Demeter Capsalis - Druid Stone
When and where were you born? Are you originally from Herndon, VA?
I was born in Fairfax Hospital, Northern Virginia. A wintry morning of January, 1994. I’m an Aquarius, hahaha. Sure am! Born & raised.
What was growing up like for you?
Northern Virginia is notoriously a very saturated area, but I was very lucky to grow up in a quaint town in the midst of it all. Herndon is small & ethnic. I grew up in the Greek orthodox church & spent most of my downtime with buddies playing pretend & roaming around in the creek. Antenna-TV was the rage. I loved Teletubbies and then came Cartoon Network. Ate lotsa Goldfish crackers & Oatmeal Cream Pies. Zany Brainy was my favorite watering hole. The 90’s was a goofy time.
When did you first become interested in music and what instruments did you learn to play? Do you have any siblings?
From my baby daze, I always loved music & got tunes stuck in my head. The 90’s & early 2000’s were fabulous times for the radio industry as far as I can recall, hahaha. My folks both exposed me to a lot of really cool music that left a deep impression on my curious mind, too. When I started listening to what is commonly known as classic rock around 13 or so, I began picking out chords & licks on a small acoustic guitar meant for kids. Then came punk rock & amplifiers, & the rest is Kisstory. Yes! Two older sisters of whom I am extremely proud. They have hearts of gold & smiles that can light up a room. They both have careers helping kids in need. They inspire me to live my life to the fullest and be full of love, too!
What was your local music scene like?
Herndon is a very special place with a very special muse that possesses the souls of misfit kids. I was lucky to grow up in a community of young musicians who found the same passion: it turned out to be heavy music for all of us. Bands like Brain Tree (who even had an inimitable stage-prop of a styrofoam brain impaled on a long wooden stick), The Misspoken, Satan’s Satyrs, Dial-Up, & Puke Mutes (proto-Druid Stone) represented a unified yet widely varied sound of the town. Shit was heavy! Hahaha. We had jam sessions very frequently and shared many hazy nights of fun! We recognized each other as co-conspirators in a grand heist of Kicks. We were trouble makers but we were wide-eyed & harmless. Those were groovy daze.
Where would you go to see bands perform and who were among some of the first groups you saw live that left a heavy impression on you?
There was a club in downtown Herndon called “So Addictive!” that hosted heavy rock gigs. I remember seeing a band there called Akris, who were from the area. They played some depraved, doomy songs that really blew my mind. Prior to that, there were some shows at a local house known as The Daycare. One gig that lives in legend was a split bill with Them Misspoken, Satan’s Satyrs, & Puke Mutes (proto-Druid Stone). We all knew & revered each other's music, but that gig made us realize that we had a special community of misfit toys going on. We were all 16, 17 years old. The performances were stellar. We all sucked in the best possible way. We convened in the woods behind the house between sets to pass around some tokes. It was lovely.
When did you realize that music was something you wanted to pursue?
As soon as Puke Mutes morphed into Druid Stone (Fall of 2011), I knew this was my mission in life. Fuzz poetry & mystical doom!
Did you participate in any other groups prior to Druid Stone?
Yes! Prior to Druid Stone, the band I grew up with was called Puke Mutes. We were fucking heavy! The line-up was: madman Mike Graham on drums, the wizard Andrew Thaler on bass & vocals, and myself on guitar & vocals. Our style could be described as stoner punk or hippie doom. We formed in Summer of 2010, after a particularly riveting Brain Tree gig at the town community center. Smoking in the woods behind the building, we vowed to form a band of our own; and play insane, heavy rock songs! This we accomplished. We recorded a 5-song E.P., a follow up 3-song effort of even heavier material, and performed a handful of riotous gigs in the DMV area. We stuck out quite sorely in the scene, being three 16 year-old hippies clad in tie-dye shirts and torn up pants. We never disbanded - rather, we evolved from one band to another. When Black Sabbath bootlegs & Grateful Dead trips fully mutated our brains, we shifted from Puke Mutes to Druid Stone. This first iteration of Druid Stone lasted until Fall of 2012, recording one 3-song demo E.P. in the winter of 2011. Things fizzled out after that demo. We were too interested in getting high to keep the band going at the time.
When did the band initially start?
Fall of 2011 was the evolution of Puke Mutes into Druid Stone. In addition to our shift in musical appetites, I happened to be reading an old hardcover book of mythology at the time. There was a fabulous chapter written on Druids, and the descriptions of their ritual stones really blew my mind. The titular song “Druid Stone” was written that autumn of 2011, and when Puke Mutes started to play that tune we decided to rename / re-fashion the band in its likeness. And the rest - yes - is Kisstory!
