NHOI

Black Velvet's Tip For The Top

(Interview with DJ Dell'Osa taken from Black Velvet 40 - May 2004)

By Shari Black Velvet

NEVER HEARD OF IT - heard of them? If you haven't then you should have. If you have, congratulations, you're ahead of the game. Never Heard Of It are this issue's 'Tip For The Top', and yes, it's a new feature which may or may not pop up in future issues depending on whether we feel like it or not.
Basically, Never Heard Of It are one of THE bands to see live. Their anthems are fun and super-singalongy, and their shows are full of contagious energy. In the last few months Black Velvet has managed to catch NHOI in both Hollywood and er... Wolverhampton (the latter not being quite as glamorous and glitzy unfortunately). You can read both reviews in the concert section. After seeing these live shows as well their '11 Days' CD hitting our stereo, we knew that we just had to feature these boys. Oh, and the boys in question are: DJ Dell'Osa on vocals, Jeff Anenberg on guitar, Elmo Jamz on drums, Greg Lynch on rhythm guitar and Rick Avery on bass.

Black Velvet asked vocalist DJ Dell'Osa to talk about some of the various aspects of NHOI. So without further ado, take it away, DJ!

Being on the road
DJ: Is the best thing ever. I can't complain about touring the world with all of my best friends. The only gnarly thing is while I'm sleeping and the driver swerves off and hits those bumps on the side of the highway. I always think we're gonna crash and die.

The new album, '11 Days'
DJ: Is in stores now! We were planning on going into the studio for some quick pre-production stuff which turned into us releasing another full length CD on our own label Unmotivated Records. We recorded the whole CD in just 11 days...

Making the video for 'I'll Change For Now'
DJ: Was a lot of fun. It was our first real video with all the big lights and camera crew and the whole full on production with like wardrobe and make-up people and stuff... Did that even make sense? Either way we are stoked on the vid!

If you had 11 days to live
DJ: I would spend a lot of time with my friends and family and loved ones. Party Hard. Smoke a lot of pot and eat as much pasta as possible. And I would spend all the money I had on other people.

Your fans
DJ: Are the raddest ever! We always say that we have the absolute best fans in the world and it's so rad to spread so much love and feel all the love in return! Did that sound gay?

How the band formed
DJ: It started just Jeff and I playing as a two man band for parties and stuff. We never really took it seriously. But then recorded a CD. Then got some other members and got a litte more serious. Started touring and voila!

Unmotivated Records (why it was set up and how it compares to a deal with a major or other independent label)
DJ: Well it's our label and the label we started on our own. We don't have to share our creativity with anyone else and we get to do what we want with our music. We have always been very independent and motivated as well and we figured we can do more on our own and have so much more freedom with our own label. It's been a lot of work and it took a long time to get to where we are now but it's been more than worth it. We can't wait till we have the opportunity to sign other bands and take them under our wing.

Hobbies outside of the band
DJ: Surf, snowboard, skate a little bit still. Go to karaoke bars, party hard, drink Tequila.

Proud moments (what are you most proud to have achieved so far with the band)
DJ: I'm proud of the CD that we just put out and proud that we have done all of this on our own. US tours, tour the United Kingdom a few times. And our CD just got released in Japan, Australia and South America too. So we'll be touring all those places this year too. And doing a few weeks in Mexico next week... I'm stoked to be doing all this with all of my best friends (the band and crew)

NHOI's future - your ambitions and hopes
DJ: Just keep on doing what we are doing. I don't care how big we get, I just care about spreading the love and making good music and touring the world.

Visit www.neverheardofit.com for more info.