Q and A: David Davidson (Revocation) (2024)

By BRIAN GIFFIN

KNOWN for their high-speed death metal with sweeping arrangements and bristling guitar work, Revocation will be in Australia this week for shows with New York extreme pioneers Suffocation. Regular visitors to our shores,  Revocation were last here two years ago to cap off the Northern Territory’s Blacken Open Air festival, so where else to start on our interview with mainman David Davidson than to ask about playing a show at 2AM when the temperature is minus 3 Celsius?

Hot Metal: The last time you came to Australia, you played in the middle of the desert at about 2AM. Was that hard to play, because it was pretty cold!

David Davidson: “Yeah, it was fuckin’ freezing! You always think of Australia as being pretty hot, but in the Outback, it gets down pretty low, especially when the sun goes down. I remember I think I played with a hoodie on for most of the set. It was hard to get your hands warmed up, but it was a fun show!”

HM: You’re touring with Suffocation this time, and on your latest album Netherheaven.

DD: “It’s been out a couple of years but it’s new for Australia!”

HM: We haven’t seen much of that album, and it seems like Australia is always the last place to catch up but Revocation has been here quite often over the years.

DD: “We have played there a lot and we always love playing there.”

HM: Beyond this tour now, what happens with Revocation from this point?

DD: “We’ve just finished the drums for the new record. As soon as I get home, I’m going to be recording all the guitars and all the vocals for the next Revocation record, so that will take up a significant portion of my time over the summer. Then we’ll be pretty much laying low until the next record comes out, after this tour.”

HM: You’ll be in the studio, then, for the foreseeable future?

DD: “Yes, this Australian tour is the last extended tour we’ll be doing on the Netherheaven tour cycle. After this one’s done, it’s back into fully creative mode and pushing out the next one.”

HM: When it comes to the creative cycle, you are the principal songwriter for Revocation aren’t you?

DD: “Yeah I do most of the writing. For Netherheaven, I wrote everything, and on the new record that we’re working on now, I’ve written everything. Obviously it’s a collaborative process that we have. Our bassist Brett adds his own ideas and flavour and works with Ash, so I’ll have the framework and let them bring in their touches but as far as writing the lyrics and coming up with the riffs and song structures, I take on the lion’s share of that.”

HM: What about when it comes to recording, because you’re doing all the guitar parts, how many tracks do you need?

DD: “That depends on the part. If it’s just a verse riff or something like that, it will just be two tracks, left and right. But obviously there’s some sections that have a melody on them, and that melody might have a harmony, and sometimes I triple-track a harmony, so I would say anywhere for two and four guitars on a section, sometimes even five or six. But you also have to think about how it’s going to come across live, because it’s only me and one other guy playing in a live setting, so you have to think about ‘well, I can’t add 12 guitar tracks on every part, because it might sound cool on a record, but it probably won’t translate live’.”

HM: How much do the songs change between the studio and the live environment?

DD: “I think the thing we need to discuss is who’s going to do what part. The drums and bass is pretty much set in stone, so we just have to say, ‘OK, when there’s a guitar harmony you take the high part and I’ll take the low part’. So we just have to work that part out beforehand. Sometimes we’ll do intros or something like that. Sometimes something as simple as, instead of counting off on the hi-hats, the drummer does a drum fill into the part, so we have to cue up on that. Other times we’ll be playing one song from one record and we’ll be butting it up against a song from a different record and we’ll work out a transition. We’ll make changes to the songs insofar as how they work into the set but with the structures we just decide who does what and we keep them pretty true to the recording.”

HM: Do you ever get any writing inspiration when you’re touring, or do you leave that for when you’re off the road?

DD: “It’s interesting you say that, because I have been inspired before just being in a new environment. I’ll have my guitar with me and I’ll be insome hotel somewhere, out on a patio or whatever, and something will inspire me. Whether it’s the mood I’m while I’m there or my surroundings, but I have written riffs before while travelling. I’ve written riffs on stage before, during sound check. We’ll be on stage in this real cool room, the amp’s hitting just right, the sound’s right…I’ve had riffs just pop out on stage.”

HM: Revocation has played in Australia quite a lot. How much are you looking forward to getting here to play this time?

DD: “I definitely can’t wait to get back to Australia. I love Australia in general. I love the vibe there, they love their metal, I love the environment there, it’s always beautiful. It has a good food scene and it’s really diverse. I really enjoy playing Australia. It’s honestly one of my favourite places to tour. Anytime I see we have Australia in the itinerary, which at this point is at least once every album cycle, I get really excited.”

REVOCATION AUSTRALIAN TOUR with SUFFOCATION

18/4: The Brightside, Brisbane

19/4: Factory Theatre, Sydney

20/4: Basement, Canberra

21/4: Corner Hotel, Melbourne

23/4: Lion Art Factory, Adelaide