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Valley rock band DED resurrects its eerie sound for ‘Idol’

DED vocalist Joe Cotela contends he’s a workaholic, just like his bandmates guitarist David Ludlow, bassist Kyle Koelsch and drummer Matt Reinhard.

It’s the Valley hard rock band’s drive that kept it in the forefront of fans’ minds while it relentlessly worked on the follow up to its debut album, “Mis-AnThrope.” On March 12, DED launched its new single, “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby),” packaged with a second song, “Eyes Sewn Shut,” as an EP, It’s paving a path to a new album later this year, the first release under Suretone Records’ renewed, multi-year deal with ADA Worldwide for exclusive distribution. “We were going back and forth from Vegas to work on this album,” Cotela says. “We’d go out on tour. We toured with In This Moment, went to Europe with Wage War. We played Shiprock and all kinds of things like that.

“It was a great, busy time, but there was no stopping for us. We didn’t want to go away just because we were working on the album. We wanted to stay relevant and stay in people’s faces. It was exhausting but worthwhile.” Christina Fuoco-Karasinski >> The Entertainer!

DED has something to say, and the new music, helmed by rock producer Kevin Churko (Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed) is the vehicle for that.

“I hope the lyrics connect even more so than the last album,” Cotela says. “That was the big thing with the last record— the people connected with the lyrics. We hope we fulfilled what people want but, not to be selfish, it fulfills what we want. If it connects with fans, too, that’s a win in my opinion.

“I’m proud to be making music that hopefully makes people think, pulls them out of ruts or makes them feel empowered, makes them better themselves, or want to start their own band or use their own voice or express themselves in their own way. It’s a circle, and I know because I got caught in that circle because of the people who were doing it before.”

Cotela says “Mis-An-Thrope” came from a place of anger and disappointment with life. This time, he felt compelled to choose his words carefully.

“The new music is about clarity through suffering, positivity through negativity, and the frustration that comes with knowing that everyone can be better than they are—that I can be better than I am, because change starts with yourself. We want people to strive and try and be conscious of the things they consume, the way they act, the things they share and celebrate, and the way they live their life—to understand how that all affects their soul and what their legacy is going to be. And that goes for myself as well.”

Churko had a lot to do with that. “Sonically, he’s untouchable,” Cotela says of Churko. “I think he makes enormous-sounding albums. There’s a lot of melody to the album. He’s very good with piano. We fall on the side of unconventional creativity more than music theory. We don’t know a lot of that stuff. We just know how to make the sounds that follow the sound. He pushed us to embrace ourselves and our influences and where we’re at right now. He’s just a great person. We had a great time together.”

The EP kicks off with Churko’s haunting piano sounds leading to the fury of “A Mannequin Idol.”

“It’s not something we would have necessarily done by ourselves,” Cotela contends. “He’s a shredder drummer and pianist and songwriter. We loved how it sounded. It’s so haunting and different for us. We wanted to embrace new ideas.”

Those new ideas are shared by DED, who had planned to tour with In This Moment, Black Veil Brides and Raven Black through May 17 before the pandemic. The package was slated to visit the Arizona Federal Theatre on Monday, April 27. Now living in New York, Cotela is in a relationship with In This Moment singer Maria Brink.

“Hometown shows are special,” says Cotela, a former Ahwatukee resident. “(Arizona Federal Theatre) is special. That’s a place I’ve gone to see so many shows—the Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, Crosby Stills and Nash. I’ve played most of the venues in Arizona.

“Our families and our friends are in (local) bands and it’s a cool camaraderie when we all come home. We’re proud of each other. We’re glowing with that upward trajectory. When I see another band from home at a sold-out show, it’s a win for me, even though it wasn’t me. I want to see other bands succeed. I’m imagining the sentiment is the same with others.”

In This Moment and Black Veil Brides, w/DED and Raven Black Arizona Federal Theatre (formerly Comerica Theatre), 400 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, 602.379.2800, arizonafederaltheatre.com, 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 27, tickets start at $50. Show is postponed.

Wonder fi nds herself on her new EP ‘Clumsy Dancer’

Wonder was 9 years old when singer Kenny Loggins played her grandfather’s acoustic guitar during a Portland, Oregon, concert. Despite an “embarrassing photo” with the “Danger Zone” performer, the moment further piqued her musical interest.

