If you could have a day in the studio with any musician past or present who would it be?
Laurie: I know Dave would probably love to go into the studio with Deadmau5 and see how he makes his kickdrums sound so heavy and suchlike. Me and Fergus would probably go in with Bloc Party and try and join in on their jams but end up just watching them. In terms of new bands, we would love to work with Dems.
What was the last album you were all really blown away by?
Laurie: The last album that I loved was ‘Total Life Forever’ by Foals which came out in May 2010 and is still on constant repeat on my Ipod.
How is the writing process for your productions? Do you all get together and start throwing ideas about or will one person lead proceedings?
We tend to go off an idea that one of us has and then build on it or just sit around playing together for ages until something good comes out. We don’t really have a specific formula.
When you’re not on stage / rehearsing / writing – where will we find you?
Probably on Dave’s computer mastering one of our tracks. We really don’t do much other than write music, we are quite boring.
Ambitions – Where would you like to be in ten years?
Hopefully sitting back in a mansion with lots of money… Or sitting back with a selection of material that we are very proud of.
As the November monthly rolls around it’s time to see what gets the bands on the bill up and moving. Peace are first in the email seat – read of their love for Gary Barlow and their ambitions to get on the property ladder.
What are the Top 5 tracks you have on repeat right now?
We’re constantly listening to new music in the office and when we were given the opportunity to put together a compilation of the songs we love we jumped at it.
Well, kind of. We were first asked about 18 months ago and we just kept working and working at it. Adding and deleting songs amidst a lot banter and drunken chats.
Finally, it’s done. We asked our favourite designer, Sam Coldy, to create a cover that probably makes no sense but looks magic. All of the amazing artists on board got involved and we love the result.
The compilation is over 2 CDs (with select songs on one heavyweight, deluxe RED vinyl) and something that we hope stands the test of time as great songs.
We’re delighted to be releasing the next single for East London male-female duo Visions of Trees, aka Sara Atalar and Joni Juden. They’ve been on the Deadly radar for a while and after hearing Sirens we didn’t think twice about putting it out. It’s a great way to introduce the band to their quickly growing fan base.
Check out the video above, it serves a great purpose in intensifying the experience and compliments the tracks sound perfectly. We caught up with long time Deadly collaborator and Director Jake Harmer to talk through the ideas behind the video..
Visually and aesthetically – another amazing video. Can you tell us a little about your influences on this video?
Yo!
The concept was to homage the lo-fi science fiction movies of the early 70s. The abstract narrative is purposefully left open and focus was more driven to create a series of iconic portraits of our duo. Common traits of the era including kitsch ‘in camera effects’ and vibrant colour were key, though my aim was to direct a darker, more stylish, modern reinterpretation.
What do you look for in a song when drawing up the ideas for the video? Is it lyrics? Does a genre of music – automatically point you in a certain direction?
The lyrics play their part, though I’m inspired more by the ambience of the composition.
Sometimes I’ve had an idea brewing in the back of my mind for years and am just looking for the opportunity to bring that idea to fruition.
Genre to me doesn’t play a part in defining a film’s aesthetic, though when working within ‘pop’ you are definitely restricted in how far you can push the boundaries. Not taking risks and alienating an existing fan base is often the underlying message from commissioners, that’s why I loved working with Deadly and V.O.T as they certainly never shy away from notoriety! (Photo – Jerome Slesinski)
What’s next for you?
!Huge hyper fashion film! The successor to 2010’s, L’Hotel Dystopie. All a bit hush hush at the moment though watch this space…
In its early workings, the Deadly monthly has already showcased a hat full of emerging talent with the likes of New Look, Visions of Trees, Toy, Tom The Lion and The History Of Apple Pie, making the party a great success so far.
This month is set to be no different as we welcome two of our favorite new bands. After a tip off up north, we caught wind of Discopolis, an electronic 3 piece from Edinburgh who blew us away with their first tracks as a band (listen to the epic Zenithobia below) and we knew we had to get them involved.
Joining them will be Peace. They’ve been on the Deadly radar for a while and ever since they posted the demo of BBLOOD (below) we’ve been waiting impatiently and craving for more material!
Don’t miss seeing them both live. It’s going to be a great party. And as always, FREE FOR ALL.
Joining them will be Peace. They’ve been on the Deadly radar for a while and ever since they posted the demo of BBLOOD (below) we’ve been waiting impatiently and craving for more material!
Don’t miss seeing them both live. It’s going to be a great party. And as always, FREE FOR ALL.
We’re delighted to present to you a brand new global tour featuring three like-minded, forward-thinking young DJs who we’ve been blown away by in recent months. Taking place twice a year, the first tour features new talents Brenmar, Dillon Francis and Melé.
