The Diamond Dez Van Interview
"Where's Dez?", words that are guaranteed to be spoken by at least one Beer Pig every gig that has ever been. He is normally found chatting to a beautiful girl or buying a quick beer before playing a set but tonight we pinned him down in the back of the van for an exclusive interview. "Go on Dez", Ian shouts encouragingly as the interview begins. "So Dez", I ask, "Can you tell me what your musical influences are?" After a long pause and a typical Dezzy giggle he replies "Yes." We have a sarcastic sod on our hands here. Braced with the next question of what gear he uses he is slightly more articulate. "Well, I use a Fender Telecaster and a Vox..ish amp. I don't know what it ...it has Vox on it, who cares! Its an amp."
And what peddles do you use Dez? "Go on Dez," shouts Ian once again. Dez tells me that he uses Digitech for his distortion, an Ibinez Scream for his lead and an Ibinez Chorus and delay to create a fuller sound to his guitar. He chuckles as he tells me that he also uses a Crybaby Wah Wah. He admits that he is not technically minded with regards to his gear. He was happy with the demonstrations in the shop and bought it on the strength of how good it sounded. When asked about his musical influences he lights up. David Bowie makes him tick but why?
"He was so original. He was a pioneer. He was so unique in his style. There was nothing like him going on at the time. In 1972 he released Hunky Dory and in the same year he released Ziggy Stardust which were totally opposing styles. The following year ye released A Lad Insane and the following year he released Diamond Dogs; just a breathtaking time in songwriting. How one man could write so many albums in such a short space of time that are totally different to one another was pure genius."
Dez goes on to claim that, individually, Bowie is probably the artist who has influenced him the most.
He does, however, shine a light for a certain band from that era too. "I'm a little ashamed to admit in now, for what they produced in their later years, but I love the early Queen albums. At the time they weren't as popular as what they became but what they wrote at that time were far better than when they had there main success. People remember Bohemian Rhapsody but they were so much more than that."
Dez believes that songs such as Bicycle Race and certainly the album The News Of The World sparked the beginning of the end for Englands most unique rockers. His answers were suprising as we expected a passion for bands such as The Clash judging by his punk based past.
The Clash do rate highly. He discovered the Clash later on in his youth and preferred them and The Jam to The Sex Pistols. He considered them a much more superior band. He loved London calling for the unique mix of Reggae and Punk and believes that The Clash were instrumental in turning a lot of Punk fans onto reggae and ska styles. The van is about to approach the Pig Cave so we ask Dez one more question. "What do you think of The Beer Pigs?" He chuckles and says that playing in this band has allowed him to learn to tollerate people otherwise he may have murdered a few band members over the years. He is reminded that he is the most mild mannered member of the band and for him to feel like killing certain members is a trifle worrying. He laughs saying that he only felt like that cause they were wrong and he was right. "Noone ever falls out for long...as Queen would say we are friends till the end."
The van pulls up to the Pig Cave and a drunken Dez and interviewer fall out of the vehicle to put the gear away.