Michael Del Pizzo, front man for Sunflower Dead met me at my neighborhood cemetery for a graveyard chat. We literally sat down on the ground in front of a caged tombstone. You don’t any get more down to earth than that! We dig deep and have a real chat about music, life, changes, the albums, the lyrics, Jaboo– sorry dude! And so much more! What happens when you say Del Pizzo 3x’s while at the cemetery? Nothing, that only works for Beetle Juice!
The band’s 3rd release “C O M A” is out now on Dave Ellefson’s EMP label, and what a masterpiece it is! This album shifts gears from the last one leaving behind the let’s have a good time and be weird vibe. Gone is the accordion, gone is the makeup, gone are a couple members. Is the time to get weird over? Nah, I don’t think you can take the weird out of SFD. Weird comes in many flavors.
This album is definitely serious as a heart attack, trading fun for frustration and aggression. No more smiles and accordions, this is a collection of intense, well written rage fueled songs. Michael says the title COMA has no real meaning, but perhaps it symbolizes the changes that have taken place and the new direction the band is taking. When one awakens from a coma they are always different than before.
Anger is a normal human emotion that everyone feels from time to time. Anger is energy and it can be turned into music. It’s all in what you do with that anger that matters. Del Pizzo hurls lyrics; they flow out of him like projectile vomit. There’s no stopping this man when it comes to music.
Michael grew up near Philadelphia and that’s where he met guitarist Jaboo when they were just five. The two hung out for years, attended their first concert together and moved out Southern California to form a band. They met up with Jamie Teissere formerly of Droid who along with Jaboo has played on every SFD album. Jamie, Jaboo and Michael are the roots of this unit called Sunflower Dead. Together they have weathered all kinds of storms, toured a lot and survived thus far. Recently the rhythm section has changed and these three are now joined with new members, bassist Christian Olde Wolbers formerly of Fear Factory and Brian Brett Weir on drums. Just like a real life sunflower loses leaves and grows new ones when the roots are strong. These roots are strong and the new members ready to bloom.
The first track “Let Me In” starts off with an eerie intro and strong vocals stating “There’s an anger in my conscious, There’s an anger in my need” Michael describes what this means to him in the interview. He explains that he needs to do music. Listening to the lyrics on this album, the word need comes up repeatedly throughout many of the songs. Michael needs to do music. It’s both a vow and a release.
I asked him what he would be doing if he wasn’t doing music. He can’t even imagine doing anything else. He did assure me that he wouldn’t be a serial killer and that he wasn’t a violent person. It’s true that music is therapy and a healthy release of emotion. Perhaps if Ted Bundy or The Zodiac Killer had a band nobody would have gotten killed. They would’ve been too busy writing, touring and recording instead. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Music is Medicine.
The 2nd track “Victim” was the first single released to radio with great results. charting at #34 on Billboard. They filmed a video for it so check that out.
My favorite track is “The Biggest Mistake” This song is bizarre and proof that the weirdness remains. It’s like two songs in one. Del Pizzo does a duet with himself in this bipolar, schizophrenic song. It’s heavy and mellow all at the same time with a great message. It shows how the band is willing to take risks. The album was produced by Dave Fortman (Slipknot, Evanescence, Godsmack) who said that this song shouldn’t work, but it does.
Early Band Years
Through Fire, a song that features acoustic guitar and strong lyrics about going to Hell and back and doing whatever it takes. Nothing’s too great, Del Pizzo will walk through fire, flames, choking, ash fills his lungs but burning alive won’t deter him from doing what he needs to do.
Savior opens with growls and immediate vocals. It’s heavy song with Del Pizzo showing what a versatile singer he is. An awesome tune that will be rad live. Go see this band on tour! They have a new booking agency and should have a tour announcement soon.
Kept Down, the next song is another heavy song with screaming but clear vocals. That’s one thing I really admire about SFD, the vocals are powerful and clear. No matter how heavy the songs get the lyrics are easy to understand and these are incredible well written lyrics that need to be heard so that’s a winning combination.
Turn Away is a powerful ballad. Michael talks about Turn Away and how special the song is to him. The band just shot a video for Turn Away and that will be coming out around the same time as this interview. Michael states that this song is what he calls his proudest moment to date. This song no doubt will kill it on radio. Keep an eye out for the video which should be out anytime now.
This new album C O M A is a masterpiece full of intense material that I couldn’t put down. Listening to it is my new daily habit. It’s so full of emotion, a 100% the real deal, no-holds-barres music and lyrics.
SFD is loaded with talent and able to go in any direction they choose. I believe they will continue to take risks in their music and that will set them apart and keep them unique.
Watch the video interview and you’ll find out all the things you’ve been dying to know like why they took off their makeup, and why do they call him Jaboo anyhow?
By: Brenda Starr / BackStage360
AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL DEL PIZZO