Deadsy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA  |
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| Genre(s) | Goth Rock Industrial New Wave Rock Undercore |
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| Years active | 1995 – present | |
| Label(s) | Dreamworks Records Elektra Records Elementree Records Immortal Records Sire Records Warner Music Group |
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| Website | Deadsy.com | |
| Members | ||
| Phillips Exeter Blue I: Vocals, Guitar Carlton Megalodon: Z-tar Jens Funke: Bass Dr. Nner: Keyboards Alec Püre: Drums |
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| Former members | ||
| Creature: Bass The Beast: Bass |
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Deadsy is an American synth rock band from California. They have played many shows mainly based in California, but have also toured nationally multiple times as well as touring as part of the Family Values Tour.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Beginnings (1995-1996)
Deadsy started out in 1995, when Elijah decided he would get a record deal to support himself. He recorded a handful of demos with Alec Puro and later sent a Juno 106 keyboard to Renn as an invitation to join the band.
[edit] The Sire Years (1996-1999)
Deadsy was quickly signed to Sire Records, and they got working on writing new songs. Because they had no bass player at the time Jay Gordon (of Orgy) was asked to play bass for their short self-titled album. After the album was recorded and released for promotion, Craig Riker joined on bass as a full time member, and they were once again writing songs for the upcoming full length Commencement. Only a few songs were written for the new album as the band had planned to re-release most tracks from the self-titled album. A music video for "She Likes Big Words" was made at one of their early shows, also for promotion. With the album in the final stages of development, Sire parted ways with Elektra Records, and the release was pushed back to a later date. Soon after, Deadsy was dropped from the label entirely, ending the life of both the first and would-be second album, Commencement. Some promotional copies of the self-titled album are still floating around.
[edit] The Dreamworks Years (1999-2003)
While in the process of finding a new label, two members joined: Ashburn Miller replaced Craig on bass, and Carlton Bost was added on z-tars and guitar. Jonathan Davis (of the band Korn) signed Deadsy to the new record label Elementree Records, to release Commencement. Most songs came from the self-titled album, but some were newly written for the album, including "The Key To Gramercy Park", for which a video was made, directed by friend and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, as well as being the band's second song with Jonathan Davis. Davis invited the band to join the 2001 Family Values Tour before their album had even been released. This move helped build the fan base and helped the band onto the tour soundtrack. After the album's release, the band made a second music video for their cover of Sebadoh's "Brand New Love", which met with the same muted response from the mainstream as their previous video.
[edit] Release of Phantasmagore and the Present (2003-2007)
Deadsy signed onto Immortal Records to release Phantasmagore in 2006. During the 4-year process of writing the album, Deadsy released clips and demos on their official website. Deadsy was asked back to the Family Values Tour in the summer of 2006, which was co-headlined by the Deftones and Korn. Deadsy went on another tour with the Deftones in the fall/winter. In January of 2007, Deadsy parted ways with bassist Ashburn Miller ("Creature"), and added Jens Funke to the line up.
In February of 2007, a short statement from Elijah was posted on the band's messageboard: "I am making a solo record." Recently, Carlton has joined The Dreaming full time. The future of Deadsy remains unclear.
[edit] Musical Style and Themes
Elijah describes the band's low and dissonant style as Undercore. Elijah's low baritone singing style, down-tuned guitars, Dr. Nner's synths and Carlton's Z-tar all contribute to the band's sound.
- "We wanted to make something that was transcendental, really rule-defying, and very against the grain. And when people listened to it at first, it would just feel very like a sense of foreignness, almost like watching a David Lynch film." - Elijah Blue
The lyrics and imagery of the songs sometimes focus on many subjects in either sexual, religious, magical or popular culture contexts. Occasionally one notices obscure references to Secret Societies, The Urantia Book, Star Wars, and the novel Dune, by Frank Herbert. In the song Itty Bitty Titty Girl, pedophilia is the theme, as Elijah Blue intones about staring at a young girl's "crotch". Fans have long argued whether or not the song is intended as parody or a true reflection of the artist's own pedophilic leanings, though Allman himself dismisses the notion.
[edit] Visual appearance
Elijah has often called the band an "art project", or "art movement". Complete with a ludicros manifesto (available on their site), and visual iconography. Each band member represents one element or "Entity" that drives human society. Each entity is also represented by their own color and unique appearance.
Blue - Academia (P. Exeter Blue)
Yellow - Science / Medicine (Dr. Nner)
Green - Leisure (Alec Pure)
Grey - War (Carlton Megalodon)
Red - Horror (Jens Funke)
In April 2004, at the Troubadour in Hollywood CA., Deadsy unveiled their new look for the upcoming Phantasmagore album. The band appeared on stage with a new logo (a television test pattern that contained the "entity" colors) and were dressed in tattered black robes.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Main Albums
- Commencement (2002)
- Phantasmagore (2006)
[edit] Unreleased, Singles & Compilations
- Demo (1996)
- Deadsy (1996)
- Commencement (1999)
- The Key To Gramercy Park (2002)
- Brand New Love (2002)
- Friends (2006)
[edit] Non-album Tracks
- Asura (Demo) (3:27)
- Asura (Demo Clip) (1:24)
- Babes In Abyss (Demo) (3:23)
- Better Than You Know (Demo Clip)) (1:58)
- Better Than You Know (Unmastered) (6:14)
- Book Of Black Dreams (Demo Clip) (1:03)
- Brand New Love (Radio Mix) (3:42)
- Carrying Over (Live) (4:24) - From Family Values Tour compilation 2006
- Colossus (4:25) - Made available to participants of a MySpace promotional effort.
- Dreamcrusher (Demo Clip) (1:12)
- Fox On The Run (3:25)
- Friends (3:58) - Available for purchase through iTunes.
- Itsy Bitsy Titsy Girl - Unreleased.
- Mansion World (Deepsky Remix) (7:41)
- My Only Friend (3:26) - From Winter Passing soundtrack
- Replicas (5:12)
- Time (Demo Clip) (1:17)
- Strength Of Mind (Demo) (3:27) - Was made available for purchase by Immortal records without the bands knowledge, and was subsequently taken down.
- The Key To Gramercy Park (Demo) (3:10)
- Tom Sawyer (Live) (4:11) - From Family Values Tour compilation 2001
[edit] Videos
Official
- The Key to Gramercy Park (2002)
- Brand New Love (2002)
Web Released
- She Likes Big Words
- Babes In Abyss (2005)
- Razor Love (2006)
