The Lees Of Memory's, John Davis On Why He Is A San Francisco Giants Fan
Nashville-based musician John Davis first achieved success on an international basis as the frontman of the Tennessee band Superdrag in the mid-1990s. The hit single "Sucked Out" led Superdrag to massive MTV airplay and touring alongside Green Day, Weezer, Nada Surf, and the Ben Folds Five. Superdrag may not be active at the moment, but its influence can be traced to the Foo Fighters, Butch Walker, The Get Up Kids and plenty of other artists.
Currently, Davis is focused on the band The Lees Of Memory, which includes former Superdrag guitarist Brandon Fisher. Davis is a Nashville resident, as said, but he is a devoted fan of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants. Below are highlights from our Q&A which explains how and why the Giants are a big deal in the Davis household. More on the Lees, whose latest album is The Blinding White Of Nothing At All, can be found on the group's Bandcamp page.
When in your life did you become a baseball fan?
John Davis: I started watching baseball in the 2nd Grade. That would've been 1982. My first team was the Braves, but I watched the Cubs, too, 'cause they were both on TV every day. I can still remember most of the '83 Braves: Dale Murphy, Claudell Washington, Rafael Ramirez, Glen Hubbard, Bob Horner, Bruce Benedict... I also liked the Reds, just because my first little Tee-Ball team was the Reds. I pretty much fell off and quit following baseball, though, once I started playing guitar and skateboarding.
When did the San Francisco Giants become your team?
John Davis: What really re-lit the fire for me was when my kids started playing ball, collecting baseball cards, and watching games. I don't do nothin' halfway, so before you know it I'm watching every Giants game. There's a fair amount of sleep deprivation involved with living in Central time, following a West Coast team and watching every game.
As an adult, being from Knoxville, living in Nashville, I didn't feel any particular allegiance to the Braves, the Reds or the Cardinals like most people from this area. I picked the Giants instead. In a roundabout way, it's because of Thrasher mag. They're based in SF, they always back the hometown team, matter of fact they put a floating miniramp in McCovey Cove one time. If skateboarding had an official baseball team, it would have to be the Giants.
Plus, I've just always had love for SF: I love Dirty Harry -- tied with Apocalypse Now for my favorite film, all-time -- I love Big Trouble In Little China, I love the [Grateful] Dead, Moby Grape, Brian Jonestown [Massacre], so much of the music that came out of there. We played SF on the first-ever Superdrag tour. I just love the city.
Are there other Giants fans you've encountered in your community?
John Davis: There aren't many Giants fans in Tennessee, but we're out here! I have a couple of good buds from Knoxville that follow them; we keep a running group text going for pretty much the entire season. We actually caught a game together in Atlanta last season, and probably will again this year. We caught the best quality start of 2017 for Matt Moore that time and the only Giants W for that entire 8-game road trip. The first time we went down to Atlanta to watch "Giants @ Braves," my son ended up playing catch with Derek Law. That was pretty epic!
Have you ever gotten into an argument where you had to defend the Giants?
John Davis: Have I ever gotten into an argument? Not really. I mean, for the most part, I don't engage with salty Dodger fans on Twitter or anything. (laughs) Ain't nobody got time for that. Last season most of my buds that follow baseball just took pity on me -- obviously, they had a historically terrible year. But, I mean, that's baseball. They won three rings in five years. They really don't need me to defend them.
Do you have a favorite player on the Giants?
John Davis: Gotta go with Hunter Pence. He'll get you fired-up. Plus his level of caffeination is something I aspire to in my daily life.
Baseball aside, what are you working on career-wise?
John Davis: Well, we just dropped the 3rd Lees Of Memory album, The Blinding White Of Nothing At All. It's a double album. We've put out 10 full-length sides of vinyl and five double-sided non-LP singles in three years' time, so we might take a moment to reflect.
Right now I'm working on a project with my friend Mike Armstrong called The Rectangle Shades. He owns the record shop, Lost And Found Records in Knoxville, where I worked from 1993 to 1995, so we've been buds for about 25 years. We have a lot of common musical interests, so our playing and writing definitely seem to compliment one another nicely.
We're just gonna keep cutting stuff on weekends with Mike Purcell at County Q until we have a record's worth of material. They run a small label out of the shop so it'll be available through them when the time comes. We leaked the first two finished songs on the High Bias!!! A Cassette-Based Operation TM bandcamp so people can check 'em out. We just drafted Yogi Watts to play all the drums on the rest of the record, people already know, he's a monster!
Finally, John, any last words for the kids?
John Davis: Nobody knows more about how your song's supposed to sound than you do. Oh, and of course, GO GIANTS!