Authority Zero has been rocking stages with their reggae/ska/skate punk/rock sound since 1994. This Mesa, Arizona band added friend Jason DeVore from Wyoming in 1995. Their 2002 debut album “A Passage In Time” was well received and gave the band their rightful notoriety that allowed them to join the stages for Warped Tour, No Use for a Name/The Starting Line tour, and Sum 41’s Sum on Your Face tour.
Fast forward seven albums later to 2020 during a heated election year, a worldwide pandemic, and the shutdown of our country for months on end. Authority Zero gave us the news we needed to hear to help pull us out of our funks and get us excited for the future by teasing this photo on their Instagram account with the hashtag NEWAUTHRORITYZEROALBUM2021
Being the kind and generous person he is known to be, front man Jason DeVore took time out of his family vacation weekend to speak with me so I could get the low down on this up-coming album.
He says he can’t tell me much because it’s not done yet, but the idea behind the new album is to focus on the good rather than complaining about stuff. “There is a lot of music that unfortunately comes out in a negative way, but we opted to explain and express what’s been happening in a positive way and see what has come out of it with the upside to things.”
Authority Zero has no set release date yet for their currently untitled album, however they do plan on releasing singles periodically in 2021. The band has discussed possibly releasing a song per month to help build up to the release of the new album. They are also going to be recording again with producer Cameron Webb, who also produced their album, “The Tipping Point.” Jason was tight-lipped when I asked him if Brandon Landelius or Dan Aid were going to be on this new album, so they will keep us in suspense until the time is right to make that announcement.
While much of life has stopped during the quarantine, Jason said that since creative genius and bassist Mike Spero lives down the street from him, the two of them have been the main writing minds behind the album. So far, they are 16 or 17 songs deep which has left them with a finished written record, but now they just need to get into the studio. No word on if all of those written songs will make the cut to the album, but this record wasn’t written in a hurry and we can expect a finely-tuned result.
Jason told me, “We’re really excited. We are more prepared than we ever have been before.
My favorite track on this album so far is called ‘Don’t Tear Me Down.’ It’s very fast paced. The album is full of energy and very intense in a good way, not angry way. Very much a “keep your head up” kinda vibe. I also really like ‘Nowheresland’ which is kind of a pop punk track with an uplifting, good message in between.”
I mentioned that there is so much anger and angry music out right now that I think people are going to start leaning towards something positive to make them feel better next year, so this is going to hit a bullseye for a lot of people. He said, “I hope so. It’s happening naturally, even with myself. I’ve felt the angst of it all and this has been a nice outlet and it’s coming together really well.”
I asked him if he had any words of advice or encouragement for those of us that aren’t doing too well during these COVID days of weirdness. He said, “There’s so much shit on social media that will get you more bummed out. You’re getting half the news, half the truth, opinions and otherwise will just start to tear you down and you could keep scrolling for days. Do your best to step away and read a book instead. Keep yourself healthy, mind and body.”
Jason has also been posting his own acoustic songs on his YouTube page and he is working on an acoustic solo album. He said he has about three or four songs now and will be putting something out in the next few months.
As if that’s not enough, Jason also works with the skateboard and charity company Earth Skateboards. He has a skate deck coming out with them for the song “Courage,” which was solo acoustic, then on an Authority album. The deck will be available for purchase around Christmas.
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We look forward to the fun way Authority Zero will come up with releasing their songs and especially look forward to the release of their new album.
