February 1, 2025 • 45 mins
Joel and Rob of metalcore ensemble dead Within Days talk about using their band to fight stigmas around disabilities, their plans for the year and much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Missfit Minutes podcast.
I'm your host, of course, Jade. If you're around here, welcome.
If you're not around here, welcome back to the chaos.
So for today's episode, I have but two very special
guests with me. But special guests nonetheless, I have Rob
and Joel from Dead within Days. Welcome guys.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Thank you, it's good to be here. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Yeah, thank you, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm glad you guys could make it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And as we talked about off camera, a quick disclaimer, folks,
if you hear little innocent sounding meals in the background,
I have a kitten and she is showing off today.
So her name is Astrid. She is our other guest,
So say hello to Astroid. And now that we got
(00:58):
that out the way, let's talk more about you guys.
So tell the nice people what you guys do within
the band.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
This is Robert.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I play guitar, one of I guess two of the guitars.
Both guitars do leads and rhythms on and also there's
really no specific I guess guitar parts that I do.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, I wouldn't say that we have one lead in
one rhythm, they both trade off pretty equally, all right,
and then I joel speaking, I do lyrics for the
band and vocals as well, and so like I guess
media stuff, that's really about it. I mean, we all
(01:45):
kind of have a good shared system going on within
debt within days.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yeah, we all do stuff behind the scenes to make
this thing run nice.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, that's that seems to be the dynamic that most
people go with nowadays, as everyone does a little something extra,
like even though you're the drummer, you might run the socials,
or you know, you're the guitarist, you might be the
merch guy or you know, however people choose to delegate. Yeah, definitely, Yeah,
(02:14):
delegating is definitely important because one person can't do everything.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Definitely not It does not last long. If that's the case.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Now, it burns out really pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'd say we're probably a good example of a fair
dynamic of a typical metal band. I don't know how
rare that is, but it definitely feels like a blessing.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'd say it's decently rare. I feel like there's a
lot of weird dynamics within bands these days, and you
see a lot of like people coming in and then
going out just as quickly, which kind of sucks. But
there are definitely some good bands that have been sticking
(03:01):
around that have kind of found their footing and have
figured out how to run things.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I agree. I've always thought that the most dynamic lineup
for a band, at least from what I've seen, is
like three three core people, like if you think about
Green Day, like three eleven, like all these like all
these other bands and just have it locked in. They're
all like three part bands. And it's interesting to see,
(03:30):
at least for me.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I don't know, Yeah, I mean, I think it's I
think it's really interesting. It's definitely it's definitely important, like
you said, to kind of have your have things figured
out and have your footing and such. In terms of so,
I know, we already kind of discussed a little bit
(03:53):
how everyone kind of pitches in and does a little something.
How did I guess, like when you guys first started,
how were things set up then as compared to how
things are now, and what kind of I guess what
changes have you guys made from when you first started
up until this point.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I'll let I'll let Rob answer that because he is
probably the most founding member of this band and h yeah,
take the floor up.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yeah. Well, so I guess this started around a year ago,
actually a little more in a year ago. I guess
it was last like two summers ago. I want to
start a new band with people that had similar aspirations
as me, and I've known Joel for a while through
(04:48):
the scene like up here in Long Island, so just
like knowing him, I wanted to try him out and
it ended up working out or other guitars. I've known
him for a while when we jammed in the past,
and it just works well between us because we have
a very similar style of writing and we have a
(05:10):
lot of the same influences, so it's just very easy
for us to write music together. My bass player Tommy,
he's been in bands with me before, so we're just
very familiar with each other. And then I would say
we got very lucky with our drummer Anthony.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Yeah, he's the youngster in the group and we let
him know that all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Fun fact, the medium the average age in our band
is thirty seven and none of us are close to
being thirty seven. Yeah, everyone who likes math can figure
that out, and we have a wide range of different
people I guess in ages in our band, but still
works really well.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah it does. But from the very beginning, I would
say I, I guess I was the driving force behind
everything just since it was I guess my thing to start.
But like as we've gone on, like we've all like
stepped in and like wanted to learn what like we
(06:15):
should do and help each other out, and it's just
evolved over time. And as a band, I've noticed we've
also evolved and grown. Like we haven't been stagnant at
all since we've started this. We've constantly get ourselves into
into the socials. We push ourselves on the playlist. We
(06:36):
try to spread our reach as far as possible and
play as many shows as we can as long as
it doesn't you know, cost us too much.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
May'll be hungry, yeah, I mean. Also, add on to
what Rob said about the formation of the band, I
think I was probably the second to last member that
was established, the last or the last member being established.
So my perspective of coming into the group was I
came out of doing cover music like email cover music,
(07:07):
and then before that, I wasn't a pop punk band
that kind of fizzled out like most bands do. And
one thing about me that changed in the later half
of my twenties is I lost like a lot of
my usable eyesight, so my vision went and that proved
a lot of challenges to continue doing music, especially with
(07:29):
other people. Because I couldn't drive anymore, transportation was very
difficult for a while. But when Rob hit me up
to try out for the band, it didn't feel like
any of that was really going to be a problem.
And then I took the bus to the practice space
to try out that night, and I think I did
really well. It was really nice to see everyone. They
(07:50):
had a bunch of songs that they had worked on
months prior that they were presenting to me, and it
was a really good experience. And then as I went
to go leave, I was going to take the US home.
The bus never came back and it left me at
the studio space on this first day of practice. And
so what ended up happening is after they wrapped up inside,
(08:11):
they eventually came back out to go home and I
was still waiting outside. So Rob was kind enough to
offer me a ride home, and through that experience of
just seeing how dedicated and compassionate that the members of
this band could be. It was it was a no
brainer to kind of invest in that and try to
(08:31):
better myself for the sake of the group. And it's
been a very inspiring experience.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's really awesome. That's cool that you that you made
sure that you got home safely and I was actually
going to ask about your eyesight just because I saw
that it's something that you guys not promote is the
wrong word I would say, like that you guys aren't no,
(09:03):
I guess not ashamed of or that you're you're proud
to share with your fans and with other people, which
I think is really great. I work with individuals with
disabilities myself, so I think that it's really that you're
even that you're active and that you're out there doing things,
and you know, being in this band I think is
(09:25):
really cool.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean, it makes me very satisfied to hear things
like that, because as we did form, that was one
thing that really defined me in my life at that time.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And having an outlet to kind of express that indirectly
but in a very intimate way with listeners has has
returned that sense of connection and communication that I probably
wouldn't have found very well on my own without music.
And I think what we try to do is, like
(10:00):
you were saying, don't we don't step around it. We
kind of just put it at the forefront because I
think for me, music has kept me out of a
lot of dark places, especially when it comes to disabilities.
So by putting that at the at the forefront of
what we try to do, especially at our shows, the
goal is to kind of allow that kind of environment
(10:23):
to also attract other people who might be disabled or
somebody who has crippling anxiety, any sort of like hindrance
that someone might think holds them back in life. We
try to set the stage as an example of like,
you can still do it, follow your dreams, no matter
how different you are. As long as you have ambition,
anything is possible. And that's what we really try to
install on the people who who are interested.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
In us, and that is I feel like a great
message to have and it's definitely something that's continuously needed
within the scene. I've had fairly pleasant experiences within the
scene itself, and I know plenty of other individuals have
(11:06):
as well. Otherwise there wouldn't be a scene at all.