The first tour stretches across Europe, taking in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium & Germany. A photographer will be on hand at every show to capture the madness and all will be documented on the Visions Facebook and website.
The crew will then head to North America in the New Year to round up the tour which hopes to do for bright young DJs what the NME Radar tour has done for exciting new bands.
To get you all in the mood, check out this exclusive mix from Melé ahead of the tour!
We’re delighted to announce that Matthew Dear is now represented by Deadly People Management.
We’ve always been huge fans of Matthew Dear and his Audion guise and were blown away by his performance at Primavera Festival in May.
Matthew Dear is signed to Ghostly and his last album, Black City, was a critical success with Pitchfork giving it 8.4 . It is one of the most played albums in our office and you can listen to some of it here. Spotify users can listen to the whole album here – Matthew Dear – Black City
Matthew is currently working on the new album. We can’t wait for you to hear it.
Sara Atalar and Joni Juden are Visions of Trees, a young, creepy, quiet duo from East London whose romanticism of R&B, 90s dance and goth have them fucking with our heads with their take on pop music.
We first met Visions of Trees at an O. Children gig last year and it was love at first sight. They say their music is “an alienation of urban life and the austerity of nature”, we say it’s how we imagine the pop charts would sound like in Blade Runner.
Sirens has come a long way since the demo and sets an exciting course for them. We love it.
Part two of our Monthly interviews. The History Of Apple Pie talk of their writing habits, a love of My Bloody Valentine, Street Fighter and Cooking!
What are the Top 5 tracks you have on repeat right now?
Gorillaz – M1 A1
Elliott Smith – Shooting Star
Black Sabbath – War Pigs
The Drums – Money
Black Lips – Family Tree
Fantasy talk – If you could have a day in the studio with any musician past or present who would it be?
I’d love to have been in the studio when they recorded Sister Ray, it’d be amazing to see all of that happening. To do our own stuff I think we could have learned a lot from Elliott Smith on arrangement and stripping stuff down.
What was the last album collectively you all loved?
I think the only thing we all agree on is MBV’s Loveless or maybe Sonic Youth’s Dirty, and Deftone’s Around The Fur. Usually we don’t agree at all on contemporary music, we were all pretty into The Horrors’ Skying, that’s a great record. Still Life has pretty much the best drum/bass sound combo ever.
The one song as a band you wish you could have wrote?
Maybe ‘Strange News From Another Star’ by Blur? It would be nice to write a really understated, spaced out song like that, I think we’re too young as a band, I think you grow into making music like that. A band’s first record or batch of songs should be to-the-point, slightly thrashy pop songs.
As a band, how is the writing process? Is it a collective effort when you are all together in the same space? Does one member take the lead with lyrics?
I (Jerome) usually write most of the music with some melody ideas and stuff from Steph and Steph writes all the lyrics and vocal melodies. It’s all done at home in our bedroom. I’m always buying new guitar equipment, so I’ll always find a new sound and try and make a song around it, sometimes it works, sometimes it’s just incoherent noise. Steph’s the one who brings it in a bit and tightens it up into a song. She’s also trying to write on guitar so she can bring all of her song ideas to life, which I think she has all the time, but she’s struggled to interpret her ‘humming’ and ‘do-do-do’ing’ into actual chords or riffs, because she hasn’t known how to play any instruments before. We sometimes ask James for direction on how drums should go on a recording, as he’s a great drummer and incorporates a lot of his own fills when we bring a song to live – and we usually end up liking them a lot!
When you’re not on stage / rehearsing / writing – where will we find you?
ames is really getting into cookery, I haven’t actually ever seen or tasted anything he’s made, but I’m excited to. Aslam just bought a pug dog, he’s taught it to high-five. There’s a LOT of YouTube watching between us as well, found some serious hidden gems.
What’s the first thing you pack before boarding the tour bus for a string of shows?
I always take a computer, I can’t handle not being on or near a computer, I get bored ridiculously fast and I never leave the house without headphones. James always massively under packs and never brings a coat anywhere. Steph is always bang on the snacks. Kelly brings a book she’ll never end up actually having time to read, and Aslam brings a banana and 1 can of red bull. Aslam’s always ready to go wild.
Finally, besides your standard refreshments, do you request promoters to provide anything novel on your rider?
It would be amazing to have some sort of game set up like Street Fighter in every backstage, would definitely pass time. Having a few Sailor Jerry and Cokes wouldn’t hurt either. Or maybe a ticket for a hot air balloon ride or something, I dunno, how much stuff can you get done between soundcheck and the gig?
![Sex Sax [Video]](http://www.deadlypeople.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/DTLSEXSAX.jpg)
O. Children