“He put out a need for a guitar for that particular show,” she says. “My dad was connected and brought my grandpa’s guitar. Everybody on my dad’s side is super musical. My grandma introduced me to Elvis when I was really, really young. We listened to his gospel songs. My mom is very appreciative of music.” Moving from Seattle to Scottsdale a year ago, Wonder—with her band known as Wonder Truly—plays around the Valley, focusing on her new EP “Clumsy Dancers.” Wonder calls it a true collaboration between her and producer Gavin Reign.

“He was really able to appreciate the vision I had for it and make it a true collaboration,” she says. “He was invested and connected to my music and my songs and what I wanted to say with them. It was exactly what I would have done if I knew how to do it (production).”

Surprisingly, music wasn’t her fi rst love. Th at is art.

“I never wanted to be a musician,” Wonder says. “I’ve always been adept in art and I thought maybe I could cheat my rule by going into musical theater or writing, but I certainly never wanted to Christina Fuoco-Karasinski >> The Entertainer!

be a touring solo artist. Th at was a dream my dad pursued, and he squandered my childhood doing it. If being a musician meant I was anything like my dad, I wanted nothing to do with it.”

She eventually turned to music. In 2013, she sustained an injury that pinched a nerve in her neck and left her unable to grasp anything in her left arm. “I couldn’t type, hold a spoon or play guitar,” she says. “Th e reality of a fi nite body crashed into focus, and I was fi nally honest with myself: Th ere is one thing I want to be doing with my life, and it’s to be a musician. I am wasting my breakable, impermanent physical body doing things that aren’t what I most desperately want to be doing, and all because I’m afraid of following in my father’s footsteps.”

Wonder regained the use of her arm through physical therapy and dedicated the summer of 2013 to music. Her fi rst release, “Th e Minotaur,” is a collection of faith-based songs.

Moving to Seattle in 2014 from Olympia, Washington, she threw herself into every open mic, showcase and gig she could land within a 50-mile radius, released her fi rst self-produced EP, “Lungs,” and convinced the music department at Carnival Cruise Lines to hire her as a guitar soloist. However, she didn’t have the chops to do so.

Soon, she realized the Seattle scene was oversaturated with musicians who will play for free. So Wonder packed up and moved to Old Town, where she could be paid for her performances, especially with the Valley’s patio culture. “Here, most of the restaurants do live music,” Wonder says. “All the resorts and hospitality focus on entertainment. You

don’t see that in other places.

“Plus, performing is such a powerful way to connect with other people who have been in the same boat I’ve been in so many times. We think, ‘I’m having this experience and I feel like I’m all alone in this experience.’ Th en an artist comes along and you’re not so alone. It’s an amazing way of bridging the divide between individuals and the way that we all feel alienated.”

Her fi rst commercially distributed collection, “Clumsy Dancers,” mixes electronic music with acoustic guitar sounds.

“From January 2017 to June 2019, it was a long road to getting these six songs out into the world, but I have never been one to let waiting get in the way of doing what I want to do or making what I want to make,” Wonder says.

“It’s sonically very diff erent from previous releases, but the earnestness and honesty of the songs still shines through unobstructed because of Gavin’s attention to the core of each song as it was written.” One of her

Wonder Truly iamwonder.net

favorite lyrics on the album is from the cinematic “Th e Awakening,” which fi nds Wonder coming full circle, reviving a song from “Th e Minotaur.” In “Th e Awakening,” Wonder sings, “I want to write a story about mercy moving a man. Is my honesty just a hollow seed? Is there courage where I stand?”

Th e song was revived from “Th e Minotaur” EP when Reign heard it and asked for the story behind it.

“Th e line ‘I want to write a story about mercy moving a man’ was originally about wanting to use my platform and my music for the church, and God, and the gospel of grace,” she says. “Less than a year after the release of ‘Th e Minotaur,’ I had a series of life experiences that shook me out of my faith and left me resigned to start at square one: in the pursuit of asking questions, and knowing that oftentimes there are no answers for them.”

Th e album’s lead single, which

spawned a music video, “Kids Like Us,” tells the story of underdogs who fi nd the last ounce of strength they have to haul

themselves off the dirt and start fi ghting back, she says.

“‘Kids Like Us’ resonated across audiences since I fi rst premiered it live in 2015, and it’s defi nitely the most anthemic message of the EP,” Wonder says. “Along with ‘Th e Awakening’ and ‘Stay Put,’ it sets the stage to a loud, unashamed, arms-wide

statement.”

