|
Sunday's are usually a bit of a bummer for me. I'm normally trying to shake the demons of whatever I got into the night before while being forced to deal with the end of the weekend. And the beginning of yet another boring work week on the horizon. This time though things are going to be a bit different I've grabbed a few of the guys and we're off for an evening of mayhem. Dreaming Dead and Cattle Decapitation are playing the Knitting Factory and I cant think of any better way to end my weekend than with 6 hours of Metal! For Dreaming Dead this is their first hometown show since the release of their debut Within One. So far its shaping up to be a good show most of the bands are pretty tight and of course there is the once douche bag who doesn't seem to understand when its appropriate to use his evil black metal voice. Here's a hint during the song you growl, when just telling the crowd where the merch booth is, you can do that without using the voice of ultimate evil. Just saying, but you get one at every show. But I will save that for another day, Dreaming Dead is about to take the stage. The night is shaping up well but I'm still a bit bummed. I was supposed to interview Dreaming Dead tonight but the place is so insane its not going to get done at the show. All isn't lost I can email the questions later, besides I'm working on my 5th or 6th Jack and coke and am probably in no condition to be talking to people. let alone conduction an interview. Just as I resolve myself to the email thing, Dreaming Dead takes the stage. From the first riff they entrees the crowd with their deadly melodies and precision playing. Ear drums are split and heads bang while Dreaming Dead drove a path of destruction through the crowd. There were a lot of great bands out there tonight but none of them could hold a candle to Dreaming Dead, I was in love with Within One when I first heard the album but its even better when you here it live. A truly wonderful performance. Its 3am now I'm still amped from the show and all of the booze I've consumed. Listening to Within One and bursting with anticipation reading the email interview with Dreaming Dead.
Sameerah:You released your first demo Through Insanity's Eyes under the name Manslaughter, why the name change?
Mike:Liz could tell you best because she originally came up with the name “Manslaughter”, but she basically wanted to move on from the original concept that the name represented for her. She played with a few people here and there under that name, but once I joined on a permanent basis the band took a different direction and Liz felt the old name didn’t capture what she envisioned for the band’s current incarnation. Also, Dreaming Dead is more abstract and leaves a little more to the imagination than “Manslaughter”.
Sameerah:You finished your first national tour a few months ago. How was the new material received on the road?
Mike: Well, to be honest, I think that for most of the people we played for, all the material was new. There were a handful of people at each show that knew the material from the demo, but most folks were hearing us for the first time. As far as the people that knew the demo material, their reaction was generally like, “Whoa. Those new songs are fucking brutal. What the hell happened?” Mainly because the four newer songs are faster, have more complex guitar work, and have a lot more aggressive drumming—lots of blast beats, etc.
Sameerah: When you played in New Mexico the owner called the cops on you what went down that night?
Mike:Haha. It was pretty lame. The venue was in a large suburban-type shopping mall, and the bands parked in and loaded in from the back. The bands were drinking and smoking weed in the loading area and the owner smelled the smoke. He gave a few warnings throughout the night, but we headlined and when we were loading out someone told us that the owner had actually called the cops. We just continued to load up and everybody but us and a couple guys from another band left. So just as we were finishing packing the van the cops showed up. It was just one cop at first and he was like, “we’ve received reports that people are doing drugs back here.” And we were like, “oh, well there were a bunch of people here a minute ago but they left cuz the show is over, and now we’re just loading up.” Then some more cops showed up but they didn’t see any paraphernalia or see anybody doing anything illegal so they left. The lame thing is that the owner called the cops and the only people left to deal with them were the headlining act from out of town. Nice job douchebag.
Sameerah:How do you think your sound has progressed from the demo to the new album?
Mike:Well, we recorded the demo about 2 months after Liz and I initially started jamming. The result was therefore pretty raw and unrefined. So over the last couple years we have definitely tightened our sound and grown accustomed to playing with each other. Also, the material itself changed. We started off with more of a straightforward thrash sound, but evolved to incorporate more elements of black and death metal. The songs also became more complex with faster tempos. The production of the album is certainly much better than the demo too. We did pre-production and spent more time in the studio and more time mixing for the album, whereas the demo was recorded and mixed in a week.
Sameerah:A few of the trax on within one are things that were originally recorded back in the Manslaughter days. Why revamp them for Within One?
Mike:We’re lazy and we didn’t want to write more songs. Just kidding. Really, we just felt that the songs could be better represented if we took more time to record them. Like I said, we recorded the demo within 2 months of being together.
Sameerah:You guys play pretty heavy shit and manage to stay away from all of the Black Metal gimmicks. Do you think having an abundance of bands using the cliche of ultimate evil to sell albums hurts the scene?
Mike:Shit, I don’t know. It probably helps the scene insofar as generating publicity. Look at the bands from Norway in the 90s. Those guys are all world famous because they were representing “ultimate evil”, as you put it. I personally think that whole “true evil” thing is retarded. I like some raw black metal, but c’mon. Those people eat, sleep, shit, and fuck just like the rest of us. Well, actually I think most of those black metal guys aren’t getting laid. That’s why they’re so mad at the world.
Sameerah:On Putrid is the Sky you use a sample from what sounds like Jim Jones right before he drank the kool aide. It works great with the song, but why use that particular bit of Jones last speech ?
Ecto:You’re right. It is Jim Jones. I don’t think he drank the Kool Aide though. He shot himself, or had someone shoot him. There is really no great reason that we used that specific audio sample. It’s just a really provocative few lines. He mentions Communism and Christianity, and says, “if we can’t live in peace then let’s die in peace.” We started using it live before we put it on the album, and it’s really just a great way to get the mood going before we jump into the heavy part of the song.
Sameerah:The other night you had another girl on 2nd guitar who was she? Will there be a line up change soon?
Ecto:That’s our current guitarist Samantha Perez. She started playing with us right after our last guitarist left at the conclusion of our October 08 tour. She’s a great player, especially for being so young, and she’s working out great.
Sameerah:So whats next on the horizon for Dreaming Dead?
Ecto:“Within One” just came out, and we don’t have any significant touring planned until the Summer, so we’re going to spend the next few months working on new material. We’re gonna keep the tunes coming your way!
Sameerah:Anything you want to add before we wrap?
Ecto: Yeah, thanks for the interview opportunity. Keep checking in with us everybody. We always have new stuff going down. xoxoxoxoxoxo
|
