DEATH: Media Meditation #1

October 7th at Higher Ground, DEATH will be making its first debut performance in VERMONT.

They came on Rocket Shop, The Radiator's local music hour that I host, to talk about their travels around the world.

DEATH @ Higher Ground 10/7/10 : 30sec spot from Howlermano on Vimeo.

Before DEATH came into the studio I wasn't completely sure of their background. I knew they were a rock and roll band originally from Detroit, Michigan and had later moved to Burlington, VT but I didn't know that they had so many connections that I ended remembering them once we started talking.

Photo taken by: Juliette Decree of the Big Heavy Crew

I started asking them a couple questions before the interview because one of my coworkers was going to do the actual interview on air. They formed DEATH in 1974 the members were David, Bobby and Dennis Hackney. The three Hackney boys started their hard rock and roll band in Detroit to an unexpected audience. They became really popular on the underground circuit which spread to the production labels. One of the big labels sought them out and offered them to sign, but they would have to change their name from DEATH to something a little less aggressive. David, the leader of DEATH and the oldest of the three brothers immediately declined.

Back of 1974 album by DEATH

The explanation for them turning down the major label was that their name was their soul. If they changed their name then they would've lost what they stood for. At that time society was very afraid of the word 'death', the major labels were afraid to put such a controversial word as one of their representing bands. These three brothers didn't back down and continued their push on through the music industry as a rock and roll soul pushing band in

the mid 70's.

As we went on in the interview; DEATH explained how their brother David passed away in the early 80's which completely put a stop to DEATH's live shows. The spirit and leader that David held in the group was so strong that they found it very hard to play or listen to any of DEATH's music.

The two remaining brothers went on to play with many different types of musicians and genres. Bobby, the new member, resurfaced DEATH for the love of David. He held the spirit and sound of David that they could not deny. The return of DEATH really shook all of its fans from all over the world. They have lived in Vermont now for 20 years and will be playing their first show in Vermont next Thursday October 7th at Higher Ground.

This interview was one of the most powerful for me because of their story of playing music over the last 40 years. Things have changed dramatically, when they were first starting out the name DEATH wasn't accepted nowadays nobody will even flinch at that type of name. Just like television ads nowadays, 90 percent of what is on television today probably wouldn't have been accepted 40 years ago.

Photo taken by: Juliette Decree of Big Heavy Crew