With a blue bolt of screaming reverb, The Dexateens are striking favorable reviews with their self-titled debut album. Deservedly so. After grinding along for years in semi-dysfunction and obscurity, the band is in the early stages of proving itself a player on the national music scene. Their music blends the twang of Southern guitar rock with the stomp of garage and punk music. But the strength of the Dexateens comes from the urgency and sense of danger with which they perform. In 2004, guitarist and vocalist Elliott McPherson sat down and answered a few questions ...

Druid City Online - Please introduce yourself, tell me where you live and what you do ...

I'm Elliott McPherson. I'm a cabinet maker who is trying to become a furniture designer. My wife and I live in Buhl, which is on the outskirts of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That's where we raise our two boys and where we have our furniture shop. Caleb is learning to play the fiddle (his teacher tells him its called a violin) and our two year old, Gray, is being terrible at the moment. We are trying to teach him to leave his pacifier in his bed. We don't have any frat boys or campus parties out here, but we do have roosters that crow all night. Those damn things are supposed to start crowing with the sun up, but that's not the case. Outside of that, its pretty great out here in Buhl.

First of all, let’s talk about the lineup of the Dexateens. You seem to have a few “extra” members. Who are the Dexateens?

I wish I knew. The core line up, or the studio line up, is Matt Patton, Sweetdog, John Smith and myself. We have all been doing this since the beginning of 1998. When we go out and about, its usually completely off of the cuff and is done with about three hours worth of prep time. It's pretty nerve racking. John lives in Ohio and Patton tours a lot with Model Citizen. So when a show pops up that we really need to play, we have to snap folks in.

Billy Draper and Taylor Hollingsworth are the two guys we get to play with the most. Billy's about the most amped up, full throttle person I know. I can't stop biting my nails when you put him and Sweetdog in a room together. Too much energy and enthusiasm for me. But it works on stage. Taylor plays guitar second only to John. He's Ron Woods' nephew and our little brother.

Chuck Thompson is an honorary member even though he doesn't play any instruments. He has excellent taste and we know we can count on him to tell us when something sounds like crap or maybe that I was acting like an idiot on stage. He's a great guy to bounce stuff off of and he's not afraid of hurting our feelings. Lord knows we need that source of reality. Every one of us, with the exception of John, lives in our own delusional world where reality is a log short of a full cord of fire wood.

Craig Gates played with us and wrote some songs for a couple of years. In the beginning of The Dexateens, there was a lot of drama and fussing. I think he just had all of that he could stand. He is a great talent and we all respect all of his musical ventures. He's playing with Model Citizen and working his solo project, Ghost Tour.

There's lots of others that have filled in for various reasons (Dan Hall, Tommy Sorrells, Jeb Ricter, Mike Hitt, Jeb Smith, John Mark King from Rocket City Riot, George from Blue Mountain) I'm probably leaving someone out. A few years ago I really liked the idea of getting as many people on stage as possible. One guy was playing dedicated cowbell, one with mic sweat, three guitars, two bass players and a whole lotta noise going on. Now we are dedicated to having a set a little more focused on ... well I guess music. Sweetdog is the king of making sure that the show must "go on". Even if "go on" means something completely disastrous and scary. In the past, we have been known to make an art form of being disastrous and scary.

What’s been the biggest challenge for this band so far?

I'd say ... putting up with Sweetdog asking us if we are still "into" the band on a regular basis. But really his asking of this question has some irony in it. The biggest challenge was deciding to get off our ass and do something. Sweetdog has motivated and pushed us to the point that this thing actually has some momentum of its own now. As a band, I think we finally realized that the key secret to getting the ball rolling isn't saying you're going to do something, but actually doing it. Yeah Sweetdog is the biggest challenge, but he is vital. I guess you could say it's like having a drill sergeant in the band. No matter how big the Dexateens may or may not get, he is our biggest fan ... the motivator, the aggravator, the Dog.

What was the Dexateens’ first gig like? Where was it and who was there?

The first show was very lack luster. I think we were a very pale shade of green. I think we had green horns too. We played at the Chukker with the Woggles and they were really nice and complimentary. But it was a disaster ... "disaster bad" not "disaster good".

What was the band’s best show ever?