But it's definitely like you kind of forget about the
things that people have going on outside of music when
you see them at shows, You don't you kind of
forget about, like, you know, people having potentially a disability,
(11:28):
or you know, issues going on at home, or maybe
they are down on their look for other reasons. And
so I think it's important to kind of foster the
culture of just being kind to people and just remembering
like you don't know the whole the whole story. I agree,
(11:49):
And it's definitely It definitely goes without saying that a
lot of artists put a lot of information, not information,
but like a lot of personal things out there for
people to interact with and listen to and read and
see and whatnot. So it's definitely important to remember that
(12:12):
those things are deeply personal and maybe that person had
maybe it took them a little longer to share it
with other people, so and that it's difficult to share
personal information and things with people.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Absolutely, I definitely, I definitely think that what we've seen
as well, after being like the first year as a
band is having a message of accepting and embracing one's
own vulnerability to kind of embrace the greater picture of acceptance,
I guess would be how it would boil that down
(12:52):
a little bit, you know, because every everyone's vulnerable, and
music especially seems to be an area where a lot
of people who are a very different are able to
come together and enjoy like a similar interest and to
really lean into that and remind people that like this
is an artistic, free, creative and safe space is I
(13:13):
think extremely important not only for the musicians to enjoy themselves,
but also for the people who enjoyed music to really
get something out of it that that can be authentic, you.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Know, absolutely, So I guess kind of switching gears a
little bit, I wanted to ask kind of about you
guys's creative process, particularly with your most recent release.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Okay, so when this band started, me and Matt, the
other guitarists, we already had a bunch of like pre
existing things in the works on our own, so we
kind of started collabing together and you know, finishing up
the songs instrumentally, like from a guitar perspective, and then
(14:04):
by the time we kind of had the full band assembled,
like we kind of already had the EP already like
written instrumentally like guitar wise, so like we kind of
handed it to each of the members to like fill
out their own parts. Basically, you know, our drummer Anthony
did what he thought was correct, and obviously we all
(14:25):
like collaborate together to tell them what we thought would
sound better and whatnot if we thought something was could
have been better. I mean, we're still in a way
writing like that, but it's a little more collaborative now
from the start, since like now we're an actual like
full band m because we're still obviously creating more music
(14:48):
as we go. There's gonna be a bunch of stuff
actually coming out soon, started very soon.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yes, we have tons of music ready to come out.
It's it's crazy because what what's gonna come out? We've
worked on for the past maybe like a year and
a half and it's now just going to see the
light of day and super exciting.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, that is really exciting to finally get to bring
to light things that you've been working on for a while.
So I'm definitely excited to you know, see what you
guys put out and things that you do. I maybe
I was I heard miss incorrectly because I was eavesdropping,
(15:30):
silly me. I heard you guys talking about merch before
we started recording.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, yes, we definitely have. I'm actually wearing some of
our new merch that's not released yet, but we we
have new designs. We have t shirts, we have hats,
we have a few other little goodies that we've worked
really hard on. We've worked with some interesting artists on everything.
(15:58):
I love pop culture references, specifically like horror movies. So
does Rob. Yeah, so you could definitely expect to see
something horror inspired but very striking and and vibrant at
the same time at our merch table this year.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Nice and I'm glad that you brought up the horror
influence and that part of it as well, because as
I was doing my research and as I was listening
to you guys's music, I could feel this like two
thousands vibe. I could definitely I could feel the older
(16:37):
I guess versions of metal horror, maybe like the things
that we listened to when we were in middle school,
sort of stuff like leaking through, which I really appreciated
because I'm a very nostalgic person.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So yeah, definitely appreciate that. Well, you definitely heard correct that.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Yes, there's a lot of us definitely from that era.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I would say, what, what were your your favorites from
that era? Maybe some super well known and maybe some
not so well known, maybe from your area.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I'll let Rob go first.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Yeah, I'll go first.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
For me on my biggest influence probably on my guitar
playing and just musical journey is probably Bullet from my Valentine.
And I'm sure you you're a lot in our rips.
I just know what comes through in my plane also
bends like kill Switch, Engage all that remains plus the fall.
(17:44):
As I lay dying, you go back further like Lamb
of God. And I also, I mean I grew up
on like thrash, like Slayer and Anthrax and Exodus and
stuff like that, So like I like, I love like
aggressive griffy kind of stuff, but yet still have melody
(18:04):
and it's not just aggressive the full time.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, I definitely say that what I get from the
guitars because Matt Matt, the other guitarist, is a huge
Inflames fan, Yes, so that that influences his writing as well.
But I feel almost as if the guitar wise specifically,
it shares a lot of the inspiration not from like
the Warp Tour era, but almost when like bands were
(18:32):
Warped Tour was first coming around and all the bands
that existed before that kind of mentality existed and then
brought onto Warp Tour to introduce that sound. That's kind
of where their inspiration I feel like comes from. It's
like pre Warp Tour, pre Crab Core, yeah, pre pre
Crabc era. And then for me, I was a little
(18:52):
less of like a guitar oriented person. I always really
liked vocals, and I grew up listening to Taking Back Sundays.
One of my favorite bands Bayside Green Day, Green Day obviously,
but the other stuff, like I really like Dance, Gavin
Dance growing up. Silverstein is probably one of my favorite influences,
(19:14):
and the whole emo catalog honestly is really where I
draw from. But I think that one of my biggest influences,
and it would be weird not to mention it is Chiyoto's.
I really liked the theatrical nature of what Chiyoto's was
doing back in like two thousand and eight twenty ten,
and like the the macabre horror aspects that they put
(19:35):
into their music. But it wasn't like the main substance
that's like a Einstein Kills who goes like balls to
the wall with the horror stuff. Chiyoto's had more of
like a subtle way of delivering it that I really appreciated,
and I definitely said a Chiyoto's is one of my
biggest influences.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Nice when I was I guess like because I obviously
had listened to like the the mainstream stuff. I guess
like mid to after war tour type stuff. I was
listening to that when I was first getting into this
(20:11):
realm of music, and then years later I started looking
into the stuff before that. And I happened to look
up on my desk as I was listening to you,
and I remembered that I have this book on my
desk called from the Basement, A History of Email Music
and how it changed Society. I'm not going to try
(20:33):
to pronounce this author's last name because I'm going to
butcher it. But it's a really cool book. And I
remember and because you mentioned taking back Sunday and I
was like, oh, they read in the book.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I read, Oh yeah, yeah, it's a really dope book.
I got off.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I got off Amazon. It was pretty cheap and it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Yeah, I even know they were in that book, to
be honest, they probably be hyped to hear that.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Yeah, it's like I mean then there's a there's photos
in it too of like old performances from like two
thousand and one and wow, like like old basement venues
from from them. And that's the time before before emo
(21:19):
was defined as EMO and it was just alternative rock.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I think that's where my heart forever lives within like
the music.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Don't get me wrong, I still like the the quote
unquote emos stuff that you know, my cousin's made fun
of me for listening to, but it's all good. Yeah,
it's it's got that like you said that, like pre
(21:48):
almost a pre emo type attitude to it. It's like
before all the stereotypes and all the you know, like
you're you know, you were eyeliner and all all of
that kind of stuff. It's almost before that, which is
I think that's that piece is very super influential to
(22:09):
a lot.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Of people appreciate that. We definitely try to try to
what is the word emanate, Yeah, definitely try to emanate that.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, so I know that you mentioned some
horror stuff, and obviously we've talked about the two thousands
asterroid man, we hear you. What are I guess, like
some non music related things other than horror that you
(22:45):
I guess draw more inspiration from or maybe like maybe
like not not even like pop culture stuff, but like
I guess not even maybe outside of music. What are
kind of some things that like you just enjoy that
happens to give you a little bit of inspiration when
(23:07):
it comes to music.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
I mean, for me, outside of music, I also do
a lot of like photo editing and realistic renderings and
a lot of like design work. I'm a designer, so
like just like artistic designer, So I do a lot
of like creation and stuff like that. So like my
(23:34):
wheels are always spinning with things to design, like design
and that just translate into music.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's it's all like one thing.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I don't know, it's something.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, art arts just a lifestyle. It's it's weird. Yeah,
I mean, I I definitely feel that for you, Rob.
