Robin Joiner's name and voice may be familiar to longtime travelers of the Florida rock landscape, but her new band Demo is different from Dear + Glorious Physician.
"D+GP always felt very calculated and premeditated," Joiner wrote to CL. "Demo is the most truly collaborative band I've ever been in."
Joiner credits the unique styes and diverse backgrounds of her bandmates — bassist Steven Spier, guitarist/vocalist (and NobFest organizer) Andrew Virga, guitarist Travis Whitton and drummer Dru Martin — when explaining how each member's collective influences (Joy Division, Sonic Youth, The Wipers) contribute to the Demo's output.
"I think both bands end up with a product that clearly has a heavy 90s, early 2000s influence but with different emphases," she added. "Demo is less stripped down than D+GP and I think we have a broader sound than D+GP did. It's less curated for sure."
UPDATE: Stream all of the album at the bottom of this post.
On the eve of the release for the band's self-titled debut full-length (out May 11 on Tampa's own New Granada Records), we're sharing the LP's closing track, "Red Light," whose title is a reference to red light districts.
"This song is a discussion on the traditional roles of feminine and masculine sexuality. It's also a nod to this rift in the feminist movement between those who think that a woman shouldn't seek male attention and those who believe that they should be accepted as feminists even though they behave or dress in a hyper sexual way to attract male attention," Joiner explained.
"Women are taught that they should experience sexuality in a very emotional way where as we accept male sexuality as very physical. No one is that absolute but there is a lot of social pressure to pretend we are."
Have a listen to the track below, and call your local record store to see if it'll carry the release.
Robin, how is what you’re able to do with DEMO different from what fans of D+GP might be more familiar with?
D+GP always felt very calculated and premeditated. Demo is the most truly collaborative band i've ever been in. We each bring a very unique style and background to the group and the writing process is very organic. I think both bands end up with a product that clearly has a heavy 90's, early 2000's influence but with different emphasis (whats the plural of emphasis?). Demo is less stripped down than D+GP and I think we have a broader sound than D+GP did. It's less curated for sure.
I liked your explanation of “Car Crash,” in the context of your work in health care. My wife works in the NICU. I think that you do have kids, so does being in these hospital situations make you more scared to send the kids out into the world?
No, not at all. If anything, I would say it has the opposite affect. I'm reminded every shift that my kids are extremely privileged and I hope that they will use that privilege to serve those less fortunate. I will admit that I've thought about building a bunker and homeschooling my kids, but that's mostly because of you know, the whole once a week school shooting thing. That and kindergarten teachers being armed. 🙂
“Red Light” is the album closer — any reason why that on particular ended up in that final spot? Is this another automobile/auto accident related song?
I was at first really confused by this question because I couldn't see how the song "Red Light" could be thought of as car related…but then after a quick consult with the band mates, they reminded me that cars do stop at red lights. Ha! But no, not auto related at all. Red light is a reference to the sex industry or a "red-light district".
There’s also that question in there (“Do you love me?”) — could you explain that?
This is a longer conversation, but basically this song is a discussion on the traditional roles of feminine and masculine sexuality. It's also a nod to this rift in the feminist movement between those who think that a woman shouldn't seek male attention and those who believe that they should be accepted as feminists even though they behave or dress in a hyper sexual way to attract male attention. Women are taught that they should experience sexuality in a very emotional way where as we accept male sexuality as very physical. No one is that absolute but there is a lot of social pressure to pretend we are.
This article appears in May 10-17, 2018.