Interview with Nick Feltes and Joe Ott of Death of Self

Chicago skate punk band Death of Self release their first full-length album, Look Elsewhere, next month. You may have seen them around the DIY scene or you may have seen them opening for La Armada at Cobra Lounge. The band will be back at that venue for their album release show on March 16 with Still Alive, Burdened, Thisishowitendedintokyo and Sawbuck. More info on that show here. Listen to Death of Self's EPs at their Bandcamp page. I talked with vocalist/guitarist Nick Feltes and drummer Joe Ott about the new album and release show.

Phil Collins: Death of Self's first full-length album is coming out next month. Is everything pretty much ready or is there still preparation you guys are working on?

Nick Feltes: There's definitely some preparation left. We're mostly just finalizing artwork, making merch designs, and promoting the show, but the month before the release has proven to be just about the busiest yet.

PC: Is there going to be a physical release?

NF: 100%. CDs are coming first, and then we're looking into cassettes, as well.

Joe Ott: Then it would definitely be cool to press it onto vinyl, but we'll see how things go.

PC: Are you self-releasing or are you working with a label?

NF: As of right now, we're releasing it completely by ourselves. We've had a couple of indie-labels express interest, but we feel like we have a pretty good grasp on the business side of the band. In the future, we would definitely be interested in working with a label. It just needs to be one that we feel can bring more to the table than we can ourselves.

PC: Are any of the older songs on the new album or is it all new material?

NF: There are a couple of old songs in there, but it's mostly new material. The old ones that are in there, are back now because since doing them on old releases, we've made some changes and added a couple parts that really expand upon the ideas the old ones presented. But, yeah. There is a lot of new stuff we can't wait to show everyone.

PC: As far as the sound of the new stuff, is it similar to the old stuff or is the sound going through some changes?

NF: The new stuff definitely has some differences from the older songs. However a lot of the changes that we brought to the older songs have kind of brought them up to speed with the newer songs. As a whole, I think fans are going to notice that there is a very apparent step up in song writing from our old EPs and demos to this new album.

JO: Yeah, the album is really picking up where the old songs left off!

PC: As a collector I do like hearing different versions of songs. It sounds like you guys hit on something with the newer songs, did that help you decide to do a full length instead of another EP?

NF: That, and we just had so many songs written at that point. It just felt like making a full length was the logical next step.

PC: You guys play a lot of DIY shows, do you have a favorite spot in the Chicagoland area?

NF: With DIY spots it's a little tough to say, because some of our favorite DIY shows have happened at places that only had one or two shows and then went away, but there is a place up in northside called Galaxie that is doing pretty well right now, and throwing some really cool shows! So that's probably our favorite DIY spot right now. As for official venues, we've had a pretty great time playing at Cobra Lounge and SubT.

PC: Galaxie is a really neat spot. I’ve been to the last two Uglybones shows there, and I can’t help but wonder what goes on there during the day. It is a great place to see a show. How was the show you recently played with La Armada at Cobra Lounge?

NF: It was fantastic! It was actually the first sold out show we've ever played as well! The guys from La Armada have been super great to us, and have really helped us to go about things in a more professional manner. And those guys are just so talented, they make us want to play better!

PC: Their album from last year was definitely a favorite. The release show will also be at Cobra Lounge, all ages, with plenty of local talent. Anything else we need to know about the show?

JO: We picked the line up to be a showcase of our favorite bands from town that we've played with, and we think have a lot of potential. And we can't wait for them to play as much as we can't wait to play!

NF: And it's also a free show on a Saturday night, at one of our favorite places. It's going to be a lot of fun!