Editor’s Note: Richmond, Virginia’s own Artusha have recently released their music video for “Zero Label”. It is a track that expresses the trio’s fervent disdain for personal labels. They have also released a single for “Inquisition”, and combined, the band has amassed over 15,000 streams on Spotify with those two singles alone. Artusha is composed of David Landers Jr on guitars/vocals, his brother Caylon Landers on drums and Brian Hase on bass. They are currently in Zero Label Studio to finish up with their debut album. In this interview with Madness To Creation, David Landers Jr of Artusha discusses living life without labels, the singles “Zero Label” and “Inquisition” and mental health awareness and the uprising in America. Fans can find Artusha at the following locations:
Madness To Creation: You’ve released the video/single for “Zero Label”, take us into the writing process of the song, what is the most challenging and rewarding aspect and give us your view on identity politics.
David: The song was written years ago and some how has even more meaning now than it did before. The process really started with some riffs and slowly came together as we jammed on it. The most Challenging part of this song was trying not to mess it up. I say that because I have the habit of overthinking things from time to time and you can easily ruin a song by overthinking it. Let it be what its meant to be ya know? Identity Politics is a fairly broad topic, but overall I will say anything that’s used to divide and conquer us, must go!
Madness To Creation: What have you reflected on based on the uprising in America?
David: Injustice and prejudice go hand in hand and you can see how emotionally charged people are right now about it. Its important that we all remember that we can’t solve anything with raw emotion and we must put our minds together for the betterment of every community. From my back yard, to yours. My Daughter just turned 2 and she will be raised knowing that anyone she meets will be treated with respect and that we are all created equally and to love with an open heart. If we could all love like the children we once were, we would be doing just fine.
Madness To Creation: Take us into Inquisition, what do you know about inquisitions, inquiring minds want to know? (sorry for the weird question)
David: Personally my entire life has been a process of asking questions about everything. Wanting to learn, wanting to grow. The song in general for me really promotes the idea to question what your being told. Question information that your fed and do your best to seek the truth in everything. There’s too many agendas and embedded influence’s in information we are fed to not look for ourselves. Regardless of who you are or what you believe. Take a look for yourself, before you buy in.
Madness To Creation: Take us into your music scene and your first gig, if I have never been to Virginia, what can I expect and expect from an Artusha live show?
David: The scene here in Richmond, VA has been taking off in the last couple of years it feels like. We have a lot of respect for our fellow bands from the area like Seasons, Eyes To The Sun, I Am The Liquor, Site of Suffering and Emma Garrel to name a few and more. Did I mention Lamb Of God? Virginia’s nice because you have the mountains, city and ocean at your finger tips and you wouldn’t even burn a full tank of gas to check them all out. I was born and raised here and love my hometown! One of my first gigs was playing drums at back yard parties and a skating rink. Killer shows too! You can expect a high energy ass kicking when you come to Artusha shows. We’re gonna give it our all every night and we expect the same in return. So it really boils down to who’s gonna get their ass kicked first? Us, or the crowd? Eat your wheaties!
Madness To Creation: How have you adjusted your strategy and social media due to Covid-19?
David: We made some slight adjustments, but overall we just kept rolling along. We’ve released two videos and have just about completed a new single entitled “Live Free.” We have tried to engage with fans more often and recently started doing more giveaways and interactive games with fans in live videos etc. Of course we’re ready to get back on stage, but we have enjoyed interacting with fans and peers in ways we never thought about before.
Madness To Creation: We are an activist/mental health awareness site, what helps you get through the tough times and what is something that you advocate for that benefits society and why?
David: Personally I struggled with suicide for a long time. It was an endless battle that I felt I could never ever win. I took every medication, talked to therapists, but years later only one thing helped me through. Faith. Not trying to preach to anyone, but Jesus set me free from my own prison in my own mind. I always tell people who are struggling with something similar to not be afraid to seek help medically and in therapy, but if all else fails I say give Jesus a shot. Nothing more or less. I’ve been living free ever since.
Madness To Creation: Kind of a fun question: Donald Trump is crowdsurfing at your show, how do you react?
David: I would probably laugh. Any man, woman, child and anyone else is welcome at our shows. We throw down together!
Madness To Creation: A fun question: Give me your supergroup and name the supergroup.
David: Wow there’s so many to consider! Um, I’m gonna go go out on a limb and say Neil Peart on Drums, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jimi Hendrix on guitars, Cliff Burton on Bass and Jim Morrison on vocals. They would be called ‘Purple Flood.’ I would buy that record!
Madness To Creation: What does the rest of 2020 have in store for Artusha(or what do you hope to expect)
David: Some new singles and maybe another new video or two! Hopefully we can make it on stage a time or two before 2021 arrives. We will certainly be making as much noise as possible!
Madness To Creation: What else would you like to add?
David: Thank you so much to all the fans and even folks in the media world like yourselves for showing Artusha love and support! Follow us on your favorite social media platforms and we hope to be on a stage near you ASAP! Much love and Live Free!
And there you have it! Make sure you like and follow Artusha’s social media pages and check out their website in order to keep up on the latest news and happenings with Artusha!