The best show we ever had probably wasn't a show. It was a rehearsal where we were all stone sober in the middle of the afternoon. It's hard to say because we have had so many good and bad shows. In the early days, we had some really intense shows where guitars would get broken, folks jumping off of the top of the kick drum, amps getting pushed over, and things just getting completely out of hand. As I mentioned earlier, we still want to deliver the rock, but when things fall completely apart, the show is over. I think the trick is to push things to the point of collapse and then pull it back together. It's a no brainer to get up there turn up to 10 and go for two songs until the stage is destroyed. But I think at this level, people deserve to get their five dollars worth of music, and by god ...we'll give it to 'em.

Favorite place to play?

My favorite places to play are usually house parties where you are eye level with the crowd and they are right there with you. Although, it's a nice to play a stage where you get a monitor and a mix, but that's rare. I guess the 600 house at Christmas last year was one of my favorite shows. I remember everyone watching was standing there smiling at us. When I would pass the mic around, people would flub the words and yelp into the mic. You could feel the floor giving in the middle and it seemed like the house was literally going to cave un. The room was packed to the gills and hot with body heat. It was great.

Who are some of your favorite groups that you’ve played with so far?

You know the Quadrajets were one of the biggest inspirations to what we were doing in the beginning. Anytime we had the chance to play with them, we would learn a little something about delivering the rock. The Neckbones and The Hellicopters were both pretty amazing shows.

My three favorites songs on your album “The Dexateens” (and there’s lots of good songs) are “Cherry”, “Shelter” and “Settle Down”. Talk a little about where and how each was recorded?

"Cherry" was recorded at Sarcophagus Studios in west point Georgia. It's about Bobby Frank Cherry. The week we recorded that song, they had tried him and found him guilty in association with the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham. I remember that song being a turning point in our first recording session with Tim Kerr. When he heard John singing the words, he came in the booth and wanted to know who the song was written about. He got really excited. I think earlier that day, before he heard those lyrics, he referred to us as a party band. That's one thing I really like about our first record. It goes in a bunch of directions lyrically and musically.

"Shelter" was recorded in Alberta City at the first location of 600 Studios. That song is just about living a simple life and being perfectly content with it.

"Settle Down" is really about a personal addiction and relationship with music. Music is the second greatest thing in my life. My family is the first. Sometimes I'm a selfish asshole and let the music take priority. I think those sort of feelings spawned those lyrics.

In “Cherry”, you sing about a man who needs to die. What is this song about and what is that lyric about?

Back to the Cherry song ... I guess that lyric specifically states "can't wait till all that shit inside you dies" because that guy walked around a free murderer for most of his adult life.

But you also asked how each was recorded. All the tracking for every song was done live. We did a few guitar overdubs and sang all of the vocals separate, but the performance was live. Tim Kerr is real big on getting the best performance of a song that we can possibly get. So we may play a song 30 times before we move on to the next one.

I remember first seeing you perform as a guitarist. Now, it seems you’re more of the lead vocalist. Has that been a strange transition for you?

Well, I tried playing without a guitar and that was a lot of fun. But there is an immediate sense of being naked, standing on stage holding a mic without a guitar around your neck. It's really a strange thing to do. But the reason I was doing it was because in the earlier days, I would get so into the show that my guitar playing started to suffer. I would be so concerned with being a showman that my guitar playing sounded like hell. Then there were songs that I simply just couldn't play and sing at the same time. But I know both of those things were just cop outs for me not being a professional. Also, a lot of what I used to do was so over the top anyway. Sweetdog is really into the sonic and visual appeal of three guitars on stage ... that's a bitch. For the most part, if all three aren't doing different parts, it gets really cluttered sounding.

The Dexateens are one of the only local bands can I think of who have been signed by a record label (Estrus Records). How did that happen and what did you get out of it?

One of the Dexateens favorite records is "Pay the Deuce" by The Quadrajets (Estrus Records). Sweetdog was obsessed with having the same staff recording our record that recorded "Pay the Deuce". So when we started, we went to Sarcophagus and got Tim Kerr on board. I think at the beginning, we really wanted our record to sound like "Pay the Deuce". But being around Tim (Kerr) was the best thing that ever happened to us. He pushed us into our own place and made us shed the whole Quadrants thing. So starting with the second session, the music drastically changed. There are some songs not on the record, that sound a lot like Quadrajets songs. Maybe well put them on the web site soon. But anyway, when we finished we sent a copy to Estrus and flew out there to meet them. We played three shows in the great northwest and they put the record out.

