DVAS Feel Special Connection to Michael Jackson

Posted on Dec 2nd 2010 11:00AM by Melody Lau

Upper Class

Toronto electro-dance quartet DVAS can understand the slew of references comparing them to fellow electro act Chromeo and upon hearing the group's new disc, 'Society,' it's hard not to draw similarities to the Brooklyn-via-Montreal duo.

"There's a shared stack of influences," DVAS singer Jered Stuffco tells Spinner. "We were doing our own thing, though, before I had even heard the Chromeo record, 'She's in Control.'

Among those common influences Stuffco names is Michael Jackson. But The King of Pop is notable for DVAS for a reason other than his incredible sonic flair. June 25th not only marked the day of Jackson's death, but also the night DVAS would return from an indefinite hiatus.

"It was actually the first show with our drummer Dean," says Stuffco. "And that news [about Jackson] was either a really bad omen or a really good omen."

When informed during the band's soundcheck, Stuffco admits that he "wasn't really surprised at first." It was a week later that the tragic news really sunk in. "It hit me and I listened to nothing but MJ for three months," he says. "It was a huge deal."

"A guy at work was complaining about all that MJ coverage last year when he passed away and said, 'Well, George Harrison passed away and it was a much bigger musical event.' And I thought, 'Are you crazy? MJ's the biggest musical persona of all time; you can go to Tanzania and they will know who he is!'"

Jackson's impact on the band is evident, but Stuffco doesn't want others to think DVAS is trying to emulate him.

"It's hard to distill genius," he says. "I think you can only be inspired by it, but I don't think you can really capture it, and if you do, you're just rewriting the playbook. With music like Michael Jackson and [Johann Sebastian] Bach it's best not to duplicate it, but be inspired and do your own thing, take your own path and just do it."