“People say, ‘You should sing like you’ and at this point I’m happy saying I sing like myself,” says EhsonRad, lead singer of Devil Met Contention.
The Milwaukee four-piece celebrates the release of their new EP, American Times, February 26th at Hotel Foster.
Rad was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico and has lived in Texas, Michigan and now Milwaukee. The musical heritage of those places and his transient upbringing inform songs like “Snakeskin Blues.”
“I lost my heart in Santa Fe/The Midwest got the best of me/They got my soul in some East Coast bay/Pack my home, be on my way,” Rad howls out.
Rad and band spoke with Trapper Schoepp about the influence of the late Martin Jack Rosenblum, finding a voice and their southern gothic sound.
On “Blood Boil Slow,” Rad says he utilizes elements of voodoo and chanting to ward off “problems, enemies or whatever is plaguing you.”
Rad, who initially used Devil Met Contention as his songwriting moniker, has developed a full band to execute his dark, menacing ballads.
“It’s like the difference between coming to where a campfire was and you can see that there was smoke there. You turn around a second, come back and the whole thing has totally blown up into to a fire,” drummer Nez says of Devil Met Contention’s musical evolution. “We’re helping him burn the fire a little stronger, deeper and hotter.”
Devil Met Contention performed the following off American Times:
1. “Blood Boil Slow”
2. “Snakeskin Blues”
3. “Silver Dagger”
For more information visit: facebook.com/devilmetcontention
