they both went over great; a song called “Survive” and a song called “No Way Out”. I think those are the only two that we playing on this tour. There were three of four of them, but we were not able to play as much of the album as we like because we’re doing this thing with Mushroomhead; which is awesome. We love those guys, were getting along great. The tours have been fantastic, but we are only up there for forty five minutes a night and we have four albums worth of material. Even though we are trying to focus on playing the new stuff, people would be highly disappointed to go see Dope and not hear some of those great songs from all of the albums. Mushroomhead close the show every night. They do about an hour and fifteen minutes. You know in every way, even if you talk to them, it feels like a co-headline situation. Mushroomhead’s production is just a little bigger than ours so it just really works out well. There are no egos on this tour; we’re just all a bunch of bros out there doing our thing getting along great.

RIL: Anybody try hitting on the girl from Nocturne yet?
ED: She hits on everybody…you don’t even have to work. She’s throwing it out there

RIL: Did you preview any of the new tracks and have to throw them out?
ED: No, that didn’t happen. I think that was specifically because the goal of this new album was to make a record where just about every song on it was written from the perspective of a song we know will work live. The last couple of records that we made, especially the most recent one Group Therapy, was really a personal choice on the bands behalf to go out and try top the Dope sound. The band had a much wider ability with our sound and that was great for us when we put out a record. We’re really proud of it, and when we got out on tour, there would be only a few songs that we really felt worked live because of the kind of show that we like to put on. So when we went in the studio to make this one it was the exact opposite. Let’s get back to what Dope started out as, let’s get back to our dirty gutter roots. Let’s just make a record where people that go see us live, and buy this new CD, get in there car in the packing lot, put it in, and go away with the band they just saw. This is the same sound, same record, this record is really full of songs that just have those grooves; they have that live energy that Dope has on stage.

RIL: Are you planning on releasing any of the new tracks to radio? ”Always” and “Dreams” seem to be radio friendly.
ED: Yeah, “Always” went to radio already. It was number one on rock radio its first week; like six or eight weeks ago now. Its just been steadily doing its thing. A lot of stations are playing it and that’s great for us. We didn’t really expect much of a radio campaign. The song that we’re really embracing that we made a video for is “Survive”. We still feel that there’s a side of the band that people have responded to the most, but if a song like “Always” can get out there and maybe bring some more people to us, that’s great. I think the song is awesome. I love the way that it came out, it definitely has a little more of that melodic twist to it; as opposed to the aggressiveness of the rest of the record, even though the guitar riff is pretty aggressive.

RIL: Did all the members of the band have a hand in writing the new album?
ED: I write the majority of them. Me and my guitar player have a good working relationship, he wrote a bunch of this record with me. My drummer just kinda fills in the gaps. I think a lot of drummers do, and in my opinion, I think drummers really do their job best. There’s nothing worse than a guy playing drums that tells you what to sing. He’s great with bringing his flavor. We got a new bass player about half way through the record so he contributed very minimally. We pretty much had all the ideas set before he was brought in.

RIL: The name of your tour this year is the “Music for Freedom” tour and you’re offering military personnel free admission. Do you have friends or family that are serving?
ED: No. Mushroomhead and Dope both have a pretty good military following. I think it has to do with the aggressive music. These people that are sent over to Iraq or training for war, whenever they throw this stuff in there headphones, it really makes them feel like there not alone. I can’t tell ya how many e-mails we have gotten and letters from soldiers over there that have used “Die motherfucker Die” in their CD players and kept it on repeat. They’re waiting for some shit to go down. Every time there’s been some kind of function put together for bands to go over to Iraq to perform, we have always thrown our name in the hat. Nobody ever calls us back because were Dope, and because the United States military isn’t going to support Dope going to play to their troops. So we decided to try and put something together on our own to give something back since going through the proper channels was not going to work. We want to let them know that there important to us.

RIL: What do you think of the US involvement in Iraq?
ED: Well I think our president is an idiot and I think that he’s a puppet. I think most people will agree with that. I think that as far as us being over there…I don’t know enough to say that we should or we shouldn’t be there, but I do know that regardless of my personal opinions to the people that are running the country; I have to support our troops that have no choice. The military is set up in such a way that you don’t question your orders; you just do as your told and that part of the game that never going to change. Saying all that, I’m very supportive of our troops. I’m not against or for the war, I’m just one of those people that just look at it and say, ‘I guess there’s nothing I can really do about it’. I guess all I can do is look at those people in camo and go ‘best of luck, be safe’.

