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Interview with Theory Of A Deadman

HOB Las Vegas - April 10, 2005

Phil: We're sitting back here with Theory of a Deadman, and we're kickin' back Dave Brenner he's the guitarist. How are you doing?

Dave: Great! How are you?

Phil: Good! You guys are from Vancouver...

Dave: Vancouver Canada!

Phil: Are you from there originally?

Dave: Yea, I was born in a suburb of Vancouver, as were the other two guys that are in the band. Dean, the bass player, he was born in some suburb as well...and Tyler, the singer. All Vancouver!
 

Phil: So I just wanted to, for the people who don't know the history of your band, I wanted to go back to '99?

Dave: Ok, I'll see if I can remember that far back.

Phil: Tyler Connelly who is the vocalist and guitarist )...you guys were introduced to Chad Kroeger of Nickelback
he listened to your demo, or something like this?

Dave: I think it just ended up in his hands somehow. Then he ended up just calling us and saying "hey, I got a week off, let's do demos!" So we went and did three songs with him and shopped it around to some labels. Started to get some attention and eventually decided to go with Roadrunner records as our label and Chad started his own label in Canada called 604 records, and that was that! Done like dinner!




 

Phil: Tyler had done some guitar work on "HERO"....Spiderman soundtrack and you guys also got to cut on the b-side as well?

Dave: Yea, we got... it was kind of a cool situation, because when they were doing that track we all just wanted to go and watch because Jerry Cantrell was coming to do guitars and Matt Cameron from Soundgarden was coming to play drums...so these were all guys that we idolized, growing up, so we just wanted to be there! Jerry never showed! So Tyler just got to play just because Jerry wasn't there! So it turned out to be a good break, but I was looking forward to seeing Jerry....but, oh well!

Phil: That must have been pretty cool to get that soundtrack though!

Dave: Yea it was great! It was a good...sort of a good window for us, since our record wasn't even out or anything! Nobody even really knew who we were. And we're on the Spiderman Soundtrack with all these great bands! So it was pretty cool! We don't know how that happened, but we weren't going to complain or ask questions!

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Phil: You guys originally signed with 604 Records which was co-founded by Chad from Nickelback and his lawyer. What happened,  you originally decided to go with them, then run with Roadrunner later?

Dave: Sort of like a, Canadian...we signed with 604, but they're only a label in Canada. So we had to have an outside label as well, so we took Roadrunner for the World...minus Canada. So we're still with 604 Records.

Phil: Oh you are! Okay!

Dave: Except for that only get's released in Canada as 604...everywhere else it's Roadrunner Records. It's a little bit confusing and it ends up being more hands to sort of take their piece of the pie but...whatever!

Phil: I got ya! That's part of the business! So how has Roadrunner been going?

Dave: Roadrunner has been great! They've been so super supportive of our new record, which just came out! They've been great, it's like one of those small labels where they  willing to put  their time and  money and effort into it! 'Cause they don't have the money to just throw away on bands that if it doesn't work,  they toss it! They really put all of their resources into making the bands that they've signed as successful as possible. Which is on of the reasons we chose Roadrunner. Because, we thought we could go with Atlantic Records, but if our record doesn't do shit in the first year, they're just gonna dump us like yesterday laundry! So we were like, forget that...we're gonna go with somebody that's really fight hard, side by side all the way! We've found that Roadrunner really has been that label for us, so we're very happy with our decision!

Phil: The new CD Gasoline was released on March 29th, how have sales been going?

Dave: It's been great, the labels very happy because it was over...since our first record it was 50% increase in record sales so they were very happy about that! Just shy of 20,000 the first week which is great for us, we were more than happy to be...we sold about 12,000 on our first record so 20,000 was a big jump for us! Of course we still gotta see...second week is coming up, and third week...we'll see how it goes! Hopefully it will keep going strong, we'll see how it goes. We just got to keep playing shows and hit the masses as much as we can. Nowadays you gotta do it the hard way, there's really no easy way to sell records, you can't even have a hit on the radio and expect to start selling records. It just doesn't work like that anymore. People, are like you're a hit on the radio! They're going down on it, they have no reason to buy records.

 Phil: It took 6 months to record you guys got that done pretty fast, don't ya think?

