Dead Crown – Black Sheep

By starrymag | May 7, 2017

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

Bryton: Driving and heavy. We try to create a flow, and a vibe that people can attach themselves to.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

Bryton: Gideon, Knocked Loose, Architects, Volumes and Emmure.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Black Sheep.” What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

Kendall: It’s a song that comes from a dark place. Over my short life, I have dealt with thoughts in my own mind and bad relationships with people who have come and went. I think people can connect to it because it’s all relatable content. There are a lot of people out there who deal with depression as well as mental and physical vices. It’s not the easiest thing to talk about so I’d rather just shout about it in a song. And if people can get relief from the song in any way, shape, or form than that makes it even better.

 

Q) How does the video for “Black Sheep” play into the message of the song?

 

Kendall: The main imagery points we used reflect on depression, suicide, self-image/ worth and child abuse. Which long story short are all things I’ve dealt with. The message fits the song and we wanted to have a video to kind of raise awareness.

 

Q) What if your song process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

Bryton: Eric and I typically sit down at his computer and talk about what we’ve been wanting to write lately. We start by finding a good tempo range, program a drum idea, track Eric with a metronome, and continue manipulating/ building from that. Often times Eric or I will have a riff stuck in our head for days and we’ll be prepared to track it immediately when we sit together. We rarely have any disagreements in our writing process. At this point, we have a million ideas saved and tracked so we do like to reference back to ideas we haven’t used and build off those. Song structure is something we all become passionate about, and we consider it frequently when writing.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

Bryton: Our guitarist Eric Gemme handles all of our production and engineering.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Dead Crown performance?

 

Bryton: A clear, massive, down and dirty sound with rowdy pits and lots of bounce.

 

Q) What do you want to be sure fans know about depression and getting help?

 

Kendall: You’re never alone and it’s a battle that can be won. When I was diagnosed, I decided not to take medication and to deal with it the best I could. With years of practice and patience, I’m finally at a place where I know what I can do to help myself. I feel like people with these illnesses need to tunnel vision on the things they are passionate about. For me, it was my music and my art business. And because I have those things, I always have something to work towards and I’m not stuck in a routine. I would always do really bad mentally when I got too comfortable doing something. A dead end leads to exactly that, a dead end. Find your passion and make it work for you.

Bryton: That no matter what you might think, someone is always there to lend a helping hand or a word of encouragement if you need it, including us. We have all dealt with these issues and we want our fans to know they aren’t alone.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

Kendall: Everyone uses social media. You can’t throw a rock without it landing on someone scrolling through a feed on their iPhone. Everyone can connect while being thousands of miles away, so social media makes it easy to get your music out and grow relationships across the world.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

Kendall: Thank you! It means a lot to us and we won’t let you down!