DRKWAV emerged from the darkness, with drummer Adam Deitch, keyboardist John Medeski, and saxophonist Skerik blending together to plunge into uncharted musical depths. Much like a diver exploring the black abyss of the deep sea, the music of DRKWAV is wrought with the exploration of unfamiliar tones and melodies. From a band that describes themselves on Facebook as living “in the unknown regions of dark sonics” and choosing “to unite to bring the dark truth to light,” naturally we had to dive deeper into their eponymous musical debut.

We had the chance to interview Skerik about The Purge, which will be released on February 24th. The album is true to its name, rolling waves of dark ambient tones, rich with the versatile virtuosity of Deitch, Medeski, and Skerik. Just how did they compose at this depth? As Skerik explains, “The DRKWAV collective hive mind uses the two time tested methods of creating music: ‘improvisation is composition sped up’ and ‘composition is improvisation slowed down’.”

The Purge opens to the synthesizer work of Medeski; big, brooding, echoing tones usher in percussive madness on “Darkwave.” Right from the outset, this music is atypical – gone are the familiarities of popular music: the melodies, verses and choruses. DRKWAV has created something new, unsettling yet exciting all the same. When asked about their unique style, Skerik simply says, “As Mr. Medeski says ‘hardening of the categories leads to art disease.'”

The music is simply impossible to define. We thought that the next song, “Soundtrack,” had some avant-garde jazz influences on it, but Skerik was quick to correct. “I wish we did have some ‘avant-garde jazz’ on the record, but we didn’t get around to it.” Still, Skerik’s saxophone adds an eerie suspense to the overall mood of the tune.

The musician is candid; when asked about the upcoming DRKWAV tour, he tells us that he is “very excited to spread the darkness.” When asked about the next song’s title, “Count Chokulus,” Skerik says, “Mr. Deitch received this title in a similar dream.” Clearly Skerik is proud of the intriguing mystery that is DRKWAV, and is very eager to share this music with his fans.

However, when we ask Skerik about his earlier work, he begins to open up. He talks about being brought in to play with Mad Season, a supergroup formed in the early-nineties Seattle grunge scene. Comprised of  Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Screaming Trees members, Skerik was included on the Live at the Moore video, and, when the surviving members of the band recently reunited for a show with the Seattle Symphony, Skerik got to play saxophone for them:

It was very fun, I played vibraphone, percussion and saxophone at the concert. Barrett Martin plays drums, percussion, mallets, acoustic bass, etc and he brought me in to play, very thankful for that opportunity. We just performed a couple weeks ago with the Seattle Symphony, Chris Cornell sang a few songs, one of them was ‘Long Gone Day.’ I got to play sax with them, it was mind blowing playing with the symphony, and Chris did an incredible job singing. 

He continues, talking about his perspective on the Seattle grunge scene and the evolution of live music performances.

The late eighties until 1993 were a very frustrating time for me in a way, because going out to see live music was not the same experience it is today. Most of the sound systems at clubs back then were horrible, and most of the bands in Seattle were really undeveloped rock bands that didn’t have much of a concept going. I was into the weirder bands like ‘FRED’, and later on ‘KILGORE TROUT’ etc.

I think people’s memories get romanticized, and I think a lot of the musicians and bands that made it later on would agree… You can’t start ‘awesome’… But there were some epic house parties and rare gigs that had amazing energy. Also, there were really only two clubs back then, The VOGUE and The CENTRAL that had bands that everyone knows now. I was more interested in what The RAINBOW was booking, you could see SUN RA and STAN GETZ and RONALD SHANNON JACKSON and FRED there. When I was 20 I was in a band called ARMS AKIMBO and we opened up for The NEVILLE BROTHERS there, crazy times…. CRITTERS BUGGIN definitely saved my life, it opened up a whole musical world that I had been looking for my whole life, very thankful to those guys, can’t wait to start recording our new record this fall!

Until Skerik’s new Critters Buggin album comes out, fans of the talented saxophonist will have to tune in to the new DRKWAV release. Packed with eight tracks, including a sit-in from Lettuce’s Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff on “Shmeeans Kuti,” The Purge lends itself to a full, cover-to-cover listen. The music rolls, bending into depths unknown and returning triumphantly each time. The Purge is certainly a one-of-a-kind beast in and of itself, and we too are very excited for this gifted trio to spread the darkness.

The album will be released this Tuesday, February 24th, and the trio will hit the Brooklyn Bowl on March 5th.

-Dave Melamed