Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist or project?
CP: I would describe myself and my music as honest music with passion and healing. Its personal and I hope it inspires others and gives hope for a better day. Amerakin Overdose is more music that makes you think outside the box and question the world around us. Amerakin Overdose music can capture you in a trance and get your adrenaline going and make you want to move.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
CP: I am from a small town of Silverton, Oregon. When I was growing up there it had a population of 6500 people. Currently I am in Portland, OR which is a the larger city in Oregon. I always tell people its the city of Strippers, microbrews and weed shops. Our city motto is “Keep Portland weird” and believe me, the city lives up to that in more ways than I could tell you. My background in music and passion was likely inherited from my dad. He was a very popular radio DJ in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was always playing music and surrounded me with it. He would take me to shows that he was a part of. I first got into heavier music when my cousin introduced me to Metallica, Pantera and Korn when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I knew I wanted to be a musician when I went to my first concert when I was 14 years old. It was Mudvayne, One Minute Silence and Slipknot. I began playing acoustic guitar and teaching myself to read guitar tabs and also singing along to Slipknot, Mudvayne, Korn, Linkin Park etc songs. I started playing in bands with my friends throughout highschool.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
CP: Life experiences inspiring me to make music. Making mistakes and tragedies that I have encountered. Be it something I did to myself on my own or something that life just throws at me, that is what inspires me to write music. I like to write music when I am sad, depressed, angry or confused about something. That is when I get the most creative. Humanity and some of the stupid things I see people do and that I read about inspires me to write music and make people question what exactly is it that we are doing? I like to encourage people to think for themselves. Question things and don’t follow what is popular or what we are told to think or believe. Think for yourself. I don’t like to preach but I like to encourage people to just think for themselves.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
CP: To always put out high quality music that relates to people. I don’t ever want to put something out that I am not proud of or that I did not put my all into. When I make music, I like everything to be perfect from the music to the lyrics. I take my time with writing. When I am writing, I record and I will listen to it over and over for a few days, and go back and fix things and adjust/change. I continue to do this until I am 100% happy with what I have done. I want people to know with full confidence when I put something out, I didnt half ass it. I gave everything I had to deliver a quality song/video or whatever piece of work I am releasing.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
CP: To be able to release music that people love and all of the great people I have met through being a musician. I have made so many friends from music and so many great connections. I am not talking about business connections. I am talking about amazing friends that I met because they became fans of the music and we have connected online and many of them in person when they have come out to see us when we have played on tour and shows in our area. I am beyond thankful that I have an audience of people that enjoys the music I do both my solo music and Amerakin Overdose. All of the support we have received from so many people. It is truly a blessing and I never take that for granted. We make it a point at every show to meet as many people before and after the show. I am (and so is my band) very active and responsive online as well with our fans. They are what makes us and without them we wouldn’t have anyone to play music for. Through music I have also had the opportunity to play a bunch of big shows and festivals with bands that I grew up listening to as a kid. I’ve worked with musicians I have looked up to and I have learned so much from advice I have received from them.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms
in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
CP: It is getting harder and harder to do these days. We like to invest in PR campaigns but we are not satisfied with that alone. We promote on all of our social medias day in and day out. We use the old guerilla tactics and we find bands similar to us online and we go after their fans and send them links and messages to check us out. When bands come to play in our area, we will show up at the show and hand out fliers with all of our band links. We spend time meeting people and networking and it has helped spread the word about us in a massive way. We have made so many fans in this way and it is worth putting in the work.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
CP: We have a booking manager who handles all of our booking. We don’t typically go out looking for shows unless we are submitting for a large festival. The promoters usually reach out to our team and they negotiate to get a show booked. Once the show is booked, the band starts promoting online and reaching out to people in those areas to let them know about the shows. We will buy ads on Facebook/Instagram to promote the show/flier and we also print hand bills that we will hand out at shows that come through town to let them know about the show. We have a number of regional shows for Amerakin Overdose. Some are not announced yet but I’ll share the ones that are
4/14 – The Bad Space – Salem, OR – This is our first show back and its already sold out
4/22 – Tony V’s Garage – Everett, WA
7/15 – Lewiston, ID – Snake River Rock Fest – Playing with Jack Russells Great White
7/21 – Rustix Pub – Portland, OR – Playing with Hed PE
8/5 – The Vessel – Lynnwood, WA
We have a few other shows/festivals that we will be part of that we have not announced yet so stay tuned!
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
CP: I have accepted the fact that pirated music is part of the business. I have not tried to fight it. You have to roll with the times and get creative and find other ways to keep revenue flowing through to keep the band going and music flowing. The way I look at it is, if people love the music enough and they download it, do us a favor and tell your friends and family about us. Go buy a shirt or some merch from us. Come out to a show and bring your friends when we come through your town. If the music is the bait to get you hooked on our band and you get it for free, so be it but come out and support us at a show and help spread the word about us. Tell everyone you know about us. As far as Spotify goes, they are a necessary evil at this time. Who knows how long they will be the #1 platform. I wish they would do more for the artists to get them better pay.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
CP: “Happy Birthday” – because I would be living off the royalties for the rest of my life haha.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
CP: The removal of greed is the first thing I would change. Too many venues are taking advantage of bands and collecting a percentage of merch sales from bands. It is no secret that merch sales is how bands are able to get by and survive. The record labels have screwed over the bands enough and then with music being pirated the bands can only rely on their merch sales to continue to tour and record. I feel like people who don’t work in the music industry don’t realize just how expensive it is to be in a band. There is also greed from radio stations, you pay the right person and no matter how good or bad your band will be, if you pay the right amount of money, they will force the music down the throats of everyone. So many great bands and music goes unheard because they keep playing the same songs and forcing the same material on the radio airwaves. Another example is, you can have a ton of fans on social media like Facebook and Instagram, but if you don’t pay for a “boost” not even 1% of your fans are going to see your posts. It has gotten really out of hand.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
CP: Currently I am working on promoting this single “Live Again” and getting it out to as many people as possible. I shamelessly self promoting everyday through all my social media pages and posting on sites to try and spread the word.
For Amerakin Overdose we are getting ready to shoot 2 new music videos this coming weekend for 2 brand new 
unreleased songs “Neuro Static” and “Disconnect” We have some great ideas for the video and we plan to execute our ideas and see what becomes of it. We plan to release these two songs/videos in the next couple of months pretty close together since the videos will be tied together. We plan to release a new EP this Summer and we’re also playing some shows regionally. We are excited to be playing live again after over 5 years of not playing shows.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
CP: My websites:
linktr.ee/amerakinoverdose
linktr.ee/codyperez
amerakinoverdose.bandcamp.com
codyperez.bandcamp.com
PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?
CP: I have 3 singles released and available for my solo project. Those can be found on all digital platforms Spotify, Itunes, Cdbaby, etc. including my bandcamp codyperez.bandcamp.com
I also have released 2 full length albums with my band Amerakin Overdose, and we put out a cover of Katy Perry “E.T.” and our recent single “Agastopia. All of those are available through all digital platforms including our bandcamp at amerakinoverdose.bandcamp.com
We have merch also available on our bandcamp and we appreciate all the support we get from our fans.
Cody Perez links:
Band/Artist location – Portland, Oregon
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree –
Check our page for Cody Perez
