ARTIST: DARYL HANCE
ALBUM: DEVIL’S MILLHOPPER

Well… Eight years after I started on this album (actual work time - about 2 years) and many false re-starts, setbacks, and sidetracks…

Here is my fourth full length studio album entitled Devil’s Millhopper.

While not exclusively so, in many ways Devil’s Millhopper is my “fuck you to the man” album. Although that is not at all what I intended it to be, it just kind of ended up that way on its own. It is what I’d say is sort of an unusual psychedelic-laden super groovin’ Southern Gothic creation with its aesthetic nature, dark themes, unapologetic cynicism, and philosophical observations.

***see disclaimer below

Sonically:

Probably best described by the sum of its roots and influences, largely 1960s and 1970s psychedelic blues, funk, and soul inspired rock and roll music. I prefer to just call it Florida Rock and Roll Music. It is called Rock… and Roll… for the reason of paramount emphasis on the swing that originally made this music such a force of nature. Simply put, it rocks, and it rolls… pushing and pulling, creating that irresistible swing that just makes people move.

Set to an incessant sonic tapestry of fiery monster guitar riffs, distorted Wurlitzer pianos, B3 Organ, and lush Mellotron and sparse string arrangements, there is a low-end sonic integrity that musically registers Devil’s Millhopper a solid 9.0 on the richter… ummm… rhythm scale. Organically-grown vintage tones that are at once bluesy, funky, swampy, psychedelic soul, groove rock and roll, atmospheric, philosophically and spatially conscious. It’s all in there together weaving an otherworldly psychedelic-infused sonic gumbo of Southern-flavored rock and roll music.

Jacksonville, Florida native Bea Gayle’s powerfully robust and dynamic soul-drumming is very much the star of the show, fully on showcase, front-and-center. She effortlessly shakes the thresholds of sonic attack with soul, heart, and a naturally sweaty groove that unassumingly spotlights a hypnotic groove merchant of the highest order. I dare anyone to try to keep their neck from bobbin’ and body from moving whilst a-listening.

Lyrically:

By track number three, its opening uplifting gritty start descends down into a bleak but beautiful lament about unworkable situations, followed in no particular order by sharp lyrical skewering(s) of mankind and its ongoing rape of the natural world. The mindset of “nature is disposable”, yet nature will and most definitely does, and always will, have the last laugh. Clueless modernized humans who are unknowingly and completely out of alignment with the natural order of things (myself included), yet think they (we) know everything and are far too intelligent and of a superior intellect - impervious and immune to human error and manipulation - while simultaneously circling the drain headed for a crash-landing into the harsh reality of lessons learned too late (or is it..?) - and patting ourselves on the back at how brilliant we are for the full duration of the trip.

Legalized property and land-grabs and other shady acquisitions that heartlessly feed on and exploit the powerless. A dismissal and panning of no-name warmongering politicians and media talking heads who sell you wars on behalf of their elitist owners, corporate sponsors, and overlords. The ages-old dichotomy of sinister elitist practices and procedures of exploitation and oppression under the guise of “being for the greater good”.

Unwittingly passing along your own personal grief and demons to your children and leaving them with your baggage. Businessmen who seem quite happy and content just taking unsuspecting people for everything, and the ever omni-present inner and outer battles between good and evil…

Lastly, a prayer for reprieve and for the “summer rain to come and wash it all away and leave everything here just as bright as day”…

Geographically:

Devil’s Millhopper is an ancient sinkhole located along the outskirts of the northwest end of Gainesville, Florida. A local haunt with its own sort of mysterious mystical folklore surrounding its formation and history.

I had been wanting to do a concept-type album that showcased some of my darker material framed around one cohesive theme. One night around that time I had a dream (more of an epiphany) about a bunch of things that were very important in my life (and myself) getting drawn down into a sinkhole. When I awoke from this vividly surrealistic nightmare, I was like “wow… that was intense and super-freaky”, and immediately Devil’s Millhopper came to mind. It seemed to make good sense, so I just rolled with it.

More recently I had the realization that it was more so myself who was getting “drawn down into the sinkhole” and not necessarily the things that I thought so important. So in retrospect maybe this dream was more of a personal warning and not so much an epiphany of great insight… Who knows…

Sincerely, Daryl Hance
03/05/2024

***disclaimer below: It is important to note that there is absolutely nothing here that was newly inspired by any “current events or situations”, as some of these songs date back to the year 2000, and most are well over a decade old and have been simmering around on the back burner for quite a number of years. So it very much falls under the category of apolitical philosophical life observations and experiences, and should be interpreted as nothing more. It is actually quite comical that one would feel the need to have to clarify this; however, songs are open to interpretation so I guess people will inevitably make whatever one wishes to make of them (if anything at all). At the end of the day, these songs are intentionally very general in terms of being open letters to the world so as to not necessarily “call out offenders” by name, but more so focusing commentary on the actions themselves. Mostly from a bystander’s viewpoint of observing an ongoing train wreck already in progress.