RIL: Last year you toured with Motorgrater and Twisted Method, what the hell did you do to them that they both broke up?
ED: (laughs) Well, with Twisted Method I’ll take a small hand in that one because I got along so tremendously well with those kids and the singer was just such a super talent. I started working on another band with him while we were on the road with this vision that I had, and they sort of had, and we were in a position to manipulate the talent and exploit the talent in that band outside of the metal genre. So Twisted Method has spawned into this other band called Makeshift Romeo. Their record is almost finished. I’m producing it, and we’re hoping to put it out the begining of next year. So that’s the scoop.

Now, grater…I think Motorgrater was broken up before that tour even started, to be perfectly honest with you. Those guys showed up for the tour with no makeup...just not into it at all. They ended up doing half the tour. They claimed from the beginning that this was the last Motorgreater tour forever, so I don’t even know why they did the tour. I don’t even think they know why. That was the scoop with them. Twisted Method I think is going to go on to do some great things. I think people need to keep there eyes open and they’ll see that kid around for awhile.

RIL: Dope released an exclusive DVD of music videos that was only available on the tour dates and today I noticed from your online shop as well. Are there any plans for a wider release or to make it available on the current tour?
ED: Only if we do a real DVD, that DVD is all the videos the band has made over the years, and we’ve made a shit load of them. They were only available before on a MPEG version which you could watch on your computer and everybody kept asking us when we could put them on a DVD. We just did a really small limited edition run for the super fans out there that wanted to have those to watch on their TV. An actual DVD for mass distribution is in the works pretty soon, but its going to focus a lot less on the videos and focus more on the lifestyles and behind the scenes; much like the Mushroomhead one that they just put out, which is amazing…it’s so entertaining. Obviously being out there with those guys, we saw a lot of it while they were editing it. You know, we’re in a lot of it. That’s what I want to do…something that’s more about the lifestyle and less about…here’s our videos.

RIL: You have a monthly column for Metal Edge Magazine called "The Straight Dope” where you answer reader’s questions. I have two questions related to this. First question, don’t you think that it’s strange that people ask your advice on such subjects as life, relationships, and school rather than music?
ED: No, and the reason I say that is…the way this thing got started was the editor for Metal Edge is an old friend of mine, I’ve known him for years. He’s just an awesome dude. We were out to dinner just talking about touring because I spent so much time on the road, and I was just telling him how parents kinda suck these days. You know how a lot of kids are just on there own. I told him it’s really weird, I sit outside the bus and hang out with these kids and sign autographs and shit and I find myself being a guidance counselor because these kids are not asking me about music generally. It’s like, ‘and then my mom said if I don’t stop dating this girl she’s going to throw me out of the house’.

I wasn’t talking with any concept or idea whatsoever and all of a sudden I go, ‘I’m like dear Abby’. Why don’t I do one of these for the magazine? He said you would be perfect for this. You’ve been around for along time, kids know you, you moved out of your house when you were really young, and everybody knows you’re a do it yourself kinda guy. Your opinion seems like it could help some people, as long as you’re honest and it could also be humorous and so fourth. We started getting questions and of course a lot of the questions were, ‘how do I get my band signed’ generally. I try not to use those questions because I think they’re a little less interesting. At the end of the day its been kind of fun man because it does allow me to give a perspective that seems to be working. I get more and more questions from kids talking to me about it on the street; it’s good and I’ll do it till it gets boring.

RIL: Do you think people still read print magazines when you can get your news around the clock online?
ED: That’s a different one; I think that obviously people are more apt to go to the more quicker online reality, just like people don’t buy records anymore because they can just go listen to them on line, iTunes, or whatever it is. At the same time, I still think there’s something to be said about the people that are real diehard fans that want something physical in there hands. I’m all about the internet, you know click on and get the information that I want, but I’m also the guy that grew up knowing that that new Motley Crue spread came out from Hit Parader magazine. So saying all that, that’s my opinion on that one. I think your probably right in that magazines are probably going to be a thing of the past eventually. I still think that as long as there is a checkout line at the grocery store, were they put the stupid Enquirer, there will be magazines for different things that people find interest in, that’s going to be bought.

