SOCIETY 1 has revealed the first collaboration in the band’s 20-year career in the single “It’s Life,” which sees the unlikely pairing of the industrial-fused metal band with hip hop legend DMC of Run-DMC.
“Collaborating with DMC was an absolute dream come true,” says SOCIETY 1 frontman Lord Zane. “Before I knew about The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, Run-DMC were my gods. I showed up to my very first guitar lesson with a copy of ‘Raising Hell’ because my teacher asked me to bring in music with my favorite artist. I swear to you, I almost cried when I heard his iconic voice over my music for the first time. It was a religious experience.”
DMC likewise has praise for Zane’s musical artistry. “Lord Zane creates music that is insane,” DMC says. “Powerful, energetic, fun, and captivating. The beat and the guitars for the collaboration we did grabbed me in a headlock! The sound, arrangements and vibe are a force to be reckoned with. He has allowed me to continue to live my rock ‘n’ roll dream.”
Zane first connected with DMC when the late Static-X frontman Wayne Static introduced the two, believing Zane, who also heads the production company Lord Zane Production, would be a good fit for directing the music video for the DMC track “Noise Revolution,” which featured guest vocals from Static. Years later, after re-focusing on his music career, Zane wrote the music for SOCIETY 1’s first intended collaboration, keeping DMC specifically in mind. Zane handled guitar duties on “It’s Life,” and DMC himself contributed the song’s lyrics.
“Life is to be lived,” DMC says. “Believe in yourself. Create your own adventure. In life there are ups and downs, good days and bad days. Lord Zane captured a feeling with this track that is empowering, invigorating and inspiring. Attack each day’s struggles and adversity like a superhero. Life isn’t easy so it’s up to us to make it fun!”
Stay tuned for possible further collaborations and live performances with SOCIETY 1 and DMC.
Innovation, invention and intensity are all words that sum up Lord Zane. Through the peaks and valleys of SOCIETY 1’s career, Zane’s passion and staunch dedication to his art have never subsided. SOCIETY 1 has seen it all before and has a hunger riding within the seat of experience – still as dangerous but with focus and intensity matched only by wisdom. LA Weekly described Lord Zane as an embodiment of “Morrisonesque shamanics and Satanic self-determination.”
Darryl McDaniels or DMC, as most of the world knows him, made his start in the music business as one third of the groundbreaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. DMC and Run-DMC can be credited with helping to transform rap and hip hop into come of the most popular music in the world. As the first and greatest of hip hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams by embodying the endlessly creative subculture of young black New York for the world to experience.
