Nashville-based rock band The Dead Deads are cherry-picking everything good about grunge, hard rock, indie, classic metal and punk, and creating memorable and fun alternative music for rock fans across generations and genres. They are that “up-and-coming” band that other touring artists have named as a favorite for years. They’ve been named by many of their own heroes including Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick) Corey Taylor (Stone Sour/Slipknot), and Shaun Morgan (Seether) as one of the most refreshing new bands touring today, and they have conjured a wildly engaged fan club—The Dead Corps. With X’s painted over their eyes, the band and fans bring excitement and infectious energy to every engagement.
What began as a jam in a south Nashville warehouse in 2013, has grown into an undeniable phenomenon. The band has spent the last five years distilling a sound and a culture that is part heritage, part science fiction, and all ROCK. Heads bang as metal and grunge riffs are coaxed into pop hooks. Innocent child-like vocals are interrupted by screams and the occasional brutal growl, as finely crafted wordplay forces unexpected stops and odd time signatures into submission. The unexpected becomes the earworm.
The Dead Deads explore sounds from 90’s bands like The Pixies and Sonic Youth, to modern metal bands like Mastodon and Baroness, all while keeping their grunge/punk rock roots. They name Failure, Bjork, NOFX, Pavement, Weezer, Helmet, Beck and The Pixies in amongst their hugely diverse list of influences.
In December 2014 they wrapped their first national tour with Halestorm, dramatically growing their fanbase through their wild live show and warmth with their Dead Corps at meet and greets. Their debut full-length record “Rainbeau” produced by Brian Carter at Paradox and mixed by Matt Mahaffey/sElf was recorded live to tape in three days and released in November to rave reviews calling the album, “the weirdest wonderland of accessible punk and rock you’ve heard in awhile,” and “one of the better albums of the year.” “Rainbeau” went on to win a Best Rock Album in the Nashville Music Awards.
Named by The Nashville Scene as a band to watch in 2015, the band continued to grow: They christened the new Nashville venue, Basement East, played a live on-air gig for WRLT at legendary listening room 3rd & Lindsley, broke crowd number records at Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, played a sold-out hometown show with Evanescence on their triumphant return, and partied down on Motorhead’s Motorboat cruise with the likes of Motorhead, Slayer, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, Huntress, and Crobot.
In 2016, the band continued their winning streak, playing the ShipRocked cruise with 5-Finger Death Punch, Seether, Halestorm, and Helmet where they quickly became fan favorites. The Dead Deads also participated in the all-star band The Stowaways with members of All That Remains, Halestorm, Halo Method, P.O.D., Nonpoint, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Megadeth, Art of Dying and many more. Page Hamilton, of Helmet, thought the band was “awesome,” and offered to produce their next record. “For Your Obliteration” was released in the fall of 2016 just after they finished a national tour with Bush and Chevelle. They briefly went home to Nashville to release it to a sold-out crowd, and then finished 2016 on the road, doing their first Canadian run, and putting 7000 miles on their van as direct support for Bush.
2017 got off to a crazy start with another trip on ShipRocked, direct support for Nonpoint, and a run with Alter Bridge and Stone Sour. That summer they released a teaser EP produced by Matt Mahaffey. After shows with their heroes Skid Row, they finished off the year with a hugely successful tour with Seether. On that tour, Shaun invited Meta to duet “Ana’s Song.” He was often heard saying, “This is my favorite band.” He invited them on subsequent tours ever since.
The Dead Deads released their fifth studio offering on January 26th, 2018, the day before they began a Canadian/US tour with Stone Sour. They continued touring on it through the summer with Seether and 10 Years. The record is called Sketches and Animation. This double EP includes five brand new fully-produced bangers with Matt Mahaffey on the controls, as well as stripped down acoustic versions of the same songs produced by Brian Carter. Easter eggs for fans abound in this inventive sampler. The single “Ghosts” was added to Spotify’s New Rock playlist.
Currently, the band is rocking on through 2019, kicking off the year with a direct support slot with 10 Years in support of their newest release. The live album called The Dead Shall Dance was recorded in Nashville. The Dead Corps flew in from all over the world to have their voices heard on the record which turned out to be the best example date of the range, skill and growth of one of the touring world’s favorite rock bands.
