The FADER Magazine F2 Issue 2 May 2008

Non-Stop
The ballistics of The Death Set finds a home

The Death Set cannot sit still. The Baltimore-via-Brooklyn-via-Sydney-via-Gold Coast duo of Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco has been chewing up mileage since the band’s conception three years ago. Beginning as a “dance music project” inspired by the DIY ethos of Black Flag and Brooklyn art punks Japanther, the band knew they wanted to end up on US soil from the jump. “We put a picture of New York on the wall,” says singer/guitarist Siera. “There was no doubt that we were going to go there and just kill it.“

Although their stay in Brooklyn was brief, anyone who has experienced The Death Set’s hyperactive, high-fructose ragers firsthand will agree they made good on promise. Like their songs, Death Set shows are cheetah-fast shotgun blasts of sweat confetti and Sparks. This spastic energy binds them to the other warehouse-core bands of Baltimore, their newest hometown, though they now spend most of their time on tour. Shows are not played on stage, but on the floor amongst the people. “If I’m feeling good, it’s really easy to uncross someone’s arms. I just try to be positive and I try to be psyched,” says Siera. “Hopefully that rubs off on people.”

A self-professed “live band,” making their debut Worldwide was not easy. “The challenge of the record was trying to capture that [live] energy in the recording,” says Siera. Clocking in at a quick 25 minutes, not an inch of tape was wasted. Worldwide is a flashdancing punk pop supernova, but most importantly, it’s the kind of album that makes you believe in hippy-dippy conceptuals like destiny or fate. These songs were written in Sydney but rode on the wind and all-night van rides to Baltimore of all the places, maybe the only spot where their vivid mayhem could finally be home.