|
 What
do you get when you put together one up and coming new artist and a Hollywood actor running around, playing the
crucial role of tour manager? The answer, inevitably, is disaster. Rocco
DeLuca and his band, the Burden found this to their cost when star of hit TV
show 24 Kiefer Sutherland took charge of the band on their tour of
Europe. The results can be seen in a documentary, I Trust You To Kill Me,
which is also the name of their debut album. It’s probably safe to assume
that with a less than qualified tour manager at the helm, things didn’t exactly
go according to plan.
“We
fired him,” laughs Rocco. “We couldn’t keep up with him is what it was.
It was like a constant state of suspense if you imagine what that feels
like. He made even that situation fun and funny. When it was good, it was
good. When it was weird, it was a laugh. So in that respect he was the best”.
And
while he doesn't regret having the experience documented on film, Rocco was apprehensive
at the time.
“I
had never been filmed before, period. I don’t even have many pictures as a kid
let alone three cameras following me for a month, so it was awkward for me to
say the least. Everyone just told me to shut up and deal with it, so I kind of
did. Then the time came to show the film and I got really nervous because they
showed us struggling and that was hard to watch,” he admits. “But
I’ve now had a bit of separation from the film and I’m now noticing people –
that’s the very thing people liked about movie. They liked the fights, and
people like to see people work hard for what they do. People have come up to me
and said that it’s inspired them to do what they do. I love hearing that so I
have no regrets at this point”.
For the
Californian singer songwriter, music was something he grew up with. He was
surrounded by musicians and his father was a touring guitarist for Bo Diddly.
“I
was pretty removed from my dad’s life. He came in and out and played a little
bit, and then left. He was more of a mystery to me than anything. There were my
family’s friends who were musicians and people who would come in and out of my
life were mostly artists and musicians,” he remembers. “Art, drugs
and all that stuff was all mixed together. It was inspiring and scary all at the same time. There was no anchor or security. They were very gypsy, living
off the graces of whatever it was they were trying to attempt, whether it was
art or drugs or whatever. I saw that, and I saw the beauty in it but
there was also shadiness in there as well”.
Having
befriended his granddaughter Tiffany Lowe, Rocco spent one Christmas with
Johnny Cash and his family at their home in Nashville.
“I
was fortunate to have spent a month at the house with Johnny Cash and June
Carter and play music. It was a really great experience,” he recalls.
“I was just really blessed to have that opportunity because I was a huge fan
of both the Carter family and Johnny Cash. Amazing presence, just really
genuine, pure people and artists, some of the greatest people I’ve met in my
life for sure”.
Rocco
made the decision to go professional three or four years ago, becoming a
regular fixture at the Gypsy Lounge, blues and country bar and opening for Taj
Mahal, John Mayall and John Lee Hooker. It was at this venue that he won
over his future label boss Keifer and co-founder of Ironworks, Jude Cole.
“It
was a pretty organic process really. They had heard a demo I had done and
starting to just come and watch me play. They’re both really passionate about
what they do and that’s the most important thing. If they don’t know how
to do something, they make a way to do it. They’re just extremely passionate,”
he says. “Music was never to me a form of
business or something I thought about like I’m going to be a professional
musician. You’re not thinking too hard like that, especially when you’re
younger, you just to play. I’ve played
with my friends, I’ve played with my family and I’d do little shows here and
there, writing songs. It was always what
I felt was a pretty natural thing for me”.
The
album was released in May, coinciding with the film. It was critically acclaimed, earning comparisons to
Jeff Buckley and Led Zeppelin. Opening track Gift, which features the line
“Don’t try to fix me because I’m broken”.
“I
think we all try to fit a square into a circle our whole lives. I know I have,
especially with the music I write, it doesn’t belong in any genre. That’s
something I’m a little awkward about because it’s hard to promote music that
doesn’t fit in any perfect category. Just as a person myself, I’m too this, I’m
too little of this, or too much of that my whole life, so I realise, that the
only way to properly try to me, and I’m still learning and making a lot
mistakes by the way, but one thing I’ve learnt is that that you just forge your
own way,” he explains. “You’ve just got to be passionate about what you
believe in and kind of let out there and let people take the piss out of it if
they want to. I didn’t even know what I was writing when I wrote it but I
realise that that’s exactly been my life. I’ve just surrendered and am pleading
to just let me be. I think that line definitely describes my situation and my
discourse”.
Soon
to hit the shores for a short tour of the UK after which he’ll be
doing some US
dates with our very own Keane.
“I
thought the new record was really good. I’m sure it’ll be fun playing with them,”
Rocco enthuses. “I got to meet to them when we did Top Of The Pops right
before it ended. I don’t think it ever aired though because I think it ended
right before it was actually going to air, but Keane were playing on the same
day and Gnarls Barkley were playing too and it was fun to see them both up
there”.
Rocco and The Burden are currently touring the UK
For more information: www.roccodeluca.com
Words: Helen Duong
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