How did you initially meet the other member Stephen Fairfield?
Stephen is not a Druid Stone member, rather our guest drummer! Nevertheless, Stephen & I have been friends for - shit, 13 years now? In any case, we grew up walking distance from each other. We also went to the same elementary school. Go Dranesville Dragons! Later on, Stephen was a member of a local band I previously mentioned called Dial-Up. Dial-Up played super heavy and deranged ‘scrams’. And Herndon kids of a feather often rock out together. We’ve played in each other's bands on and off for years, including his current band An Invitation. An Invitation is a must-listen for all fans of early 80’s So-Cal burn-out punk, stamped with Stephen’s unique and super heavy twist!
Is it just the two of you?
No, our fuzzed-out bassist is a punk wizard & fellow Pentagram devotee from Maryland named Nicktape! Stephen is our guest drummer. He will be playing drums at our debut gigs in Washington D.C. (April 23rd & May 8th) with Nicktape & I, then splitting to focus on An Invitation. I could not be more excited for Stephen! He’s very ambitious for An Invitation and I am so proud of him for doing what makes him happy. That being said, more on Nicktape! He is such a wonderful guy, my kindred pizza lover & doom nerd. He and I have known each other since the Puke Mutes days (he even booked one of the Puke Mutes gigs in D.C., back in 2010). Prior to Nicktape joining in Spring of 2022, Druid Stone from Fall of 2021 to late-winter 2022 was just me in the studio. All of our recorded material from the Demo Comp ‘21 to the forthcoming L.P. is me overdubbing instruments in a sub-basement. Namely, my folks' sub-basement in Herndon. Thanks Mom & Dad, for being my best friends & allowing me to come over and make a lot of noise. Hahaha!
What were your first impressions of Fairfield? When and where did you guys first get together to play and rehearse and what was that experience like as well as the chemistry right off the bat? How did the name for the band come about?
Who’s that buff dude with a shaved head playing waltz-time interludes in Dial-Up? Hahaha, only jesting. Lord knows I looked even sillier being a pimply hippie in outgrown khakis. Stephen is my buddy for life and I love him with all of my heart. He is so funny & so talented. I cherish every day we spend skateboarding down our hometown hills. I cherish every night we go on Taco Bell runs, ad-libbing poop jokes into Pentagram songs. Stephen & I first jammed on Druid Stone songs Spring of this year! It was exactly like all the bands we’ve played in together: two hometown, kindred fuck-ups unleashing a life’s worth of rage into our instruments. Totally in sync. Druid Stone was the name of a song I wrote in the Fall of 2011. The name was inspired by a hand-me-down book of mythology I was reading, which contained a fabulous chapter on druids. When Puke Mutes jammed on that tune, we loved it so much that we decided to change the band name to Druid Stone! The lyrics are written about being outcast from teenage society, finding refuge in mysticism and poetry. It was a symbolic way for me to wave my freak flag, and the music was fucking heavy too! It clicked perfectly. As if it always meant to be!
Prior to the new record, the group released a cassette on the label Doomshire Tapes. Can you tell me about that?
For sure! The cassette is called “Druid Stone Demo Comp ‘21” and it contains 6 demos recorded in the autumn of last year. Keith at Doomshire Tapes is a wonderful bloke, he’s Captain Dooms! It was so much fun working with Keith & arranging the materials for this release. Most importantly, it means a lot to our Druid Stoners that love the lo-fi sound of our demos to be able to get 6 of them on tape! This is for all of you, my Friends in Fuzz!
What was the writing and recording process like for that project?
It was just me in the sub-basement in Herndon, pouring my heart out on 6 very sloppy (and I say that lovingly, hahaha) demos. I overdubbed the instruments & vocal parts surrounded by amplifiers and speakers. I only own two microphones, and they’re both bootleg SM-57s. Raw shit, hahahaha. My best friend & life partner Armand was supporting me through some difficult periods of self-doubt at the time. Armand pushed me very lovingly & insightfully to see the demos through, and it turned out to be a whole lotta fun!
How did this all come about and can you walk me through how you wanted to approach those songs? When and where did recording start and how did the deal with Doomshire Tapes come about?
