We got sent a ton of interview questions from a Swedish blogger asking to interview Dostah Shilailee. He answered & sent them back about a month ago. For whatever reason, the blogger refuses to respond to us and decided not to publish the interview. So we published it ourselves 🙂 Enjoy! P.S. we kept all the typos in for authenticity.
What´s the name of your band? Dostah Shilailee
How was the band formed? My host was born, then at some point in its life span I splintered off from him. I am one of three, yet I am not one.
Can you tell about your band? I can…
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We are originally from the Hudson Valley, New York, USA. Dostah Shilailee is a one entity act, usually just making rhythm and noise with computer programs, keyboards and sound effects.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? At first, Dostah Shilailee embodied all of the different Sykophunk styles together. But over time the personalities split into separate artists.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven’t heard you? An orgy of emotions and electronics. My label often refers to me as the “experiMental electronic enigma” – that works for me.
Where was your first gig? Chester, NY – it was like Fisher Price, My First Rave. But I recall one chick going to the hospital for dehydration, so I guess it was legit.
Where was the latest gig? Carl’s Tavern in New Haven, Indiana. One of our favorite venues in the area.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? The world writes the songs. I’m just the vessel through which they get chewed up and puked out.
Who has the best since of humor in the band? Clearly, an artist with a song called “A Narcoleptic on Elm Street” has no sense of humor.
What’s good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? Everything is both good and bad about Dostah Shilailee – that’s what the name means. What genre my music is depends on the audience. To drunk people in a bar or club, it’s dance music. To hipsters, it’s indie post-electronica. To people who hate me, it’s called techno.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? I don’t pick style. Style picks me. My songs usually symbolize extremes of human emotion and/or the chaotic order of pure randomness. With a little bit of horror and rEvolution thrown in the mix. Because broccoli.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Most of my music is original arrangements of borrowed elements. You know, electronic music.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? I have three albums currently available: Long Lost Experiments, Bad Trip In Stereo and Copyright Laws Are For Pussies.
Do you have any clips on YouTube? There are a few videos featuring Dostah Shilailee music on Youtube. There needs to be more. I think the video of Stephen Colbert poppin and lockin to my track is still out there somewhere.
How old are you?/What got you started in music? I was probably born in the mid to late 90’s, but my host is way older 😉 He’s been into music since he was 12. By the time I emerged, he was just getting into techno/industrial/goth music, and ultimately I am the product of all that.
At what age did you start playing? At birth. I was born out of music. Rhythm fucked melody and created a monster!
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Early twenties. Before that we always sat on stage.
What year was the band started? The first demo tape with the name Dostah Shilailee on it was recorded in the ancient year of 1996.
Best/worst gig you’ve played? The best gig I ever did was probably New Years with joe DOE and BL8 last year. Those two got shitfaced and freestyled to my crazy beats for a full half hour, which somehow we pulled off awesomely. The worst gig: every one that Sykophunk Productions doesn’t put me on. Fuckers.
What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We’re actually taking a break from live shows to work on recording new material. After that, all I know is we don’t want to play the same spots we used to. Fort Lame is played out.
Where have you played from then till now? We’ve gone from New York to California and ended up in Indiana. Don’t ask me how that happened.
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? Probably Die Antwoord. Lots of lights and theatrics, great energy and loads of sexual imagery. Rammstein might be a close second on all accounts.
Is it always the same songs live? What is it? It’s it! What is it?
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Like I said, that New Years show was tits.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Not really touring in the conventional sense, but we have traveled across the US and settled into different scenes, until we realize that it’s wack, then we pick up and move on to a new area. Probably about time to do that again. We’ll find our home one day.
How big crowds do you usually play for? Depends on how good the drink specials are at the venue. Ha ha ha… I laugh because it’s sad.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? Writing, recording – maybe actually working on the Democalypse prequel, finally, again!
