Some things are never as they appear. That ideology, adage, or whatever one wants to call it, is something that has always driven Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter DEVORA into states of oblivion, fury, a nostalgia for a time way before hers—and ultimately into her songs.
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On her new EP God Is Dead, a follow up to her 2021 release, Outlaw, the four songs—”God Is Dead,” “Wild West,” “Porn Star” and “Bonesaw”—travel through time, from what the “American Dream” once was to what it is now, the station of religion, sex, morality, and where it all begins and ends.
DEVORA spoke to American Songwriter about it all—fraudulent visages, the taboo, and the “nightmare” within American culture that she’s just begun to tap into on God Is Dead.
American Songwriter: Let’s go through the timeframe of the tracks on God Is Dead and how each came about. Were any of these songs ones you had shelved for a while and revisited or were they all new?
DEVORA: The songs on both EPs, God Is Dead and Outlaw, really happened within the same timeframe. These two EPs were pretty linear time-wise. God Is Dead was a natural successor to Outlaw and the entire body of songs on both EPs felt like two different chapters. [It] really poured out of me during a specific time and place in my life. It was obvious – to me at least – where each body of work should begin and end for each chapter. Tony Hoffer, my mentor, A&R of this record, and head of my label (Tigertone Records), really helped me come to some realizations about this body of work and piece it together in its final form. He also mixed most of the tracks on the EP and brought them to life, sonically.
AS: Sometimes songs transform over time, in meaning or feeling, or both. Did any of these shift in some way from the time they were written to when you took them to the studio?
D: I believe life imitates art and vice versa, and I find that’s always been a common theme with my music. “Bonesaw” and “Porn Star” definitely evolved meaning-wise than the others, as time went on. I just finished a tour opening for Bush and got to play “Bonesaw” every night and it was exhilarating. Some events in my personal life caused the song to take on new meaning. To be continued…
AS: Reflecting on some of the themes that came up on God Is Dead, including the deteriorating “American Dream,” what were some of the specific moments that pushed you into these songs?
D: Most of these songs were written during COVID lockdowns. I think everyone had a lot of existential questions running through their mind. There was so much that was unknown at the time. I couldn’t help but continuously compare and contrast the “American Dream” of the 1950s with the way things were in the moment. Society as we knew it felt like it was crumbling to the ground. My generation has lived through some insanely wild events, and for the most part, it seems like it’s been one thing after another since the early 2000s.
I was deep in thought for months about the stark difference between The American Dream, and Beauty Queens of the past, in contrast to what that looks like for my generation now. The gap is wide and almost otherworldly, and I really wanted to paint a picture of how vast and almost unrecognizable those differences are.
AS: And then there’s “Porn Star.” How did this track formulate?
D: I’ve nicknamed this song “an American nightmare.” The whole thing is like a David Lynch film gone wrong. Growing up in a very bizarre small desert town in Arizona, I experienced some things as a teenager that I will leave to the listener to interpret.
This song is really all about culturally embracing darkness in all forms pridefully. When I’m writing songs I love towing the lines between, “is this a dream? Or a nightmare? Maybe both?” I love painting a picture of heaven and hell intertwined to the point where you can’t tell the difference.
I have an obsession [with] horror movies, Quentin Tarantino classics, and western cinema, and love painting an explicitly clear visual picture in my songs using all five of the senses to the point where you can literally feel, see, and taste the environment around you. You feel like you’re right in it.
Another facet that I wanted to explore was how there is such a dark side to the porn industry, and I wanted to poke some holes through this. I think the American porn star was a modern-day pageant queen, and there are so many dynamics and complexities surrounding this topic. There’s been a lot of backlash historically with celebrity figures in this industry so I’m sort of flipping that on its head for this song with lyrics like “I Love That You Hate Me.” It’s definitely an empowering “F-you” to any haters, as well as a prideful boast of identity and origins alike.
I love ’90s porn aesthetic and the visuals surrounding it—think Pamela Anderson Lee, Jenna Jameson, etc.—so that’s also where the idea for this song popped off from.