I think for me, I'm very I love like the
stuff I grew up with, so I'm influenced by like
pop culture, whether it be movies, anime, like cartoons and
(24:09):
a lot of stuff like that. Like I just love
the the cinema, like I love drama and like cinema
and stuff, and the way that like anime is super
dramatic for no reason. I really like that kind of stuff.
I like good storytelling. So I think probably MTV is
one of my biggest like influences within how I view
(24:33):
art now as an adult, because I love the whole
idea of like cinema and making movies and then like
capturing life and putting it to film, and that's that's
a lot of what I enjoy doing as well.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I have a follow up question, Were you a theater kid?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
No? Not, in like, I didn't feel like a theater
kid among theater kids, because I wasn't like waspy or like,
you know, impressed, or any of the kind of like
stereotypes you'd find. I was like a stage crew kid.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Does that make I feel you?
Speaker 4 (25:07):
No?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I was, that's me. That's me.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I was. I was a background character. I was not
the star of the show. I was just kind of
there and I would do a very small role here
and there, but I mainly did the backstage kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Yeah. Yeah, No, that was definitely me.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
There was an interview I did a few weeks ago
when we were talking about like how there's a pipeline
for theater kids to becoming musicians, like it's it's there,
it exists. Oh god, yeah, which not every not every
musician that's good was a theater kid. You know. Can't
(25:49):
place people in the boxes or anything.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, I mean, I feel because what definitely helped me
want to do my own thing because I was in
choir when I was in school. I did like the theater,
chorus whatever, and it's never anything that I liked, you know,
like in chorus you had to sing songs in like
German or like a song from the nineteen forties or
something like that show tune and it's awful, right, and like.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Did they make you guys do putting on the writs?
Do you remember? Yeah? Cool?
Speaker 3 (26:22):
I know you weren't the only one.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
It pushed me to want to do my own thing
because like you go you go to school, right, and
like you have to play like like piano, and then
you have to like go to chorus and do all
this like bullshit that you really don't want to do,
and then you go home, like you know, it's two
thousand and seven and you pop on the TV and
MTV just blast and like taking back Sunday, make damn sure,
and you're like, this is fucking music. And so, like
(26:48):
I think as a young, younger person, I was really
dissatisfied with what music was given to me, and so
it definitely pushed me to go out and kind of
define what I wanted to see my environment that wasn't
there yet.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You know, I one thousand percent understand it's it's I
was the same way, not even music related, but also
just in the classroom too, Like I am ADHD, so
like I have a hard time concentrating as it is,
and if it's not something that is super interesting to me,
I have to really work at it to pay attention.
(27:23):
So like you're in science, for example, you're in science
class and they're talking about, you know, different things, and
you're trying, you're trying to pay attention, You're trying to learn,
and then someone randomly brings up something that's not related
directly to the lesson, but then it piques your interest
and you're like, wait, whoa I want to do that?
And then you're like, well, we can't really cover that,
(27:43):
so we're gonna move on, Like what No, So yeah, no,
I definitely get what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I have ADHD. I feel you on that.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It'd be it'd be, it'd be a struggle. But you know,
we're we're here, we're making it, we're doing we're doing
a thing good. Yeah, I feel like a lot of
completely unrelated going down a rabbit hole here. I feel
like a lot of adults and either end up having
(28:13):
it you can find out later on, or they were
never told. They just had a hunch that that's what
it was, right, which you know is interesting in and
of itself.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
But yeah, I've dealt with more on like a I
guess a personal note, I've dealt with things like ADHD
and like learning disabilities. I'm like heavily dyslexic and things
like that, and especially being blind now not really being
obligated to read things is such a blessing. So there's
a lot of positives that came with it. But I
(28:49):
totally feel you with that kind of thing. Just to
stay focused and to stay on track mentally is always
a constant struggle. Like during the day, I feel like
I'm flexing a muscle constantly in order to stay on track,
and at the end of the day that muscle just
gives out and I'm just a pooh brain for the
rest of the night.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So I know something that helps me a lot is
I'm very like task completion oriented, so like I try
to put things in order, because if you have like
a bunch of things going on at once and you're
trying to plan and get things done, then it's very
easy to get caught up and get frustrated because you're like,
(29:33):
oh my god, I'm not finishing this thing that I
was supposed to do, and then you start panicking and
you go down the rabbit hole for that. So I
find that if you put things just one at a time,
and if I have a to do list, I'll cover
part of it up so that the whole thing isn't
displaying so that I'm not like, you know, with staring
(29:54):
at this big, too long to do list, like oh
my god, what am I going? How am I going
to finish all this? Take your bite sized pieces, one
a couple of things at a time, and then you
can kind of move through the rest of the list
so that you're not so like, oh my god, I
can't finish this thing, because I can't tell you how
(30:15):
many times I've gotten home and like, oh I need
to take the trash out. Oh well, I need to
do this too. Oh I need to do that too.
And then you're like halfway through doing one thing and
you're like, oh shit, I need to go do this
other thing too, and you're like all the place.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Compartmentalization is something that's difficult for me but so utterly
necessary in my life.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yes, yes, so cool. Well, I think it's I think
it is cool that we can relate on that front.
I feel like it's it's a really interesting philosophy when
you start to think about like how our brains work
and how we do things, and then relating it back
(30:57):
to you know, the the art forms of course, whether
it's whether you're making music or painting or whatever it
is that you're doing, seeing how the things that affect
us in our daily lives get translated into art. I
believe you said this earlier. It's definitely a rewarding thing
(31:19):
to get to see and it's cool to see something
positive come out of those things.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, I definitely agree. It's I have this conversation somewhat
often in different forms when it comes to like the
music and stuff, and I think, you know, I love
the process of making art, and after I finished something,
my ADHD brain is already onto the next thing, and
(31:48):
I don't really ever stop to smell the roses, but
especially now because I'm not like visually stimulated by as
many things. But I think when we're on stage, especially
in a place that like we're not local from, like none,
none of our friends are in the crowd or whatever,
and then when I'm singing or or there's a break
in the music and I can hear the crowd either
(32:08):
singing our lyrics with us or like just being fricking excited,
and like that is the most validating return and the
most validating feeling I think I've ever felt in my
entire life, because like, I can relate to both positions now,
and I just wish in my heart of hearts, because
I know how much it's helped me find more peace
in my life. I hope that everyone out there can
(32:31):
know what that feeling feels like and can be a
part of that feeling, if just not for a second,
but like you know, because I feel like that's life
changing and so so important.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
It definitely is, and I really appreciate you saying that
I am going to try and do my best to
honor that suggestion and trying to just stop and enjoy
things for what they are instead of seeing things that
face value, I guess, and having a deeper appreciation for things,
(33:06):
whether it be music or relationships or whatever it may be.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Absolutely, it pays to live in the moment as much
as you can while also acknowledging how temporary it is.
And I feel like art is definitely an avenue to
help people kind of gain that sense of enlightenment and
really be present in what they enjoy.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
For sure, you mentioned you mentioned just now just living
in the moment. So this is a little bit of
a ribit hole, so I apologize, but I watched I've
rewatched as this is the second time I've seen it though,
What's Stock ninety nine documentary on Netflix and seeing the
difference in how people engaged with music in that time
(33:53):
period as compared to now because there weren't they didn't
have like cell phones and snapchat and that sort of
of which I'm glad we have those things and I
appreciate them. But, like like Jonathan Davis said from corn
as they were interviewing him, and he was describing how
(34:14):
it was when the crowd moved when he moved, and
just seeing people just go absolutely bananas in the front,
and just seeing how he's described it as like a wave.
