Dead by Wednesday interview w/ Opus

by Adam Warner – 2009

 

The biggest news is Dead by Wednesday has been added to Branstock 2009 in Branford, CT. Pretty excited for that?
Oh yeah…It’s always a great time & good turn out. Somewhere around 1500 peeps or so…They usually do not do a lot of heavy stuff at this fest but we wanted to make the evening more rockin’ for the youth and isnce it might be the last year doing this fest I guess we’ll go out with a bang too!

So now you’ll be pulling double duty that day, right?
Yeah, I will be playing for DBW & also for the Black Sabbath Tribute band EARTH. I do it all the time so it’s not a problem, in fact, I like it ’cause it keeps me busy & warmed up! I love to just play all the time….

What is a DBW live show like? Is it intense and wild or strategic and mellow?
DBW’s live show is usually completely chaotic! You never know what one of the singers will do in their frenzy. We all really try to push the boundaries & level of energy. I think it’s important to do this now a days ’cause too many people go out there & just stare at the ground or look at their instrument. If you don’t give the listeners something to look at then why should they go to a love show?? I mean, some people do it with theatrics like Slipknot, Kiss, etc. We try & do it with our music being a very up beat, live wire show all the time from start to finish, plus little surprises here & there. If you show the audience that you are into it then they will be too, especially in front of new people…

The new album “The Killing Project” hit the streets a little while back, how has the feedback been about it from the fans so far?
The feedback has been nothing but positive & great thus far! We get people every day from all over the world hitting us up on our site saying that they love the new disc, etc., etc. I mean obviously with the changes in the music industry & the current state of the economy being so shitty, no one unless you are Metallica, in the rock genre is doing phenomenal but at least we are still on a decent label – Eclipse, making a living doing what we love, still selling CD’s, we are able to tour with ease, playing a ton of shows & all the while building a fan base. How much better does it get these days really for underground metal?? A tour bus would be nice though, lol…instead of the whole van w/ a trailer deal but whatever, we are all pretty hard core! At least we have a good circle of support through our label which is priceless, we are lucky to have that now a days!

Tell us a little bit about “The Killing Project”? What does it mean for you and the other DBW guys?
The Killing Project is basically about the current Iraq war & our interpretation of how we see our government. It’s almost like having a 3rd party military war general sitting there yelling at his soldiers underneath him & telling them what to do & how to see things. For example, the chorus goes, “The Killing Project is under way, it’s time to kill, kill, kill! Pick up your weapons & raise your head. It’s time to kill, kill, kill! Don’t ask questions, you don;t understand, it’s time to kill, kill, kill. The Killing Project is underway, it’s time to kill!” Basically he is saying…be ignorant about what is going on, don’t ask questions & just go out there, do you job & KILL for your country.

What is your feelings about digital music with respect to people pirating it?
I have mixed feelings about it. An aspect about people finding new bands & music that they never heard of is cool but then again, so much time, blood, sweat, tears, energy, money go into making our music & albums that when someone doesn’t respect you enough or care enough about the art form to support you & buy your stuff, that kind of pisses me off. It’s funny though, Lars Ulrich from Metallica got into a lot of heat over this debate years ago & in hindsight the man was probably right, lol….I mean, there is good & bad & two sides of the story for everything really but I think it’s OK as long as there are limitations to it if they can figure out a way to do that? There will always be those CD geeks out there who like to have the actual disc with the lyrics & art work, etc. so who knows….the whole music biz is a little whacky right now anyway.

The video for “Pawns” was finished not long ago, how was it filming that?
Filming the video was intense! We have never really done a 12 hour shoot like that before & it was definitely a work out. It was so hot in the room all day, pouring with sweat & we had to play the song over & over again until we were done. It was exhausting but a great experience! It is actually not finished quite yet, it’s almost done though & we are pumped up about it big time! This is our first real video from a well known director & producer. David Brodsky of My Good Eye in NYC, who won a Grammy in 2008 on MTV2′s Headbanger’s Ball for his video ‘Everything Went Black’ by Black Dalia Murder, is busy editing as we speak. He has also shot stuff for Suffocation, Kittie, Hatebreed, Burning Human, and many more! When it is done, you will all know about it but we will not be posting it up until we get a yes or a no from MTV2 for a premier. We are shooting for a debut on Headbanger’s Ball & feel pretty confident about getting it. We will see…let’s all cross our fingers!

