Dez Cadena

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Dez Cadena
Background information
Birth name	Dez Paul Cadena
Born	June 2, 1961 (1961-06-02) (age 48) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock, horror punk
Occupations	Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist
Instruments	vocals, Guitar
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Misfits, Black Flag, Duff McKagan, DC3, Osaka Popstar, Vida, Loaded, Carnage Asada
Notable instruments
Gibson Flying V Gibson Sonex Gibson Les Paul Schecter C-1 XXX B.C. Rich Warlock

Dez Paul Cadena (born June 2, 1961 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag. Since 2001 Cadena has played guitar with the Misfits. He currently resides in The Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey with his wife.

Biography

His father, Ozzie Cadena, was a well-known A&R man in the music industry, and the co-founder of iconic jazz label Savoy Records.

Dez Cadena joined Black Flag in 1980, replacing singer Ron Reyes. During the first year of touring with the band, his hoarse voice became a recognizable and often imitated style of singing in hardcore punk. Eventually, and due in part to straining his voice, Cadena decided he wanted to play guitar. Henry Rollins joined as vocalist, and for a period, Cadena played rhythm guitar alongside founder Greg Ginn, including on the seminal 1981 album Damaged.

Cadena went on to play in DC3. Before, during and after his stint in Black Flag, Cadena was a member of Redd Kross, Twisted Roots, and Ella and the Blacks, a band which he co-founded. He also made a guest appearance on Hüsker Dü's 1984 double album, Zen Arcade.

During the mid 90s, Dez teamed up with George Hurley and Tom Troccoli to form Vida. Their self-titled album was released by Blue Man from Uranus Records. The band has since dissolved. He also played with raucous Hermosa beach bar band The Jim Mellon Quartet, as well as Steve Reed and Dave Markey in Carnage Asada.

Dez played guitar and sang lead vocals for the super-group Chop on their only single, which consisted of Blue Oyster Cult covers. The group also included Mike Watt, Dave Markey, Dave Peterson, and Dave Travis.

In around 1999, Cadena toured as part of ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan's solo band to promote McKagan's latest album "Beautiful Disease" which ironically was never actually released because of the merger between Universal and PolyGram, but promoted on tour.

Most recently, Cadena toured with The Misfits' 25th and 30th Anniversary tour and played guitar on the band's Project 1950 album. (He has become the official guitarist for The Misfits, which has been stated by Jerry Only) He is currently still touring with the band, which features Jerry Only on bass and vocals and ROBO, another past Black Flag member and former Misfits drummer, on drums. The Misfits are set to work and record a new studio album for which Cadena is expected to have a major hand in both writing and singing the songs. The album was set to be released in 2007, to coincide with the Misfits 30th anniversary since their formation in 1977. Between tours Cadena is also a member of the roots rock band The Jim Mellon Quartet (The JMQ) whose live gigs are of legendary status in the South Bay of Los Angeles, CA.

Cadena currently plays lead guitar for punk rock supergroup Osaka Popstar, along with Jerry Only, Marky Ramone, John Cafiero and Ivan Julian. The band has released one album to date, Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk, in 2006.

Cadena was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. ^{[1] [2]}

Discography

With Black Flag:

• 1981 - Six Pack
• 1981 - Louie Louie
• 1981 - Damaged
• 1982 - TV Party
• 1982 - Everything Went Black
• 1983 - The First Four Years
• 1987 - Wasted...Again

With DC3

• 1985 - This Is the Dream
• 1985 - The Good Hex
• 1986 - You're Only As Blind...
• 1989 - Vida (live recordings from SST)

With Vida

• 1995 - Vida

With Loaded

• 1999- Episode 1999: Live

With Carnage Asada

• 1997 - Familia Carnage Asada (7" ep)
• 1999 - Permanent Trails

With The Misfits:

• 2002 - The Day the Earth Caught Fire (single)
• 2003 - Project 1950 (album)
• Untitled Misfits Album (2008) (album)

With Osaka Popstar:

• 2006 - Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk (album)

Instruments played

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

This is a list of instruments played by Dez Cadena^[3]:

• Gibson Sonex (used on Damaged)
• Gibson Flying V
• Clear red B.C. Rich Warlock called "Lollipop"
• Schecter C-1 XXX
• Schecter C-1 Elite
• A black Ibanez AR Artist called "Black Betty" (used after Damaged and on many recordings afterwards)
• Black Gibson Les Paul Standard (with the Misfits)

References