. 10 Questions with Eric of Damezumari 1. How did Damezumari begin? Who are the members, and what role does each play? I had songs. I was in Norman. Doug was in Springfield. Doug helped me play them. I was gonna' use the recordings to find someone closer to play with. Or just make cool music for no reason. Either way. Then we stopped playing for a while. Then Doug moved to Tulsa, so he was closer. Then we started playing again. Then Doug and Daniel started playing together. Then Daniel asked if we needed a bassist. We said yes. Doug plays drums. Daniel plays bass. I play guitar and sing. I also take care of shows and shirts and stuff. 2. What does the name mean, and how do you think it's significant for your music? Damezumari is a term from the board game Go, called Igo in Japan, Wei Qui in China, and Baduk in Korea. It refers to a situation where a stone or group of stones which you have played is in a difficult position that is nearly impossible to salvage. It is usually translated as "shortage of liberties," which by means of pun can be interpreted in the obvious political context. But it also can be seen as "between a rock and a hard place" or "stuck in a rut that you can't get out of," both of which have the additional connotations that 1) you have put yourself in that position and that 2) the actions of your opponent have helped that along. To me, damezumari is a metaphor for the modern condition, the state of the individual in American society or broader capitalist society in that we as humans are subjected to a system that inhibits our freedom through ideological hegemony, but that we are also complicit in that system. We are trapped in our positions by numerous forces, yet we have the agency and ability to extricate ourselves, yet we do nothing about it. So we're fundamentally in damezumari. This situation plays itself out in many aspects in life and can be seen in countless situations. So, all the songs I write are about some situation of damezumari, all our artwork depicts some situation of damezumari, etc. 3. How would you describe your music? I hate describing music. But realistically, it sounds like bad imitations of all the bands we like. 4. What is the songwriting process like? Generally speaking, I write a song. I bring it up to Tulsa and show it Doug and Daniel. In the process of jamming on the different parts, certain changes will be made here and there. The end result is never exactly what was originally in my head, nor do I want it to be that. It is first and foremost the product of all three of us. I start working on the lyrics usually about a week before we record, but don't finish them until I am in the booth. If we perform a song live we haven't recorded, I just improvise the words. It usually sounds like crap. Also, during recording I write second guitar parts (I mean during literally: it's often while listening to the playback of a track). We improvise a lot in practice, and sometimes that produces changes in established songs or ideas for new songs. 5. You recently went on tour. How did that go? Um, ok. It was a lot fun. We went from Norman to New York and back. So that kind of took a while. And a lot of gas. We never really played for a lot of people. But you never do on your first tour. Our best shows were in Missouri, and the OKC show we played a couple days after being back. We didn't do that bad in terms of losing money either, which was nice seeing as that only grows on proverbial trees. 6. What can be done to improve the local music scene? Outlaw all fashion. Forbid girls jeans, make up, belt buckles, band T-shirts, any clothing or accessories without a utilitarian purpose. Require every person to learn to play a musical instrument. Place a price cap on admission to shows (let's say $7 to be generous). Limit all sets by all bands to 25 minutes or less. Decide a show's band order by random methods. Run all venues by co-op. Create one webpage for all 'scene' information, discussion, and organization. Create an info line you can call to get information about shows. Have a zine that explicitly covers the local scene. Focus on locality. Have potlucks. Somebody needs to get a house with a basement to do shows in (consistently). Actually support record stores that open here, and book stores, and political groups (food not bombs, food for thought, critical mass). Go to shows at venues even when you don't know who's playing. Encourage people to stop being so cliquish. Stop encouraging, enabling, or even tolerating hard drug use. There's other things, but all this is obviously not got happen, right? Or maybe we could try? Oh wait, people have already been trying for as long as I have been around. It's just that everyone else keeps pissing on the ones with passion. 7. Besides actually making music, what do you think is (or should be) the most important function of a band, and why? Art and community. No band creates a community by itself. But they give artistic voice to the concerns and values of that community. Even if that voice simply glorifies fashion, it is still representing the community. A band's responsibility is to create art, meaning an artistic representation of what that band values. If you're gonna' sing, sing about something. 8. What lineup, in your opinion, would make the perfect concert (may include any artists past or present, living or dead, but no more than five)? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh geeze. Ummmmmmmm... Jawbreaker, Sunny Day Real Estate, Do Make Say Think, Off Minor, Scales of Motion ;) 9. What comes next for Damezumari? Um, hell if I know. The songs are gonna' get weirder. And we really want a second guitarist. But Kevin won't do it. You should make him. 10. Any closing remarks? Will And Grace is a very funny show.