Authority Zero

Jason DeVore is celebrating 30 years of Authority Zero by looking to the future while reflecting on the past in the course of a powerful six-song effort by the punk-rock group he and his friends started as high school kids in Mesa, Arizona. The EP, titled “30 Years: Speaking to the Youth,” is “essentially about believing in yourself and fighting for what you believe in,” DeVore says. “Whatever that may be.” The lyrics reflect on the world he sees around him through the filter on his own experiences. “It’s about the journey of this life and the awareness of it all,” he says. “Each moment good or bad. If there’s something that you love and feel a strong conviction about, don’t be afraid to stand up and speak about it, fight for it, be heard, and ultimately live and embrace it in its entirety.” DeVore, bassist Mike Spero, guitarist Brandon Landelius and drummer Chris Dalley spent a week in Arizona writing “30 Years,” their first new music since the 2021 release of "Ollie Ollie Oxen Free.” “So, it’s really what Authority Zero sounds like right now when you put the four of us in a room for a week,” DeVore says. The bandmates then spent two weeks with producer Cameron Webb, who also took the helm on “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free” and 2013’s “The Tipping Point” at Maple Studios in Santa Ana, California. As for “Speaking to the Youth,” DeVore says, “It’s us talking to ourselves as kids in a way and the future generations both present day and to come.”