It's really it's really interesting to think about that level
of unity, I guess for yeah, unity or enjoyment or
(34:39):
whatever you want to call it, that level I don't
think will ever really exist anymore, and it's very weird
to think about.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I agree. I think that we were surrounded in such
a world that is so disconnected, thus being so falsely
can with things like the Internet and like social personas
and everything like that, and then music like the Jonathan
Davis Show, like where people are unified on the same
(35:12):
emotion on the save wag length in the same place
at the same time. I think that that, especially in
the modern world, being surrounded by such dichotomy like something
like that is so valuable, and it's interesting to see
how many people really believe that that's an impossibility to
ever really occur very often, especially in the modern age.
But to me, like that gives me such a sense
(35:33):
of like excitement, because if people don't believe something's gonna happen,
and you can pull it off and make it happen
like in the modern age and this time right now.
That is that is such an achievement to give that
back and like recreate that again, and I can guarantee
you that it will definitely continue to happen in.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Life one thousand percent. I do believe, and I certainly
hope that you guys get to have those moments both
in your personal lives and as a band, and to
our listeners, I hope you guys get to have those
experiences as well. And terrible segue, but speaking of shows
(36:13):
and valuable moments and things of that nature, I wanted
to shift gears to asking you guys about some of
the upcoming shows that you guys have so that our
listeners know where to find you.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
So our first show of twenty twenty five is actually
next Friday, on January thirty first, in Brooklyn at the Meadows.
We are playing with a Ghost, Kid, Hawk, Crucifixion and
The Martyr. We're really looking forward to that show and
along with every other show.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
After that after that.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
In February, we're going to be playing up in New London, Connecticut,
and then the February twenty second, and then the day
after twenty first. Then on February twenty second, the next
day we're going to be in Springfield, Massachusetts for another show.
And then in March we're doing a run with our
(37:13):
good friends in Parasite who are from Yonkers, and we're
doing a little New York I guess tri state run
where we're going from a end in Connecticut on March fourteenth.
On March fifteenth we'll be in Yonkers, and then March
sixteenth will be in our home area of.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Ron Konkoma, New York.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And then the following weekend we're playing a festival cup
called Hypefest up in A. No, it's in a I
think it's in like the Poughkeepsie area of New York,
upstate New York area. I know if if I were,
you were on it to be the Addiction, und Guard,
(37:55):
Off Guard, a bunch of other cool bands from like
the region or on that festival that's on March twenty second.
There's nothing in April at the moment or May, and
then in June we're also playing a festival in Southern
Pie called the Southern Metal Festival in Hannover Pennsylvania. At
(38:17):
the moment, that's everything that's announced, and there's there's definitely
a bunch of other stuff in the works.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
That's right. So if you live in the tri state
area Connecticut, Massachusetts, Upstate New York, downstate New York, March
is the month to get out and see Dead within Days.
Go on our website down within Days dot com. Find
yourself your location, get yourself a ticket, and tell your
friends it's going to be a great time. We have
bablades down at the merch table. We have new merch
It's going to be a fucking great time. I can't
(38:45):
wait to see it here everybody, So definitely come out
to those Did you say babelaites, I did say babe
blades what? So you know how like merch tables are
just like shiny lights and a few T shirts, maybe
like a tip box. You said that we want to
have Bablaid battles at the Merch table, So we have
a customized Debt within Days arena where we have basically
(39:09):
like gym battles, Like each one of the band members
is like a gym leader and then you have to
beat them in a one to three Bablaid battle and
then you get prizes from a merch.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Table that's amazing, that is top tier.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
You bring your baby Aids to the show, we will
give you a free item from our table.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Wow you heard of folks. Go see these guys because
they have a baybel aid competition and free stuff. So
please go see them and enjoy them. That's the main
reason why you should go. Enjoy the music. Compete in
babyl Aids get cool stuff.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yes, yes, yes, wow.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
I love this, Like I love this movement of like
non traditional merch things that people are doing. I love
this idea of baby aids. There's bands that have trading cards,
got like they bring Pokemon or magic to show people.
(40:07):
People have like whole dungeons and dragons games with people.
I don't think they do that at shows because I
feel like that would be really difficult to do. But
as as a DM myself, I feel like I would
not be able to concentrate at all.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Absolutely, nah. I like the idea of it, Like I've
seen that viral video and maybe it's slaughtered to prevail
or like there some some heavier band but they're at
like a big stadium and in the middle of the
wall of death. Someone set up a commander game of magic,
and I feel like that would be one really really
fucking dirty and two like really hard to hear your opponent.
(40:44):
But as they go and play their match, the wall
of death closes around the game and it just disappears.
Oh wow, yeah wow, I'd be like my cards. No,
Michael like cards.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
I am a huge nerd, but not in that aspect.
I collect comic books and funkos, so like, we're.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Surrounded by funkos at the moment.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
What's really quick before we before we wrap it up,
before we go down another rabbit hole? What is your
favorite funko you own?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Oh Jesus Christ, fuck, you just gave me the question.
I'm gonna pick a certain set because I have favorites
from certain sets. A while ago, I was able to
pick up the Fully Cooley pop figures from the anime
Fully Coolie, and there's only about seven of them, and
(41:41):
my favorite one is this character named Kanti who is
basically just like this character who has a TV for
a head and he just looks really cool. But the
way he translated into the pop form was like absolutely perfect,
and I think it's a great pop figure, like pushines,
really cool nice.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
I love that. I think mine. Oh god, it's a
toss up between two. It's either my John Constantine just
because it took me forever to get that. Shout out
to your sister forgetting it for Christmas, and and oh man,
(42:21):
it's got to be a toss up between that one
and the Batman Michael Keaton that I have from the Flash.
And the only reason not because it's the Flash, because
the Flash movie was not that great in my opinion. No,
we don't. We don't talk about it, but it's my favorite.
(42:42):
It's one of my favorites because my mom like old
and and that too because it's because come on, I mean,
it's Michael Keaton, like the sas, the sauce, the swag,
come on this year one of like he definitely top tier.
That is high aspirations to have.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Bell. He's the best Batman. That's what the poll had said.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Juices came out, so they're probably trying to hype them up.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
So what a little bit.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
What about better see.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Somebody gets it, someone understands. My mom gave me that
funko because she asked me what I wanted for Christmas,
and I, like, I said, I collect toys and comics
and that sort of stuff. So I showed her the
thing that I wanted and it was like a batmobile
plus the figure combo. And she kind of saw it
and was like, that's really big. Hear me out, I'm
(43:46):
going to go a different route. And I was like okay,
And then I opened the box and was like, oh,
it's a yeah. And I was one of those people
when I first started collecting, I swore up and down
I would not collect Funko Pops and now I have
like twenty of them. And my husband laughing at me, like, wow,
you're silly right now, Like I.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Know, lucky. I have infrastructure built out of pop figures.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
That's incredible. We need photos of this for for the
for the podcast, of course. Well guys, it has been
really great chit chatting with you. I appreciate the laughs,
the deep insightful thoughts and hearing more about your band,
(44:32):
and I'm excited for the things that you have coming
up ahead. You're a little far away from me, so
I don't think I would be able to make it
to a show, but we'll see what happens. You never know.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
Yeah, we're branch now, who knows will be in Virginia
some day. I definitely know that. Hey from Virginia, right, Yes,
all right, cool, your accent got it?
Speaker 4 (44:57):
Sorry, we'll both we'll get down there sooner than you
rather them later. We definitely plan on spreading our wings
more and more.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Sweet. I love DC litt well again, Thank you guys
so much for coming on. I appreciate it. Listeners, you
know how we get down over here. You know we
always support the hole Mason. Make sure you don't like
comments show, subscribe all that good stuff to dead within days,
ghost shows when they have them, buy much when they
have it. You guys know the drill. Gentlemen, it has
(45:24):
been real.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Thank you so much, thank you and thank you.