Many of the demos are songs written a decade ago. Songs like “Druid Stone”, “Dance of the Dead”, “Dance of Poseidon” all date from those early daze. My task was to bring the songs and the band back to life! Everybody has their 10 year cycles. Mine was a rebirth! As far as production goes, I kept it raw as fuck (hence LO-FI HI-LO, hahaha). My approach was simple: attitude or nothing! That’s the Herndon way - at least the way I remember it from way back when. In any case I’m very lucky to have won back my music. Orpheus visits the underworld but doesn’t look back! That’s the trip right there! Recording started Fall of 2021 in my parents’ sub-basement in Herndon, VA. Thanks again Mom & Dad for letting me visit and make a crap load of noise, hahaha. And Doomshire Tapes never presented a deal per se, more so two underground doom freaks deciding to have some fun together! And that, my friend, is what it’s all about. 4/20 of 2022 will see the release of the band’s first LP release on Saturn Eye Records.
What can you tell me about this project and what are you most excited about for folks to hear on the record?
Ohhh yes! Shit man, what can I not tell you about this record? I will try my best to be concise. This L.P. is a carefully executed doom hippie trip from the land of my dreams. I am so excited for our Druid Stoners & any newcomers alike to hear the official debut of the band! Much like the demos, this album was recorded solo. Just me, my two shitty microphones, and a sub-basement filled with speaker cabinets. Unlike the demos though, the sonic objective was less ‘song by song’ & more ‘L.P. as a whole’. The sound is more refined, but never strays from our signature LO-FI HI-LO vibe. Perhaps a LO-FI HI-LO deluxe edition? Hahaha. For all our Druid Stoners that love our Black Sabbath covers, I can’t wait for you to hear which song we cover on the album! For all our newcomers, welcome to the trip! I hope it's nothing but fun; if you love the tunes, hit me up! As our Druid Stoners know, I love to talk with new Friends in Fuzz!
How did the deal with this label come about?
I’ve known Alex from Saturn Eye since we were teenagers - or burn-outs, depending on how you look at it! Hahaha. Alex is from a nearby town & I met them through the local skate scene. We’d often see each other at the skatepark and share some groovy laughs! As far as the label goes, very similarly to Doomshire there was no deal per se. In this case: it was two longtime friends saying, “hey why the fuck not?” I owe so much gratitude & so much credit to Alex for believing in Druid Stone. They encouraged me to rekindle the band, before the demos were even recorded. They went out on a limb to start the label of their dreams, nominating Druid Stone as their pilot release. That’s fucking beautiful! I am so proud of them, and I am so excited to see what they accomplish with Saturn Eye. “We don’t smoke weed, but we used to!” Keep up with Saturn Eye on instagram @saturneyerecords for tons of cool records from Alex’s robust collection as well! Tell them Demeter sent ya!
When and where did recording begin and how have you been able to navigate this project during the pandemic? Was there a specific direction and/or vision you had in mind while recording this album?
Recording began January 2022, and was completed on the following February 11th. Sessions went down in the same Herndon sub-basement as the demos! Just me, my two shitty bootleg microphones, and a room filled with Peavey stacks. Having fun and kicking ass! I wouldn’t have been able to complete those sessions without the encouragement of my best friend & life partner Armand. They helped me through some nasty depressions after being strung along by certain men in the scene who heard the demos. I wont say who, and that’s water under the bridge. This sort of thing happens when you’re a woman, especially when you’re a trans woman. As far as navigating the pandemic goes, sessions started during Omicron. I followed all the scientific advice to the best of my ability! I got vaccinated as soon as possible & masked rigorously to prevent infecting anybody more vulnerable than myself. Safety is cool! The direction... 100% fuzzed out, freaked out, psyched out doom. The kind of vibes that only Druid Stone can create. We call it Doom Hippie, or we call it Peace Metal! The vision... was really just to have fun bringing Druid Stone back to life! To make some new friends and pass around the good trips! To me that is what it’s all about. Druid Stoners, I love you all!
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Absolutely! A few things, if I may. Firstly: TRANS IS BEAUTIFUL! This is for all the Druid Stoners! I love you all! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my Friends in Fuzz, for having so much fun with me, and for loving the music! I’d also like to say: that all cisgender men, especially the men that succeed in the rock scene, need to see therapists. This is not a judgment. Therapy is beautiful. Growing and maturing as a person is a beautiful process. I’d also like to say: musicians that take their community for granted & treat their peers like shit, you are not cool. You are uncool. The people you grew up with, making heavy music; and the people who fell in love with your music later on are all gifts. If you waste those gifts, it’s an equally valuable loss. I’d also like to say: drugs are not cool. Getting high is not cool. Getting drunk is not cool. What makes a person cool is having a good heart. If you do drugs and/or drink, please be safe. That being said, coke turns people into monsters. Especially men. Going through realizations about these sorts of things is normal. Everybody goes through it in time. Lord knows I did. And I wouldn’t trade it out for the world!
https://shop.saturneyerecords.com/product/dancin-n-burnin
https://doomhippies.bandcamp.com/
Dakota Brown