There was some new DBW merch recently launched, what kinds of things can the fans get?
We have a new line of killer DBW merch out now at www.dbwmusic.com. Fans can buy stuff like hoodies, both CD’s, T-Shirts, Girly Shirts, Thongs, Boodie Shorts, etc. all directly through us safely & securely with a credit card via pay pal and you don’t need a pay pal account to do so either. We have a ‘FUCK THE RECESSION SALE!” going on right now where fans can buy an exclusive one of a kind Royal Blunt / DBW jersey’s that we are selling right now for 1/2 price off! They are amazing looking! Royal Blunts is one of our main sponsors.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of touring lately for DBW, is there more on the horizon?
We would love too! Shit, we would go out for the 2 years straight if it was the right tour & we could. We have toured a lot in the past actually but also when times where different & the economy wasn’t as bad. It is very difficult to full on tour unless it’s a solid package and run with some good bands. If not, it sometimes feels like it’s a waste of time. I don’t mind playing in front of a few people if it’s a filler gig on a Monday but going out by ourselves has proved to not be successful yet. We ned to support other bigger national bands like we have done already with bands like ICP, Hatebeed, Mushroom Head, Scum of the Earth, 25 TA’ Life, etc…then not eating, showering or sleeping is worth while because you are getting out in front of a lot of people every night. Going out and killing our selves for no money, no food, and no people, etc. just doesn’t make sense so we found to be successful & what we have been doing is the weekend warrior style shows where we go out for 3 to 5 dates in a row where the routing makes sense. For example, next weekend we are doing NC, MD, & VA. all in a row Fri, Sat., Sun. and that makes sense, we are getting paid decent  to cover our asses & it is with in the 10 hour radius for us. We will drive across the country if it makes sense! We love to play & want to tour real bad but with the way the business is now, you have to be packaged together with a tour package for it to work unless of course, once again, you are Metallica, lol…We will probably go out and do another full on tour when we release our next CD for sure no matter what but you never know, something else might pop up in the mean time before that, we will see…we are always looking for a good solid tour!

What other artists influence you and DBW the most?
A lot of different styles really because we all come from different back grounds but some of them are:
Slayer, Sepultura, classic Metallica, Pantera, Lamb of God, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Dead Kennedy’s, NWA, Public Enemy, VOD, SOD, DRI, Nuclear Assault, Kreator, Micheal Jackson, haha…

Current bands we like…
Hatebreed, ICP, Hed Pe, Killswitch, Cannibal Corpse

Who is the primary song writer for DBW?
Well, in the beginning, the debut CD “Democracy is Dead” on Stillborn Records it was mainly me (Opus) but now with the Killing Project we all have our hands in it. I still do a lot of the writing but Ross (our guitarist) brings in a shit ton of killer riffs to the table now, Mike (our bassist) also does some writing as well & so does Ceschi (one of the singer’s). Ceschi actually wrote 2 entire songs off the KP which are “Liberty” & “Break the Walls”. So really we all do now more so then before.

What is your all time favorite song to perform live? And why?
HHHHhhhmmmmm…..that’s a tough one! It’s a toss up between two songs. One is our metal anthem & single ‘Pawns’ & the other is our version of the Sepultura cover song ‘Territory’, lol…& the reason I like to play both these tunes is mainly because when we ply either of them most people know these songs so they always go mental & the pit gets SICK!

What is your funniest story from the road or during a show?
Wow! There’s a lot of them but it’s a toss up between our old guitarist falling into a crack on a make shift stage in Las Vegas (but him getting hurt really wasn’t that funny) or better yet, in IL. one time, these really intellectual college students who wanted to talk politics with us wanted to do a live interview with the band so as a band we decided to stage a fake interview where we acted like old school 80′s party rockers & laid out a bunch of fake coke lines of baking soda on the interview table before they arrived, one of us got on the ground with a bottle of jack & pretended they were half passed out, mumbling the answers through out the convo & then another on of four guys pulled out a huge bag of weed & was rolling doobies up through out the whole thing laughing, farting & acting like a bunch of idiots. They bought it for a while but then figured it out that we were faking & joking it in the end. At first, it was hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has there ever been any interactions with crazed fans or perhaps a situation where you felt concerned for your safety?
Well, not really worrying about our safety but there was definitely one time where someone followed me home against my will which was pretty weird. We get weird messages at times too on the net & another time someone stole something out of my house which was band memorabilia which was obviously a fan because why else would you take it!?!

Is there a certain message you hope that your fans get when they listen to DBW?
Yes! To think for yourself! Question authority & everything around you. Don’t settle for what the TV, radio & government sell or tell you. You have a voice, use it. Research what you don’t understand or know. Believe in yourself. Respect is earned not given. And last but not least, family always comes first!