DEAD MENACE | Release Good Year | We Chat About DIY Music Videos & Positive Outlook For The Year Ahead
The optimistically titled Good Year, released January 22nd, is a self-described pop-croon slush fest, spitting in the eye of the ‘major downer’ that was 2020. Reminiscent of early-Joji, Chvrches and Post Malone. The song is an upbeat take on what really matters and what 2021 might hold, with sincere vocals and a pretty-thumping beat to get you right in the feels. Good Year received its debut airplay on Kerrang’s Fresh Blood show on January 13th.
The video was shot at Barossa nature reserve on the anniversary of the brothers becoming a “real” band, they played their first show at the Windmill Brixton on November 19th 2019. The boys came into 2020 looking forward to building on that.
On furlough and bubbled-up, they used the me-time productively putting out 5 singles and making some fun music videos, they continue to build steady support from local radio and BBC Introducing.
For anyone being introduced to yourselves as artists what facts can you tell us about each of you to get to know you as individuals?
You’ve got a writer (Jack), an artist (Dan) and a musician (Kit), all together as a creative force.
Which songs do you recommend new listeners should listen to?
J: Check out the archive stuff - Black Helicopters...
K: Yea Black Helicopters, there’s definitely a bit of foreshadowing there - unintentional foreshadowing..
D: People Don’t Like This as well, and the new one coming out (Good Year), makes for a nice little gamut run.
What got all three of you interested in music?
J: We had a very musical upbringing… It was always there, we played in bands as kids, we were always playing and learning.
D: Yes osmosis, definitely. As for creating, watching one of our musical heroes hang up their hat and walk away was huge motivating factor.
K: The Music’s always been there, it’s always been in the walls in some way or another… You sort of follow music around the house sometimes and it gets into your bones. Its cliche to say “it’s in your blood, man” but it literally is.
What was the last concert each of you went to see?
The last big gig we all went to was Hot Chip at Ally Pally, talk about a night out! Solo shows though, Friendly Fires at the Roundhouse, Hans Zimmer at the O2 and My Baby at Islington Assembly Hall (all way back in 2019).
You posted on social media that “In a collective, it’s important to acknowledge the needs of the individual, the need to protect the mind, as well as the body”. How do you do this in such a demanding industry?
Communication. Just talk, I think if there is mutual respect and decent communication, the rest follows but it may help that we’re related... In a way, we have to maintain decent relationships.
We’ve been falling out and making since we were born, it’s part of being brothers… It’s a pattern - one of us pushes the other over, and then we pick each other up.
So with great discipline, we think!
What are the pros and cons of working with family in your experience?
J: It’s very easy and it’s very difficult... No, it can be extremely easy and wonderful and also extremely difficult and not wonderful!
D: The pro is the fluidity and speed of the ideas. We don’t have to explain or unpack it, we all just “get it”.
K: The con is you’ve got three people that all think that they care more than the other person.. but then that can feed into the pro, because instead of an artist being surround by a bunch of people that are either on the payroll or there to be ‘yes men’, we will test each other’s ideas. Sometimes that’s a great thing but it is difficult - we’re constantly testing each other on these ideas, to make it as strong as possible.
You shot the music video ‘Good Year’ with an iPhone, could you tell us about this?
We filmed it on Barossa Common towards the end of Lockdown 2. It was an early start to catch the “golden hour” and a bit of a trek to the location.
Something we pride ourselves on is being very DIY. It was shot on an iPhone and gimbal because we didn’t want to hire a RED cam. We were still locked down, so Kit was on camera duties while Jack navigated and directed each take. It was wicked, man.
We watch a lot of music videos, Coldplay’s Yellow was a source of inspiration. We all loved the simplicity of it. We tried a few takes involving all three of us but it didn’t sit right, and ultimately it has to serve the song!
We’re all about the R&D, we’ll do it to death; circling from above so when we swoop down, we get it the first time. A lot of people won’t bother doing that work, we went down two days before capturing the take you see in the video. We tried a number of locations, techniques, came back and reviewed everything; tightening it up each time - we have a folder of about 29 different takes and that’s testament to that.
If we’ve got a decent idea, we’ll try and do it the best we can.
The majority of people view 2020 as a bad year. Was the negativity associated with Covid-19 what motivated you to shift the focus on creating a more positive song on the future with the hopes that 2021 will be a ‘Good year’ as your song title suggests?
In a way, yes. The song is about gratitude.
A lot of people are being forced to do nothing, appreciating all the stuff around them that they might have been taking for granted.
It’s more ethical hedonism… It’s a song about being grateful - “nothing’s happening, we’re stoned on the bed but isn’t this lovely..”.
What were the most memorable moments of your career in the music industry so far?
Getting played on Kerrang! Radio wasn’t half bad! It was such a buzz to be involved with something that’s been a massive part of our lives, growing up as outsiders.
If the band could collaborate with anyone dead or alive who would you collaborate with and why?
D: If we could just turn the late, great Lemmy into our lyric pig that would be awesome.. The man was an excellent poet.
J: Jamie Lenman - any era, any day! Hands down, he’s a local lad, a big inspiration, I love his music.
K: It would be fantastic to hear what Dead Menace would sound like coming through Max Martin. Hands down, the most in-demand songwriter on the planet... What the hell would he do with something we give him? “Hey Max, here’s your starter for 10..”, where would that go?! That would be pretty wild.
What do you have planned for 2021?
We’ve got a tasty package coming.. a completely coherent four-track EP. We’re really hyped about it
Interview | Danielle Burbidge