Where do you usually play? How do you get psyched up for a gig? What are your goals with your music? We don’t play anywhere right now. I don’t get psyched up for a gig, I get depressed because I know it’s going to suck. My goal is to never play a show again. I’m kidding?
When did you decide to go all in for the music? The second I realized that the music industry was a poker game.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? I get more inspiration from different sources, not so much other artists. But in general, music from the 80’s and 90’s probably inspires me most.
What are your sources of inspiration? Video game music, memories, dreams, psychology, philosophy, metaphysics, extremes of human emotion, rEvolution, horror movies and literature, apocalyptic scenarios, tai chi and chai tea.
What’s the first step when making a new song? A random idea that hatches in my brain like an intrusive newborn that must be nurtured or it will die.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? One of my albums is called “Copyright Laws Are For Pussies” – that about sums it up.
What would be your dreams for the band? We just want to be able to make a comfortable living off of doing what we love to do without compromising our artistic integrity, and get our message out to people who really care in the process. Hey, you said “dream”!
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I like scores and soundtracks, cheesy Halloween albums and polka.
What do you hold most dear? My junk.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? Losing my junk.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Shitting my pants.
Have you been part of any other projects? Dostah Shilailee has been a part of the Democalypse trilogy, Sykophunk Soundtracks, The Stephen Colbert Me-Mix and several online collaborations through Indaba.com.
Have you been in any other bands? My host and/or alter ego(s) have been in many bands/groups, including Triple Vision, Dramatic Effect, Uther, Mother Prick of Misery (oh wait, that was just another one-man act, I think), Domino Effect, Mo City Misfits, etc.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Time and money, baby, time and money.
What would you do if there was no music? Invent it.
How important are your fans? On a scale of 1 to 10, they are a W.
What’s the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Probably not a fan, but I recall someone on the old Garage Band site told me that I needed to “pray to God for forgiveness for making that song.” Not sure exactly what they meant, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
How often do you rehearse? Never.
Where do you rehearse? In my head.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? My own songs are hard to talk about objectively, so I like them based on their titles. My 2 current faves are “I’d Hit Dat” and “Baby’s First Chicken Twat.”
What do you feel is the best live band you’ve seen? I’m having deja lu.
What drives a band that isn’t all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally I am addicted to making music. And I don’t really care to kick the habit.
Do you have any webpages? Indeed. I can be found somewhere on http://sykophunk.com and also on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DostahShilailee), Reverb Nation (http://www.reverbnation.com/dostahshilailee) and I think I’m still on Soundclick and Myspace too, but who cares?
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Don’t half ass it. If you don’t love making music with every ounce of your being, don’t do it at all. This is a competitive, thankless cut-throat business. Going indie and underground is where it’s at, but you will almost always lose money instead of making it. It’s all a big numbers game – nobody but you and your true diehard fans give a shit about your music.
Describe your show, visually and musically. We usually put all Sykophunk artists on the same show, so visually it looks like a bunch of maniacs jumping around in masks and bloody shirts with heads on sticks. We like theatrics and lights. And blood. Musically, it sounds like a clusterfuck of genres glued together with bass-heavy beats.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? “It’s got a death curse!”
What advice would you like to give other bands? Keep your day job.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Money, time, people, bullshit politics of a dying industry… just to name a few.
What is worst with playing the clubs? Dealing with venue owners and drunk people.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Is this a trick question? Most people don’t come out to local shows to support the artists – they come out to party.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence. Dostah Shilailee is a chaotic fusion of sounds and concepts electronically manipulated and molded into small doses over banging beats.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? The accordion.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Every day is a struggle.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? Dwelling on regret in between puking.
Do you have anything to add? Despite my piss poor attitude, all of my music is free, so there is really no reason to not give it a shot. Go to the Sykophunk Bandcamp page and download Dostah Shilailee or any of our artists. Look us up on Facebook & Twitter too – that way you can hit us up and tell us personally how much we suck. We love hate mail. But if you actually like it, we wouldn’t mind hearing that either.
DIO: Do It Ourselves 