Dead Confederate - Interview
Video Codes at www.roxwel.com
Coming from a small town that has generated kickass bands like R.E.M., Widespread Panic, The B-52's, Of Montreal and The Whigs, Athens, Georgia's Dead Confederate is quickly proving that their name belongs with the rest.
Roxwel's Bobby Nall got the chance to sit down with frontman Hardy Morris, bassist Brantley Senn, and goofball guitarist Walker Howle to talk about their latest album, the idea behind the music video for "Giving It All Away," and how J Mascis became Dead Confederate's coolest stalker.
Unlike many artists who purposely structure tracks on their albums to set a certain vibe, the guys say that the songs on their albums "don't have to fit some sort of mold" and that they simply choose to use the songs that they are ultimately happy with on their records. However, the guys admit that they didn't originally want the song "Run From The Gun" to be part of their latest album, Sugar. Fortunately, their producer, John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and The Hold Steady) had more faith in the song because it ended up being one of the album's most popular tunes.
With a dark, raw, psychedelic southern rock sound, Dead Confederate is frequently compared to Nirvana and early My Morning Jacket with a hint of Billy Corgan-ish vocals. No need to bring back that flannel shirt, though - bassist Brantley Senn assures us that "We're not a grunge-revivalist band. We're just a band that's kind of just figuring things out."
Dead Confederate has had the opportunity to share the stage with some killer rock bands, including The Meat Puppets, R.E.M., Deer Tick, fellow Athens band Futurebirds and more.
Fresh after touring with Dinosaur Jr., Brantely claims that he had J Mascis' voice in mind when he wrote the lyrics for "Giving It All Away," a song about the difficulties and setbacks of being a hardworking musician when all you get back is less-than-stellar reviews and stolen songs. The Dinosaur Jr. guitarist was more than happy to take part in the track.
"It's like you're putting all this blood and tears and work into this stuff and then you just get slammed by everything and you just have to deal with it," Brantley says, referring to the concept of the song. "It's me stickin' up for musicians and just being like, 'You know, if you don't get it, you don't like it. Screw you." With an idea that compares musicians to organ donors, the video for the song is very connected with this meaning as "adorable" kids symbolically remove the instruments that have kept the band alive.
Check out this awesome exclusive interview to learn more about Sugar, each of the band members' first concert experiences and how flowers and Six Flags tickets are the keys to Dead Confederate's heart.
To get your rock on, sit back and watch Dead Confederate's raging live performance from the Mohawk in Austin, TX.