Devin may be a fresh face on the New York music scene, but this Brooklyn native tends to a time-honored tradition of red-hot rock and roll. (Think Iggy Pop, Jack White and the New York Dolls.) His last job was stacking boxes in a shipping warehouse. He doesn't do that anymore.
Can you talk a little bit about what you were doing before this?

You know, I was working a terrible job and living with a roommate in a basement apartment in Park Slope—a little shithole with no windows. We were both single and pretty much depressed, not doing anything. Absolutely nothing was happening; I hated New York and everyone I knew. I was like, "Maybe I'll move to Germany."

Then you started writing songs.

I'd been writing before that, but they were pretty terrible. I mean, really bad. But then I started working with these classic forms that everyone understands: rock and roll, rhythm and blues. I never knew I could pull off rock, but I wrote some songs and I could tell I didn't suck anymore. They have references all over the place to the music that I like. I think that's part of what makes it good—it's got really specific references to good music.

People have already started mentioning David Johansen and Iggy Pop.

There's a million different guys and girls you could point out. But Iggy Pop is definitely one you can stand behind as a pillar.

What do you like about him?

I discovered him late; I think I was 24 or something. I saw this video on YouTube of him doing "The Passenger," which isn't even him in his prime. But it just took me in that moment; it hit me personally. I never saw anyone do that. He's obviously a man, but he's acting like a child. It's so cool. Everybody wants to do that: get up onstage and flip out—but without looking like a fool. Anyone can go up there and look like a fool. But to pull it off for real, I was just like, Wow. Rock and roll is supposed to be fun, you know? And so many times it's not. Rock and roll on the radio—well, now there's no rock on the radio, at least in New York. But when I was young, in high school, rock was definitely not fun. It was terrible.

So you began utilizing these classic forms. Did you know what you wanted to sing about?

The forms suggest what the songs are about—they put you in a world. Take the first line from "New Horrors": "Junkie's shaking in the subway car / My baby's shaking on the dance floor." Everyone's seen that. And "White Leather," that's a song about getting ready to go out. The album takes place at night, I think—it's about running around with the one you love, doing whatever you want.