Wang Chung’s Jack Hues goes solo

Wang Chung lead singer Jack Hues considers himself a “late starter.”

He has spent 40 years leading Wang Chung, but it took that long for him to release his debut solo record, the double LP “Primitif,” which hit streaming services on March 20. Now was the right time because he finally had the confidence to say something.

“I felt like I had a lot to say,” Hues says. “It just started coming out of me.” Due to a series of personal losses, Hues focused on music. In the first three months of 2018, he wrote and recorded most of “Primitif.”

“Some of the best songwriting comes out of personal experience,” Hues says. “I worked on the album through 2018- 19 with another intensive period of writing and recording at the beginning of 2019.

“The resulting double album is my first solo release and is, for me, the culmination of nearly 60 years of fascination and, ultimately, obsession with music and recordings.”

Hues wouldn’t elaborate on the personal losses, other than to say he’s in his 60s and the events were typical of one in that decade.

“A lot of it had to do with that,” he says. “Sort of being in a new world and new relationships.”

“Primitif” was an exciting project for Hues, who is a new empty nester.

“For the first time in my life, I had a lot of time on my own,” he says. “My children have their own lives and families. That gave me the freedom to write and record whenever I wanted.”

The fourth track, “Cut,” was the result of an idea he had over breakfast.

“I thought, ‘This is great! I can just record it right now,’” Hues says about the benefits of recording close to home. It was 11 a.m. I drew the curtains like it was 11 at night and recorded this piece in one take, really. It was really spontaneous.”

Hues is a longtime musician. He grew up in Gillingham in the Medway Towns about 40 miles southeast of London. He was interested in music from an early age.

“My dad was a saxophone player and Christina Fuoco-Karasinski >> The Entertainer!

my grandfather was a musician, too, but it was hearing ‘Please Please Me’ by The Beatles on the radio when I was about 8 years old that made me wake up and think, ‘Ahhh, so this is my music.’” Hues asked for a guitar that Christmas, and while his parents agreed, they insisted he have proper lessons. Twice weekly he was taught classical and folk guitar and, unusually, how to read music, a skill that would serve him well many years later.

“By the time I was 18, I had passed grade 8 guitar and got a place at Goldsmiths College, London, to study for a music degree. At this stage I knew very little about classical music. It was David Bowie and early ’70s prog that was my focus. The lines between genres were about as loose as they have ever been. Classical music didn’t seem remote, although I was turned down by four out of the five universities that I applied to, as rock music was considered worthless by academics at that time.”

Hues earned his degree and won a BBC Composers Competition, which enabled him to take a year at the Royal College of Music studying composition and electronic music.

“Those four years immersed in classical music, particularly modern classical music, were very important and expanded my musical horizons immensely. However, when I came out of college the musical language I ‘spoke’ was rock music, albeit a highly seasoned vernacular.”

Hues played in a variety of bands until he met bassist Nick Feldman through a musicians wanted ad in the Melody Maker. They formed a couple of bands before finally distilling their talents into Huang Chung. The band later renamed itself Wang Chung at the suggestion of the head of their record label, David Geffen.

“The name still comes up now. It was even on ‘Saturday Night Live’ a couple weeks ago. I guess David was right.” Hues wrote the future hit-to-be “Dance Hall Days” while still teaching guitar at various schools around London. The song proved pivotal in the band’s development and established Wang Chung as an international success. The group was signed direct to Geffen Records in the United States, so Hues’ career was based in LA throughout the ’80s.

“I was fortunate to work on movie soundtracks during this time. William Friedkin (director of ‘The French Connection’ and ‘The Exorcist’) commissioned us to score his movie, ‘To Live and Die in LA,’ which was an incredible opportunity,” Hues says. “We contributed songs to ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Inner Space.’ In 1986 we had a Billboard No. 2 (Cashbox No. 1) hit in the U.S. with “Everybody Have Fun Tonight,” whose chorus line, ‘Everybody have fun tonight, Everybody Wang Chung tonight,’ continues to capture the public imagination 30 years later.”

In 1987, Wang Chung went on a world tour with Tina Turner, but by 1989, music leaned toward grunge and hiphop. The band didn’t embrace either of those genres and eventually split in 1990. The band reformed in 2012 and released its first new album in 20 years called “Tazer Up!” Summer tours in the United States followed, but after a couple of years Hues stepped back from gigs to consider what he really wanted to do as he entered his seventh decade.