What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Missfit Minutes podcast.
I'm your host, of course, Jade. If you're around here, welcome.
If you're not around here, welcome back to the chaos.
So for today's episode, I have but two very special
guests with me. But special guests nonetheless, I have Rob
and Joel from Dead within Days. Welcome guys.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Thank you, it's good to be here. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Yeah, thank you, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm glad you guys could make it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And as we talked about off camera, a quick disclaimer, folks,
if you hear little innocent sounding meals in the background,
I have a kitten and she is showing off today.
So her name is Astrid. She is our other guest,
So say hello to Astroid. And now that we got
(00:58):
that out the way, let's talk more about you guys.
So tell the nice people what you guys do within
the band.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
This is Robert.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I play guitar, one of I guess two of the guitars.
Both guitars do leads and rhythms on and also there's
really no specific I guess guitar parts that I do.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, I wouldn't say that we have one lead in
one rhythm, they both trade off pretty equally, all right,
and then I joel speaking, I do lyrics for the
band and vocals as well, and so like I guess
media stuff, that's really about it. I mean, we all
(01:45):
kind of have a good shared system going on within
debt within days.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yeah, we all do stuff behind the scenes to make
this thing run nice.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, that's that seems to be the dynamic that most
people go with nowadays, as everyone does a little something extra,
like even though you're the drummer, you might run the socials,
or you know, you're the guitarist, you might be the
merch guy or you know, however people choose to delegate. Yeah, definitely, Yeah,
(02:14):
delegating is definitely important because one person can't do everything.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Definitely not It does not last long. If that's the case.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Now, it burns out really pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'd say we're probably a good example of a fair
dynamic of a typical metal band. I don't know how
rare that is, but it definitely feels like a blessing.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'd say it's decently rare. I feel like there's a
lot of weird dynamics within bands these days, and you
see a lot of like people coming in and then
going out just as quickly, which kind of sucks. But
there are definitely some good bands that have been sticking
(03:01):
around that have kind of found their footing and have
figured out how to run things.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I agree. I've always thought that the most dynamic lineup
for a band, at least from what I've seen, is
like three three core people, like if you think about
Green Day, like three eleven, like all these like all
these other bands and just have it locked in. They're
all like three part bands. And it's interesting to see,
(03:30):
at least for me.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I don't know, Yeah, I mean, I think it's I
think it's really interesting. It's definitely it's definitely important, like
you said, to kind of have your have things figured
out and have your footing and such. In terms of so,
I know, we already kind of discussed a little bit
(03:53):
how everyone kind of pitches in and does a little something.
How did I guess, like when you guys first started,
how were things set up then as compared to how
things are now, and what kind of I guess what
changes have you guys made from when you first started
up until this point.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I'll let I'll let Rob answer that because he is
probably the most founding member of this band and h yeah,
take the floor up.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yeah. Well, so I guess this started around a year ago,
actually a little more in a year ago. I guess
it was last like two summers ago. I want to
start a new band with people that had similar aspirations
as me, and I've known Joel for a while through
(04:48):
the scene like up here in Long Island, so just
like knowing him, I wanted to try him out and
it ended up working out or other guitars. I've known
him for a while when we jammed in the past,
and it just works well between us because we have
a very similar style of writing and we have a
(05:10):
lot of the same influences, so it's just very easy
for us to write music together. My bass player Tommy,
he's been in bands with me before, so we're just
very familiar with each other. And then I would say
we got very lucky with our drummer Anthony.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Yeah, he's the youngster in the group and we let
him know that all the time.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Fun fact, the medium the average age in our band
is thirty seven and none of us are close to
being thirty seven. Yeah, everyone who likes math can figure
that out, and we have a wide range of different
people I guess in ages in our band, but still
works really well.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah it does. But from the very beginning, I would
say I, I guess I was the driving force behind
everything just since it was I guess my thing to start.
But like as we've gone on, like we've all like
stepped in and like wanted to learn what like we
(06:15):
should do and help each other out, and it's just
evolved over time. And as a band, I've noticed we've
also evolved and grown. Like we haven't been stagnant at
all since we've started this. We've constantly get ourselves into
into the socials. We push ourselves on the playlist. We
(06:36):
try to spread our reach as far as possible and
play as many shows as we can as long as
it doesn't you know, cost us too much.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
May'll be hungry, yeah, I mean. Also, add on to
what Rob said about the formation of the band, I
think I was probably the second to last member that
was established, the last or the last member being established.
So my perspective of coming into the group was I
came out of doing cover music like email cover music,
(07:07):
and then before that, I wasn't a pop punk band
that kind of fizzled out like most bands do. And
one thing about me that changed in the later half
of my twenties is I lost like a lot of
my usable eyesight, so my vision went and that proved
a lot of challenges to continue doing music, especially with
(07:29):
other people. Because I couldn't drive anymore, transportation was very
difficult for a while. But when Rob hit me up
to try out for the band, it didn't feel like
any of that was really going to be a problem.
And then I took the bus to the practice space
to try out that night, and I think I did
really well. It was really nice to see everyone. They
(07:50):
had a bunch of songs that they had worked on
months prior that they were presenting to me, and it
was a really good experience. And then as I went
to go leave, I was going to take the US home.
The bus never came back and it left me at
the studio space on this first day of practice. And
so what ended up happening is after they wrapped up inside,
(08:11):
they eventually came back out to go home and I
was still waiting outside. So Rob was kind enough to
offer me a ride home, and through that experience of
just seeing how dedicated and compassionate that the members of
this band could be. It was it was a no
brainer to kind of invest in that and try to
(08:31):
better myself for the sake of the group. And it's
been a very inspiring experience.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's really awesome. That's cool that you that you made
sure that you got home safely and I was actually
going to ask about your eyesight just because I saw
that it's something that you guys not promote is the
wrong word I would say, like that you guys aren't no,
(09:03):
I guess not ashamed of or that you're you're proud
to share with your fans and with other people, which
I think is really great. I work with individuals with
disabilities myself, so I think that it's really that you're
even that you're active and that you're out there doing things,
and you know, being in this band I think is
(09:25):
really cool.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean, it makes me very satisfied to hear things
like that, because as we did form, that was one
thing that really defined me in my life at that time.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
And having an outlet to kind of express that indirectly
but in a very intimate way with listeners has has
returned that sense of connection and communication that I probably
wouldn't have found very well on my own without music.
And I think what we try to do is, like
(10:00):
you were saying, don't we don't step around it. We
kind of just put it at the forefront because I
think for me, music has kept me out of a
lot of dark places, especially when it comes to disabilities.
So by putting that at the at the forefront of
what we try to do, especially at our shows, the
goal is to kind of allow that kind of environment
(10:23):
to also attract other people who might be disabled or
somebody who has crippling anxiety, any sort of like hindrance
that someone might think holds them back in life. We
try to set the stage as an example of like,
you can still do it, follow your dreams, no matter
how different you are. As long as you have ambition,
anything is possible. And that's what we really try to
install on the people who who are interested.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
In us, and that is I feel like a great
message to have and it's definitely something that's continuously needed
within the scene. I've had fairly pleasant experiences within the
scene itself, and I know plenty of other individuals have
(11:06):
as well. Otherwise there wouldn't be a scene at all.
