Interview with Deal Casino in St. Louis

Deal Casino rolled through St. Louis tonight, 11/17/18, with Badflower and The Wrecks at Delmar Hall. Playing new songs from their album LLC, now available everywhere. Two of the New Jersey natives, Chris Donofrio (drums) and Jon Rodney (bass) talk to Splice Magazine about the new album, touring and working with some of their best friends. Be sure to view the concert gallery for pictures of their set!

Splice: The set tonight was amazing! Which song is the most challenging to play live?

DC: I think a lot of them, most of the new record is challenging for all of us to play. It took us about 5 shows on this tour to get our set list right. As far as what what working and what wasn’t. The wrecks crowd comes to party. We can go a couple different directions. We can bring the rock but we also really have a tendency to bum people out too. So we did that the first night in Portland, after that we kinda switched some other stuff out and we should probably be a little bit more fun and that landed where we were tonight.

Splice: From a technical perspective which song is the most challenging to perform?

DC: “French Blonde” but Joe C would probably say “Chocolate Cake” because he has all three synthesizers going on.

Splice: I read in Talk Nerdy With Us you all live together is that still the case?

Jon: Not so much, we all live within a mile radius, Joe P and I (Jon) live in the same house. Joe P and I grew up together and I was in his second grade class, we have been friends forever.

Splice: That’s so cool to have friendships that are solidified from second grade through a huge blow up in a musical career.

Splice: Which song on LLC means the most to you?

DC: Well I’ll tell you right now, the most meaningful song to us on the whole record is Father’s Day. We were crying when we recorded it. This record is about as heartfelt as we’ll get. As far as being people.

Splice: It seems very introspective and personal

DC: It’s not a fictional record.

Splice: I think thats what makes LLC so phenomenal, it seems like you guys just took your heart and said “here America, please hear our music and feel all the things that we’ve felt.”

Splice: You’ve talked about your work with Erik Romero before, how did you meet Erik and form the relationship you have today?

DC: We did our first ever record as Deal Casino with Erik as the Engineer, this was probably about 6 years ago. Ever since then every time we record, Erick is our Engineer. And then we decided to self produce our own record, you’re like our best friend and we would like for you to be on the creative side of this record. And we could look at him, not just as an engineer and producer and he would tell us honestly. He’s an amazing Engineer and producer, as well as friend.

Splice: It sounds like he has your best interest in mind

DC: Yes he helps us keep it as artistic as possible. And we needed that. He’s all about the song and the music and he pushes everything else aside. He pushes everything else aside and just strictly wants to make what’s best for the song. He’s about as important to our band as any of us are.

Splice: You’re currently on tour with Badflower and The Wrecks ! Are there any stops on the tour you’re extra excited about?

DC: Every one, every one has been better than the last. The midwestern crowds have been the best.

Splice: I have seen some discussion with Deal Casino’s love of vintage gear. What are some vintage instruments you have that hold near and dear?

Jon: Anything with a weird sound. We got into this realm of modular synthesis and it’s like you’re forming and molding electricity in a way. You can take different effects and manipulate the way a sound is going to sound. Modular synths like Joe C uses onstage for “French Blonde”, “Baby Teeth” and the song we aren’t playing on this tour, “Cookman.“

Splice: The video for “French Blonde” and “Father’s Day” are inspired, can we look forward to anymore videos from LLC?

DC: We worked on a video for “Baby Teeth” right before we left for tour. It came out really fun and we will see what happens. We are waiting on the final cut. We have a really good creative partner with our friend Anthony. So there’s reason not to make every video. Sorry Anthony!

S: I’m sure he loves it!

DC: He’s really good at what he does. Any crazy idea that Joe P has, he makes happen.

Splice: Finally, if you could collaborate with any band currently still together, who would it be?

DC : The Front Bottoms

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