Dave: Well the recording, the actual recording of the record took 6 to 8 weeks! But we spent a good couple of months before that, writing...I would say it was 6 months from when we started writing to when we finished recording. But yea, I thought it was a quick process, it seems like as soon as we ready to start writing, it just started flowing, like mad. Because we all took 2 - 3 months off from each other, from the band, from everything! And our label and our management  were going, "you guys got to write stuff right now, right now!" We said, "No, we don't want to we want to take a break!" So we just took a break and it seemed like it was the best thing for us. Because when we got back together we were all feeling refreshed and ready to write! And it just flew! We had 20 songs when we went into the studio, which is a lot different from the 8 we went into on our first record. We were really happy with the material!

 

Phil: Cool! Now, why was the US version edited?

Dave: I think every version was edited. I don't understand the reasoning behind it, myself either. I can't say as I'm too happy with it. I don't understand, it's one of those things that you get bullied into and I think that it's just an extra cost that the label doesn't want to spend, or whatever. Because Wal-Mart or whatever won't sell your records if there's bad language, you can't even put explicit lyrics anymore, because Wal-Mart got sued or something. So now they won't touch it! Wal-Mart sells 25% of everybody's records or something, so it's this big political bullshit that ends up just screwing the bands, basically. So we got a, I think, little screwed, and a little disappointed that our record was edited. Because, who has edited records? I don't know.

Phil: What in fact was edited? Was it some curse words, or..?

Dave: It really wasn't anything! It was just like a "fuck" or something...they made it go backwards. I don't even know, I just....

Phil: Well because I hear a lot worse! CD's that I go buy, I just...it's pretty much on a daily basis.

Dave: Oh Absolutely! I guarantee you that Wal-Mart is selling the new 50 Cent record, probably you know!

Phil: But it's edited version! A lot of beep, beep....

Dave: Yea, the whole thing! It sounds like you answering machine! Beeeeep

Phil: Speaking of gasoline, you, what is the cost of gasoline and is it affecting your touring?

Dave: Oh, it's more expensive in Canada than it is here, actually.

Phil: How much is it? It's in liters right?

Dave: Yea, it's in liters and it's just over a dollar a liter so it's 4 liter's to a gallon, which you guys go by. So we're looking at about $4 a gallon in Canada, right now. Which is ridiculous! But as for touring, I really don't look at those kind of numbers, but I assume that it would make a difference because it can't be cheap to run a tour bus to begin with! I'm sure that is hitting everybody hard, everywhere...not just bands man! Even the people that just drive 6 blocks to work, start riding their bikes...maybe that's good! *laughs*

Phil: Clear up that ozone a little bit!

Dave: That's right!

Phil: The new CD Gasoline at Bay 7 Studios, with producer Howard Benson who's done like Hoobastank, Papa Roach, POD....how is it working with him?
Dave: It's great, and we all felt really comfortable right away with him. He flew up to Vancouver, we met with him, had some food, and we talked to him about what direction we wanted to go in, as a band. And he talked to us, about what direction he saw us going in, and the good thing was that we both sort of agreed on the same direction. So we felt really good about that. Then when we got in the studio with him, he has this great method of working and an amazing team and the whole thing was just like snap, snap, snap. I mean the songs were flying out, we were recording guitars while Tyler was singing vocals, all at the same time. It was like this crazy way of just like, getting everything done at once! I've never seen anything work quite so fluently. I mean it was just great, and he had great ideas, vocally. He let us have a lot of flexibility with what we wanted to do musically, which is what we wanted. We didn't want to get bullied into cutting songs making the 2 minutes & 58 seconds, so that the radio would play them. So, it was great! I thought that, I mean...he was an amazing producer and Mike Plotnikoff an amazing engineer. Keith Nelson, amazing guitars and everything!

Phil: You probably learned a lot!

Dave: Oh! Well, Keith Nelson used to play for a band, called Buck Cherry and he brought all these great guitars and stuff like that with him. So he was an amazing player too, of course, being in a pretty awesome rock band. S, it was great, he's a great slide player, lap steel player and we put some lap steel on the record. So, I learned a lot just watching him play and stuff! It was great, a great recording process! Plus we separated ourselves from Vancouver, which is good, because when we did our first record it was just a giant party all the time. We were in the studio, and all our friends live  there, so they were all coming out, it was ridiculous. Now it's like, we're in LA, none of us live there, we don't know anybody there...so you go to the studio, get shit done, then you go home. It was great!

Phil: So, you guys have toured with Saliva, Nickelback, and 3 Doors Down... how's that gone so far?

