Dharma describes themselves as ‘quite likely the first band in the world to combine ancient and traditional Buddhist sutras with the modern style of death metal.’
“I was a kid, okay, who dreamed about what it might be like to play one show, and I was afraid to tell anybody this dream because I thought people would just laugh at me. Like I said before, I wasn’t the cool kid. “
Joe Henley, the frontman for Dharma, is a Canadian (now Taipei based) freelance journalist, screenwriter, author, and metal/punk vocalist. He stepped on stage for the first time at the age of 24, and now at the age of 41, he tours with his band as an integral part of the punk and heavy metal scene out east.
Henley sat down with Soundsphere’s Dom Smith to discuss topics such as his move to Taiwan, his journey with Buddhism and his band, and more. Check out the full interview here and keep reading for the low-down.
Motivation to move and write
Joe’s work as a journalist focuses heavily on intense stories surrounding Taiwan, such as his book Migrante. He moved to Taiwan on a whim in 2005, right after completing his journalism course. His pieces focus on human rights issues, environmental projects, and the likes, as well as underground music journalism.
“I think the way that we can move forward as a society in a positive and healthy way is if we know each other’s stories. If we’re not so much of a mystery to one another. So, I wanted to, just in the most general terms, help be a part of telling those stories so we can get to know each other better. So we can move forward together, in a more positive way so that we don’t spell our own doom by means of what could be just very simple misunderstandings between each other.”
The punk and metal scene in Taiwan
“The scene, it actually was fairly simple. I came here, I knew nothing about the scene. Didn’t even know if metal or punk or heavy music was a thing here, which was foolish in retrospect. I mean, it was just pure ignorance on my part, admittedly. When I showed up, of course, there’s already a thriving metal and punk scene here.
I just started going to shows. A lot of times, I was kind of the only foreign face in the crowd… People were very welcoming. They wanted to come up and chat. They wanted to know, “why are you here? How did you know about this?” Because, at that time, again- 2005, 2006- when I started going to shows, information wasn’t really out there unless you were really willing to dig for it.”
“It’s like a lot of scenes everywhere, you know. There’s ups, there’s downs. But the shows are a lot more regular. Any given month, probably every weekend there’s a show somewhere, and pretty well supported. We’ve had Suffocation come through. As I Lay Dying was just here, Arch Enemy is coming next week. Go back 20 years.
It was like, “okay, we’ve got one international this month, when’s the next one? Oh, three four months from now, right?” Now it’s a lot more now. Taiwan is absolutely on the map and there’s still a lot of bands that are coming here for the first time which is great because again, they come they get that huge reception.
They go back wherever they’re from and they tell 10 other bands, “you’ve got to come here.” So that’s the type of experience that we want to give people when they come here.”
How the band got together
Alongside Henley, Dharma was formed by his longtime friend, Jack Tung. The band currently consists of six members, but it was these two along with Andy who started it out.
“They came up with, I think, three or four songs that they could show to people. And right about 2019, after about a year of writing, that’s what Jack brought to me. And I was blown away by it right away. Like I was just like, Oh my goodness. Like I was listening to the songs over and over and over again on repeat.
And he asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. And I said, “well, I’m like, I’m not Buddhist. Does that matter?” He’s like, yeah, don’t worry about that. We’ll figure that out. Whatever, however, that’s going to go. That’s going to go. We’ll figure that part out later. But do you just want to be the vocalist in the band?
Let’s just get the people in first, get everybody together and we can see how it goes.” So, it was a product of, you know, my friendship and partnership with Jack. We’ve now been playing together for the better part of two decades. This is our third band together. We played with you (Dom) when I was doing Stench of Lust, which was a very, very different project.
And I was a very different, well, the same person in some ways, but a very different person back then. Doing very different things on the stage and saying very different things and very different message in that band. That was more of a like, kind of an anal cunt-ish like fuck off grind band. And if people are not familiar with it, don’t be. Don’t worry because you’re not alone.
It did not achieve nearly the reach that say that Dharma has yet. And for a very good reason. Yeah, just a product of, you know, friendship and collaboration with Jack for so long. I’m so grateful that, for our friendship and that he’s, you know, he’s seen me at my best and at my worst.
With Stench of Lust, he saw me a lot when I was definitely not at my best. He still had the belief in me where he asked me to front Dharma. You know, it’s his, everything’s on the line for him. It’s his message, his reputation, his idea. And he’s asking me to go stand up front and be the delivery person for it. So, I don’t take that for granted.”
