Death Visions & Dark Synths: Behind the Scenes with DRSE
DRSE.
REVERIE is thrilled to be covering one of our favourite Calgary festivals again this year, Terminus, which takes place this Thursday through Sunday at Dickens. As we gear up for the festival, we caught up with the members of Alberta-based synthwave band DRSE: Rob Lawless, Miranda Gladeau, Alejandro Gutierrez and Ryan Sadler, ahead of their upcoming Thursday night performance.
REVERIE: What's the inspiration behind the name DRSE (Death Related Sensory Experience)?
Miranda Gladeau: I was doing a bunch of reading about death phenomenon and near-death experiences and I came across DRSE's or what are called "Death Related Sensory Experiences" or "Death Bed Visions." Basically what people experience during and after death and all the communications and senses that also produce feelings and hallucinations. As I went down that dark rabbit hole I couldn't get that term out of my head. So I thought to myself that would be a cool band name and so here we are.
Ryan Sadler: When we all heard the name Miranda proposed everyone was like, yes. There was no debate, it just fit us and made sense!
REVERIE: You share members with another Alberta band we love, Plëzher, could you tell us how you got connected?
Ryan: We can't give away all our secrets, but the connections came from mutual friendships within the Alberta music scene. We've all been around the block once or twice and crossed paths.
REVERIE: What inspired your debut tracks “Dancing In Your Blood” and “Poison Ritual?” What has the response been like so far?
Rob Lawless: “Poison Ritual” is frankly about addiction.
Ryan: “Dancing in Your Blood” has a huge explanation and is cinematic in nature, but it boils down to processing trauma. The response has been good so far! A lot of the lyrical content is descriptive and frank and people have been connecting with it so far.
REVERIE: Your sound blends elements of synthwave with much darker lyrics. Who are your biggest influences, musically or otherwise?
Ryan: There's the usual suspects of course that are clear once you have a listen, but we all share an appreciation for horror and dark imagery the connects us. I think of each of our songs like a section of a film, even though at this point they aren't necessarily connected.
REVERIE: How are you feeling about your upcoming performance at Terminus later this summer? Who are you most excited to see on the lineup?
Alejandro Gutierrez: We are beyond excited! Twin Tribes.
Miranda: Geneva Jacuzzi.
Ryan: Sleek Teeth has been a daily play for me since I found about about them from looking up all the groups playing Terminus. I've never seen TRAITRS from Toronto either, very excited!
REVERIE: When can listeners expect your next release?
Ryan: We just released two more songs, and right after Terminus we'll begin in on recording a full length album. Rob is an amazing recording engineer and it's going to sound equally amazing. It's been about a year journey to get DRSE to this point and we are ready to make a statement with an album.
DRSE will play Terminus: Modulation in Calgary on Thursday, July 24. Weekend passes and individual tickets are available on the Terminus Festival website.