> Interview: The Deadly Syndrome

Interview: The Deadly Syndrome

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:32:49

The Deadly Syndrome Videos

Los Angeles has always been a hotbed for emerging musical talent, but with the once parallel worlds of indie and mainstream coming to an intersection, now there's even more bands—and even less talent. It forces the discerning tastemaker dig deeper and look beyond the trends. Enter: The Deadly Syndrome.

This quartet have effectively risen above the throngs of guys with wagging cigarettes and chelsea boots to make a hybrid of folk and indie with a dash of theatrics by stucking to the classic formula of having fun with your buddies and making music as a byproduct.

ARTISTdirect chatted with the band about their lucky start, comedic influences and how it feels to be part of a scene.

You guys seemed to jump on the scene from out of nowhere, and were popular in LA almost overnight. Tell us how you guys got your start.

We were very fortunate to have gotten some good shows right out of the gate, but on top of that we're really honest with ourselves and each other. We don't try to overextend ourselves or be something we're not, and that honesty comes across on stage, so we think that helps too. We also owe all our friends and family for being incredibly supportive and constantly telling new people about us.

What can we expect from the full-length that wasn't on your early self-released/self-recorded demos?

All of those were home made and crappy recordings and rushed. But the L.P. was recorded by real producers (Aaron Older and Nico Aglietti), and we're really proud of it, you can expect almost an hour of music.

Was there a driving concept behind your new album?

To get it done, and be happy with it.

Do you feel like you fit in to the current Los Angeles music scene? Was some of your music made in reaction to the citye?

Like every other metropolitan area there are many different scenes. We fit in with the bands we like because we're all making music that we like. We don't really fit in with the Sunset strip scene because they're just in it to win it anyway, and we're definitely in it to lose it. :(

Who are some of your peer bands that you are into right now?

The Mae Shi, The Happy Hollows, Pity Party, Eskimohunter, 8-bit, Chris Pontius and the Big Nasty.

Name a musician who has influenced your sound but that people may not expect.

Mainly the unknown musicians that we see live, like at a street fair or a mall or at a club—and we never find out what band their in, but they're doing the craziest shit. It's rad to see people pull off amazing musical things live, so that gets our wheels turning and influences us to try things. And David Sanborn.

Your Kablammo videos are hilarious. Whose idea was it to make these album promo spots? Do you write them?

It was our idea. We like funny videos. So we wrote some videos, and we hired Barry Smoler, Jason Greene, and Matt Kosinski (some up-and-coming video producers/directors and editors) to do all the production on them. We're a new band; we need to saturate the market as much as possible. We don't exist in places like Snowflake, AZ and Knoxville, TN, so hopefully this got our name out a bit more. Also, it keeps us occupied while we're waiting for "it" to "happen."

What's the most exciting part of the music-making process for you?

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