Listen to the exclusive premiere of DVAS' new single, "Society"!
Ironic DJs in Toronto are a dime a dozen. And yet, while plenty of them embody the sunglasses-at-night stereotype, few have the original music to back it up. Enter DVAS, who appropriately enough, formed in Edmonton.
“This project started in 2003 basically as a joke,” says singer/keyboardist Jered Stuffco, of live dance outfit DVAS, which also includes co-singer/keyboardist Darren Veres, drummer Dean Wales and bassist Dan Carlyle. “It’s only over the last two years that it’s taken on a life of its own. I was working on some tracks last summer and got some label interest and figured, fuck it, let’s do an album and do some shows.” Their album is tentatively scheduled to come out this summer.
With songs inspired by Michael Douglas sex-addiction flick Black Rain, plus the excellent and self-aware booty-shaking anthem “Consenting Adults,” DVAS do it live with real drumming, vocals and kinetic energy, as well as their own signature squiggle synths, sounding like a yacht-rock Chromeo. Their influences are vast and surprising — Stuffco mentions tunes by
classical violinist turned house maestro Kelley Polar and American industrial metal band Ministry as amongst his favourite “deep cuts.”
“I have a tonne of respect for a DJ who can really control a crowd,” says Stuffco. “It’s almost like being a stand-up comedian, where the whole room decides whether you make it or break it. But if you’re a DJ and things aren’t going well, you can just play ‘Blue Monday’ and everyone will love you again. [We, on the other hand,] have only original material — DVAS can’t play ‘Blue Monday.’ We have to sell people on our music, and the lion’s share of the material is coming off the stage, live. I like that if we don’t stick to the format, it could go completely off the rails. At any moment the whole band could completely self-destruct.”
Far more considered than their himbo image, DVAS take all aspects of their performance as seriously as their music.
“We always try to present different sides of our personality in what we wear,” says Stuffco. “We did one photo shoot where Darren and I are doing like a Scarface thing — he’s Omar Suarez, I’m Tony Montana holding it down. For one show, I showed up in a baseball hat and a football jersey and looked like one of those hoods you see at McDonald’s hanging out at Queen and Spadina. It’s not something we’re super-conscious of, but nobody wants to show up in head-to-toe Urban Outfitters. Maybe for the EYE WEEKLY show, I’ll wear a monocle.”