But it's definitely like you kind of forget about the
things that people have going on outside of music when
you see them at shows, You don't you kind of
forget about, like, you know, people having potentially a disability,
(11:28):
or you know, issues going on at home, or maybe
they are down on their look for other reasons. And
so I think it's important to kind of foster the
culture of just being kind to people and just remembering
like you don't know the whole the whole story. I agree,
(11:49):
And it's definitely It definitely goes without saying that a
lot of artists put a lot of information, not information,
but like a lot of personal things out there for
people to interact with and listen to and read and
see and whatnot. So it's definitely important to remember that
(12:12):
those things are deeply personal and maybe that person had
maybe it took them a little longer to share it
with other people, so and that it's difficult to share
personal information and things with people.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Absolutely, I definitely, I definitely think that what we've seen
as well, after being like the first year as a
band is having a message of accepting and embracing one's
own vulnerability to kind of embrace the greater picture of acceptance,
I guess would be how it would boil that down
(12:52):
a little bit, you know, because every everyone's vulnerable, and
music especially seems to be an area where a lot
of people who are a very different are able to
come together and enjoy like a similar interest and to
really lean into that and remind people that like this
is an artistic, free, creative and safe space is I
(13:13):
think extremely important not only for the musicians to enjoy themselves,
but also for the people who enjoyed music to really
get something out of it that that can be authentic, you.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Know, absolutely, So I guess kind of switching gears a
little bit, I wanted to ask kind of about you
guys's creative process, particularly with your most recent release.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Okay, so when this band started, me and Matt, the
other guitarists, we already had a bunch of like pre
existing things in the works on our own, so we
kind of started collabing together and you know, finishing up
the songs instrumentally, like from a guitar perspective, and then
(14:04):
by the time we kind of had the full band assembled,
like we kind of already had the EP already like
written instrumentally like guitar wise, so like we kind of
handed it to each of the members to like fill
out their own parts. Basically, you know, our drummer Anthony
did what he thought was correct, and obviously we all
(14:25):
like collaborate together to tell them what we thought would
sound better and whatnot if we thought something was could
have been better. I mean, we're still in a way
writing like that, but it's a little more collaborative now
from the start, since like now we're an actual like
full band m because we're still obviously creating more music
(14:48):
as we go. There's gonna be a bunch of stuff
actually coming out soon, started very soon.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yes, we have tons of music ready to come out.
It's it's crazy because what what's gonna come out? We've
worked on for the past maybe like a year and
a half and it's now just going to see the
light of day and super exciting.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, that is really exciting to finally get to bring
to light things that you've been working on for a while.
So I'm definitely excited to you know, see what you
guys put out and things that you do. I maybe
I was I heard miss incorrectly because I was eavesdropping,
(15:30):
silly me. I heard you guys talking about merch before
we started recording.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, yes, we definitely have. I'm actually wearing some of
our new merch that's not released yet, but we we
have new designs. We have t shirts, we have hats,
we have a few other little goodies that we've worked
really hard on. We've worked with some interesting artists on everything.
(15:58):
I love pop culture references, specifically like horror movies. So
does Rob. Yeah, so you could definitely expect to see
something horror inspired but very striking and and vibrant at
the same time at our merch table this year.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Nice and I'm glad that you brought up the horror
influence and that part of it as well, because as
I was doing my research and as I was listening
to you guys's music, I could feel this like two
thousands vibe. I could definitely I could feel the older
(16:37):
I guess versions of metal horror, maybe like the things
that we listened to when we were in middle school,
sort of stuff like leaking through, which I really appreciated
because I'm a very nostalgic person.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
So yeah, definitely appreciate that. Well, you definitely heard correct that.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Yes, there's a lot of us definitely from that era.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I would say, what, what were your your favorites from
that era? Maybe some super well known and maybe some
not so well known, maybe from your area.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I'll let Rob go first.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Yeah, I'll go first.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I think.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
For me on my biggest influence probably on my guitar
playing and just musical journey is probably Bullet from my Valentine.
And I'm sure you you're a lot in our rips.
I just know what comes through in my plane also
bends like kill Switch, Engage all that remains plus the fall.
(17:44):
As I lay dying, you go back further like Lamb
of God. And I also, I mean I grew up
on like thrash, like Slayer and Anthrax and Exodus and
stuff like that, So like I like, I love like
aggressive griffy kind of stuff, but yet still have melody
(18:04):
and it's not just aggressive the full time.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Yeah, I definitely say that what I get from the
guitars because Matt Matt, the other guitarist, is a huge
Inflames fan, Yes, so that that influences his writing as well.
But I feel almost as if the guitar wise specifically,
it shares a lot of the inspiration not from like
the Warp Tour era, but almost when like bands were
(18:32):
Warped Tour was first coming around and all the bands
that existed before that kind of mentality existed and then
brought onto Warp Tour to introduce that sound. That's kind
of where their inspiration I feel like comes from. It's
like pre Warp Tour, pre Crab Core, yeah, pre pre
Crabc era. And then for me, I was a little
(18:52):
less of like a guitar oriented person. I always really
liked vocals, and I grew up listening to Taking Back Sundays.
One of my favorite bands Bayside Green Day, Green Day obviously,
but the other stuff, like I really like Dance, Gavin
Dance growing up. Silverstein is probably one of my favorite influences,
(19:14):
and the whole emo catalog honestly is really where I
draw from. But I think that one of my biggest influences,
and it would be weird not to mention it is Chiyoto's.
I really liked the theatrical nature of what Chiyoto's was
doing back in like two thousand and eight twenty ten,
and like the the macabre horror aspects that they put
(19:35):
into their music. But it wasn't like the main substance
that's like a Einstein Kills who goes like balls to
the wall with the horror stuff. Chiyoto's had more of
like a subtle way of delivering it that I really appreciated,
and I definitely said a Chiyoto's is one of my
biggest influences.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Nice when I was I guess like because I obviously
had listened to like the the mainstream stuff. I guess
like mid to after war tour type stuff. I was
listening to that when I was first getting into this
(20:11):
realm of music, and then years later I started looking
into the stuff before that. And I happened to look
up on my desk as I was listening to you,
and I remembered that I have this book on my
desk called from the Basement, A History of Email Music
and how it changed Society. I'm not going to try
(20:33):
to pronounce this author's last name because I'm going to
butcher it. But it's a really cool book. And I
remember and because you mentioned taking back Sunday and I
was like, oh, they read in the book.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I read, Oh yeah, yeah, it's a really dope book.
I got off.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I got off Amazon. It was pretty cheap and it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Yeah, I even know they were in that book, to
be honest, they probably be hyped to hear that.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Yeah, it's like I mean then there's a there's photos
in it too of like old performances from like two
thousand and one and wow, like like old basement venues
from from them. And that's the time before before emo
(21:19):
was defined as EMO and it was just alternative rock.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I think that's where my heart forever lives within like
the music.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Don't get me wrong, I still like the the quote
unquote emos stuff that you know, my cousin's made fun
of me for listening to, but it's all good. Yeah,
it's it's got that like you said that, like pre
(21:48):
almost a pre emo type attitude to it. It's like
before all the stereotypes and all the you know, like
you're you know, you were eyeliner and all all of
that kind of stuff. It's almost before that, which is
I think that's that piece is very super influential to
(22:09):
a lot.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Of people appreciate that. We definitely try to try to
what is the word emanate, Yeah, definitely try to emanate that.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, so I know that you mentioned some
horror stuff, and obviously we've talked about the two thousands
asterroid man, we hear you. What are I guess, like
some non music related things other than horror that you
(22:45):
I guess draw more inspiration from or maybe like maybe
like not not even like pop culture stuff, but like
I guess not even maybe outside of music. What are
kind of some things that like you just enjoy that
happens to give you a little bit of inspiration when
(23:07):
it comes to music.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
I mean, for me, outside of music, I also do
a lot of like photo editing and realistic renderings and
a lot of like design work. I'm a designer, so
like just like artistic designer, So I do a lot
of like creation and stuff like that. So like my
(23:34):
wheels are always spinning with things to design, like design
and that just translate into music.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
It's it's all like one thing.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I don't know, it's something.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, art arts just a lifestyle. It's it's weird. Yeah,
I mean, I I definitely feel that for you, Rob.
