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PHOTO COURTESY OF BAND

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR. The members of Death First are, from left to right: Barry Blankenship, James Resch, Dane Hubber, Doug Wohlfeil and Kyle Holme.

Death First, ask questions later

By John Larson

Buckley band Death First is an interesting mix of individuals, including two members who went to art school and a dreadlocked bass player who listens to Rachmaninoff.

The members are Dane Hubber on drums, James Resch on vocals and guitar, Doug Wohlfeil on guitar, Kyle Holme on bass and Barry Blankenship on keyboards.

The band was formed in 2005.

Resch and Wohlfeil have known each other since they were sophomores in high school. Resch knew Blankenship and the two had written some songs together.

Holme knew some girls who invited him and his friend Hubber to a party at Resch’s house. They heard people playing instruments in the garage. They went in to investigate and soon were jamming with Resch and Wohlfeil.

The next morning, Wohlfeil told Resch they needed to contact the two guys they had jammed with the previous night. Soon the four of them were practicing four to five nights a week.

Blankenship was attending art school in San Francisco and would jam with friends when he came north on breaks. After he graduated and moved back he was asked to join the band last fall.

He missed most of the recording of the band’s debut album, “Bleed The King,” which was released in November. He did contribute keyboards to a few tracks.

Blankenship handles the band’s art duties, such as designing gig flyers. Wohlfeil also has a visual arts background: he graduated from Art Institute of Seattle and works as a graphic designer.

Death First is clearly a rock band, although Resch does not consider their style to be heavy metal. “We are inspired by metal, even if we are not a metal band,” he said.

The members listen to a wide variety of music. Their observations on hearing the new Metallica song on the radio segued into their interview with this writer.

Holme likes Pantera as much as Beethoven. Death First is able to combine soft and hard elements in their music, he said. This results in a powerful mix, “the kind of stuff that puts a chill on the back of your neck.”

Resch has done musical projects with much softer styles than Death First. He likes artists ranging from Radiohead to Bob Dylan.

He is the band’s primary songwriter.

“I wanted to do songs that would be fun to play,” he said. “When I write, even if it is not up to par, it is on the path to something better.”

“I am on a song a day quest,” he continued. Some of the material he writes, such as his bluegrass or country songs, probably will not make it onto the Death First set list. “My goal is to do a good rap song, because that is the genre I know the least about.”

Blankenship said while Resch is the main songwriter, the rest of the members have to be on board for a song to move forward. “We all have to agree, which is not the easiest process.”

“If any one of us is not into a song, then it is not Death First,” Wohlfeil added.

“One of the most important things these guys do is tell me when to shut the #&@$ up,” Resch commented.

The band’s name came from a phrase uttered by a character in “The Princess Bride,” a 1987 movie directed by Rob Reiner.

“We like it because it means never surrender,” Resch said. “Live the way you want to live and never surrender.”

Death First plays Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma at 5 p.m. Aug. 30 and El Corazon in Seattle at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 1.

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