How did those shows go? Where did you play and what kind of reaction did you get?

The reaction was great. In Seattle, we played with one of Kurt Block's new bands. He was the guitar player in The Fastbacks and produced a bunch of SubPop records. I think it's possible that I may have got on his nerves. I was relentlessly drilling him about mixing questions and studio stuff. He was trying to shed me by the end of the night. He was great and his band was too. We played all of the shows with The Star Spangled Bastards who have a 7" out on Estrus. The second show was in Stanwood, which was really great. We joined up there with The DTs. No, not The DTs from Tuscaloosa, but DTs of madame x and Monomen fame. That show was a lot like Egan's on the Strip, except bigger and formatted like a saloon. There, as well as at Egan's, you had to walk through the band to get to the potty. I ratted my voice out the first night in Seattle, so Carl hooked me up with the olive oil throat coating solution. I spilled the bottle in the middle of our set and had to skate all over the damn floor. The crowd was a little older and everyone seemed like real life working class people. None of that "I'm more rock and roll than you " syndrome. We liked Stanwood the best. I think they liked us too. Bellingham was a really great town too. I think we will surely try to get back up to the northwest soon. The air was really great and dehumidified up there.

Any advice for bands hoping to sign their first record deal?

I guess advice for any band no matter how far along they may be musically or otherwise, is to push yourself to reach your potential, especially from a creative standpoint. I'm not saying that we have done that as The Dexateens, because I don't think we have. When we do, we will be on our best game. One mistake that we made for the longest time was trying to sound like the Quadrajets or Black Sabbath or Motorhead. Those weren't wasted experiences because its good to learn where your heroes are coming from, and it damn sure don't hurt to get your rocks off. But I think bands should try to get past all that as quickly as possible so you can move on to looking inside your own guts rather than someone else's. I keep reading these reviews of our record that mention "Exile on Main Street "and The Rolling Stone's "Bag of Tricks". Someone is always going to peg you up on the cork with something everyone can identify with. I can honestly say I'd rather someone say we sounded like "Exile" rather than Creed or some shitty band like that. Most bands you hear on the radio are trying to reinvent the wheel. I could go on and on here.

Do you guys have any specific goals for your music?

Specific goals? To honesty answer that question, I think we would all like to make enough money at this that we could keep living on the same standards we do now, and be able to quit our day jobs. The market that we are in now is so small and that's not really a realistic goal .... but it would be nice.

I mainly want to look back at this thing in 20 years and be proud of what we did and know that we didn't leave and i's undotted and t's uncrossed. We are in a position to make music and let people hear it. That's one of the most perfect things about making music to me. It never goes away and stirs up peoples emotions. I remember when I was 17, going through puberty and how shitty it seemed. Some of my favorite times were sitting in my car listening to punk rock cassettes. Music made it better. I think I'm rambling ...

And finally, in five words or less … What will people see if they check out the Dexateens?

Who knows what folks will see. Hopefully, they'll see Sweetdog working off that gut up there behind the drums. He bought a new kit and it's a pretty small kit. You know how in the old westerns they'd make the doorways smaller so all the cowboys looked bigger. It's sort of the same thing with the Dog. He's like 6'2, 220 pounds, and behind that little kit he looks like a monster. (Matt) Patton is all smiles when we play. I think it's a total release for Matt to play with out the pressures of fronting the band like he does in Model Citizen. John (Smith) ... oh man, he just gets off in his own little world and lets go. He's not into all that "we're so rawk that we can't stand it" with the Pete Townsend windmills and such. He demands authority through his playing. Last time we played at 600 Studios, there was some little A & R Arista Records asshole who said to the Dog, "You know, you guys would be great for our label if the singer could hold a note a little better. Is that the best he can sing?" This guy could have been a crack head off the streets who forged a business card for all we know. So I guess I'm just trying to hold a note and play all the right chords. But I have been working on a Tommy Shaw type vibrato thing! (laughs)

Oh yeah, you said five words or less ... loose southern twangy simple man's rock ... OK, I guess that's six words.

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download an MP3 ... Shelter ... Settle Down

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