Deadsy

Deadsy
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Industrial metal, industrial rock, electronic rock, dark wave, synthrock, gothic rock, nu metal, alternative metal[1]
Years active	1995–2007 (on hiatus)
Labels	Dreamworks Records Elektra Records Elementree Records Immortal Records Sire Records Warner Music Group
Website	www.deadsy.tv
Members	Elijah Blue Allman Alec Puro Renn Hawkey Carlton Bost Jens Funke
Past members	Ashburn Miller Craig Riker

Deadsy is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California.^[2] The band is known for its visual iconography and signature characteristics assigned to each band member. Each musician is identified by a specific color, stage name, and graphic tied into the band's theatrical nature. The band has released three studio albums. After independently releasing a self-titled debut in 1996, the band garnered mainstream exposure with the support of alternative metal pioneers Jonathan Davis^[3] and Fred Durst^[4] who aided Deadsy on their 2002 album Commencement. Throughout the 2000s, Deadsy toured across the United States, most notably performing on the Family Values Tour.^[5] The band released a second major label album, Phantasmagore, in 2006, before taking an indefinite hiatus in 2007.^[6]

History

Early years and formation (1995–1996)

Deadsy began in 1995, when Elijah Blue Allman (son of Cher and Gregg Allman) started recording a handful of demos (including "Dear" and a cover of "Texas Never Whispers") with Alec Puro, and later sent a Juno 106 keyboard to Renn Hawkey as an invitation to join the band.^[7] The three members evolved their sound in the studio and sought out a record deal out of "adolescent necessity".^[8]

Sire years (1996–1999)

Deadsy was quickly signed to Sire Records, and they began 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.^[9] After the album was recorded and released for promotion, the band temporarily relocated to New York City where drummer/producer Marc Jordan joined the band for a brief spell. Deadsy performed their first show at Coney Island in 1997, and abandoned the show after 3 songs for unclarified reasons. Craig Riker joined as the bassist full-time, and they were once again writing songs for their full-length second album Commencement. Only a few songs were written for the album at that time, 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

DreamWorks years (1999–2003)

While in the process of finding a new label, Carlton Bost was added on Z-Tar and guitar. Ashburn Miller replaced Riker on bass in January 2002, after he and Deadsy parted ways. Soon after, Jonathan Davis (of the band Korn) signed Deadsy to the new record label Elementree Records and invited the band to join the 2001 Family Values Tour.^[12] Commencement was finally released in May 2002. Most of the tracks came from their 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.^[13] This was Deadsy's second song with Jonathan Davis, following "Sleepy Hollow".^[11] A second video was filmed for their cover of Sebadoh's "Brand New Love". Amidst promoting Commencement, Deadsy had already begun working on a follow-up album.

The support from successful nu metal figures provided Deadsy their most prominent mainstream exposure and media coverage in 2002. However, despite this, neither single managed to chart, and Commencement failed to achieve expected sales. Elementree folded soon after. Nevertheless, Deadsy continued touring and focused on the development of their next record.

Phantasmagore (2003–2007)

Deadsy signed onto Immortal Records to release Phantasmagore in 2006.^[14] 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 2006, which was co-headlined by the Deftones and Korn. Deadsy went on another tour with the Deftones that began in the fall.

In January 2007, Deadsy parted ways with bassist Ashburn Miller, and added Jens Funke to the line up.^[15]

Hiatus (2007–present)

In February 2007, a short statement from Allman was posted on the band's message board, reading, "I am making a solo record". Carlton Bost then joined The Dreaming full-time. On April 16, 2007, a MySpace bulletin was posted with a statement by Alec Puro, who wrote, "As you all know we are going to be taking a short break from Deadsy so Elijah can make a solo record and I can continue scoring projects I wasn't able to do from the road". In early 2008, Elijah Blue and the Trapezoids was revealed as the name of Allman's solo project, though as of 2016, the project has yet to release anything more than three demos on its MySpace page.

As of February 2010, Allman has claimed, "Deadsy is sleeping at the moment", although the true state of the band is still questioned by many.^[6] Ashburn Miller and Carlton Bost joined Orgy's new line-up in September 2012.

Future

On December 8, 2016, Allman posted on his Instagram account a picture with the caption, "New Deadsy music, coming 2017...." and the hashtags #MoonOfTitan and #Undercore.^[16] The former might suggest the title of a new song or a new album. On December 15, 2016, Allman posted on his Instagram another photo with the hashtags #Deadsy #EP #2017 #Summer,^[17] confirming the new music for the coming year.

On December 19, 2016, Allman posted a video on his Instagram of him and Carlton Bost in the studio with new music.^[18]

Musical styles and themes

Allman describes the band's low and dissonant style as Undercore. His baritone singing style and guitars, Hawkey's synths, Puro's electronic drums and Bost's Z-Tar all contribute to the band's sound. Allman stated, "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."

The lyrics and imagery of the songs sometimes focused on many subjects in either sexual, religious, magical or popular culture contexts. Occasionally, there are references to pedophilia, secret societies, The Urantia Book, the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, Star Wars, the novel Dune by Frank Herbert, and even Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians.

Members and visual appearances

Allman has often called the band an "art project", or "art movement". Complete with a manifesto 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. Many of the multi-color ideas were influenced directly from the 1955 film This Island Earth. Allman represented International Klein Blue and academia, Puro represented green and leisure, Hawkey represented yellow and science and medicine, Bost represented grey and war, and the various bass players represented red and horror.

Current members

• Elijah Blue Allman – lead vocals, guitar, programming (1995–2007)
• Alec Puro – drums, programming (1995–2007)
• Renn Hawkey – keyboards, synthesizer (1995–2007)
• Carlton Bost – Z-Tar, guitar (1999–2007)
• Jens Funke – bass guitar (2007)

Former members

• Craig Riker – bass guitar (1999–2002)
• Ashburn Miller – bass guitar (2002–2007)

Temporary members

• Jay Gordon – bass guitar (1997–1999)
• Andy Trench - bass guitar

(1997)