RIL: I understand what you’re saying, but of course I can’t agree with you, as I am an online source.
ED: Well I mean once again, B. Dalton’s ain’t closing down tomorrow, know what I mean? Maybe five years from now, but then again Tower records will probably close down too. Ya know, I think it’s all just a matter of time to see what happens, but like I said man, it was kind of a joke when the Metal Edge column started, as far as the concept of it. Once we started getting the questions and started realizing that people were asking me stuff that was legitimate…it was great. There was one question that really sticks out of my head and I got so many comments about it from people because people didn’t expect me to answer it the way I did. It was my views on drugs. But that’s the way I certainly feel. There was another one that wrote me about how he really wants to get out of the small town that he lives in and try to make it in music.

I told him it’s real simple, for the next year of your life don’t have a life. Go to work, work as much as you can, work two jobs, stay with your friends stay with your parents and save as much as you can. If you do simple math and your able to save one hundred and fifty bucks a week over fifty weeks, you know your going to have seventy five hundred dollars in your pocket, cash money. You take seventy five hundred dollars and move anywhere you want in this country, and you can pay your rent for the first three months that your there until you find a job and get your shit together. Now you’re in a new place where you can try and find new people to play music with. It’s really not that hard it’s just a matter of laying it out to people in such a way that makes them go ‘duh’. So many people are extremely impatient and they want everything now, it doesn’t work like that.

But yeah, the drug question I was very proud of. I knew when I was answering it that people were going to be like, ‘wait a minute, I thought this guy was some irresponsible prick’. I didn’t lay my hands on drugs for a really long time, or alcohol for that matter cause I know what it does to people, especially if you haven’t got your character traits down yet and you don’t have your work ethic and your goals in place. You start fooling around with that shit man, you’re just going to be confused and not know what you want to do. Before you know it, you’re going to be working at a job you don’t want to be working at and have a girlfriend that’s probably knocked up, and its just not fucking necessary.

RIL: What’s the biggest rumor you’ve herd about Dope or yourself?
ED: The biggest rumor…I don’t know, would this be a true one or untrue one?

RIL: This would be an untrue one, like when Motley Crew came out; everyone said they were Satan worshipers because they posed around an anarchy symbol.
ED: Right…I mean obviously when we first came out [people thought] that we were all drug addicts and I was junkie. People were always looking at my arms thinking that I had tattoos to cover up my track marks and stuff like that…which was a joke because I never have gone down that road man. For me I’ll party here and there, but I’ve never wanted to go that far. I don’t need to completely lose my mind. I like to wake up tomorrow and know who I am.

Other than that, there hasn’t been a lot rumors. Some people make a big deal about my dreadlocks, or it’s either ‘that singer guy is a big asshole’. These are people who have never met me, but knew somebody that thinks I’m a dick; or I said something that got taken out of context, or some former member of my band went around and bitched and moaned how they were fired for being a fucking asshole or something. I’m the biggest dick in the world. I have to wear that as my reputation. Edsel Dope is one of the biggest assholes in rock and roll. I don’t really mind because it just keeps people away from me that shouldn’t be around me anyway.

RIL: Don’t you think even publicity like that is good for you because it gets people to talk about you?
ED: Well that’s my thing; I’d rather just have you hate me than ignore me. At least your paying attention, and that’s always good, but then again I just think its humorous. I’ve heard it so many times, and I’ve herd stories that are just completely made up about things that I’ve done to make people upset. It just like they’re just grasping for straws. I like to look at it as a whole; it’s the same shit that Axl Rose dealt with before he became a nut. It’s the same shit with Fred Durst. You know, it doesn’t matter what Fred Durst ever does, people are going to just think that guy is a dick. Fred is a super talented dude who did a lot of amazing things for music; signed a lot of good bands and his band. Whether people want to still embrace it or not, he was a huge part of the pop culture for several years. But so yeah, that’s me Edsel Dope, the big asshole (laughs).

RIL: What’s the stupidest question a reporter has ever asked you?
ED: Is Dope my real last name, and believe me, it hasn’t just happened once, its happened several times. Yeah, Dope your real last name, and I was born with my knuckles tattooed! And Kiss was born with the makeup.

