If you are a true lover of rock ‘n roll music, then Them Evils are a band you best keep on your radar. The trio, consisting of two Las Vegas transplants and an OC local, has taken the OC scene by the horns and their gritty and heavy tracks are a perfect combination of massive energy mixed with the balanced tones of Jordan Griffin’s vocals and guitar, Jake Massanari’s bass, and David Delaney II’s crushing drums. With two EP’s and a full length in their repertoire, Them Evils are ready to take on another challenge: a full national tour, followed by another national tour opening for the alternative rock band, The Pretty Reckless. Their send-off is this Saturday at their favorite local spot, The Wayfarer, and the Weekly got a moment to talk to them before they hit the road for their back-to-back tours.
OC Weekly (Kim Conlan): What’s planned for The Wayfarer?
David Delaney II: It’s our tour kickoff and Thunder Gut’s album release show. Dan Atkinson, the sound guy at The Wayfarer, is in a band called Coral Fangs that is going to be playing that night. Then Slater Slums along with The Gitas, who are our buddies from L.A. who we decided to bring up to OC. We’ve got Pabst sponsoring it, along with the Black Craft Spirit, Beer Savage, and MAPS is also hosting because they’re the ones releasing Thunder Gut’s album.
How has this year been for you?
Jake Massanari: We’ve been playing as much as possible, and after our tour we did back in June, we wanted to keep doing it, so we set up another tour to keep the ball rolling. We feel like nowadays you really have to stay relevant. We’re trying to hit the same cities we hit in June within two months. We wanted to go back so that we keep popping up in people’s minds and people don’t forget about us.
What’s your background?
Massanari: Jordan and I both grew up in Vegas and I’ve been in bands my whole life, all of which have been taken pretty seriously. I’ve done some big tours with some other bands, and that got me in the mindset to make a career out of it. I think Jordan and I, when we met we were on the same page with that. Then we met David and we took all of our experience and worked together to make it the most professional band we could. I think all of our backgrounds combined have made a really strong trifecta.
How has the OC scene affected your success?
Massanari: Coming out here and being the new guys, we’ve done so well and The Wayfarer has been a good home to us. I think the scene out here has been really responsive, and we wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for all of the fans and friends that have supported us here.
What’s in store for your upcoming tour?
Delaney: This time around we’re hitting a bunch of cities that we went through on the last tour, but this time we’re also going to a bunch of new places. We didn’t get to go to the East Coast, like New York and more North. We’re playing the Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky—that’s a big one. We’re expanding our territory more on this run.
Massanari: After this full U.S. tour we’re doing, we’re going to be opening up for The Pretty Reckless on another full U.S. tour supporting their new album that comes out October 21st. So we’re going to be on the road for about ten and a half weeks straight, which is pretty gnarly, but we’ll be playing the U.S. twice. It didn’t really seem real until Taylor Momsen posted on Twitter and Instagram with our name in it, and seeing our name on the tour flyer finally, it solidified it for us.
Them Evils perform this Saturday, September 17th at The Wayfarer, 8pm / $7 / 21+. For tickets, click here.