The video was directed by Felicity Heath and shot by Tamara Santos, who truly captured the uneasiness and overarching creepiness to the whole concept. Marco Marchiori stars as the lead male. We shot this in 115-degree heat in the Salton sea area of California, which is basically an abandoned ghost town on a toxic lake. The place is just as eerie as you’d imagine.
AS: Why did you land on the title God Is Dead?
D: “God Is Dead” is a Neo-western expedition straight into the deepest bowls of existential questioning, encapsulated in a Tarantino-esque presentation. There’s a lot of metaphors in here, and it all starts with walking through a desert ghost town and seeing a “sign,” whether it’s questioning religion, questioning life, or questioning yourself. I think everyone had a moment over the last two years where we’ve put our heads in our hands and said “holy shit, I think the world is ending, and if I didn’t believe in a higher power of any sort before, I certainly don’t now.”
I think a lot of people have also asked the simple yet powerful question of “WHY?”, and “God Is Dead” is my expansion on the ingenuous question that is… “WHY?”
No matter what you believe in, or if you believe in anything, I think everyone had a moment in their life where they’ve felt abandoned by God or a higher power, or spirituality in general or whatever; I think we’ve all asked those hard questions internally and I wanted to convey that in the song— “how could you let this happen?…we’re the last ones left… this feels like the apocalypse…”.
I really struggled with my demons throughout the last couple of years of the pandemic, and I believe everyone did to some extent. I know first-hand that when you’re faced with temporary confinement, that you can’t run anywhere…especially from the scariest thing of all: yourself.
I wanted to highlight a sense of camaraderie in this song; for all of us who have made it out alive from wounding situations—to rise up and celebrate originality and nonconformity, and to pridefully commemorate that we’re all “gods rejects.” Normalizing “not fitting in” to common social norms is an important message that I want to convey.
This song is also about facing demons and catastrophe head-on, but also completely embracing it like “hey the world’s on fire, no one can stop me, LETS GOOOO!!!” There’s power and truth in being non-complacent and standing up for what you believe in during these times while staying true to yourself and not conforming to unauthentic societal standards.
AS: What are some of the other threads between these four songs?
D: Each song represents a different facet of “outlaw” life, wrapped in dark Americana themes. Each song is a different story but they are all from the same book and can really be put in any order; that is up to the interpretation of the listener.
AS: There’s more grit within these tracks. Sonically, what did you need to approach differently from Outlaw on this EP?
D: I love pulsing gritty bass guitar sounds and wanted to infuse as much of that as possible in this EP. The sonic palette really supports the underlying dark themes and topics. I’m naturally drawn to and evolving into a grittier sound and that’s always been the plan. I love fusing the grittier-sounding palettes with country and rock. It brings “goth western” full circle — like Ghostemane meets Johnny Cash.
AS: What kind of songwriter are you at this stage in your career? Do songs still come to you the same as they always have?
D: I love telling stories. I love transporting the listener to the exact time and place of the events taking place in the song. I love writing songs that immerse you in the moment, songs that activate all five senses. We all share common experiences and the details are so subjective. If I can evoke memory, bring the listener back to a certain place and time, a moment, a feeling, I’ve done my job.
I’ve always been a storyteller, but I’ve really leaned into it more in the last few years. Personally, these are the kind of songs I love to listen to, and I love the challenge of painting the most intricate picture using few words.
AS: It appears as if there is a “to be continued” with God Is Dead. What are you ready to explore next?
D: I really think I just scratched the surface with the God Is Dead EP, to be honest. It’s the tip of the iceberg of a larger body of work to come. These compositions are a taste test before the deep dive.
I love discussing taboo topics in my music. I love shining a light on topics that might make other people uncomfortable, yet that everyone can relate to in some way or another. I don’t know any other way but to push the envelope. I can’t wait to show everyone what’s next.
Main Photo by Cody Blue/ NPM PR