RIL: Yeah, I’m sure the Ramones got that question a lot too.
ED: Exactly. Its like, ‘God help us’.

RIL: Have you ever called a reporter and used your real name instead of the Dope name by mistake?
ED: They wouldn’t know who the fuck I was. Get off the phone; I’m waiting for that Dope guy to call (laughs).

RIL: If you could go back in time and change any decision that you made that might have hurt the band what would that decision have been?
ED: Wow. Fortunately I don’t really have that, because I don’t believe that I made decisions that have really hurt the band. I’m really happy where the band is. In the course of my career I’ve sold a half million records. We’ve gone to Japan, we’ve gone to Europe on this album, and were going back to Japan on Halloween. Saying all that, I really can’t be too disappointed. On the other hand, I will say that this band should have gained more success than we have, but I think a lot of those reasons are not contributed to the decisions that the band made, its more contributed to the political situation that we are in which is beyond our control. I think the biggest and most negative decision affecting us early on is when we had two record labels. We had Flipp Records which was an independent label that was started by a very wealthy and motivated dude that signed Limp Bizkit and ended up signing Staind and Cold.

Right about the time Dope was entering the studio to do there second album, the person that was the owner and controlling entity at Flipp Records went to become the president of Geffen Records. When that happened, Flipp Records basically got dissolved. Limp Bizkit got swallowed up onto Interscope; Staind got swallowed up onto Elecktra. Mind you, both of these bands were platinum at the time. Cold got dropped from A&M, but then signed to Geffen. Dope kinda became the sacrificial lamb because we hadn’t really broken yet. There was a good awareness and good anticipation of the record, but Epic was sitting there looking at Dope going, ‘every dollar that we make on this band we have to slice fifty cents off of it and give it to Flipp, but Flipp’s not giving anything to us’. ‘There’s no support from Flipp, and there’s no label anymore’. ‘Now the owner or president of Flipp is the president of Geffen, so we’re competing against each other’. We just stayed in the middle of this mess going, ‘this is fucking bad’.

When the record came out and it didn’t get the support it was supposed to get; and when it didn’t fly off the shelves like the hottest new thing from Epic, we just knew this isn’t something we are going to continue to fund on our own. That was a crucial time for us because this was a band that did about twenty tours through the course of our first album, with every act you could think of, and we did one tour on the second album were we got our tour support pulled and we were sitting there in our room looking at each other going, ‘what the fuck do we do’. We eventually worked through it; toured on our own, made a new record, put that record out on our own label, and here we are two years from that with a new record and label with a better tour. We continue to do what we do, but the crucial time for this band was that second record, and the second record push which we just didn’t get because of the politics.

Unfortunately we had no control over that, and there’s no way I could go back and make a decision that would change that, except for signing to a different record company in the beginning…but how the hell would you ever know? The great thing now for us with Artemis Records is I made my deal with Danny Goldberg, which is an incredible figure throughout the business. He runs several record companies, and he’s been around forever. Danny decided to leave Artemis Records about the time that my record was being readied to hand in, so we kinda went through a similar political situation over the last six months. I just throw my hands up in the air and go ‘whatever’. I’m just going to keep playing rock and roll and do my tours. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We just push forward.

RIL: I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I had the first Dope album and didn’t like it; but I got the latest album, and you guys have come a long way. Its defiantly more mature; the same themes and ideas as the first are there, but I think that you’ve just found yourselves and are becoming a better band.
ED: Sure that first record was kind of a demo man. I did it in my bedroom. I didn’t know how to produce a fucking toaster waffle much less a record at that time. So now I’ve made four records and I’ve done a lot of other things that sonically sound good. Since you’re a rock guy that does it all, I would strongly recommend you check out our last two records, especially the last one, Group Therapy. I think you’ll be extremely surprised with how wide that record goes. It doesn’t even sound like the old band.

RIL: I’ve herd good things about that one.
ED: Yeah, check it out. There are some songs on there that will really surprise you. There’s a song called “Sing” on there and you could put that on the radio tomorrow and you would have no idea that it was Dope. The goal with that record was to really show ourselves and show other people that we could think outside the box. But after accomplishing that and feeling good about it, we wanted to kind of revisit that feeling on the first record; he live aspect of what we do, but do it better than we ever have. I thank you for acknowledging that we have done that because that was the goal.

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