“I released a trilogy of collaborative albums between 2013 and 2018. My ‘jazz’ work tended to be instrumental, focusing on my guitar playing, but meeting and working with poets revived my interest in words and music.”

Now, Hues says, “Wang Chung is in fairly good shape.

“Nick and I see each other quite a lot,” he adds. “We’re planning on re-releasing all of the back catalog. We just sorted out a deal. They’ll be released in the autumn, or the ‘fall’ as you call it.

“I’m really looking forward to that. People will reassess Wang Chung in a way, instead of being singled out for particular songs—which is the nature of the business. I don’t mind being singled out for one song. When you hear the first album, you can hear the arc of the development. Like in my record, you can hear a certain ‘Wang Chung-ness’ to it. I can hear my DNA in it.”

GOING ‘CRAZY’

Promise to Myself can’t wait to unleash when pandemic subsides

Pop-rockers Promise to Myself have a hard time keeping a secret.

Before the North Phoenixbased band released its sophomore EP, “I Might Be Crazy,” the quartet was told to keep mum about the new music. Sometimes it was a little harder than its members thought.

“Our manager and our label, 80/20, said we couldn’t tell anyone,” rhythm guitarist Zack Bruge says. “I would tell all of my friends, of course. On stage, I’d say we had an album coming out and our manager would tell me to shut up.” The band—which also includes lead singer/bassist Karl Nagy, guitarist Brad Stockton and drummer Tony Galvan— could spill about it on February 18, when “I Might Be Crazy” hit streaming services. Christina Fuoco-Karasinski >> The Entertainer!

“It’s been a long work in progress,” Bruge says. “Now that it’s out, it’s super thrilling and exciting. We were anxious to finally release it after working on it. Some of the songs were written two years ago.”

Nagy adds, “I felt like we were in limbo, in a way. We had all of this content we were sitting on. But we’ve been performing it, creating other content with it—like music videos— and deciding what singles we want to release.”

Signed to 80/20 Records in 2019, Promise to Myself has been described as if Fall Out Boy, All Time Low and Waterparks had a fight to the death in a game of dodgeball, and the winner ended up being Big Time Rush.

From playing the Vans Warped Tour to an appearance on AZTV and radio stations such as Alt AZ 93.3 and KWSS, Promise to Myself played the Whisky A Go Go and opened for national touring

acts in various venues.

“I think we’re really fun live,” Bruge says. “We talk to the crowd, but we’re really focused on the music. At the end of the day, it’s entertainment. We’re very fun and we jump on stage. I’ve broken bones on stage.

“I’ve broken them a lot. I fractured a bone in my foot and kept playing shows and jumping around on it. I went to the doctor and what was a little crack was now a complete break.”

The EP was produced by Grammynominated engineer Jeremy Parker at Premier Studios. Bruge says Parker was a “super chill dude” who was inspirational. “The first time we went in there and we were doing pre-production on the songs, we were all super nervous,” Bruge says. “We walked in the studio and there were gold records all around. We just said, ‘Well, here are our songs.’ He asked us if we believed in aliens and we got into this huge conversation about it. That aside, he’s good at making bands sound exactly like the band sounds.”

Galvan says with “I Might Be Crazy” the band tried to infuse pop elements into its sound. Nagy calls “I Might Be Crazy” a collection that slowly transitions to Promise to Myself’s “new era.”

“We’re trying to maintain our roots and reach new fans at the same time,” Galvan adds. “We’re trying to be innovative a bit more and add new sounds to it.”

Bruge describes it as such. “Our first EP (2018’s ‘One for the Runaways’), we wrote when we were 14 or 15 and it was released when we were in high school,” Bruge says. “This one is a huge step in a sense. It’s more mature sounding. We’re growing up a little bit. It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic subsides a bit, Promise to Myself will go full force into promoting the seven-song EP. The lack of shows and promotion has been “heartbreaking” for the band. “We had a lot of stuff planned,” Nagy says. “We had an EP release show planned, and just a lot of shows in general. We just keep busy. Our main priority is to make sure fans are safe.

“Having to postpone and potentially cancel these shows is heartbreaking. At the end of the day, we’re all healthy and safe and we hope our fans are, too.” Some have asked if the musicians wish they could have released the EP at a different time. The answer is a resounding “no.”

“We just have to adapt to what’s going on,” Bruge says. “We’re still having a positive outlook and doing what we can.”