We spend a couple of minutes with DEAD vocalist/drummer Jem ahead of their support slot for Torche in Melbourne and find out what’s new…
What’s going on in the world of DEAD?
We’re about to release our 3rd album Captains of Industry which we recorded in LA last year with Toshi Kasai. We’ll release it here on our own label WeEmptyRooms and it will be released in the US on Eolian Empire and Europe on Rock Is Hell.
We just released a new song “Dog TV” via a 2×10” compilation record from Rock Is Hell (Austria). Mark D and Seawhores are on it too so I’m hoping we look cool by association.
We’re touring the East coast in Nov/Dec and hopefully we’ll hit up the other states early next year. Some of the dates are with Ithaqua from Japan who are heavy as fuck. Can’t recommend them enough.
Heading into the studio soon to start a collaborative record with BJ Morriszonkle; an exceptionally talented one man band/genius. It’s going to be fairly different for us but basically we’ll be giving him free reign with the songs to add whatever he likes.
Right now we’re writing the next album which we’ll record next year sometime depending on finances. Thinking of running another crowd funding campaign for that one just to see if we can top the hate mail from the last one.
What motivates you to make music?
When I make music I feel good, when I don’t I feel worse and like I need to make music. It’s probably as basic as that. Of course there is a lot that I get out of it but honestly, I don’t need to worry the details too much. Just keep making it and I’m okay.
What have been the high and low points of your musical experiences so far?
Highs: We’ve played with some of our favourite bands overseas, made great friends and discovered awesome new bands on tour. Recording with Toshi last year was a great experience as I grew up admiring his recordings a great deal. He was a lot of fun to work with and really good at his job. Treated us really well and managed what limited time we had really well. We’ve also been lucky enough to work with Neil Thomason at Headgap a number of times. Getting Linda J in to sing on our last album was a feather in the cap.
We’ve toured to a lot of different countries and connecting with people from all walks of life through music is something quite special to us. We’ve never been a buzz band; the media is, for the most part, unaware of us. So people coming to our shows, buying our records and showing their appreciation is not something we take for granted.
This year we had to cancel a US tour due to lack of finances but we still managed to appear at one our favourite music festivals “Whynot?” in Minot, ND, via Skype. So I guess that was a low that got converted into a high. Actually one of the best shows we’ve ever played was a basement show at that festival last year. It was at 3am, our 3rd set of the day … well how can you explain it? Some shows are just extra extra special. It might be a house show, it might be a big venue, or it might the Tote front bar.
Lows: This band has played more shows than any I’ve been in and honestly had a pretty good run. Not too many nightmare stories. The first US tour in 2011 was very taxing; most of the tour was canned a few weeks out and I had to scramble to put it back together, a lot of sleeping in car parks and one night in Cleveland in a room full of cat shit in a house full of ice heads. That was one I could have done without. The cherry on top for that tour was getting bumped off the last show of the tour by Japanther ‘cos they didn’t want their crowd to have to endure our set. They waited until after we loaded in to drop that bomb. I demolished a burrito and a 6-pack of IPA in anger that night.
Actually that’s just the tip of the iceberg now that I think of it. I remember getting a lift overnight to get to Camp A Low Hum in NZ and the security guards would not let us in ‘cos the promoter was asleep and they lost their guest list. So we slept out in the freezing cold with all our music gear for hours waiting for them to let us in. Then we finally got let in to our dorms that afternoon and some acid casualty shat in the shower. Ben from Regurgitator and bloke called Toecutter cleaned it up — fucking legends.
I think most bands would have broken up long ago given some of the shit we’ve endured. But in a way it’s those low moments that often bring you closer together. Not much point in dwelling on them when there is plenty of good stuff to focus on.
It’s just the usual stuff — venues cancelling on you at late notice, driving 10 hours to get paid $30, not knowing where you’re gonna sleep really shits me. Having to explain people why it costs $10 to see 5 or more very good bands and being abused for being a capitalist scumbag. These are all standard gripes, not something we alone have to deal with.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
Been on a Harvey Milk binge for a long time now. Listening to new releases from Noxagt, Hepa-Titus, The Funeral and The Twilight, Rabbits, Hard-Ons, TTTDC, SWHAT, Big Business, Prizehog, Hotel Wrecking City Traders … I spend most of my day listening to music.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which member of the band would get eaten first?
We’re both vegetarian and very resourceful. We’d find a much more sustainable solution than that. I’d be pretty disappointed in ourselves if the best thing we could come up with was to eat the other. Jace is an ethical dude, I just don’t think he could explain to my mum why he ate me. How about that bloke that ate his own dick though? That’s pretty rough.
Here’s an opportunity to bitch about something, whether music related or not. What really pisses you off?
Oh man let’s not open that one up!
It shits me that time spent in this band is about 90% admin and 10% actually playing music. I wish it were a more sustainable pursuit as it’s a very expensive hobby to keep. Musicians are not valued very highly in this country and we play music with pretty limited appeal so the reality is we have to work with that, whinging about it doesn’t achieve much.
You have to keep perspective on this stuff. We’re not being persecuted for our music, we have roofs over our heads, we’re not going hungry — we’re doing much better than most of the world could ever hope for. Everything we do, we do for ourselves so in some ways it’s a miracle anyone else supports it at all.
You’re putting together your perfect gig featuring Australian artists? Who would you get to play and where? Feel free to include acts/DJs/bands/venues that no longer exist.
I’m gonna limit myself to current bands or else it’ll be a nostalgia fest.
I’d have it at The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine where we live as that place is great and very supportive of original music. BJ Moriszonkle, Wicked City, BRUCE!, Nunchukka Superfly, Lara Sulo, Pissbolt, Sun God Replica, Whitehorse, Bone … it’s gonna turn into a bloody festival at this rate. Nicole Tadpole would DJ and Ray Ahn would provide comic relief between bands.
DEAD join Child in supporting Torche on Saturday October 18 at The Corner in Melbourne. Tickets on sale now through life is noise.