Dave: Well that was all on the first record! And that was amazing, 3 doors down  were like family to us, they just treated us great! We actually toured with a band this time around, called Shinedown...who was very similar in their hospitality. These southern boys, they're just so nice. It just makes you feel refreshed to be on the road with people that enjoy what they're doing and like to make friends. 'Cause sometimes you get on tours with jackasses and they treat you with no respect and you just stay to yourself and keep truckin' Look for the day that it ends and make sure that you play you ass off every night for the crowd and stuff like that.

 Phil: Any exciting stories from any of the tours that you've been on with anybody?

Dave: Oh, so much stuff happens. We're a pretty mellow band I think the days of serious drugs, and strippers and stuff...a lot of that stuff is staying with bands of the 80's, who made that popular. Nowadays, people have pretty serious  press schedules. You can't do it, you can't be healthy and play and drink every night and do drugs, and all that kind of shit. Then wake up and play 6 shows a week. It's really, I don't know how people did it in the past

Phil: They're still doing it! *laughs*

Dave: They are still doing it, but yea we're not one of those bands. We don't get too crazy, we're just a fucking regular guys, playing poker. We play poker on the bus or play video games, we drink our fair share of beer, but nothing too crazy happens.

Phil: on your website theoryofadeadman.com, you said that your new album that Gasoline isn't a contemporary rock album...how would you describe your music?

Dave: Ahhh, I don't know...it's hard to describe because I feel like we try to avoid the labels and we...like when we were writing this record, we didn't really give ourselves any borders. We just did what we wanted to do and I think on the record there are songs that could almost be country music. Then there are songs that could almost be metal, I really feel like we have a diverse range. I don't know, I'd like to say rock-n-roll, I don't know why that turned into such a bad label. *laughs*  That's what I always say...what kind of band do you play... rock-n-roll band! That's a pretty wide spectrum...rock-n-roll, so...I like to use that term

Phil: Like they've split all the music into different genres and I hate that now. I mean it's like, Goth, heavy metal, super metal, super duper metal! *laughs*

Dave: Yea exactly! Where does your band fit in? I don't know!

Phil: yea, and I think it really fucks up the whole deal.

Dave: I agree! Totally!

Phil: 'Cause I still consider it all rock-n-roll, anyway.

Dave: Me too! That's what I always grew up thinking, everything was rock-n-roll, or rap, or classical. How many genre's were there back in the day? 4? I mean there was country, classical, rock, rap!

Phil: And jazz maybe!...So you've got your hearse on your website...is that just for promo or do you tour in that thing?

Dave: *laughs* Oh that was definitely just promo! I don't think I'd like to spend anymore time in hearse than is necessary.  It was cool though, we were in LA a couple of nights ago and the lady who we rented the hearse off of came to the show. It was pretty cool! It was just an idea we had, where we thought it would be cool to have a hearse out in the desert. It was just a cool idea! We try not to focus on death, I don't know why it always comes up.

Phil: Theory Of A Deadman, you never really realize....

Dave: Yea, I know! We didn't really put two & two together there!

Phil: On your website, you have equipment links to equipment sites. Are you guys endorsed by those companies?

Dave: Some of them hook us up, you know, like Hughes & Kettner sent us amps and we use those and Paul Reed Smith has definitely been great to us. They give us some guitars, and their great guitars for the road! Spector Bass has been great to Dean, he gets some nice equipment from them!  I mean I don't think there's much truth to a full endorsement anymore, you can't really get a lot of stuff for free. Unless, you Slash or Zakk Wylde or something like that. But you take a deal, why not right?

Phil: So are they starting to take an interest?

Dave: Oh yea! Paul Reed Smith was great they were with us right from the beginning! Sent us out a bunch of guitars for real cheap, sent us out a bunch more for free. Once we were on the road we met with the guys from Hughes and Kettner, cause the guys from 3 Doors were playing them, and with them and they said "Hey, we had all these amps for Filter and they're not using them, do you want them?" We were like, "Hell yeah, let's take 'em!"  So, it's been great!


 

Phil: Nice! You recently got a new drummer, Brent Fitz, how has he been working out?

Dave: Brent! He's been great! He's actually Canadian as well, he's from Winnipeg. He lives here in Las Vegas, though. He's played with a pretty big roster, as well. He played with Vince Neil for a number of years, he's played with Gilby Clarke, a band called Union...so he's done his fair of touring which is one of the things we looked for because we don't want to get a guy who's green. You want somebody who knows what to expect. He's a great singer, which is important because there are a lot of  harmonies on the record. And, he's a great guy! So everything's been going really great so far!
 

