In the late 1990s, Darrell James was writing and performing pop music, but that turned into darker, heavier songs after a few difficult years with business and personal demons, he said.
"It was great outlet to release my anger and frustration through music, and I didn't have to pay for therapy," James said, laughing.
The new musical direction received a lot of positive feedback from those who mattered to James, and that led to Pound of Flesh—an alternative electronic hard rock band based in Chicago featuring James, a former member of Ministry. In 2000, Pound of Flesh debuted with Red & Black, which received critical acclaim and support from 250-plus radio stations across the U.S. and charted within the top five of several of those stations.
"We played local shows in support of the album for a couple of years and the band members changed quite a lot at that time, mainly from not being able to find solid musicians [who] also had their personal [lives] together," James said.
James, who lives in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, admitted that he's always curious to hear how other people view his music, particularly what genre it falls into. "We've been called industrial, rock, electronic rock, electronic metal ... the list goes on," he said. "We don't have any rules for our music—when you're writing, it either feels right or it doesn't and some music fits nicely into genres and some doesn't. It's only when you have to label your own music, and you have to define yourself that the thought of categories even comes up."
James eventually tagged it, alternative electronic hard rock.
The groups' most popular song is "Everybody," which is often described as a "Monday Morning Jam … and certainly is one of our favorites to perform live," he said.
In 2012, the group released Pill through James' label, Drakeraven Entertainment.
On Oct. 13, 2012, Pound of Flesh had a show at Bottom Lounge with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, yet POF's drummer couldn't play the show, so Jarek "Jerry" Lukomski filled in.
Lukomski stayed with the group.
The rest of Pound of Flesh is Steven McIntosh ( keyboards and backing vocals ), Al Stehman ( guitars and backing vocals ), Jack Curylo ( bass guitar and backing vocals ), and James as songwriter, programming and lead vocals.
"We signed a deal with Wuli Records and, on Nov. 21, 2014, released Pills. It's the first POF album recorded as a band and I'm very proud of it," James said. "We recorded in Chicago at Paragon Studios and Drakeraven Studios in the fall of 2013 and it was mastered by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. So far, it's been very well received and all the reviews that are coming out are positive, so I couldn't be happier."
Pound of Flesh is playing at the Copernicus Center Jan. 11, for the W.O.S.P Great Orchestra Of Christmas Charity. It's an annual fundraiser that enables the organization to buy medical equipment for public hospitals all over Poland as well as provide medical and educational programs, James said. The band's bass player and drummer are originally from Poland.
"We are in the process of shooting more videos for the rest of the songs on Pills, and playing as many shows as we can in support of the new release. We're also writing and recording new material for the next POF album," James said. "We bring different musical styles together, so there's a little something for everyone who listens to POF."
James said it's titled Pills "because it includes a couple songs from the last album Pill—the difference is when Pill came out, it was only Steve and I, but when we put the live band together, the songs changed for the better and adding more energy and depth to them and we wanted to capture more of the live sound in the album recordings."
Pound of Flesh will be playing and touring throughout the coming months, shooting more music videos, writing and recording a new album to be released in the fall, and just enjoying the trip, James said. "We're all about having fun and not taking life too seriously."
