Dead To Me

Over the past eight years, San Francisco’s Dead to Me have released two full-lengths on Fat Wreck Chords, toured relentlessly, have undergone two line-up changes, including the loss of a singer and a span of time as a three-piece, and have never let anything slow them down. The band recently spent some time in Chicago recording their newest full-length with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios and couldn’t be happier with the experience. Shortly thereafter, Dead to Me returned to Chicago with Off With Their Heads and Riverboat Gamblers, and bassist/singer Chicken sat down with ThePunkSite to discuss switching line-ups, recording as a four piece again, and spill some details on the new record.  

All photos by Katie Hovland.

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Amy: How long have you been a four-piece?

Chicken: Coming up on a year now. We started as a four-piece, and then Jack left the band to have a baby and raise a family. Then we went to a three-piece for a little while and Nathan left the band, so we went back to a four-piece. I’ve got Ken and Sam filling in now, not filling in; I mean they are permanent members for sure, and it’s been about a year now. It’s awesome, I love having two guitars.

Amy: Why did you decide to make the expansion again to four?

Chicken: The songs were originally written with two guitars in-mind. We only went to a three-piece because Jack left and we didn’t want to find anyone really, so we just did the record as three-piece. The last record, African Elephants, is a three-piece. When Nate left, we were like alright, let’s get two new dudes. Both of those guys we’ve known for over 10 years and were really good friends of mine. I’m a fan of their music, so I was really excited to have them in the band.

Amy: Was it ever discouraging to keep changing line-ups?

Chicken: In some ways I guess, but not really. In a lot of ways, it’s really refreshing. It’s like it breathes new life into the band when you get new members. I try not to get discouraged; this whole thing is so much fucking fun and I’m really lucky to be doing what I do, so I’m just excited I still get to do it. Me and my cousin, the drummer, we don’t let anything hold us back. We just got the opportunity to get two guys we like a lot to come be in Dead to Me, and we’re excited about it.

Amy: You have a new vinyl out right now with Dead to Me and Riverboat Gamblers that’s only available for purchase on this tour, how come you decided to only sell it at the shows?

Chicken: To trick people into come to the shows. No, it’s kind of a special thing. I really like both of those bands a lot, and I for one am super honored to be on the same record as them. To us, this is a special thing we’re doing this summer; three bands going around the country doing this thing against the Warped Tour, it’s really fucking cool for us. We kind of wanted this thing for people to remember they went to this show. We’re record geeks ourselves, so we thought to have this cool vinyl you can only get in one place is kind of a neat idea.

Amy: Is there anything special about it, different colors or art?

Chicken: I think there is some colored vinyl; there are a couple colors and black ones. The art was done by my cousin Ian, our drummer. He did a great job on it, I really like it.

Amy: I know you were just in Chicago recording with Matt Allison, how was it working with him?

Chicken: It was fantastic, it was so much fun, and he’s a great guy. It was like the recording experience we were waiting to have for a long time and we finally got it. He stayed true to our idea of wanting to reproduce what we do live on a record, and get that vibe and the energy that happens when the four of us sit in a room and play together. That’s what we really wanted to concentrate on portraying on this record and I think he did that. He captured it and did a great job, and we made a new good friend out of it, he’s an awesome guy.

Amy: Spill some details about this record, what can you say about it other than you’re satisfied and Matt Allison is awesome?

Chicken: There are 12 songs and I think this one is a lot more focused. The songs sound like a cohesive batch of songs as opposed to African Elephants; I love that record, but that was kind of us trying out some other things. This record is a little more focused, up-tempo, and it’s a lot more straightforward punk rock as opposed to some of the past records where there’s some reggae shit and some slower songs. I don’t ever choose how to write a song, when I sit down a song comes out and that’s it. This batch of songs came out pretty straightforward, and it’s definitely faster than the last record. It’s hard for me to describe because I see the songs in a totally different way than other people do. I guess you’ll just have to hear it and see yourself.

Amy: I was just interested because each album is so different from the last; I’m excited to hear it.

Chicken: Yeah, this one is different too. I’ve said this before, but my favorite bands’ records sound different. The Clash, Jawbreaker, and Fugazi records don’t sound alike, and that’s something that we think is important as a band, is to always be trying new things and going in different directions. I’m not really that impressed with bands where the first song on the record sounds like the last song, and that record sounds like all their other fucking records. That’s not really that interesting for us so we’ve always tried to push ourselves and try new things.

Amy: With the departure of your past members, has that really changed the song writing?

Chicken: I don’t think so. I usually write the songs on guitar, come up with the guitar parts and stuff and then I bring them to practice and show the other ding dongs and they do the same, they write parts of songs and we put them together. I love getting input from the other guys in the band. I definitely think four heads are better than one and the other guys will always think of something I haven’t thought of. I love hearing their input and taking their advice on structure and different ways to approach the songs. I really like having Sam in the band because he helps me with my vocals. He hears melodies really, really well and gives me really good ideas for melodies, and helps me if I’m not getting a part. It’s really cool writing with those guys, I love it.

Amy: So I know you just kind of touched base on it, but what do the new guys bring to the table? Considering this is the first time you’ve recorded a full-length with this current line-up.

Chicken: Sam is a really good guitar player; there are more guitar leads and solos. I don’t know Guitar Center speak, whatever that’s called when a guy plays a lot of notes really fast on a guitar, he does that and it’s cool. Kenny is a great, great guitar player as well. It’s cool to be able to have both of those guys do back-ups, and now we can kind of try some stuff where it’s like alright, well now you sing this, I’ll sing this, and then the other idiot sings this, it’s great. More options is what I’m saying, where when there was only three of us, not as many choices.

Amy: Lyrically, would you say there’s a theme to the new record?

Chicken: I would say it is pretty classic Dead to Me. It’s all over the place lyrically; there are political songs and personal songs. I’m still complaining about being a drug addict for sure on this record, and I’m sure that gets old for people to listen to, but it’s a daily reality for me so it’s something that comes out in my lyrics a lot. There’s a song on there that I wrote called Evolution that’s a love song to the universe. Just being a fan of watching the universe spin around and do what it does and not have control over it.

Amy: So the recording is all done with the new album, what do you have left to do? When will it approximately be out?

Chicken: We’ve heard eight of the 12 songs so far and everything sounds fantastic. It’ll come out in early October just in-time for Fest. Shortly thereafter, we’ll be doing a US tour.

Amy: I’ve read your band is a live band, why would you say for the full Dead to Me experience that I need to see you live?

Chicken: That’s a good question. I feel like there’s something that happens with the energy that the four of us dudes have playing together and I think it translates best in a living setting. It’s hard to get across juice, or energy on recording. The other thing is we really enjoy it, we love playing live, and I think it shows and people appreciate that. Literally it is our favorite thing to do and it is just one of those things where you have to check us out live and if you’re onboard, you’re onboard, if not, fuck it.

Amy: What is the most striking thing about Dead to Me?

Chicken: Other than our breathtakingly good looks?

Amy: What would draw someone to your band that’s never heard of you?

Chicken: Ourselves. We have ourselves to offer, and that may sound cliché, but a lot of bands offer a different, fake version of themselves. They wear certain things onstage and talk in weird accents, and stuff I don’t understand. We just give ourselves one hundred percent and there’s something honest and vulnerable to that. It’s a real actual band and there are no tricks. There’s no smoke and mirrors to Dead to Me.