Phil: Because we haven't got any pictures of him yet!

Dave: I guess tonight! We're gonna get 'em, right on!

Phil: You met Zakk Wilde and he laid a couple of tracks down with you, is that going to be released in the future?

Dave: We're not sure! We sort of, we went out to LA...me & Tyler, and just jammed with him and had a good time. We went bowling and drank a lot of beer! It was just a great experience, we wrote some really nice mellow tracks with him. He was sort of felling in the mellow mode and we were more than willing to be there too. Because, his Book of Shadows records was one of my favorites. We just sort of called management and said, you know we would really like to play with Zakk Wilde. Whether nothing comes out of it, or something does, we just really want to play with him, and they hooked that up! He was fucking amazing, he treated us like family, it's like once you drink beers with that guy it's like friends for life kind of thing. He was great, we wrote some great stuff and hopefully it will see the light of day sometime. I thought it was really cool! Who's to say?

Phil: There's no where we can hear it on the internet or anything like that?

Dave: No, not as of now. We left all the masters in Zakk's hands. So, it's sort of up to him, maybe one day he'll...we'll talk to him again or we'll put it on some kind of tribute album or something. Who knows. It was a great, great time...one of my fondest memories, since I've been playing. You don't get much better than Zakk Wylde as far as guitar goes. The guys a God basically!

Phil: Well that is awesome! So do you guys have any DVD plans?

Dave: You know I would have like to have done a DVD with the record because, I feel like nowadays you got to do stuff like that. I think it is important to show the fans that you really want to go the extra mile for them! We got a video camera out on the road and we do video tape some stuff! We video taped a lot of stuff with Zakk too, so it could end up somewhere. I think we've got a lot of good material for a DVD so I would love to see it happen! Plans aren't in the works yet, but give us a few more months on the road. We'll see what happens, it will be cool to have something like that come out, though! Even for my own personal, like when the record came out it was ecstatic! To have a DVD come out would be great, so...I'd be into it!

 

Phil: Any new video plans coming up for MTV, or something like that?

Dave: We just shot the video for our first single 'No Surprise",  and I'm sure the label is working hard and fast to get MTV to play it. The odd times that MTV does play videos, more often than not it's you 50 Cent, a game, or Newlyweds or something.

Phil: Headbanger's Ball, which is a very limited time period. They play two videos and then 45 min of commercials.

Dave: Exactly! In Canada we have play because there's much music in Canada. So our video, as soon as we handed it to them, it was getting rotated there. I feel we're lucky in a way, because a lot of  American bands in our situation might not have, had the same kind of luck with videos. Because I know Shinedown, sold like almost a million records if not more than a million records, in The States. They made videos and they never got played. But being Canadian, we'll have that support for much music, no matter what! Which is great for us because, that way if we do spend the money on video, and nobody plays it in The States, it's still not going away! Somebody's going to play it! So I fell like we're pretty blessed to be in that situation.

Phil: Your whole track record is pretty much blessed at this rate isn't it?

Dave: Oh absolutely, we go day to day and thank our lucky stars, 'cause there's a lot of hard work involved but a lot of right place right time stuff too. I think that's sort of the only way to get into the industry nowadays.  There's so many bands, there's so many great bands! There' probably 10 of the best bands that never have been heard, anybody outside of their own city. That's just the way it is, you need a break nowadays. So, we get demos all the time, we always listen to them. I don't know what we could do, maybe we could hand them to somebody. We got pretty great management and the fact they've got their own label as well. There's always opportunity's and we're more than willing to help people out, because if it wasn't for people helping people out we wouldn't be here.

Phil: That's right! The fans too, that's it!

Dave: They're great, they come to our shows, and they're like if you ever need an opening band, and they give us a disc. That's a great thing to do, I totally suggest bands do that! Because maybe some bands will toss that shit in the garbage, but maybe one time out of ten they won't and that might land you somewhere. So, I suggest people always do it!

Phil: Sure, you always trying to promote your band!

Dave: Totally!

Phil: I'd like to thank you for taking the time out with closedcoffin.com

Dave: Thank You!

Phil: That's great,  any final words to the fans?

Dave: Just keep coming!

Phil: Keep buying tickets, records, T-shirts!

Dave: Just come to the show, that's all we want! We just like to play for people! We think that's sort of the reward, you make records and the reward is that you get to play it to people.

Phil: That's good man! Thanks a lot dude!

Dave: Thank You, we appreciate it!