I’ve heard about Desir Decir a lot lately. Whether it’s seeing them on show flyers around Jersey City or hearing about them going on tour with a mutual friend, I decided to check them out. These dudes write some seriously ballsy, no frills rock n roll with catchy hooks and straightforward riffs this was exactly the type of band I was looking for to conduct my next interview. As usual with musicians crazy work/performing schedules (bassist) Mitch Cady told me to meet him while he was tending bar at one of my favorite spots LITM. Greg and John kept me company on the other side, and we shot the shit over a few drinks.

 What are your names and what do you do in the band?

Greg – I’m Greg Reyes, and I’m the bass player.

John – I’m John Feuerbach, I play guitar, and I sing.

So tell me a little bit about the band. What are your some of your influences? When did you guys start?

J – I’d say our influences are The Replacements, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash; we play classic rock, so we’re also big fans of Bob Dylan. Grey Grey’s (Greg) favorite band is N*Sync haha it’s where we get our choirboy harmonies from.

G – I feel like I have so many influences, but The Replacements are one thing we have in common after that I would say Bruce Springsteen as well.

J – As far as the modern stuff we’re into a lot of punk rock, I’m trying to think.

G – I would say Against Me!

J – Against Me! I know they’re not modern, but I love The Misfits.

G – I’m a Gaslight guy too.

J – Yes, The Gaslight Anthem. I can’t believe I can’t think of any bands right now, everything that comes to mind is from the 80’s haha. So Gaslight has to do with how we started. I was at a show watching a band, and I met Greg, and we started talking about music, and he said he liked The Gaslight Anthem, and I said, “I like Gaslight Anthem too we should jam sometimes.” So we jammed a couple of times. I’ve played with Mitch for years, and we brought him in to play drums and yeah it’s been cool.

Mitch – With Desir its mostly classic rock and earlier punk rock stuff. My influences range pretty widely, so we try to bring in 50s rock and roll stuff and the older classic rock stuff to the sound.

 

It was the only way I could get them all together haha. Do all you guys live in Jersey City?

J – Mitch and I do.

G – I live in Union City.

What area of Jersey City are you guys in?

J – I’m in downtown Mitch is there too.

What are some of your favorite places to play/go out?

J – I like playing The Citizen a lot it’s loose, and the sound system is great. I like The Funhouse over on Center Street where the Pathmark used to be. It’s cool because it’s a DIY spot and it’s all ages. The place has a great DIY ethos over there it just kinda feels right to play there.

G – We just played there last Saturday.

J – Yeah, it was good it’s also like a biker hangout, so a bunch of surly biker dudes just hang out there.

I interviewed Max (Lead singer of Crazy and the Brains) at the Night Birds show at Monty Hall. He gave me the rundown on that place, and it sounds unbelievable.

J – Oh yeah, I love Monty Hall too, the sound system there is just impeccable we played there for my friends Friday show that he does there. It’s a bunch of music nerds that run the place, and they make it sound awesome.

You guys got any shows coming up? Are you recording any new music? What’s going on in the world of Desir Decir right now?

J – We just released an EP last October that we toured on, and we have a couple of songs we’re working on that we’re trying to put out on a 7 inch. As far as shows go next one is in August at Monty Hall. We’re heading out on tour next week we’re doing some shows in the New England area like Providence and Boston. Next local show is August 4^th and then after that, we’re writing.

G – Yeah we’ve been kind of in a writing stage recently as well.

J –All we’ve released are EPs.

I know how that goes, first three years in my band we only released EPs. You know, you write four songs, and you’re so excited to release them, so you just try and get it out there. The full length you gotta focus on.

J – It’s hard to take the time to do that everyone is so busy because everyone has jobs. I’m working like 60 hour weeks right now.

What are your favorite places to hang out?

J – I love Lucky 7s.

G – I mean I love it here where we are (LITM) haha. I spend a lot of time here by default, being that John and Mitch work here. I just end up here a lot.

J – I like Porta too.

G – I like the shows they’re putting on at Porta.

J – Yeah it’s cool to go out Saturday night and always see a show. Keyhole is always great, Ray (the owner) is awesome.

There have been a lot of solid music events around here. What are some of your favorites?

J – Groove on Grove. (Dancing) Tony is doing his thing there’s a lot of people around here getting into it too which is cool Lucky’s BBQ for years now, Pushing Up the Daisy’s Fest was cool. When they did the Ghost of Uncle Joe’s this year they only used to have one after party and this year they did it at like four different places.

The Halloween cover show?

J –Yeah

I was there when I saw there was a Misfits cover band in a graveyard I was not missing that. It was a good time; there were a ton of people, everyone knew the words, you’re not going to see something like that in most places especially in a graveyard.

G – Props to Dancing Tony, he’s responsible for so much.

Every time I interview people, his name always comes up.

G – He treats bands nice, he’s respectful because he cares, you know?

J – He has his shit together too. Like if he asks you to play you know it’s going to be good. He always has everything planned out, and he makes it happen. He brings people together, and he’s always treated us fair.

Being a band for awhile have you noticed any newer bands coming up?

J – I feel like it’s slow burn. There’s some really good bands like Baberaham Lincoln is easily one of my favorite local bands, Black Wail rules, Prostitute great electronic music and Overlake are also awesome they’ve been touring like crazy. Killing Horse Records has Cicada Radio is on that label with us.

Awesome, well good luck with everything and thank you guys for your time!

Social Media:

Twitter//Instagram – @desirdecir

Facebook: www.facebook.com/desirdecir