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BIOGRAPHY
Formed at - and later expelled by - a fundamentalist bible school in 1996, Detholz! (pronounced 'Death Holes!') originally formed as a way for its members to vent anger and frustration with their evangelical upbringings and to make sense of their 'double lives,' which to this day straddle a fence between 'Religion' and 'Reality.'
Detholz! draws from a broad range of pop and avant garde music and personal histories defined by arcane religious subculture. The result is something that has consistently defied easy categorization and always produced the strongest of reactions, including accusations and threats of arrest for 'Satanic Worship', prayer circles at shows both for and against the band, and heated (sometimes physical) exchanges pitting fans vs. detractors (and sometimes fans vs. fans).
Laboring happily underground since its inception, Detholz! has toured extensively, sometimes using performances to stage elaborate spectacles, such as a Communist-Cadre/Lady-Liberty Tent Revival at the 2003 Cornerstone Christian Music festival (kicked-off with the North Korean national anthem ... sung in Korean). Following this particular performance, Detholz! were featured in the critically acclaimed documentary Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music, which led to invitations to join Wilco on their Ghost is Born tour and later support Danielson Familie for their release of Ships. Detholz! has also been privileged to tour and play with bands such as Weird War, Radio 4, The French Kicks, Electric Six, The Blacks and Thunderbirds Are Now. Individually, members have written, recorded and toured with artists such as The Staples Singers, Bobby Conn, and Baby Teeth.
As the band has developed, its members have increasingly drawn inspiration from their conflicted pasts and ambivalent senses of spirituality. The musical results, soon to be revealed on their new aptly titled full-length Cast Out Devils, are far stranger, more experimental and more introspective than the ironic, documentary-style approach of earlier releases. "It has been a little more of us bringing out, dare I say, personal stuff and attempting sincerity in writing," says Karl Doerfer (guitar/vocals). "And we don't do sincerity very directly.”
Cast Out Devils is scheduled for release on Halloween (October 31st) 2006. |
