T his year, Authority Zero marks 30 full years as a band. If you ask frontman Jason DeVore, he’s fully aware of the weight and significance of this milestone. “We’ve gotten lucky in a lot of situations. And not so much in others,” he says. “All around, it’s been one hell of a life, dude. It’s been one hell of an adventure. And people have been so gracious ... for them to keep us around and to allow us to be able to do this because it’s what we want to do so much.” At the same time, though, 30 years was never really the goal, and the Mesa punks had nothing resembling a plan. “We were so young when we started doing that. I guess I was 14 years old, man,” DeVore says. “In my head, this is what’s going to happen. That’s my life. Your parents are like, ‘There’s going to be other bands.’ I knew when I was a kid that this was going to be the band that I would be in literally for the rest of my life.” And there’s little denying the end results: Authority Zero have toured the world several times over; had big hits with songs like “Over Seasons” and “A Passage in Time”; released great albums like “Andiamo” and “12:34”; and generally helped put Mesa on the map as a genuine musical destination (alongside some other local folks, of course). Not having a plan, it seems, may have been the smartest move of them all. “I think with the idea of not having had a plan of great success or things that we felt like we needed to reach, we weren’t disap- pointed when we didn’t reach them,” DeVore says. “We were just having a good time. We’d already accomplished our dreams as kids.” While there wasn’t a plan, perhaps there was something resembling a vision. “I pictured us being like The Rolling Stones — as friends growing old together and looking at each other side by side in the reality of how much time had gone past and what you’ve all been through,” he says. He adds, “In my head, all I wanted when I was a kid was for the bands that I grew up listening to, and this is legitimate, was to recognize our group as a band. Like, ‘Oh, those guys are actually a band and they’re something to be reckoned with.’ The rest was like bonus tracks for us. And it’s been bonus track after bonus track.” Still, some of that dream has changed, and DeVore is now the only remaining original member left in Authority Zero. It’s a story like so many other groups, DeVore explains, as “people got jobs and wives and mortgages and punk rock doesn’t pay the bills.” But DeVore has a slightly different attitude than some other similar “legacy acts”: Authority Zero is about a connection that transcends any actual lineups. “Everybody that’s been in this band is the biggest part of this band,” he says. “I mean, everybody’s played a role in this band from the beginning, from the friends who jumped in just to keep the show going in the middle of a crisis situation. We’re talking, like, 20 people throughout the years. Everyone in this band is in this band still. It’s just a big family.” The current Authority Zero lineup sees DeVore joined by guitarist Brandon Landelius, bassist Mike Spero and drummer Chris Dalley, each of whom have played with the band for roughly a decade. The band’s also had several longtime members in bassist Jeremy Wood, guitarist Bill Marcks and drummer Jim Wilcox. It’s not just all feel-good sentimentality, either. It’s perhaps DeVore’s approach to bringing in new members over the years that’s made the biggest difference. “There’s something that these members have brought to the table, whether it be their playing abilities or their influence on the group itself — to give it a certain change in sound,” he says. “Like, don’t follow it and try to be (an ex-member) but be yourself. I want you to bring something new to this because that’s why you are coming in. I want (fans) to see that so that they accept you and embrace you as a part of this band.” And all of that stems from a rather important mantra, of sorts, that DeVore has maintained. “This band is not the only thing in our life,” he says. “Life is what makes this band.” And that core idea filters its way into how DeVore and Authority Zero actually make music. “I think at this point ... the message is clear that we’re trying to spread a good, positive message,” he says. “I’m trying to express what really happens to my own personal life and I hope that it helps and that someone can actually relate. I want people to get something good out of it that they can use in their own lives to help make some progress. I think the fans see that and they appreciate the idea that we’re still pushing and working so hard to keep the music coming to help people deal with their own day-to-day lifestyles and hardships.” But as with the arc of anyone’s life, there comes some eventual downsides and significant changes (even more so than new/departing members). “There was a while that things got complacent, I guess you could Left: Jason DeVore in an undated concert photo. Bottom: 2024 marks 30 long but joyous years for local legends Authority Zero. (Photos by Joe Maier and Jim Louvau) MESA TOWN MILEST NE Frontman Jason DeVore reflects on 30 YEARS of AUTHORITY ZERO. BY CHRIS COPLAN >> p 14
