Deserts of Mars, self-described as makers of “Mars Metal, are preparing to put another album into the atmosphere. Dead Planet Exodus will be available throughout the world on October 18, 2024.
Before leave Texas for unknown places of the universe, lead singer Tony Salvaggio stopped by for an interview.
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Please welcomme Deserts of Mars to the blog!
Band name?
Deserts of Mars
Who is answering the questions?
Tony Salvaggio – Lead Singer and Bassist (also Band leader and driving force)
Tell us about your latest project
My latest project is the upcoming album “Dead Planet Exodus,” we are currently releasing singles supporting it. We put a lot of our emotions and drive into this one, and it’s been a real labor of love. We’ve been around since 2006, so technically, our new project is part of my longest-running project and my main band/emotional outlet.
With “Dead Planet Exodus”, we ended up writing a loose concept album about a group of astronauts (possibly the ones who escaped the Void in the last EP) crash-landing on a planet full of monsters, twisted cities, downtrodden denizens, and dangerous environments. All of this wrapped in metaphors about what was going on with us and the world as we were writing the tunes and I was writing the lyrics.
We worked with Jeff Henson (lead guitarist in Duel and producer/engineer on our last EP “Return from the Void”, as well as tons of great bands like Spirit Adrift, Warlung, Howling Giant, Greenbeard, etc.) at Red Nova Ranch. He is fantastic and pushed us to dig deeper to make everything about the album the best thing we’ve done so far.
It’s got all the hallmarks that you might expect from Deserts of Mars (our term for our tunes is Mars Metal, a mix of influences from Stoner, Doom, Grunge, Metal, and various other bits), with some moments that still make me headbang and throw my fists into the air long after recording it.
The response has been great for the singles we have released so far (Crimson Mountain and Shilluminati), and we have one more to go as we reach out to labels and decide whether to get support or release it DIY.
How do you deal with anxiety?
Usually, I deal with anxiety by listening to music, going into our practice space, and playing with loud amps, hopefully with my bandmates. We call it “Volume Therapy,” and it works.
Just the other day, we were feeling run down by current events and stuff happening in our personal lives, and by the end of our time at the studio, we agreed that we felt 200 percent better and had the makings of some killer new riffs/tunes.
Reading and immersing myself in movies and video games (I’m an avid cinephile and have played games since I could barely reach a Space Invaders cab) also works wonders for my psyche.
Did you have a favorite music teacher?
I had a band teacher in high school who decided to take a group of misfits in a super tiny area and turn it into a full-blown marching band over a few years. In retrospect, it was the stuff you see in a Disney-type movie. So Mr. Bob will always be my hero for instilling in us a love of music and a respect for being the underdog and trying our best with whatever we had.
What has been your favorite venue to perform at?
We have been lucky to perform at some fantastic venues, but currently, The Lost Well here in Austin is the home base we want to continue to play in. We have so many good memories on and off the stage there, and it is the gathering place for so many of us musicians and music fans. It just feels like a musical second home.
That said, there are still amazing venues like Valhalla and The Far Out Lounge that we love to rock at. We’re anxious to play cool spots like Mohawk and Hotel Vegas and branch out into many other cool spots outside of Austin. I also have to call out all the fond memories at Red Eyed Fly (Mike there gave us our first big push as a band), Red 7, Beerland, and Dirty Dog, we miss playing those venues in a major way. RIP to the greats!
Do you think that you would win a karaoke contest?
There’s a lot of stiff competition out there, but I like to think I could hold my own. I once did karaoke for a Limozeen song at a Homestar Runner/Strongbad event many years ago, and they called me out the next night for rockin’ it (a friend at that show asked me the following week if I was there on Friday because they mentioned me rockin it on Saturday), so I feel pretty good about my chances. I also do pretty will with Megadeth at karaoke, and my wife and I have rocked “Close My Eyes Forever” as a karaoke metal night duet; I’m always down for stuff like that.
What are your goals for your music career?
Our biggest goal is to get our music out to as many ears, hearts, and minds as possible. I would love to tour other countries (I would love to make it to Italy and Japan at some point!) and get out on the road in the US in the near future. Of course, the real goal would be to make a living from music, but as the saying goes, “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll,” so that is way tougher.
Ultimately, we want to share the stage with cool bands, meet new friends and fans, play/record many more tunes, and get Mars Metal out to as many people as possible. Those are the things that keep me going.
On a personal note, I would love to do an animation project or expand into comics and animation. I was an animator in the video game industry and co-written two graphic novel limited series (Psy-Comm and Clockwerx), so I would LOVE to use those media to take our stories. I have storyboards and outlines in my head for all of that. That and any soundtrack possibilities (I’ve always dug what Fastway did with the Trick or Treat [1987] soundtrack) would be fantastic! We’ve got songs in a couple of indie movies coming out, so we’re partially there.
What do you want fans to know about your music?
First of all, I would say thanks to all the fans for taking the time out of their day to cranking the volume as high as possible; that means the world. People who listen to us will hear all of our various influences blended into the most authentic tunes we can create.
As the longest-standing member and band leader of DoM, I have kept it going because it is the purest form of expression I have. It stems from the riffs and continues through the lyrics (a mix of storytelling, life experience, and metaphor) to form something that taps into everything I believe in. It’s that authenticity that I hope people pick up on even when we are singing tunes about Sci-Fi monsters, rebelling against Elder Gods (or against real-life monsters), love, loss, and all the best things we pour our souls into.
When fans pick up a DoM album, we want to take them on a journey, and hopefully, by the end of that journey, we have traveled together to new heights, lifted out of the depths, and are ready to take on whatever the universe throws at us.
Deserts of Mars Links
bandcamp
website
Interviews
Linktree
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