JJ Peters - Deez Nuts (22/04/2013)
When I asked frontman of Australian hardcore-rap outfit Deez Nuts, JJ Peters, whether he was going to focus on his major breakout metalcore band I Killed the Prom Queen, his answer was surprising. The band had recently gotten back together, with guitarist Jona Weinhofen returning back to the band after leaving Bring Me The Horizon on bad terms.
"I actually left Prom Queen. There hasn’t been a press release yet, It was supposed to go up last night. But I left the band a couple of weeks ago. It’s not a big deal; I left on good terms with everyone. It was just a matter of that I didn’t have time to balance both things (with Deez Nuts). Prom Queen went on a pretty long time of not playing when Jona was in Bring Me and in that time Deez Nuts became my full time job. Basically that’s what I put all my energy into. So when Prom Queen announced that they would be back as a full time band also, I realised I wouldn’t be able to balance two full time bands you know what I mean? It had to be one or the other and I had been in Deez Nuts for the last six years and I wanna keep doing that. We just did a European run with Ghost Inside and Stray from the Path and that was an awesome tour and we won’t be back until festival season. Festival season is always good for us, every time we get back we have fun and get put on bigger stages and play bigger sets. So this year is gonna be exciting for us".
In-between a solid stint of touring Deez Nuts recorded their latest album Bout It, which JJ approached this album in a new light.
"We recorded this album completely differently. In the past when we wrote the last E.P and two albums I completely recorded and wrote everything myself in a room for a week or two. I sat down in a studio for two or so weeks and banged out the drums and the guitar and the bass and the vocals so it was a very uh… stressful process. But this time around we had a solidified line-up and we wrote everything together in a much more organic fashion. I went to Cape Cod which is just outside of Boston and recorded with the band there. So the process was a lot more relaxed for me ‘cause we could actually bounce ideas off other people and utilise their musicianship instead of just me rather than just me sitting in a room busting out guitar riffs. This time around I think it was a more complete process. The result has been a much better album. We still banged it out pretty quick. We spent two weeks at Drop Dead in their studio there writing, our bass player wasn’t there. Then we went on the European tour and got back into it just before we were going to Boston to record. We spent about four days in the studio just writing before starting to record the album and adding a few things here and there and making a full sort of… finished album".
Deez Nuts have always had a blend of serious songs and songs with a catchy “party vibe”, and when asked if that would continue into this album or whether it had a more serious flavour, JJ was very honest in his response.
"Because we aren’t really a mosh band, we have a lot of emphasis on sing alongs. That’s how we do crowd participation and that’s how we kinda, engage the show. When I’m writing songs I always mix them around big sing-alongs and make it easier for the crowd to participate in that sense. Whether it be big festivals or small rooms I’d like to create that chant vibe with the song. We always tried to balance it, well I always tried to balance the party and brotherhood anthems and whatnot and get a few things that are on my chest off my chest with more serious songs. I think that’s my sort of case with this album as well. We let it out with Band of Brothers which is very much a brotherhood anthem. The second thing we released was Shot After Shot which is definitely the party song of the album. I think there is a lot of diversity on there, once you hear the whole thing you’ll know what I’m talking about. There’s a couple of more serious songs. I am not trying to tackle any super serious issues but there are things that grind my gears sometimes and I want to address them with music".
And after playing drums in I Killed the Prom Queen and being the frontman of Deez Nuts, JJ said that he didn’t have a preference between the two:
"They are completely different worlds you know. I wouldn’t say I have a preference between one or the other but I am blessed to be in a position where I was playing in the background from the drumming angle and then experience being at the front and working the crowd and all that... You really get both ends of the scale, but they are equally cool in their own right".
Ryan Hyde
@RyanHyde93
"I actually left Prom Queen. There hasn’t been a press release yet, It was supposed to go up last night. But I left the band a couple of weeks ago. It’s not a big deal; I left on good terms with everyone. It was just a matter of that I didn’t have time to balance both things (with Deez Nuts). Prom Queen went on a pretty long time of not playing when Jona was in Bring Me and in that time Deez Nuts became my full time job. Basically that’s what I put all my energy into. So when Prom Queen announced that they would be back as a full time band also, I realised I wouldn’t be able to balance two full time bands you know what I mean? It had to be one or the other and I had been in Deez Nuts for the last six years and I wanna keep doing that. We just did a European run with Ghost Inside and Stray from the Path and that was an awesome tour and we won’t be back until festival season. Festival season is always good for us, every time we get back we have fun and get put on bigger stages and play bigger sets. So this year is gonna be exciting for us".
In-between a solid stint of touring Deez Nuts recorded their latest album Bout It, which JJ approached this album in a new light.
"We recorded this album completely differently. In the past when we wrote the last E.P and two albums I completely recorded and wrote everything myself in a room for a week or two. I sat down in a studio for two or so weeks and banged out the drums and the guitar and the bass and the vocals so it was a very uh… stressful process. But this time around we had a solidified line-up and we wrote everything together in a much more organic fashion. I went to Cape Cod which is just outside of Boston and recorded with the band there. So the process was a lot more relaxed for me ‘cause we could actually bounce ideas off other people and utilise their musicianship instead of just me rather than just me sitting in a room busting out guitar riffs. This time around I think it was a more complete process. The result has been a much better album. We still banged it out pretty quick. We spent two weeks at Drop Dead in their studio there writing, our bass player wasn’t there. Then we went on the European tour and got back into it just before we were going to Boston to record. We spent about four days in the studio just writing before starting to record the album and adding a few things here and there and making a full sort of… finished album".
Deez Nuts have always had a blend of serious songs and songs with a catchy “party vibe”, and when asked if that would continue into this album or whether it had a more serious flavour, JJ was very honest in his response.
"Because we aren’t really a mosh band, we have a lot of emphasis on sing alongs. That’s how we do crowd participation and that’s how we kinda, engage the show. When I’m writing songs I always mix them around big sing-alongs and make it easier for the crowd to participate in that sense. Whether it be big festivals or small rooms I’d like to create that chant vibe with the song. We always tried to balance it, well I always tried to balance the party and brotherhood anthems and whatnot and get a few things that are on my chest off my chest with more serious songs. I think that’s my sort of case with this album as well. We let it out with Band of Brothers which is very much a brotherhood anthem. The second thing we released was Shot After Shot which is definitely the party song of the album. I think there is a lot of diversity on there, once you hear the whole thing you’ll know what I’m talking about. There’s a couple of more serious songs. I am not trying to tackle any super serious issues but there are things that grind my gears sometimes and I want to address them with music".
And after playing drums in I Killed the Prom Queen and being the frontman of Deez Nuts, JJ said that he didn’t have a preference between the two:
"They are completely different worlds you know. I wouldn’t say I have a preference between one or the other but I am blessed to be in a position where I was playing in the background from the drumming angle and then experience being at the front and working the crowd and all that... You really get both ends of the scale, but they are equally cool in their own right".
Ryan Hyde
@RyanHyde93