The Angel/Devil

“Welcome open heart. No better time than now. Welcome to our family. We dream in the sticks. We rehearse where the busses don't run. We eat and sleep late in the same little spaces. We search with you. We want to travel with you. Angel and Devil. Getting comfortable with grey. No more us vs. them. The only truths we've found so far are rhythm, melody, energy and kindness. Push us. We're going to push you. Music has always changed the world and it always will. Songs are rips in time - upsets to stagnation - waking dreams. Live shows are sacred times where anything can happen. 50 percent us, 50 percent you. Slow down your mind. Speed up your heart. Step inside with us.” –The Angel/Devil
No Better Time Than Now.There’s no better time than now to embrace life and get all you can out of it. The Angel/Devil is going up, up and up with their careers and I’ve watched them evolve from the band they were born as; I can’t wait to see where life takes them. One of their recent songs called You Spit Fire/I Spit Gasoline is heard on MTV’s Real World Sydney Season Finale. They’re also featured on Dane Cook’s Tourgasm soundtrack. Gooding has transformed into The Angel/Devil, but their character and love of music hasn’t morphed at all. Born in Wichita, they are now roving the country, making their mark on the rock genre. But they’re still the same guys. They still have the same passion. They still rock out on stage.
Welcome To Our Family.Guitar and vocalist Gooding, drummer Jesse Rich and bassist Billy Driver connect behind the scenes just as well as they do on stage. I talked to Jesse about what holds them together when so many groups dissipate in the face of adversity.
“We are united first as friends, and then as a band. We got lucky in that we were close before the band even formed; we have that brotherly thing going on, that established friendship.”
They say it does get tricky when they are forced to spend so much time within the same four walls… or on the same four wheels. They can be on the road anywhere from 30 days to three months at once, and that’s when it’s important to snag some time to yourself every now and then. But when it all comes down to it, they are strong because they share a common goal, have the same beliefs, and ultimately have respect for each other as well as the projects they work on.
“We all want the same things out of life- and that makes it easier to get our message across to our audience,” Jesse says. “We look at each day as a challenge- a challenge to make a situation a little better than it was before. We want to convey that to our fans.”
Angel and Devil. No More Us vs. Them.They used to be Gooding, but they underwent a name change for several reasons. What began as more of a solo project became a group project, and the band members wanted to convey that with a sticker more inclusive than a last name. The name change also represented a bit of a transition, or narrowing, if you will. In the past, they’ve played all types of genres of music, but now they’re hoping to slim it down in order to further clarify their message and eliminate confusion. The inspiration for the new name came from a painting done by a friend. They decided it was perfect not only for their image to the public, but for who they are as people.
“The Angel/Devil is two opposite forces. It represents the fact that you can’t have the bad without the good, the light without the darkness. We want to use the positive of those forces against the things we disagree with in the world. To hopefully help the ‘after’ be better than ‘before’.”
The Angel/Devil is a good thing, and they do good things to prove it. They don’t tolerate hate, or people who don’t try. They know what’s important to each of them, and they take time to support causes such as basic human rights, children, and animal rights.
“This isn’t just music or entertainment,” says the drummer. “It’s a world people can live in every day. It’s about positivity. Helping where we can help.”
Live Shows Are Sacred Times When Anything Can Happen. They intend to push the audience to the limit with not only their music, but with their actual performance. Having seen them live several times in the past, I can attest to how easy it is to get lost in the show because they are so much fun to watch. The last time I saw them was at a place they frequently perform when in Wichita: The Loft in Oldtown. I took special notice of those crowding the dance floor. It sometimes resembled a mosh pit, with fans bouncing up and down, saving their drinks only by holding them in the air. Or perhaps they were toasting the performers!
At one point I saw a lone dancer on the side of the floor, lost in the beat and moving freely in a head-slamming, body-thrashing, totally-in-her-own-world sort of way. She didn’t mind when people shot raised eyebrows in her direction, and she carried on like so for the entire set.
So however The Angel/Devil captures attention, whether it’s through their positive outlook on life, their connection as a group, or their live shows, it’s all part of their collective passion.