I think for me, I'm very I love like the
stuff I grew up with, so I'm influenced by like
pop culture, whether it be movies, anime, like cartoons and
(24:09):
a lot of stuff like that. Like I just love
the the cinema, like I love drama and like cinema
and stuff, and the way that like anime is super
dramatic for no reason. I really like that kind of stuff.
I like good storytelling. So I think probably MTV is
one of my biggest like influences within how I view
(24:33):
art now as an adult, because I love the whole
idea of like cinema and making movies and then like
capturing life and putting it to film, and that's that's
a lot of what I enjoy doing as well.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I have a follow up question, Were you a theater kid?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
No? Not, in like, I didn't feel like a theater
kid among theater kids, because I wasn't like waspy or like,
you know, impressed, or any of the kind of like
stereotypes you'd find. I was like a stage crew kid.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Does that make I feel you?
Speaker 4 (25:07):
No?
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I was, that's me. That's me.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I was. I was a background character. I was not
the star of the show. I was just kind of
there and I would do a very small role here
and there, but I mainly did the backstage kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Yeah. Yeah, No, that was definitely me.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
There was an interview I did a few weeks ago
when we were talking about like how there's a pipeline
for theater kids to becoming musicians, like it's it's there,
it exists. Oh god, yeah, which not every not every
musician that's good was a theater kid. You know. Can't
(25:49):
place people in the boxes or anything.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Yeah, I mean, I feel because what definitely helped me
want to do my own thing because I was in
choir when I was in school. I did like the theater,
chorus whatever, and it's never anything that I liked, you know,
like in chorus you had to sing songs in like
German or like a song from the nineteen forties or
something like that show tune and it's awful, right, and like.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Did they make you guys do putting on the writs?
Do you remember? Yeah? Cool?
Speaker 3 (26:22):
I know you weren't the only one.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
It pushed me to want to do my own thing
because like you go you go to school, right, and
like you have to play like like piano, and then
you have to like go to chorus and do all
this like bullshit that you really don't want to do,
and then you go home, like you know, it's two
thousand and seven and you pop on the TV and
MTV just blast and like taking back Sunday, make damn sure,
and you're like, this is fucking music. And so, like
(26:48):
I think as a young, younger person, I was really
dissatisfied with what music was given to me, and so
it definitely pushed me to go out and kind of
define what I wanted to see my environment that wasn't
there yet.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You know, I one thousand percent understand it's it's I
was the same way, not even music related, but also
just in the classroom too, Like I am ADHD, so
like I have a hard time concentrating as it is,
and if it's not something that is super interesting to me,
I have to really work at it to pay attention.
(27:23):
So like you're in science, for example, you're in science
class and they're talking about, you know, different things, and
you're trying, you're trying to pay attention, You're trying to learn,
and then someone randomly brings up something that's not related
directly to the lesson, but then it piques your interest
and you're like, wait, whoa I want to do that?
And then you're like, well, we can't really cover that,
(27:43):
so we're gonna move on, Like what No, So yeah, no,
I definitely get what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I have ADHD. I feel you on that.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It'd be it'd be, it'd be a struggle. But you know,
we're we're here, we're making it, we're doing we're doing
a thing good. Yeah, I feel like a lot of
completely unrelated going down a rabbit hole here. I feel
like a lot of adults and either end up having
(28:13):
it you can find out later on, or they were
never told. They just had a hunch that that's what
it was, right, which you know is interesting in and
of itself.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
But yeah, I've dealt with more on like a I
guess a personal note, I've dealt with things like ADHD
and like learning disabilities. I'm like heavily dyslexic and things
like that, and especially being blind now not really being
obligated to read things is such a blessing. So there's
a lot of positives that came with it. But I
(28:49):
totally feel you with that kind of thing. Just to
stay focused and to stay on track mentally is always
a constant struggle. Like during the day, I feel like
I'm flexing a muscle constantly in order to stay on track,
and at the end of the day that muscle just
gives out and I'm just a pooh brain for the
rest of the night.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So I know something that helps me a lot is
I'm very like task completion oriented, so like I try
to put things in order, because if you have like
a bunch of things going on at once and you're
trying to plan and get things done, then it's very
easy to get caught up and get frustrated because you're like,
(29:33):
oh my god, I'm not finishing this thing that I
was supposed to do, and then you start panicking and
you go down the rabbit hole for that. So I
find that if you put things just one at a time,
and if I have a to do list, I'll cover
part of it up so that the whole thing isn't
displaying so that I'm not like, you know, with staring
(29:54):
at this big, too long to do list, like oh
my god, what am I going? How am I going
to finish all this? Take your bite sized pieces, one
a couple of things at a time, and then you
can kind of move through the rest of the list
so that you're not so like, oh my god, I
can't finish this thing, because I can't tell you how
(30:15):
many times I've gotten home and like, oh I need
to take the trash out. Oh well, I need to
do this too. Oh I need to do that too.
And then you're like halfway through doing one thing and
you're like, oh shit, I need to go do this
other thing too, and you're like all the place.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Compartmentalization is something that's difficult for me but so utterly
necessary in my life.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yes, yes, so cool. Well, I think it's I think
it is cool that we can relate on that front.
I feel like it's it's a really interesting philosophy when
you start to think about like how our brains work
and how we do things, and then relating it back
(30:57):
to you know, the the art forms of course, whether
it's whether you're making music or painting or whatever it
is that you're doing, seeing how the things that affect
us in our daily lives get translated into art. I
believe you said this earlier. It's definitely a rewarding thing
(31:19):
to get to see and it's cool to see something
positive come out of those things.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Yeah, I definitely agree. It's I have this conversation somewhat
often in different forms when it comes to like the
music and stuff, and I think, you know, I love
the process of making art, and after I finished something,
my ADHD brain is already onto the next thing, and
(31:48):
I don't really ever stop to smell the roses, but
especially now because I'm not like visually stimulated by as
many things. But I think when we're on stage, especially
in a place that like we're not local from, like none,
none of our friends are in the crowd or whatever,
and then when I'm singing or or there's a break
in the music and I can hear the crowd either
(32:08):
singing our lyrics with us or like just being fricking excited,
and like that is the most validating return and the
most validating feeling I think I've ever felt in my
entire life, because like, I can relate to both positions now,
and I just wish in my heart of hearts, because
I know how much it's helped me find more peace
in my life. I hope that everyone out there can
(32:31):
know what that feeling feels like and can be a
part of that feeling, if just not for a second,
but like you know, because I feel like that's life
changing and so so important.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
It definitely is, and I really appreciate you saying that
I am going to try and do my best to
honor that suggestion and trying to just stop and enjoy
things for what they are instead of seeing things that
face value, I guess, and having a deeper appreciation for things,
(33:06):
whether it be music or relationships or whatever it may be.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Absolutely, it pays to live in the moment as much
as you can while also acknowledging how temporary it is.
And I feel like art is definitely an avenue to
help people kind of gain that sense of enlightenment and
really be present in what they enjoy.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
For sure, you mentioned you mentioned just now just living
in the moment. So this is a little bit of
a ribit hole, so I apologize, but I watched I've
rewatched as this is the second time I've seen it though,
What's Stock ninety nine documentary on Netflix and seeing the
difference in how people engaged with music in that time
(33:53):
period as compared to now because there weren't they didn't
have like cell phones and snapchat and that sort of
of which I'm glad we have those things and I
appreciate them. But, like like Jonathan Davis said from corn
as they were interviewing him, and he was describing how
(34:14):
it was when the crowd moved when he moved, and
just seeing people just go absolutely bananas in the front,
and just seeing how he's described it as like a wave.
