Interview with Dead Beat (Experimental Crust/Hardcore band from Athens, Greece)

BB: Hello and welcome to our pages!

Dead Beat: Hello! Thank you for this interview and your support!

BB: How the Dead Beat band has started, give us a short story.

Dead Beat: The band was formed in March 2016 with the purpose to experiment mainly in extreme music such as hardcore, crust, grind etc. We were rehearsing for a short time of period in order to create a bond as a band and at the beginning of May 2016 we started the recordings of “ΠΑΡΑΝΟΙΑ” EP at Feedback Sound Studios. The EP was released a month ago in digital format, free to download by anyone who’s interested in our band.

BB: On may 9th 2018 you have released the first debut release named “ΠΑΡΑΝΟΙΑ” (Paranoia). How was the whole creation process? I’ve noticed that you have added some interesting musical instrument like trombone, trumpet, tsampouna and some different vocals. You knew from the start how the release should sound or it came natural in the composing/recording process?

Dead Beat: The main composing parts were formed individually. However during the recordings we managed to put together what we had in mind right from the beginning; to combine extreme music with all kind of different musical instruments, which usually you don’t encounter in the kind of music we chose to focus. All these instruments gave a completely different touch on the final result of the release which eventually helped us a lot as group but also individually, to realise the true meaning of experimenting. I personally believe that it helped me explore and understand new concepts in music and this motivates me to work and experiment a lot more in the future. 

BB: All these vocals and instruments mentioned above are band members or guest musicians in the band?

Dead Beat: I am glad you asked this question so I have the opportunity to present all the people who contributed to this EP. We consider all of them as members of the band since, as mentioned above, without them the final result would have been completely different. I want to thank them for everything and I wish to work with each and everyone of them again in the future.

Charis. Z. - Trombone, Gregory R. - Vocals, Thalia P. - Vocals, Lambros S. - Vocals, George S. - Vocals, Lina K. - Vocals, Petros K. - Trompet, Dinos Z. - Tsampouna.

BB: All the songs from the album are written in greek, can you please tell us, lyrically what’s the main message of the album? (Or you can tell us the story of one particular song).

Dead Beat: The main subject of the release is the depression, its existence and its various stages while evolving as illness. For example the first song called "Κισσός" (Ivy) describes the rooting and spreading of the illness and it is compared to the plant Ivy; the song “Eλπίδα" (Hope) describes the fight that gives someone who is diagnosed and has also personally realised that suffers from this illness (there are many cases that the person diagnosed with depression does not realise nor accepts it which has grave consequences). I personally believe that the depression is one of the worst illnesses worldwide and if you fight it effectively then in some cases can be positive results; for example the person who suffers could eventually gain something positive during this painful process [this is mentioned in the song "Σκοτάδι" (Darkness)]. I would also like to mention that this release is dedicated to the souls of all the children who have been victims of war; a thing which is implicitly related with the theme of the release.

BB: Dead Beat is a side project band? Because as I know some of you are playing in some different bands.

Dead Beat: No, Dead Beat was formed as a band and not a side project and the reason we formed it is, as mentioned previously, to experiment. Moreover, aside of knowing each other for a long time, we also play in other bands together (with the guitarist we play together in Slavebreed, with the bassist we play in Tantalum, etc.). So there would be no meaning in playing something that we already play in our other bands. Allow me also to mention that the drums are recorded by a good friend, Vangelis F. (Chaotic End, Paroxismos) however from now on our new drummer is going to be Adde M. (Birdflesh, General Surgery).

BB: “ΠΑΡΑΝΟΙΑ” will be released on cd’s/vynils any time soon? Have you tried to release your album via some webzines or some labels?

Dead Beat: There is a plan to release this EP in physical format however nothing is sure yet regarding to when. A number of labels and distros were offered to release it in tape and vinyl however the time was passing and nothing really happened since the songs were long ago recorded. The initial plan was to release it through my distro (Noise Attack) however the cost was high (along with the costs of recording, mixing and mastering). So for the time being I chose to upload it on bandcamp so anyone interested can download it gratis (https://deadbeatexperimental.bandcamp.com/releases).

BB: I know that you’re playing guitar in Slavebreed too. Your last album “Dethrone the Architect” was released in 2012 and the last release was a split with Birdflesh out in 2015. Should we expect a new release this year?

Dead Beat: We are currently on the preproduction of a new release, after a long period of time as you also mentioned. Unfortunately we do not have a specific deadline since along the way we may encounter difficulties, or ideas can change etc. For example at the beginning we started working on a new EP, however we ended up working on a complete new release.

BB: Do you have any final words for our readers?

Dead Beat: Thank you for the interest you showed and your support! Unfortunately I have never been to your country, however I hope to visit you next year! See you!

Official links:

DEAD BEAT on facebook

DEAD BEAT on bandcamp