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AN INTERVIEW: CHRIS DONOFRIO OF DEAL CASINO

Updated: Apr 28, 2019

Hi, everyone! The other day, I got to catch up with drummer Chris Donofrio of the Asbury Park, NJ-based band Deal Casino. This band was particularly special to find because three of the members, Joe Parella (vocals), Jozii Cowell (guitar), and Joe Rodney (bass) have been performing with each other since elementary school. Once Chris was named the drummer in 2015, the band kicked it into high gear. In total, the band has churned out 7 studio releases, and I’ve been fond of a lot of their stuff. With each release, Deal Casino keeps showing more and more promise as a strong name in the indie rock scene. In fact, the success of their latest record, LLC scored them a spot on the roster for Governors Ball in 2019! Though the band is currently touring to promote this album, I cannot express my gratitude to Chris for making time for a quick interview.


br: Which albums or artists influenced you to start a music career in the first place?

C.D.: I feel like we get asked this question a lot and we never have a good answer for it. I mean, we all grew up on our classic rock, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and stuff like that. I think when you’re a child, that’s the kind of stuff that makes you want to become a player first. But when you become a player and have an instrument you like, the next part is trying to be creative. We’ve all gone through our different phases of rock, but through all the wide arrays of music we really love Radiohead and Elliott Smith the most.


br: You mentioned Radiohead as an influence-I’m a huge fan of their work, too! What is your favorite record from them?

C.D.: Oh, boy. It’s a complicated answer, because their best album is OK Computer, but my favorite album is In Rainbows.


br: I 100% agree. So, I saw that the other three members of the band have been performing with each other since elementary school? How did you end up meeting them?

C.D.: Yes, the history is correct. Those guys practically grew up with each other, it’s pretty crazy. At one point, Joe [Parella] and I happened to end up on another gig together filling in for another artist from New Jersey named Nicole Atkins. We ended up doing a few shows together, and when we were rehearsing for her, he was showing me Deal Casino’s stuff. I was like “damn, this dude’s pretty good”. I think we were playing some of the band’s songs instead of practicing Nicole’s stuff, and it went from there.


br: Can you describe the band’s process for making songs?

C.D.: There’s a lot of different processes. Half of LLC was just us jamming in a room. The other half was songs both Joes built from start to finish in their computer that we went back and learned. I think our process is going more in that direction. Right now, we’re rethinking the creative process in terms of conventional confines of writing a song, demo it, do pre-production, then record. As we’re sitting in our hotel room, Joe has his headphones on and he’s working on another song that will probably end up on our next album.


br: Do you guys like to improvise when you make music or do you typically strive to get something right in the studio?

C.D.: When the four of us set up to jam, we improvise for about an hour. 90% of the time, there is content we will turn into a song. However, there are things that will be built in a computer from the bottom up and just get added onto.


br: What do you value more- lyricism or production value and instrumentation?

C.D.: At the end of the day, lyrics are what make the song good or not. A bad lyric on a good song makes it not so great. At the same time, I do think the production sets the mood, and that puts us in the direction we want to go. If I’m being honest, I would say they’re equally important.


br: If you could compare Deal Casino’s sound to any other band, who would you say and why?

C.D.: It’s a fun question, but I could be construed arrogantly or stupidly, you know? We’re trying to be a band from the 90s, where people were playing things and there were feelings and emotions in the music. Music was live and nothing was ever on tracks, just a band playing. Our vibe right now is 90s bands like Nirvana or Radiohead.


br: What songs would you recommend to those who are looking to check out Deal Casino?

C.D.: I would probably start them off with “French Blonde” from our newest album. It’s kinda weird but still a pop song. It has a lot of energy and it encompasses all of the things we do well. The first five or six songs on LLC are some of my favorite that we’ve ever done. “Color TV”, “Happy People”, and “Chocolate Cake”, plus “French Blonde” are probably the starter pack for our band.


br: How did you guys react to getting on the lineup for Governors Ball this year?

C.D.: We flipped the f--k out. It’s the coolest thing that ever happened to us, for sure. It’s still weird looking at our name on the lineup, and I don’t know if it’s ever not going to be staggering. [Governor Ball] is the biggest festival on the East Coast, at least in our area. There’s not a lot of bands on the lineup that will allow all of them to stand out.


br: What music goals does the band have for the future?

C.D.: We probably want to make another record this year. LLC was really the first record where we’ve been really proud of what we’ve done. We want to try and do something- artistically and creatively- that matches that. We’re also doing well out here touring, so if that continues to build, we would also be very satisfied with.


I want to thank Chris again for taking the time to sit down to interview, and I wish these gents the best of luck in their future endeavors. To those who haven’t heard anything from Deal Casino yet, I strongly recommend that you to check them out! They have a lot of forward-thinking, yet nostalgic pop-rock that will give them an even bigger following after performing at Governors Ball. Thanks so much for reading this, and more great content is coming your way soon!


To support Deal Casino's music, go to https://dealcasino.bandcamp.com/


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