It's really it's really interesting to think about that level
of unity, I guess for yeah, unity or enjoyment or
(34:39):
whatever you want to call it, that level I don't
think will ever really exist anymore, and it's very weird
to think about.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
I agree. I think that we were surrounded in such
a world that is so disconnected, thus being so falsely
can with things like the Internet and like social personas
and everything like that, and then music like the Jonathan
Davis Show, like where people are unified on the same
(35:12):
emotion on the save wag length in the same place
at the same time. I think that that, especially in
the modern world, being surrounded by such dichotomy like something
like that is so valuable, and it's interesting to see
how many people really believe that that's an impossibility to
ever really occur very often, especially in the modern age.
But to me, like that gives me such a sense
(35:33):
of like excitement, because if people don't believe something's gonna happen,
and you can pull it off and make it happen
like in the modern age and this time right now.
That is that is such an achievement to give that
back and like recreate that again, and I can guarantee
you that it will definitely continue to happen in.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Life one thousand percent. I do believe, and I certainly
hope that you guys get to have those moments both
in your personal lives and as a band, and to
our listeners, I hope you guys get to have those
experiences as well. And terrible segue, but speaking of shows
(36:13):
and valuable moments and things of that nature, I wanted
to shift gears to asking you guys about some of
the upcoming shows that you guys have so that our
listeners know where to find you.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
So our first show of twenty twenty five is actually
next Friday, on January thirty first, in Brooklyn at the Meadows.
We are playing with a Ghost, Kid, Hawk, Crucifixion and
The Martyr. We're really looking forward to that show and
along with every other show.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
After that after that.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
In February, we're going to be playing up in New London, Connecticut,
and then the February twenty second, and then the day
after twenty first. Then on February twenty second, the next
day we're going to be in Springfield, Massachusetts for another show.
And then in March we're doing a run with our
(37:13):
good friends in Parasite who are from Yonkers, and we're
doing a little New York I guess tri state run
where we're going from a end in Connecticut on March fourteenth.
On March fifteenth we'll be in Yonkers, and then March
sixteenth will be in our home area of.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Ron Konkoma, New York.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And then the following weekend we're playing a festival cup
called Hypefest up in A. No, it's in a I
think it's in like the Poughkeepsie area of New York,
upstate New York area. I know if if I were,
you were on it to be the Addiction, und Guard,
(37:55):
Off Guard, a bunch of other cool bands from like
the region or on that festival that's on March twenty second.
There's nothing in April at the moment or May, and
then in June we're also playing a festival in Southern
Pie called the Southern Metal Festival in Hannover Pennsylvania. At
(38:17):
the moment, that's everything that's announced, and there's there's definitely
a bunch of other stuff in the works.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
That's right. So if you live in the tri state
area Connecticut, Massachusetts, Upstate New York, downstate New York, March
is the month to get out and see Dead within Days.
Go on our website down within Days dot com. Find
yourself your location, get yourself a ticket, and tell your
friends it's going to be a great time. We have
bablades down at the merch table. We have new merch
It's going to be a fucking great time. I can't
(38:45):
wait to see it here everybody, So definitely come out
to those Did you say babelaites, I did say babe
blades what? So you know how like merch tables are
just like shiny lights and a few T shirts, maybe
like a tip box. You said that we want to
have Bablaid battles at the Merch table, So we have
a customized Debt within Days arena where we have basically
(39:09):
like gym battles, Like each one of the band members
is like a gym leader and then you have to
beat them in a one to three Bablaid battle and
then you get prizes from a merch.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Table that's amazing, that is top tier.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
You bring your baby Aids to the show, we will
give you a free item from our table.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Wow you heard of folks. Go see these guys because
they have a baybel aid competition and free stuff. So
please go see them and enjoy them. That's the main
reason why you should go. Enjoy the music. Compete in
babyl Aids get cool stuff.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yes, yes, yes, wow.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
I love this, Like I love this movement of like
non traditional merch things that people are doing. I love
this idea of baby aids. There's bands that have trading cards,
got like they bring Pokemon or magic to show people.
(40:07):
People have like whole dungeons and dragons games with people.
I don't think they do that at shows because I
feel like that would be really difficult to do. But
as as a DM myself, I feel like I would
not be able to concentrate at all.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Absolutely, nah. I like the idea of it, Like I've
seen that viral video and maybe it's slaughtered to prevail
or like there some some heavier band but they're at
like a big stadium and in the middle of the
wall of death. Someone set up a commander game of magic,
and I feel like that would be one really really
fucking dirty and two like really hard to hear your opponent.
(40:44):
But as they go and play their match, the wall
of death closes around the game and it just disappears.
Oh wow, yeah wow, I'd be like my cards. No,
Michael like cards.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
I am a huge nerd, but not in that aspect.
I collect comic books and funkos, so like, we're.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Surrounded by funkos at the moment.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
What's really quick before we before we wrap it up,
before we go down another rabbit hole? What is your
favorite funko you own?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Oh Jesus Christ, fuck, you just gave me the question.
I'm gonna pick a certain set because I have favorites
from certain sets. A while ago, I was able to
pick up the Fully Cooley pop figures from the anime
Fully Coolie, and there's only about seven of them, and
(41:41):
my favorite one is this character named Kanti who is
basically just like this character who has a TV for
a head and he just looks really cool. But the
way he translated into the pop form was like absolutely perfect,
and I think it's a great pop figure, like pushines,
really cool nice.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
I love that. I think mine. Oh god, it's a
toss up between two. It's either my John Constantine just
because it took me forever to get that. Shout out
to your sister forgetting it for Christmas, and and oh man,
(42:21):
it's got to be a toss up between that one
and the Batman Michael Keaton that I have from the Flash.
And the only reason not because it's the Flash, because
the Flash movie was not that great in my opinion. No,
we don't. We don't talk about it, but it's my favorite.
(42:42):
It's one of my favorites because my mom like old
and and that too because it's because come on, I mean,
it's Michael Keaton, like the sas, the sauce, the swag,
come on this year one of like he definitely top tier.
That is high aspirations to have.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Bell. He's the best Batman. That's what the poll had said.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Juices came out, so they're probably trying to hype them up.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
So what a little bit.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
What about better see.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Somebody gets it, someone understands. My mom gave me that
funko because she asked me what I wanted for Christmas,
and I, like, I said, I collect toys and comics
and that sort of stuff. So I showed her the
thing that I wanted and it was like a batmobile
plus the figure combo. And she kind of saw it
and was like, that's really big. Hear me out, I'm
(43:46):
going to go a different route. And I was like okay,
And then I opened the box and was like, oh,
it's a yeah. And I was one of those people
when I first started collecting, I swore up and down
I would not collect Funko Pops and now I have
like twenty of them. And my husband laughing at me, like, wow,
you're silly right now, Like I.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Know, lucky. I have infrastructure built out of pop figures.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
That's incredible. We need photos of this for for the
for the podcast, of course. Well guys, it has been
really great chit chatting with you. I appreciate the laughs,
the deep insightful thoughts and hearing more about your band,
(44:32):
and I'm excited for the things that you have coming
up ahead. You're a little far away from me, so
I don't think I would be able to make it
to a show, but we'll see what happens. You never know.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
Yeah, we're branch now, who knows will be in Virginia
some day. I definitely know that. Hey from Virginia, right, Yes,
all right, cool, your accent got it?
Speaker 4 (44:57):
Sorry, we'll both we'll get down there sooner than you
rather them later. We definitely plan on spreading our wings
more and more.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Sweet. I love DC litt well again, Thank you guys
so much for coming on. I appreciate it. Listeners, you
know how we get down over here. You know we
always support the hole Mason. Make sure you don't like
comments show, subscribe all that good stuff to dead within days,
ghost shows when they have them, buy much when they
have it. You guys know the drill. Gentlemen, it has
(45:24):
been real.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Thank you so much, thank you and thank you.
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