Dharma’s success
When Dharma played their first show, they were opening for Swedish satanic black metal band Marduk. They recorded a few videos out of the gig and got those out into the world. It started a ‘snowball effect’, according to Henley.
“I’m not surprised. I’m shocked by it. We had no idea how this was going to land. I knew I liked it, but there’s a lot of things I like that people don’t like. I’m into stuff that that three or four people are into and I was very, very much prepared that this could be one of those things.
And that would have been fine. I’ve always done things, selfishly, like, for myself. If I like it, I’m enjoying it, I’m getting something out of it, that’s what I’m there for… This is, although I do go to traditional therapy, this is also my therapy. Another form of it.”
Faith of Buddhism
As mentioned previously, Master Song was a Buddhist nun and collaborator for Dharma when they first started out. She held the first rituals for Dharma, and later left due to health issues. She asked Henley to do formal study for the band, he believed it was important to do so.
“ I’m not a monk and I never want to present myself as such to people. I’m what they call a layperson in Buddhism. Somebody who follows Buddhism practices, but not the hundreds and hundreds of precepts required of being a monk and being a formal practitioner of it.
But I did want to be as authentic as possible, and it was time for a change. So, after the four months of study were up. Master Song asked me, and she said, “look, it’s okay. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. What matters is what’s in your heart. But if you would like, I can” … they call it taking refuge in the three jewels, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
“I can give you that. And you can formally become a Buddhist.” And I thought, yeah, it’s time. It’s time for me to embrace this thing that has been placed in my path, which I believe has been placed in front of me for a reason. If only my own personal, well, for lack of a better word, salvation. Just to save myself. Not talking about in the sense of say, my immortal soul, but literally to stop myself from going to a place where I decide I don’t want to be here anymore. I might actually end things. So, I did. I took refuge in the three jewels.
I stopped drinking entirely and doing anything else illicit, just put it that way. And yeah, that was the start of feeling much better due to making different lifestyle choices, but then also embracing meditation as a lifestyle, mindfulness. And basically, if you look at Buddhism, I mean, if you just boil it down. It’s just a means of being at peace with yourself and the world around you, nothing more. It’s just how to live a peaceful life without any of the distractions or trappings of the material world that we’re all embroiled in.
And I still am, of course. I’m again, I’m not a monk. I haven’t renounced. You can see all these possessions around me, CDs, vinyl, books. I’m still very much embroiled in the material world. And in many ways, still a very materialistic person, but I’m a much more peaceful materialistic person because of this whole journey.”
Visiting Taiwan
“You’ll find that the experience here for anybody who’s just coming over, whether you’re coming over tomorrow or anytime soon, even if you don’t speak a word of Mandarin, people here are so friendly and accommodating, Patient. They will do whatever they have to do in order to help you.
And if they can’t help you, they will help you. They will make sure you can get to where you need to go. If they can’t, they will call somebody who will. It happened to me, when I was first out here, when I didn’t speak a word. I was desperately lost somewhere and I’m trying to explain this to somebody who doesn’t really speak English, but they can see that I’m upset. They can see that I’m in some sort of trouble. They’re like, “okay, hold on. I have this other friend who does speak English. Let me get him on the phone. Let him get him you on the phone with them.” It’s pretty amazing. I can’t really think of places where that happens with such readiness and such frequency that it does here.
I haven’t been everywhere in the world. I’ve been to a lot of places where people are incredibly friendly and helpful, but I, I want to say, honestly, this is a special place. This is a very special place. And, if people come here- and I do encourage anyone who is, whether you’re in a band or traveling-, come check it out.”
Henley’s message to the fans of metal
It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I am a senior citizen in this scene, comparatively speaking. Even though I don’t feel like it, but I can see myself in my camera here. I can see the hairline that I have. But, you know, thanks to the people who allow me to keep doing this, I don’t feel a day over 16. I feel better than I did at that age because I feel like I can be 16 now, but without the massive insecurity, without the need to get loaded, to just to talk to people.
This is a very long-winded way of saying, if I have any message for people out there who listen to us, I hope it instills a sense of hope in you the same way that it has instilled a sense of hope in me. And that’s my mission going forward, to take what has been given, this gift that has been given to me, and pass it on to other people who need it as badly as I did.”
Japanese tour dates are coming soon in August, and it’s been teased on Dharma’s Instagram which you can follow here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6jKWpUJl1P/
Follow DHARMA on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Dharmabandtw/
And YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@jackstudio8
Get the full conversation here:
