Deadhorse

We are to be featured in the upcoming nationally released film "There Are No Goodbyes".
n September of 2010 it was announced that we were looking for Erie PA-area bands and musicians, both past and present, for the soundtrack of “There Are No Goodbyes“. Those selected would join recently named musicians Lumiere and Phantasm. During the three-month submission window we received over 200 compositions from a little over fifty artists.

Using Erie as a backdrop for the story and characters, we saw an opportunity to showcase aspects of the city that might get unnoticed or unrecognized. In order to best illustrate this city through its music, we asked for submissions from all genres. Erie is a diverse place and as such it has quite a diverse musical world. This is something that was shown to us very clearly through the sheer volume of music we received.

It was quite an experience and we are very excited to be able to finally announce the final selections for the “There Are No Goodbyes” soundtrack contest. So without further ado, we would like to congratulate…

1. Sossie Govna ( Hip Hop )
2. Andrew Todd ( Aural Wizardry )
3. Bill Burke ( Jazz )
4. Bobby J. ( Instrumental Electronic )
5. Deadhorse ( Post-rock )
6. Fly MC ( Hip Hop / Rap )
7. Mount Peru ( Cosmic Americana )
8. The Intrepid Explorers Club ( Time-traveling Troubadours )
9. David Peters ( Singer/ Songwriter )
10. Phylosophy ( Hip Hop / Rap )
11. Jargonauts ( Genre Defying Awesomeness )
12. A.D. Wondersound w/ Kacy Kubeldis ( Chanson Chanteur and Chanteuse )

In the coming months we will be highlighting the various artists selected for the soundtrack on this blog. So check back often.

Thanks! - There Are No Goodbyes

We were featured in a short film about printmaker Travis Lawrence. Watch the video at the following URL: http://www.vimeo.com/17060203 - Travis Lawrence

A song of ours was featured in a film that was shown on a Donald Miller/Derek Webb tour this past December. Around 1,000 people a night were introduced to the entirety of the concert with this video and our music. Check it out at the following URL: http://vimeo.com/17407135 - Donald Miller

We were voted to win 7th by over 12,000 fans for "Best post-rock album of the year" in 2010. Check out the results at the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150113798006934&set=a.10150092633366934.308333.40915246933&pid=7730748&id=40915246933 - Official Post-Rock Facebook

We were voted by over 12,000 fans to win 3rd place in "Best new post-rock artist" of 2010. Check out the results at the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150113797981934&set=a.10150092633366934.308333.40915246933 - Official Post-Rock Facebook

Our full length LP We Can Create Our Own World is being distributed through Pirate Ship Records out of Arkansas. Check out the store at the following URL: http://pirateshiprecords.storenvy.com/collections/15491-vinyl - Pirate Ship Records

Featured on a digital and physical compilation release by Temporary Kicks and Mid Michigan Music, out of Midland, MI. Check out the compilation at the following URL: http://temporarykicks.storenvy.com/products/41941-the-best-of-temporary-kicks-2010-compilation - Temporary Kicks

3 of our songs off of our full length album "We Can Create Our Own World" will be featured in the upcoming internationally released independent film "Way of the Ocean". Watch the trailer at the following URL: http://vimeo.com/16293136 - Way of the Ocean

Featured in the Gone In 60 Seconds digital compilation distributed all over the world. - I Heart Noise

Featured on podcast #113 on Fan Quarterly - Fan Quarterly

Our full length album is distributed through Oxide Tones Record Label of Germany - Oxide Tones

We are featured on the online radio station Post-Rocking, streaming across the world. - Post-Rocking

A band from Pennsylvania, Deadhorse is a fully instrumental Post-Rock band that blends many different genres within their work to make a fairly intriguing sound. Including many classical segments, they make a very easy listening album that flows very well and unlocks some great emotion on the listen. With a playtime of nearly 50 mins. each song is significant in length and provides it’s own personality in the greater scheme of the album. Thoughtful melodies and riffs within the album show that this band has a proper understanding of what is asked of in this type of genre and keeps it interesting all the way through. The highlights come at the end of the album with the final there tracks that put a great caper of a very impressive full-band debut full length. - Arpo

Why Should My Band Use Facebook?
Posted by DanVanMatre on Jan 25, 2011 in Bands, Facebook, Misc., Music | Comments 0 comments

The first big step in internet entrepreneurship for bands was Myspace. How could it not be? It allowed artists to quickly create their own website, complete with a song player, pictures and the opportunity to market themselves to fans worldwide. However, in recent years Myspace’s user experience, not to mention reputation, has significantly declined. While the original social networking giant still works as a great website supplement for bands, it no longer carries the clout of Facebook in the marketplace. The reason why is a detailed story, so let me focus on the merits of Facebook for tomorrow’s next headliner.
1. Everybody uses Facebook.

There are over 500 million (and increasing) active users of Facebook, half of which log on every day and 70% of which are located outside of the United States, according to their own data. This is a staggering amount of people around the world! Getting radio airplay, record and distribution deals and significant tours requires a strong fan base. In the digital age, with this many people using Facebook, what better way to introduce your art to the world?
2. Fans want an artist, not a celebrity.

Okay, so there are still Justin Biebers out there, but the most loyal fan base with the most staying power long-term isn’t found in mainstream pop music. It’s found in garages, bars and concert halls and clubs. There are an astounding number of incredibly talented bands making waves in independent music because more and more kids want artists they relate to and can talk to after the show without paying hundreds of dollars for a VIP backstage pass ticket. These groups are even appearing in more mainstream circles as this trend continues (Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons)! Facebook gives you a chance to connect on a more personal level with fans, updating them daily with personal anecdotes and band happenings, and linking them to your Twitter, blog, Myspace and YouTube pages. I know a number of professional singer-songwriters who even make their personal pages public and give their fans the same access to their lives as their own family members!
3. Facebook is easy.

In the end, we all want to make work as efficient as possible. Facebook requires a minimal amount of maintenance (With my band, I spent about 30 minutes a day updating our page and responding to fans), quickly customizable boxes and applications for providing access to music, show dates and other information, and an easy way to connect to current fans and make new ones. For example, my good friends Deadhorse (Deadhorse Facebook page) have over 3000 Facebook fans in just over 1.5 years of being a band. Some of these were gained through extensive touring and then following up via Facebook, others simply stumbled across their page. Frontman Brian Morgante does an incredible job with reaching and retaining fans through their Facebook page, never possible without such a great tool.

To sum it all up, the garage bands of today can’t expect to go anywhere very soon without using Facebook to its full potential. You can write great music, but only with the internet and Facebook will it reach the masses. - Dan Van Matre

A band from Pennsylvania, Deadhorse is a fully instrumental Post-Rock band that blends many different genres within their work to make a fairly intriguing sound. Including many classical segments, they make a very easy listening album that flows very well and unlocks some great emotion on the listen. With a playtime of nearly 50 mins. each song is significant in length and provides it's own personality in the greater scheme of the album. Thoughtful melodies and riffs within the album show that this band has a proper understanding of what is asked of in this type of genre and keeps it interesting all the way through. The highlights come at the end of the album with the final there tracks that put a great caper of a very impressive full-band debut full length. - Thanntos

Brand new from Broken Circles Records! Deadhorse's We Can Create Our Own World available for the first time on wax! If you don't know Deadhorse, they are a post-rock/instrumental band from Erie, PA. You can check them out here, and you can pre-order a copy of the wax here! There are lots of different package deals to pick from! - Gotta Groove Records

One of the best Post-Rock albums I heard in a while! So buy this please!

P.S. I want to thank the band for sending me this. - RibsOut

Deadhorse is a post-rock band from Erie, PA. Starting in the fall of 2009, the original intent of Deadhorse was to be a transition from Brian Morgante’s solo music into full band. After doing a few shows with the full band material, the band started writing new material as a four piece. Brian Morgante on guitar, Rachel Shesman on piano, Josh Travis on bass, and Craig Sucharski on Drums.

Through the refining process, the band took steps in a new direction and decided to switch things up entirely, going with a full instrumental sound. Josh Travis disbanded from the group, and Tyler Long, who also played with Brian in Awaken, North Wind! joined and started writing the new material.

Many second guitar players have cycled through since the beginning of Deadhorse, including Tyler James from Radio Empire, Nick Bufalino from Precinct Aflame, Dan Van Matre from Aevory Nash, and Ryan Zimmerman. Jess Scutella from Radio Empire has also played shows as auxillary percussion with Deadhorse.

The band is currently working on a full length record with friends in Erie, PA. They have been recording with Mark Graziano and Eric Buman, who also engineered the Awaken, North Wind! album. They have been working on recordings since December 2009, and plan to release in June 2010. The full length record is speculated to be 7 tracks, over an hour of music, and entitled, “We Can Create Our Own World”.

~~~~~~~ ( Piano / Keys driven post-rock sound you need to listen by all means. See Recommendations. - TheSirensSound

"This is our first full length album! We have been working on it for 6 months and we're excited to finally be sharing it with all of you. 7 songs clocking in at 50 minutes. Every download includes a pdf-version of all the booklet liner notes as well!" -- from BandCamp

Credits:

Released 17 June 2010

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Mark Graziano and Eric Buman of Take 2 Productions in Erie, PA.

Cover Illustration By Erica Sperrazzo.

Instrumentation on this album performed by:

Brian Morgante - Guitars, Programming, Percussion

Rachel Shesman - Pianos and Organs

Tyler Long - Bass

Craig Sucharski - Drums and Percussion

Nice post rock with piano, if you like TWDY, you will like these guys. - Music is Amazing

Deadhorse – We Can Create Our Own World

For those of you with a good memory/long-time metalheads – this band have nothing do with metal band of the same name from Texas that released few albums in the late 80s / early 90s….

This Deadhorse hails from Pennsylvania and creates epic instrumental music in the vein of Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky. 7 slightly melancholic tracks on “World” are epic both in length and size – most of them are 5+ minutes long and feature roaring guitars, pianos and dramatic build-ups that in the end lead not so much songs, but to giant buildings/pyramids of sound.

It’s well-done, if not a particularly distinctive record with songs that are tad too lengthy. Still, if you can’t stand vocals and like epic-sounding rock/post-rock bands, then this could be a good choice. - I Heart Noise

Tracklist
01. No Particular Night Or Morning
02. Dreaming In The Face Of Disaster
03. Exiles
04. Question For Which There Are No Answers
05. Last Night Of The Word
06. Visionaries
07. The Long Rain
Download

Deadhorse is a post-rock band from Erie, PA. Starting in the fall of 2009, the original intent of Deadhorse was to be a transition from Brian Morgante’s solo music into full band. After doing a few shows with the full band material, the band started writing new material as a four piece: Brian Morgante on guitar, Rachel Shesman on piano, Josh Travis on bass, and Craig Sucharski on drums. Through the refining process, the band took steps in a new direction and decided to switch things up entirely, going with a full instrumental sound. Josh Travis disbanded from the group, and Tyler Long, who also played with Brian in Awaken, North Wind! joined and started writing the new material. Many second guitar players have cycled through since the beginning of Deadhorse, including Tyler James from Radio Empire, Nick Bufalino from Precinct Aflame, Dan Van Matre from Aevory Nash, and Ryan Zimmerman. Jess Scutella from Radio Empire has also played shows as auxillary percussion with Deadhorse.

The band has released a full length record with friends in Erie, PA. They have been recording with Mark Graziano and Eric Buman, who also engineered the Awaken, North Wind! album.

Official Site
Myspace
Buy - Post-Engineering

It’s taking great restraint not to make a predictable “flogging a dead horse” jab here—and I promise to go this whole review without doing one—but the phrase would be apt when it comes to describing We Can Create Our Own World. Read the song titles, check out the artwork, look at the general aesthetic of Deadhorse as a whole, and you’ll know what you’re getting into: some fairly standard post-rock. The band certainly doesn’t disappoint in that regard, as the music is often by-the-numbers. Still, there’s enough going on to maintain interest and stand slightly above the pack.

The record is thoroughly satisfying and, while there are no real curveballs, We Can Create Our Own World ebbs and flows and rises and falls and explodes and rebuilds in all the right places. The band admirably keeps a good pace, spending less time on brooding, near-silent build-ups and more on moving forward, like the steady march through “Exiles” or the heavy thud that kicks “Dreaming in the Face of Disaster in Motion.” A full-time piano player in the line-up also shakes up the timbres a bit (as opposed to a reverbed guitar dominating the mix as per usual), and this works surprisingly well during the more climactic bits. For example, the piano mercilessly beats out chords during the more violent moments in “Question for Which There is No Answer” and also smartly respects its space when things shift into a particularly growling crawl toward the end.

It’s sort of hard to deny the album’s true colors, however, which seem to match the artwork with a palette of grey and beige. Sure, it’s a good album, it’s solid, it’s sufficiently entertaining, but it can be predictable and even monochrome and boring, depending on how jaded one is with the genre. For the most part, one can countdown to the climaxes and predict with confidence how they will play out. The melodies and riffs all do their jobs, but by the end none really stand out or remain particularly memorable.

As it stands, Deadhorse is the perfect summer fling: enjoyable, slightly uncreative but pulled off with enough aplomb to be commendable. It’s a debut that is far from worthless—on the contrary, the album deserves a listen or two because it does do a lot of things right. Unfortunately, We Can Create Our Own World lacks character; instead of following its titular mantra, it feels content to live in the world created by countless other bands in the genre, and it will need an extra push to live up to its name.

-Calvin Young - The Silent Ballet

First, it was your solo Project, then reformed to a band. What was the main reason for such a change?


The reason for the change really came out of thin air, but was always an idea floating around not far out of reach. Personally, I had wanted to do an instrumental project for years at that point. Nothing really ever worked out to where this could happen, and it was thrown to the backburner each time. I never really wanted to be a full-time front man, as I get sick easily and my voice tends to give out if I over do it. For the amount that I was desiring to do something full time, anything with vocals was going to create a big obstacle. We all sat down and talked about the idea of pushing forward as an instrumental band, and figured we’d give it a try. We all liked music like that for some time, but had never worked on those sort of songs with one another. It definitely became a great learning and growing experience for all of us, and as we’re still trying to find all the right members for the band, it keeps evolving and taking a better shape as each day passes!

- I guess you are also participating in a collective fanzine “Broken Teeth Zine”, how is the situation of the non-mainstream musical/cultural scene in Erie?

Broken Teeth Zine was the idea of a group of us friends here in Erie that became something a lot better than we even envisioned. A few of us were reminiscing one day about going to shows in the late 90’s and being able to pick up information on a wide array of topics from all sorts of interesting and passionate people. As time has progressed, no matter where you are in the country, we’ve seen this sort of element almost completely disappear from the environment of shows or much anything countercultural. Infoshops and zine libraries are hidden treasures scattered all over the map, and it seems like younger kids aren’t trying to find a voice in a lot of important and relevant issues. We wanted to bring something like Broken Teeth to the forefront of our underground community and reintroduce those ideas to a new generation, and see where they stood, see what they had to say. We made it 100 percent collective right from the get go, letting everyone know that this wasn’t about us trying to write articles about how people should be or how much we hate the world, but rather a common outlet for all young and old no matter what walk of life to come together and share their thoughts, ideas, opinions, viewpoints and creativity with their own community. We spotlight musicians, artists, writers, poets. Every month you will see articles on a wide array of topics, some very serious, others light hearted and funny. A team of more than 20 graphic designers help piece together individual articles, making the design of each issue completely different, and representative and a wide array of artistic outlet, keeping it fresh and appealing. We wanted to look at every aspect of this and have people see that we weren’t trying to push an agenda, but rather rekindle a flame for discussion, point/counterpoint, and simple creativity. We’ve had 7 issues within the year and have even had featured articles from professional skateboarders like Henry Panza, awesome bands like Strike Anywhere, The Wonder Years, Comeback Kid, and Braveyoung, and even the legendary Henry Rollins. When it all boils down, we’re just some silly punk kids with a simple vision, and it has really brought a lot of people together in our community, and helped give people that are doing something, people with a message and creative types a place to showcase what they love the most, and what they are good at.
As far as the scene goes, it has its ups and downs just like any other area. Our area in particular though is heavily dominated with a hardcore background. We have seen Brothers Keeper, xDisciplex A.D., xRepresentx, War of Ages, Jesus Wept, Struckdown, Hank Jones, The Code, etc. all become touring bands, crossing the nation, and touring worldwide. When most people think Erie, they tend to immediately think hardcore, and they’re really not wrong to do so. There is a lot to be proud of, but in other ways it can be a bit over the top at times, and really come off as one-sided with a lack of diversity. A lot of people will branch out and listen to different types of music, but when it comes to shows, out of town bands passing through, or trying to implement new ideas or try some new things besides just your run-of-the-mill hardcore show, it seems to flicker out rather quickly. Most people know what they love, and are very stuck to their ways. We are definitely doing something very different for the area, and while we get a pretty good response from the people that we love, we still don’t see much support from our hometown. We haven’t even played since last March because of the heavy domination in things that we are an almost opposite contrast to. The funny thing, though, is that most of our morals, ideals, and ethics line up with what all these other bands are trying to promote, and yet a lot of times we just get tagged “the indie kids”.
Every scene has its good sides and bad sides. Erie supports the bands they love, and there are many bands that can’t wait to come back through the area after they play here. We’ve also heard the complete opposite, so it’s really anyone’s guess what is actually going on in this city, haha.

- Do you remember the first moment you wanted to be a musician? What has triggered and inspired you as a musician?

When I was super young I always wanted to be a drummer. In elementary school we used to get to go to the high school and watch assemblies of the jazz band throughout the year. They always had spotlights on drum solos at some point in the performances, and I would get so excited for them. I would be jealous of the talent and for some reason, I just thought it was the coolest thing in the world and something I thought I would love to try, haha. I started playing drums finally when I hit middle school and an older high school kid named Brian Kramer really inspired me and pushed me to really make it happen. As soon as I got the gears in motion, there was no stopping me. I knew it was my passion and what I absolutely wanted to do for the rest of my life. Starting in 6th grade I started making music with other people and knew that I had to create it or I would go insane. As time went on I started playing bass, then acoustic, then electric, and then started to dabble with other instruments like piano, glock, accordion, mandolin, banjo, etc.
I really wish I could pinpoint and tell you exactly what it is, but I can honestly say that I can’t tell you what really does it for me. Whenever you’re creating melodies and dynamics that run out of the ideas in your head and your heart and become something you can hear, something you can almost reach out and touch, it’s hard to put that into a description. Music is extremely powerful and there is something mystical about it that just entrances, effects, and moves people. To actually be able to have that sort of connection with people that would listen, understand, and relate with the music you’re creating, its like the ultimate connection with those around you, and there’s something beautiful about that.

- You have been writing interesting blog posts about your concerts, it seems that you are using social media and blogs in a very positive way, some say internet is killing the profits but hey, thanks to net I have found you, what do you think of the new era? How does it affect musicians?

The internet is the best and the worst thing that has happened to the music industry, and I think most any serious musician would agree with this statement. As far as the good goes, it has given an absolutely nobody like myself the chance to rocket my creations out into the entire world for an audience I would not be able to reach without the help of the internet. It used to be about overly insane amounts of talent, or all about who you know, and now you can really do something a lot more DIY, a lot more personable, and actually do okay at it, haha. You can connect with fans more intimately, and completely steer away from any sort of “rock star” or “mysterious” attitude by letting people share in your experiences through blogs, video updates, silly pod casts, and news updates both good and bad. As you’re experiencing it, the people that are behind you and following you are experiencing it hand in hand, and usually putting their two cents in by commenting on what you’re posting no matter what site it is. The interaction and connection is great, as is the way that you can so easily distribute your music across the world without spending a dime. Like you said, we wouldn’t even be doing this interview right now if you would not have come across some free download of our album that is floating around out there, haha. We have much to be thankful toward the internet for this day in age. If used correctly, it’s a band’s biggest asset in regards to communication, distribution, touring, press, and promotion.
As far as the bad goes, you can almost look at everything I said about the good, and talk about the bad attributes with all of those things, haha. As I said I’m a nobody getting my music out there….so is every other nobody in the world. Anyone with garage band and a mic from Best Buy is recording music and spreading it all over the internet. Before things like Myspace and Facebook the world already had more music than it knew what to do with. To all of a sudden give every garage and basement band the ability to record cheap, introduce it to the world, and promote themselves, you only make that pool of bands deeper and wider, making you an even smaller splash in the pond, haha. The competition is outrageous, and its over everyone’s nickels and dimes. In my lifetime I’ve watched it be a big deal to sell 10 million records and still have to compete with the other superstar next to you selling 10 million as well, and then have it flip flop to where stars are lucky to break 1 million. No one is buying music, and there is no “money” to be had in this world. You can transition all of that right back into good things, though, because if you’re not focused on making a quick buck from trends, then you will quickly see the bands that are fall off the map and venture into something different with their lives. In the time where the is no rock star, you start to see people doing something a bit more legitimate and true to their own hearts, and not something in the name of the almighty dollar.
So much good, so much bad, but the internet and spread of technology is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon, so we all better learn how to adapt, and find a happy medium with introducing it more and more into the way we conduct the band life.

- Your first album, “We can create our own world” great work musically and great song names. Normally, I am not that interested in song names in post rock scene but fort he first time, I really wished they had their own lyrics, The Long Rain, No Particular Night or Morning, Questions For Which There Are No Answers for example. Sounds like popped up from a songwriter days – Bob Dylan etc… How did you decide the song names?

I really wish I had a super awesome answer for this question, but to be completely honest with you, I don’t! I know that sounds disappointing, I’m sorry. We were finishing up the album and actually on the way to a show in Binghamton, NY. We still hadn’t named any of our songs, and knew that we needed to think fast to really get something that was fitting. We brainstormed a bit, and when it came down to it, most of the song titles come from the Ray Bradbury book “The Illustrated Man”. The book is a bunch of short stories that tell a greater story, while all creating beautiful points in their own unique chapters. We felt there was a connect with that sort of idea from the book as was with our songs. These songs help to tell a bigger story of the idea of creating our own world, and yet each song has its own individual mood and mindset and point of its own. It ended up working out, so we went with it!
It flatters me that you mention Bob Dylan as I greatly admire a lot of his work, especially his early folk days. I have been quite entranced with following his history as of the last year, so I definitely thank you for saying that, more people really need to get behind and understand how awesome his early stuff really is!

- Loved the artwork of the album, created by Erica Sperrazzo, how did you find her? Also, is this the same person who designed your t-shirts, which are also great?

Erica is a friend of ours from right here in our city! She is a student at Edinboro University, and actually has helped work with us on Broken Teeth Zine. We always really liked her work, and when it came time to start piecing together the album, we decided we would ask her and see if she wanted to help. When it came down to it, all we did was give her a copy of the cd, and tell her to create whatever she saw fit with the music. We aren’t here to dictate the artists that we work alongside with, just as we wouldn’t want to be dictated by others when we are creating. We work with people that we trust and people we know will put heart into their creations, not just working by the hour to create an image for some band they listened to for two seconds. We don’t want “big name” artists or anything like that, but friends of ours that we know have talent to rival these so called “big names.” What Erica created for the cover of the album was absolutely beautiful, and we’re proud to be getting it out and about, and spreading her name alongside ours across the world with this album! People forget how many different people go into making an album with a band. It’s not just about the musicians that create the music, but the artists, the recording engineers, the booking agents, the promoters, the internet helpers, etc. It’s all so important and all such a valuable piece of the puzzle. We always try to include friends and people we love and trust into every aspect of everything we do, rather than grasping for strangers that are far away or have some sort of name that we should be chasing. Too many bands get caught up in that garbage, when they are missing the true essence of community they could be creating all around them with every outlet they are looking for in the process of piecing together any aspect of band life.
I actually threw the shirts together, but Erica will be working on some shirt designs for us in the future! We always do small runs of each design with not many re-prints. We like to keep things fresh, so definitely expect to see more of her awesome artwork in our camp in the near future! She does a lot of her own stuff too, so be sure to look her up online and support what she is doing!


- You are offering an anarchist cookbook in your band store, more cultural anarchism, much more beatiful world in my view (: You say “we must reconstruct ourselves” in your Facebook page, do you think music can create a new world or does the music have same power as it had in 60’s or 70’s? Is there hope?

In all honesty, I don’t think music overall has very much to do with creating a new world, or reconstructing ourselves. Music is just one of many creative outlets that can be used to promote an idea, and bring people together under that idea. The creative outlet can only go so far, and after that, it is on the people’s shoulders to really dig in and communicate with and through one another to provoke serious change. Anyone can go to a show, listen to a band share ideas on the world, pick up literature on a wide array of topics and still not be doing anything to make any sort of difference. I think that almost goes alongside with the church idea of being a “pew sitter”, hahaha. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink, so on and so forth. The challenges put before us are no different than the 60’s and 70’s, no different than the 1800’s, they just look a little different on the outside. If people started to take things past the music, we could start to see some ground-breaking change. It has to start on a small, local scale. People have to start listening to and respecting one another. People have to start opening up and ask the tough questions about the world around them and their role in it. If we can begin to be honest with ourselves and with the people we love, the sooner we might be able to push forward into creating a different world. If we are able to do this, there is definitely hope for a brighter tomorrow!

- Any chance to see you outside of the US, in Europe, in Istanbul maybe?

Absolutely! We would love to be able to get overseas as soon as possible, and if we keep the momentum up, we’ll hopefully be able to get over to Europe sometime later on next year. Thanks to people like yourselves, it will help us get the word out quicker about what we’re trying to do, which in turn will make is possible for us to cross the ocean a lot sooner! Everyone we talk to that has toured overseas says that Europe really understands whats going on, and feels so much better than touring the US. We are more than ready to experience this, and really hope that we will be able to be a part of your communities in the very near future!

- Traditional Futuristika! question, what is your bedside albums/songs/films/books or magazines these days.

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of the new Braveyoung and The Ascent of Everest albums. Both very solid releases, and very highly recommended! I was really excited for the new Dead Confederate and Colour Revolt albums, but have definitely been let down and disappointed by both of those. A picked up a variety of new and old zines on this last tour we did, the new issue of Fire to the Prisons has been the best read so far. I believe it is supposed to be their last issue as well, so that will be sad to see such a great publication go. We’re always watching a ton of different movies, but nothing too serious or substantial, haha. If we ever are watching movies we usually like to watch silly light-hearted ones, or classic 80’s/90’s films. One of my favorite reads this year has been Landmarks in the Desert by Kent Winslow from The Match! Anarchist publication in Arizona. Great read and you should pick one up if you can find a copy! I think that’s all that’s really coming to mind at the moment.

- Salute from Istanbul! Hope to see you some day!

Thank you once again for the interview. Your zine is great, and you guys are definitely doing an amazing and important thing for your community. To all of those reading, we thank you for giving us a shot, and we hope to hear from you all soon. Check out www.deadhorse.bandcamp.com and you can listen to our entire new full length album in high quality, and then also pick up a digital download of the cd for only $7. The more of those we are able to sell, the sooner we can come and play in Turkey! Thank you once again, and until our paths cross, we hope you all stay well, get involved, make a change, and get passionate about something! - Futuristika Magazine

"They're not heavy like Black Sabbath - they're heavy like Beethoven." - Post-Rocker

Today we are glad to have Deadhorse with us, a young band which debutted with "We Can Create Own Our World"; you can find the review in our website. How are you guys?

Pretty good! We’ve been home the last few weeks gearing up for our next tour across America, so we’ve been busy getting ready for that.


Let's begin giving some infos on you, how was the band born Which was the main reason that made you give life to Deadhorse.

The band was actually originally intended to be a side project. I was doing some solo music and shows in between strings of shows with my other band Awaken North Wind. Our bass player Tyler was also a part of this band, and not a part of Deadhorse at the time. I had talked with Rachel, Craig and our friend Josh Travis about taking my solo songs and making them full band, playing a couple shows with them and seeing what happens. Everyone seemed on board, and we jumped into everything August of 09.
After playing a handful of shows like that, it appeared that things with Awaken were dissipating, which was a bummer. At that point, Deadhorse started to take center stage, and the more we played, the more we figured we should start writing some music together. We started writing a few songs and we weren’t too sure about them as everything seemed a bit all over the place. We toyed around with the idea of doing something completely instrumental, and after some back and forth on that, we decided to just give it a try. Shortly after Josh Travis decided to stop playing and Tyler jumped on board with the project, and writing went into full swing. That pretty much sums up the birth of us deciding on what we’re doing now.
As far as giving life, it was really something that was stumbled upon by accident, but a wonderful one at that. I know personally I had wanted to play instrumental music for years, and it felt good to finally be doing something I 100 percent wanted to be doing. It made writing a lot easier, and threw a whole lot more passion into the songs that we were writing. All of us were in agreement that this was definitely something worthwhile, and we wanted to be in it for the long haul. At that point, we knew we needed to do everything we could to move the music forward and see what kind of adventures it could get us into.


The so called alternative music or to say it better music which isn't included in pop is luckily giving birth to many good works, what do you listen to and how much did your listenings influenced your work?

All of us listen to a pretty wide variety of music. We are influenced by bands similar to us as we do enjoy listening to post-rock, but we really come from eclectic backgrounds that aren’t really traditional to a lot of people playing this sort of music. Some of us started off as young crust punks and hardcore kids, and we’ve all seen our musical tastes vary and evolve over the years. We’ve listen to everything from great punk bands like Crass, Strike Anywhere, Minor Threat to hardcore bands like Have Heart, Shai Hulud, Scarlet and Reign Supreme. A lot of more indie stuff is in rotation like Colour Revolt, Dignan, As Cities Burn, Pedro the Lion, Further Seems Forever and Twothirtyeight. When it comes to post-rock we tend to get into a lot more of the groups with a lot of dynamic and solid drive behind the music, bands like Sigur Ros, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Giants, Braveyoung and This Will Destroy You.


Why did you give voice only to the instrumentation?

One part of the decision was practical, and the other part was something a bit deeper than that. As far as the practical side goes, I was singing in Awaken North Wind. I’m not the strongest singer in the world, but I can hold my own if need be. The only problem was that after singing for a while my voice would give out very easily, not to mention how easily I tend to get sick these days. Some Awaken shows really suffered because of that, and the thought of doing something more full time with those sort of shaky conditions really scared me into not really wanting to do much singing anymore. We thought about looking for someone else to sing with us with Awaken and both Deadhorse, but it’s hard enough to find musicians that want to play full time let alone singers in this area. Seeing that we knew no one was really going to be able to step up to the plate and lead Deadhorse in a singing manner, it really sparked the original idea of even pushing forward with completely instrumental music.
The other part of it really has to do with the perspective of it all. When it boils down in the bigger scheme of things, there’s not many people out there that are really passionate or even interested in instrumental or post-rock music. Frankly, a lot of people think its boring, or don’t want to take the time to understand it. To most, it’s just background music or something to fall asleep to, because it’s usually pretty. The funny thing with myself, though, is that if I have ever tried to fall asleep to anything like this, it immediately wakes me up because of how much of a rush it gives me, haha. So many people want a catchy chorus to a song they can dance to, turn up super loud, and forget about everything that is going on around them. There is definitely a time and a place for that, and we do it as well, but with the music we wanted to create and share we really wanted something that could be a bit more universal, cross genre borders, and really get a lot of people with different mindsets and perspectives on somewhat of a same page.


"We Can Create Own Our World", the title is something like an assertion, unlike some track titles such as "Question For Which There Are No Answer" and "Last Night Of The World" which seem to be waiting for an answer. What message do you want to send with your music?

We might not have any words, but there is definitely a big message that we want to send with this music. A lot of post-rock bands you see anymore just get up on stage, don’t even really say hi or connect with the audience in any way. They just start playing, create this beautiful, powerful atmosphere for an hour, and then get off stage. Sure you might be creating something that sucks people in and relaxes them, but you would think you would want something more than just music. We firmly believe in the power of relating with one another, and connecting with everyone around you. If we were out there just playing music, I think that would get old and boring, and really leave us missing out on something very important. We have a lot of roots in the ideas behind a more radical counterculture, and don’t just choose this life to make it big, get a paycheck, or secure our retirements. If we were, we’re definitely playing the wrong sort of music, haha. We want to show everyone and anyone out there that something else is possible.
With the way the music world is today, it’s really hard to do anything that makes any sort of lasting impact. People are trying to jump on and off of trends and follow the young kids’ spending habits by creating goofy merch and extremely foul songs just in the name of shock value and skyrocketing them to the top of the world. Every day it seems like there is less and less authenticity out there and anyone still doing something because they actually love doing it. With the music that we create, we always explain at every show that the music can mean anything you want it to. Too many bands will get up on stage and say we should do this, do that, think like this, support that, go do this, etc. Instead of just playing some sort of preachercongregation game, we want to show people that we are on the same exact page as them. We’re not trying to tell anyone that we have answers to the world’s problems, but more that we want everyone to look a bit deeper into themselves and really find the things that make them tick, find the things they are passionate about, and bring them right to the surface. We want to see people making an impact with and through one another on their communities, their own individual words to create something new and different.
No one really stumbles on shows by accident, it’s really quite its own world to be sucked into all of this. It goes a lot more than some sort of concert atmosphere, ticket sales and merch designs. A lot of the ideas that the underground was built on seem to be slowly fading out these days, and we just want to remind people that we are all the left out, broken and outcasts. We were all the weird kids in school, the nerds, the picked on, the ones from broken homes, and just confused about the world that we saw around us. All of us creative types seem to strive for something more, and sometimes we all need a reminder that we’re all in this together, there are wonderful circles of people all over this world really creating positive change toward something alternative in their own communities, and we just would love to see that continue to happen for generations to come.


The album flows spontaneous and instinctive, the songs are very pleasant to listen to, both from emotional and compositive point of view, but how do your songs take life?

Well thank you, I’m glad that you’re enjoying the songs! We tried our best to really put as much emotion into every track as we could, so that makes me happy to see it’s coming through, haha.
As far as songs taking life, that really goes hand in hand with what I was saying about the way that we encourage each listener to really create their own meaning behind these tracks. These songs can take life in a million different ways since we make it clear that we’re not trying to portray just one simple thing within them. People can create a life of their own with each song and the album as a whole, which we find very interesting as we hear a wide variety of stories, creations and visions behind the music. As one person can see it as something extremely tragic, the next sees it as something triumphant. Some people will relate sadness or pain or channel anger or despair through songs, while other people will talk to will say it made them feel so happy or be reminded of so many good things within them. The differences across the board are amazing, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We want every single listener to have a totally unique experience with these songs, just as they have a unique effect on every single one of us that is playing and creating them.


What does the artwork mean, with that central door from which some roots come up Do we need to re-plant humanity to give it a different sense?

The artwork is even a direct correlation to what I was explaining in the last question. Our friend Erica Sperrazzo drew the piece for the cover. She does a lot of amazing work, and we knew that it would be awesome if she might create something for this album. I talked with her about it, and she seemed very excited to be a part. We didn’t ask her to create anything specific, or even chime in any sort of idea that we wanted to see encompassed with the artwork. All I did was send her the cd as soon as it was finished, and asked her to create whatever came to mind and heart as she listened. Needless to say, we weren’t surprised when she sent over such an awesome piece! None of us are really good artists at all, and we knew that she had the ability to create extremely beautiful things. There would be no reason for us to try to interfere or shape those talents, but rather but full trust into the artist creating what they envision, and what really creates the life of the songs to them, personally. It really is a lot more effective to go about things with this approach as we have tried to do that with every aspect of this music and the things around it. The more we leave the creative process in the hands of the creators, the better final product we have seen. It just takes a little trust is all, haha!
With the second part of this question, I’m not entirely sure if that is what Erica was trying to display with the artwork or not, but I can definitely see and relate with what you’re saying in that statement, as it correlates with what I was saying, and the title of the album. It would be wonderful to see everyone get out from the rat race they have put their lives into and really start living and striving for something different, something new, something radical. There are doors of opportunity all around us, and it is ultimately our decision if we will walk through them or not and really chase after what we desire as individuals and collectively.


In the review I mentioned Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai and Tides From Nebula. You show that you have your own personality, not so marked but still perceivable; which are the Post-Rock features that made you love the genre and how much is it important to put your sensations in your music?

I think one of the biggest things that draws me to the genre is the dynamics. So much music out there really lacks any sense of dynamic, and because of that a lot of emotion gets lost. There are so many amazing bands that with a little bit more push behind their highs and lows, could hit THAT much harder. It feels like with post-rock you can experiment a lot more with all sorts of dynamics, and really create a roller coaster ride for the listeners. No matter what kind of music you’re creating, its extremely important to put your own sensations into it. If you’re creating something that doesn’t make you feel it on the inside, you are not creating anything for yourself, and you need to stop immediately. Music with no sensation is just a formula with no life behind it. Without feeling, without heart, the songs cannot take flight.


What do you think about both american and world musical scene?

Both seem to be extremely different, but also have a lot of good and bad things to each. The American touring market is extremely oversaturated with a lot of bands that really shouldn’t be doing anything. Kids are also attracted to what seems to be the worst things ever, and because of that we see so many trends explode in and out so quickly, you don’t even realize when there’s a wave of change taking place. There’s too much competition with too little legitimate promoters and venues, very little money involved, and an alarming decrease in any sort of fan connection. A lot of places grow stagnant fast in America, and the kids become apathetic toward any band coming through. At the same time though, when you find the little pockets of passion, and the little areas where something good is going on, its such a breath of fresh air in what looks to be quite the depressing market, haha. This goes along with people taking an initiative to really create something of their own, and you see small art spaces, info shops, housebasement shows and other DIY ventures that are really standing for values, not just letting any band come through that will make them money, but doing it for pure reasons and pushing the passionate bands on kids that are also burning with passion.
I’ve never been across the pond, but I’ve heard all sorts of good and bad things, more good than anything though. It seems like Europe, Japan, even Malaysia these days really have it going on, where people are just hungry for music, hungry for something new and different, and I really like that idea. Our bass player toured Europe last year and got to meet a lot of interesting people who were very passionate about the things and bands they were into, stay in some very awesome DIY spaces, etc. I think when the time comes, I’m going to love anything overseas show-wise a lot more than anything here in the states, haha.


Are there any bands that you love and that you would recommend?

I’m sure everyone has a long list they could put here with bands across the board of genres. Lately I have really been into Braveyoung’s new album that will be coming out soon, La Dispute, Touche Amore, The Ascent Of Everest, Crass, The Winston Jazz Routine, and So Long Forgotten.


Which are the main troubles for a band that wants to stand out today Which is the best method to do it without sell out the band?

I feel if one of the goals you might have in your band is to “stand out”, then you should probably cross that one right off the list, because with the insane amount of bands that are really trying to push themselves via free internet promotion, you are not alone no matter what you’re trying to do. I can guarantee no matter what sort of unique blend or twist you put on your music, you’ll find a slew of others across the globe that are trying the same formula you are. Everything under the sun has been done and is constantly being re-created and updated just slightly different. I don’t really feel like it’s the sound that will make you stand out anymore, but what you actually stand for and strive for with your creations. As long as you’re creating something that you are passionate about, eager to share with the world, and are proud of with the final product, I think you have a winner on your hands. Too many bands are trying way too hard to find that “new sound” and its frankly just annoying. Everyone is just trying too hard to be cool, sticking their peacock feathers out and puffing up their chests to say look at us, look at us. Some people are really into that, but the majority of people just find it to be fake and annoying. I wouldn’t say there’s any best method except to just do what you love, and push forward in the most genuine and sincere way you can, and people will recognize and respect that.


Do you have any side-projects? How is your life besides the band?

I do some solo stuff time and time again under my name Brian Morgante. I have been doing it for years when I have the free time, and it seems to go over pretty well. I’ve done a couple tours with it, and its always a fun change of pace. The music is really slow-paced intimate folky stuff, in the vein of As Cities Burn, Manchester Orchestra, David Bazan, etc. our bass player Tyler is in the straight edge hardcore band xRepresentx. They seem to do very well all over the world, and he’s actually out on the road with them as I type this. They did a 45 date tour in Europe last year that went over extremely well, and they make a great impact in the hardcore community worldwide.


Is there a live experience that you would like to do again Are there any confirmed dates?

We enjoy most of the shows that we play, as we have been through a lot of areas that have some amazing people and bands doing something very good. I’m not sure if there’s anything super specific that stands out, but we just plan on continuing to pass through all of the different cities and areas where we have created bonds with like-minded people and bands, are want to continue to grow together in the future.


Is there the possibility to see you in Europe?

Absolutely! We really want to come overseas and do a lot of touring as soon as we can. It takes money to get over there, but we would love to save up and keep promoting over there to really make sure it could work out! Just very general speculations and estimations, we would love to see ourselves get overseas even as early as next summerfall if at all possible. In order to do things like that though, we certainly need your help! Haha.


Thanks for the time you spent with us, the last message for our readers is up to you.

We just want to thank you for letting us be a part of what you are doing. It’s important to keep things like this alive, and we’re humbled to even have the chance to be a part of your community through this. We invite any and all of you to listen to our entire album right now over at www.deadhorse.bandcamp.com and if you like the music, get a digital download of the album for only $7, it will help us out tremendously, and get us across the ocean to come see you guys! Keep doing what you love, chase your dreams, and always be creating something new, because we are all - Aristocrazia Webzine

For a band to be entirely instrumental is a rarity these days, so to discover a group that can fuse elegant classical sections with soaring, epic compositions to create masterful, enchanting soundscapes is quite a diamond in the rough. Over six months in the making, We Can Create Our Own World is the majestic debut from Pennsylvanian ambient post-rock five piece Deadhorse. Combining a masterful knowledge of classical composition, with haunting, progressive melodies, the album is an accomplished work of art.

Album opener No Particular Night Or Morning opens with a simple yet effective piano riff, before condescending majestically into an atmospheric, organized chaos. Scintillating guitars compliment the powerful, commanding percussion, building layer after layer of sound which intertwine to form a beautiful, epic soundscape. No lyrics are needed to convey the dynamic, exquisite energy injected into each track.

Questions For Which There Are No Answers is a slow burning number, however once the piercing guitars kick in, the track steps up a notch, and forcefully grabs the listener by the scruff of the neck, tossing them around mercilessly, before planting them back down on their feet, feeling all the more re-invigorated for it. Elsewhere, Visionaries is an epic percussion lead track, with the drums guiding the rest of the instruments through the tumultuous depths of their sound capabilities. For a band to be able to conjure up such a fascinating and varied sound is a rare and admirable quality, there is a real sense of yearning after perfection on an Explosion in the Sky sort of level. By all means, the record is a challenging yet pulsating listen, driving the audience through a vast array of emotional highs and lows, moving from being viciously threatening to delicately angelic, a true sign of a brilliant post-rock record.

We Can Create Our Own World is out now, available from the Deadhorse bandcamp site, as either digital download or a physical CD, also be sure to check out their merchandise for some fantastic t-shirts! Visit Crack in the Road tomorrow for an interview with the band, discussing influences, touring and the recording process of the record.

Check Out Deadhorse’s Bandcamp!

Check Out Deadhorse’s Myspace!

Become a Fan on Facebook! - Crack in the Road

After the release of their debut full length record, Deadhorse are one of the most exciting names in post-rock music. Combining an intriguing synthesis 0f classical and rock music, fusing pianos, guitars and percussion to excellent effect, We Can Create Our Own World is a raw, emotional affair, sure to inspire many. In between touring their new release, Deadhorse managed to take a couple of minutes off to answer a few questions for Crack in the Road.

Crack in the Road: How did the formation of Deadhorse come about?

Deadhorse actually started as a side project to another band that I (Brian) was doing. The band was called Awaken, North Wind! And the music was a melodic ambient indie, sort of the vein of As Cities Burn. I had a bunch of solo music that I was playing at the time, and I felt like doing it full band, playing a few shows with it, and just seeing what would happen. 4 of us got together and started piecing those songs into something more full sounding. We played a couple shows, and then decided we wanted to start writing together. When the writing process started, we toyed with the idea of doing something completely instrumental as we had never done anything like that before. Personally, it is something I had been wanting to do for years, so it was definitely nice, and going to be a new challenge if we moved forward with it. After shifting some members around, we decided to just push forward with it. At the same time, Awaken dissipated, and our bass player Tyler started playing with Deadhorse. At that point it took center stage, and we really started to push forward with the music. And here we are!

Crack in the Road: In terms of influences, what would you cite as your main inspirations, both musically and otherwise?

I think for each one of us it is drastically different. It seems like with a lot of instrumental bands there is a lot of super intense influence that goes into what they create from an artistic or cinematic perspective. I read through interviews with some bands and I’m like….what on earth is this guy talking about, haha. We are very simple, down to earth kids from no where special, with a lot of roots in the punk rock world. Everything we listen to, read, or watch is really a very broad range of eclectic influence. As far as music goes, we do have our post-rock influences, such as bands like Giants, Caspian, Sigur Ros, Olafur Arnalds, Braveyoung, This Will Destroy You, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, etc. Then we have a wide variety of different indie/punk/folk influences such as Manchester Orchestra, Twothirtyeight, Further Seems Forever, Strike Anywhere, Crass, The Loved Ones, Dignan, etc. Rachel has a lot of classical background which shines through in her piano playing, Tyler loves a lot of straight forward punk rock, it really is unique for each of us. A lot of bands never can really answer these questions which I think is hilarious in itself. I feel in some way everyone is definitely a product of their influence, and you can at least point people in the right direction for something that you might sound like, or where a certain mix of style blend can come from. Too many people are claiming to do something new, different, and revolutionary, when it’s really not the case, haha.

Crack in the Road: For those who haven’t heard your music before, how would you describe Deadhorse’s sound?

Powerful, tragic, and triumphant all at the same time. In a post-rock sense, there’s a lot of records I listen to that I say “Wow, this is a really good record…but it would be SOOO much better if it was just a little bit…bigger, louder, harsher, etc.” We really try to capture a lot more intense blend of dynamic, and push our live show and recordings a lot louder than most other post-rock bands out there. We want the music itself to command attention from the listener, whether during loud or quiet parts. We try to eliminate a lot of the drone-y 20 minute ambient parts that people seem to always skip over unless they are sleeping, and replace it with parts we feel more listeners can more easily connect to.

Crack in the Road: With your album release, you appear to have embraced the download culture, yet you still are releasing a limited number of records on vinyl. Does this show your belief that the vinyl format still has a future?

We actually haven’t released any vinyl yet, haha. As of right now we are releasing limited pressings of cds. We are hand making everything, and putting a lot of time and effort into each disc. We’ve been hand numbering and limiting each pressing to 50, while spreading the album like wildfire online for download. As it looks right now though, we will be releasing the album on vinyl this fall/winter through Broken Circles Records out of Cincinatti, OH. The label is awesome, and they have done a lot of really great releases such as Discover America, Beloved, Further Seems Forever, Zao, and more. We couldn’t be more excited to work with them, and we’ll have more details about the vinyl release in the near future. As far as the downloading goes, we are really trying to embrace the internet, as it has a lot of helpful tools for bands trying to spread their music to the four corners of the world. If you really try and work constantly, you can really see some serious exposure come just from internet promotion. Our album has been out since June at this point, and we have seen over 5,000 downloads of the album online, and trying to get that number as high as we can get it. Personally, I know I never really buy an album anymore unless I’ve already heard it and love it. If I was trying to make music, I feel it would be no exception to anyone else. We want to make sure the music is out there wherever people get their music so they can give it a try, and then in turn, get a copy from us if they enjoy it. We’ve seen a lot of positive response from parts of the country and even the world that we definitely haven’t been anywhere near yet, and we’ve been sending out cds all over the world because of embracing the download culture. In terms of vinyl, I definitely feel it has a future. I have recently been bit by the vinyl bug, and started collecting a lot. More and more, people are only buying vinyl as something they can hold on better than cds. They have a lot better lasting value, and embrace and showcase the artwork and design of the albums so much better than a small cd. We fully support that, and plan to offer a vinyl release as soon as our finances will let us!

Crack in the Road: How did you go about recording We Can Create Our Own World? Was it a simple process with you already knowing which songs were going to feature, or did the album evolve in the studio as you recorded it?

In December of 2009, we went into the studio with half of an album written, having put ourselves on a strict time frame giving us six months within which we wished to have the album completely finished and at the same time have a tour booked and ready to go for the beginning of June 2010. So, as we headed into Take Two Studios to record, we not only had in front of us the grueling process of recording track upon track of the songs that we already had finished, but also the task of writing 3 more songs to satisfaction and recording those as well, and on top of THAT booking a tour without anyone being able to reference a final product of our music. We knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, time, money, and effort, with only a fifty-fifty chance of success, but we decided to go for it. As the months quickly passed, we finished recording the first four songs of the album that were already completely written, and with time not on our side, we were forced to begin writing the last three songs of the album as we recorded them, piecing together as a team what sounded good here, what didn’t sound good there, what one track that had been recorded made us want to write and add on to and create, and so on. So, in response to your question, yes, some of our songs evolved in the studio, and two of those songs especially (Last Night of the World, track 5, and The Long Rain, track 7) became favorites and features of our album.

Crack in the Road: What has been your most memorable gig experience to date?

We’ve had so many wonderful, memorable show experiences, met may wonderful people, and it’s hard to pick just one. Out of all of them, I would have to say one of our last shows on our first tour in a little town called Jamestown in Pennsylvania, was a pretty magical experience. From the lighting, to the people, it was unbelievable. When we began our set, Brian introduced us, explained what we are all about, what the album promotes, and as he talked, not one person spoke a word…which doesn’t happen very often, if ever at any show. Even when he had finished talking and we began to play, the building (filled with about 70 to 100 people) stayed absolutely silent. It was amazing and beautiful to be able to look up from playing and see people with their eyes closed, soaking in the sound, others with heads bowed, deep in thought, some sitting, some standing, more with tears in their eyes, and others with smiles of sheer joy on their faces; all of these bringing to reality the idea that we wanted to create with our music. It was indescribable the feeling I got seeing people taking what all of us in the band were playing, and creating the music, molding it into something of their own – a make-believe story, a painful past experience, things hoped for, love, hate, death, beauty, anger, happiness, all of it. And to see these expressions and stories written on people’s faces as music played was one of the most beautiful things I have seen. Even as we finished our set and began packing away our instruments, the packed room and ourselves remained silent and thoughtful, and this is something I will never forget.

Crack in the Road: And your most embarrassing?

It’s funny to say, but at this point, we haven’t really had any sort of overly embarrassing stories from the road. All of our shows have been pretty fun, filled with familiar faces, of at least friendly strangers that have grown into friends over time. Nothing has really gone wrong on stage, or there really hasn’t been any insane funny moment that made a show terrible or extremely memorable. That is a pretty boring answer and probably makes us sound like weirdos, but I apologize, we don’t really seem to have anything that stands out at this point! I’m sure something is bound to happen in the very near future though, hahaha.

Crack in the Road: As a band, where do you see yourself in a years time?

So much can happen within a year’s time. I think what we all would like to see happen first is a full-time touring schedule, where we would be touring 11 months out of the year without it being a hassle or a problem money-wise or people-wise, and as that progresses, find a booking agent to share the load of booking. The beginnings, if not the total product, of a second album being written is definitely something we see happening within the next year. Other than that, I know we would all like to see a Europe tour booked on our calendar before the end of next year (2011).

Crack in the Road: And finally, if you could be any animal, what would you be?

No question, it would have to be a velociraptor, the only animal I’ve ever wanted to be. Ever since I was a kid and I saw Jurassic Park, I was obsessed with them. Something about them seems to be so smart and cunning, a lot more clever than most animals out there. Also, the way that they seem to work in packs and communicate efficiently has always been a draw. I just love the idea in anything I’ve ever read that if an animal spotted a velociraptor ahead of them and panicked, it wouldn’t matter what they did next because they were already being trailed and hunted by at least two others that had surrounded them from the sides, back, etc. and used the one in broad daylight as a decoy. Genius!

We Can Create Our Own World is out now, available for download at the band’s bandcamp site.

Check Out Deadhorse’s Bandcamp!

Check Out Deadhorses’s Myspace! - Crack in the Road

The opening of the album sets you up for some kind of epic experience, but at this point, you're not quite sure what. Swelling cymbals and strings rise up before plodding piano comes in, followed by deep drum rolls and cymbal embellishments. As guitars get dirtier, it reminds me of Do Make Say Think, but with a much thicker sound. The sound quickly rises to a peak with tremolo picked dirty guitars ala Mogwai or Mono. After a fade out, heavy drums are at the for-front, backed by piano and what sort of sounds like a bowed guitar. Heavy snare rolls usher in the orchestral chorus, which fills you with a sort of 'coming home' joy – it's a sound you've heard before, but it's well done and it's pleasing to the ear. Rapid snare drum marches give the end of the track a new life and a nice beat that's not often heard in this kind of music. A classic echoing fade out reprises piano and crackling vinyl sounds fool you into thinking you're listening to an old time Orchestra.

The next track, “Dreaming the Face of Disaster,” starts with a long feedback/bowed note and slowly moves into soundtrack-esq drums and more plodding piano, before thick guitar brings the track around to a faster, more rock oriented sound. More piano breaks down the track, and my only complaint is that it only seems to be able to play quarter notes, while the band (pianist included) is clearly quite capable of playing a wider palate of rhythms. Again great, unusual drums patterns bring a fresh sound to this track, which otherwise employs fairly standard post-rock techniques. The production and mixing is clean and tight, and all the instruments seem to be well balanced.

Snare drum marches usher in the shortest song on the album, “Exciles,” at only five and a half minutes. Grinding bass and more high, long guitar notes bring up the end after a long build up. It's shame that the band is looking for a new full time drummer at the moment, as the drumming on the album helps advance a lot of songs from slightly cliché to fresh sounding.

“Questions for Which There are no Answers” opens with menacing guitar ala Ennino Morricone Westerns. The piano holds down the framework again, which is good since the guitars never seem to descend below the 12th fret; due to lots of low piano, distorted guitars, and washy drums, it's hard to pick out the bass in many songs – when the guitars stop the deep,crunchy low end provides some great transitions, but it seems to be mostly absent in the louder parts of the songs. Distant, distorted percussion sounds like a fading war in the background, while the piano finally breaks out a more distinctive rhythm for a nice come down melody.


“Last Night of the Word” clocks in at nine and half minutes, and though there are severel distinct parts, the songs does drag a little in the middle, especially after the lengthy songs preceding it which showcase many of the same sounds. Typically it's becoming more and more common for bands in this style to break up albums with vocal pieces or electronica influenced sounds and songs. Many of today's new post rock bands seem to be content with staying in a purely 90's style mode, which worked fine when the idea was fresh and new, but one will notice that bands that have carried the style since the early 90's (Mogwai, Low, A Silver Mount Zion via Godspeed You Black Emperor!) have strongly diversified in newer albums by incorporating more recent trends into their music.

Deadhorse falls, in mind, in the category of many bands I have reviewed, that one ought not pass full judgment until one has seen them in a live context. In my review of The Gothenburg Address, another recent instrumental rock band from the UK, I pointed out that the sheer volume and intensity of the live performance was critical to this style of music, as the live show often offers more dynamic range and the chance for the expression of personal intensity.


The closing track, “The Long Rain,” reminds of a great deal of Explosions in the Sky, with that long, underwater sound, snare rolls, and tightly laced guitars, while the strings do the swell work – a nice reversal from the endless guitar swells of previous songs. Reverberant piano and guitars set up a long build while still sounding like the album's denouement. A last triumphant wave washes over the swelling strings, and I still, even at the end of the album, can't get over the fantastic deep drum sounds. The ending swell is like a cheerful wave and a sad farewell all at the same time, and it's an excellent closer that gives me goosebumps as it fades out with more wonderful distant percussion and suspenseful piano.


Overall these guys put a very strong album forward – the playing is tight, dynamic, and well composed. While at times they suffer from an overly uniform song structure (loud, quiet, loud) and there aren't a lot of new tricks added to the instrumental rock playbook, the sounds they use work for the songs and everything sounds sharp and clean. Again, it's a shame that we won't likely be seeing these guys live any time soon, as the live experience can really help shape the impression of the band, but they have a pretty extensive touring schedule, so if they're coming to a town near you, check it out and I can only imagine you'll be in for a fantastic evening of music.


___________

Check out Deadhorse on Myspace & Bandcamp

http://www.myspace.com/deadhorsepa
http://deadhorse.bandcamp.com/ - Noisography

Spanish Review for Grey Day Zine in Spain

Deadhorse – We Can Create Our Own World

By DooMsteR • August 26, 2010 • • Leído 228 veces
Deadhorse - We Can Create Our Own World

ARTISTA: Deadhorse
ÁLBUM: We Can Create Our Own World
DURACIÓN: 49.42
AÑO: 2010
SELLO: SelfReleased
PAÍS: USA.
ESTILO: Post Rock. Instrumental.
SUENA COMO: Explosions In The Sky. Eimog.
WEB: Deadhorse Web.
MYSPACE: Deadhorse MySpace.
LASTFM: Deadhorse LastFm.

SAMPLE:
Deadhorse - Dreaming In The Face Of Disaster: Play Now

TRACKLIST:
1.No Particular Night Or Morning
2.Dreaming In The Face Of Disaster
3.Exiles
4.Question For Which There Are No Answers
5.Last Night Of The Word
6.Visionaries
7.The Long Rain

SOBRE LA BANDA:
Deadhorse son una banda americana con residencia en la ciudad de Erie, sita en el condado de Pennsylvania. La banda fue creada por Brian Morgante a finales de 2009 y desde sus inicios ha tenido mucha ida y venida de componentes, de los cuales solo sigue desde el principio la pianista Rachel Shesman. El sonido de Deadhorse es un Post Rock Instrumental muy calmado y tranquilito en el que abundan los pasajes atmosféricos, vamos que practican la vertiente mas placida de este genero musical. We Can Create Our Own World es el debut musical de Deadhorse y ha sido autoproducido por la banda, si deseas conseguir una copia fisica puedes hacerlo por 10$ desde el bandcamp del propio grupo.

ME GUSTA:
+ Me encanta la contribución que tiene la pianista Rachel Shesman en la música de Deadhorse, las omnipresentes notas que salen de su piano o teclado dotan al sonido del grupo de otra dimensión atmosférica diferente.

+ Las múltiples capas de guitarras que adornan y embellecen los siete temas incluidos en We Can Create Our Own World. Se nota que Brian Morgante es ante todo un buen guitarrista y buen compositor.

+ La faceta artística de la banda, la portada de su álbum, su bandcamp, sus camisetas, todo el aspecto artístico de Deadhorse esta cuidado hasta el ultimo detalle.

ME DISGUSTA:
+ Deadhorse a pesar de haber grabado un debut decente, practican un estilo musical que esta muy saturado y We Can Create Our Own World realmente no ofrece nada nuevo que otras bandas no hayan mostrado con anterioridad.

+ Los temas del disco aunque fluyen sin problemas, pueden llegar a parecer por momentos algo planos y conseguir de esta manera, cansar o aburrir a la gente que ya este un poco harta del post rock instrumental.

+ El jaleo que tienen con los componentes de la banda, realmente el grupo lo integran dos personas Brian Morgante y Rachel Shesman, el resto de componentes son itinerantes, entran y salen del grupo dependiendo si hay una gira o si se graba, para la estabilidad de la banda, eso debe ser bastante complicado de llevar.

MEJORES TEMAS:
2.Dreaming In The Face Of Disaster
6.Visionaries

ULTIMAS PALABRAS:
Deadhorse es una buena banda de Post Rock Instrumental y seguramente destacaría mas dentro de este genero de no ser por la tremenda saturación que sufre el estilo, en el que en los últimos años, aparecen bandas con calidad hasta debajo de las baldosas. Su disco de presentación We Can Create Our Own World, estoy seguro que gustara a todos aquellos que les gusta la parte mas amable y relajada de este estilo, aunque ese quizás pueda ser el punto débil del disco, que llegue el momento en el que la música consiga saturarte y pensar que es otro grupo mas del montón dentro del Post Rock Instrumental, a mi por fortuna todavía no han conseguido llevarme a tal extremo y eso que le he dado unas cuantas escuchas a su opera prima.

VALORACIÓN GREY DAY ZINE: - Grey Day Zine

A funny thing happened the other weekend. While sitting outside on the patio of Jesse's, a local café here in Carrboro, NC, with the wife on a Saturday night, a white van pulled up and out poured five young musicians, gear in hand. They proceeded to set up their equipment in the corner of the relatively empty patio and the lady and I started guessing as to what style of music they would grace us with.

Judging solely by their age and dress, we suspected everything from hardcore to folk-punk to bluegrass/country in the style of The Devil Makes Three. None were close. After set up and some brief milling around, they began what would turn out to be a very surprising set. Within thirty seconds, my wife and I looked at each other and agreed - these guys were fantastic.

Deadhorse, not to be confused with the metal band of the same name from the 80's/90's, is a five piece post-rock, instrumental group from Erie, PA. Loud guitars, heavy drums and beautiful keyboard playing all crashed together in a melodic and almost epic sort of way. Very emotional music.

The first thing that came to mind for me was that they sound like a mix of Sigur Rós and The Dropscience, if that's possible. It's obvious when listening to Deadhorse that a lot of thought and care go into the drawn-out, beautifully crafted tracks they create. It helps that they can all play their instruments well too. Interestingly enough, the night we saw them they had a brand new bass player friend of theirs that they had picked up literally two days earlier in Virginia after their previous bassist abruptly called it quits while on tour. From what we could hear, the new guy didn't miss a beat, so well done to him.

Their set was unfortunately short (about 25 minutes), as we were really enjoying their sound, along with an ever growing crowd of passer-by's from off the street.

We picked up a copy of their CD, "We Can Create Our Own World," and it does not disappoint. It manages to capture the emotion and energy that is usually reserved for live sets. It's nice to hear something unique but also good. I'm making it available for download here because they specifically said, "Share it. We want it out there and on people's iPods." So check it out and judge for yourself.

The following video is from a show they played in St. Petersburg, FL earlier this year.





*On a side note - I have to give props to Deadhorse for the abundance of cheap and varied merch they had available. Few things are as lame as seeing a band you like on tour and them having little to no merch for sale. The art for their shirts/hoodies is fantastic and the DIY packaging and content for their album is one of the coolest you'll come across DIY or not. - El Camino Car Crash

Erie, Pennsylvania probably isn’t the first city that comes to mind when imagining a burgeoning music scene, which makes sense, because in all honesty, Erie doesn’t have much going on apart from the Erie Philharmonic. But tucked away in that very most north western tip of Pennsylvania is Deadhorse, a band producing a cinematic sort of post-rock wrought with emotion.
In their June released album, We Can Create Our Own World, Deadhorse captures a sound that is ghostly and delicate, yet densely layered in its sonic inflection. The same epic swells that make Explosions in the Sky so great are coupled with the heart-wrenching tenderness of The Album Leaf, then instilled with what can only be described as a noble stature of grieving, giving every track on We Can Create Our Own World a sense of courage brought on not by instinct, but by necessity. Explosive bursts of electric, eerie plinks of piano and organ like moans fill the expansive tracks of this full-length, where no song is under 5 minutes of anguished purging. Though the audio aesthetic of We Can Create Our Own World is by and large ethereally eerie, it also possesses a sense of pushing through its hardships, encouraging the strength needed to struggle through strife and persevere. This feeling makes perfect sense after hearing the band’s take on what We Can Create Our Own World’s underlying concept is, which we learned about in our interview with Deadhorse musician Briang Morgante. “The reminder we have for people with this record is the huge responsibility that we all have as individuals and collective to find our unique similarities and differences to move forward in creating alternatives to the very things we are trying to stand against. If we are all in this together, we all have different elements to offer to the bigger scheme of things, which is exciting in itself” Whether you connect that to personal struggle, world issues, or even our own rising music scene, Deadhorse has managed to capture something special in this record. We can only hope that if new listeners aren’t inspired by the music itself, that they at least take something away from this albums underlying message.

We Can Create Our Own World is made available through the Deadhorse bandcamp and soon will be coming to vinyl via Broken Circles Records. Pre-order your copy of the LP here.


Reviewsic: What’s the back-story on how the band came to be what it is today?

Brian Morgante: Everything with Deadhorse started late last August. I had been doing solo music, and even some small tours with the music, and Rachel would play piano as well. The songs were fun and had power to them, and I was curious as to what they would sound like full band. Rachel and I got some other friends to start playing with us, and we were just going to try some shows full band with the music for fun. I was still playing and singing in a band called Awaken, North Wind which was more the full time scope. Shortly after we got things started, Awaken actually started to dissipate, and Tyler, who was playing bass started to play with Deadhorse after our original bass player wasn’t able to do so anymore. After a couple shows and getting comfortable with the songs, we felt like we could start writing some music together and see where it would go. After trying a few different things, we started to mess around with the idea of doing completely instrumental music which would be a brand new challenge for us all. We agreed on it and started to push forward in that direction, writing all new music and creating a new identity for Deadhorse. It definitely clicked immediately, and we started works on a full length album. Awaken ended and Deadhorse got moved to center stage. We wasted no time in the transition, and started to work our butts off, which brings us up to where we are at today, haha.

Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?

Brian Morgante: It’s definitely different for all of us, and spans a lot of different styles of music. We all come from very different backgrounds, and it definitely makes the writing process a lot more interesting. When it comes to what we are doing though, in a more focused sense, my three top musical influences would be Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, and This Will Destroy You. There are a lot of elements of post-rock that lend to positive influence, but it is all of the little influences from a mix of genres and style preferences that really turn Deadhorse into something a bit different. If I went into all of that though, it would be way too long of an answer, haha. These three though just offer a strong base as to the influential direction of where the idea of Deadhorse sparked from.

Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?

Brian Morgante: There are plenty of instruments I wish I could play. I’m a nerd when it comes to unique instruments, and I definitely feel there are a lot of instruments I wish I had a better understanding of, and could incorporate them into what we play myself. Some of these would include Violin, Cello, Upright Bass, Trumpet, Accordion, Trombone, French Horn, and flute.

Reviewsic: If we hacked into your iTunes, what would be the first five songs in your “recently played” list?

Brian Morgante: The funny thing with that, is my computer completely crashed right before this tour, and I haven’t even had time to reset my iTunes, so you wouldn’t really find much of anything, haha! Things were really busy before this tour, and I actually haven’t even been listening to that much music, which is quite lame to say. The new Braveyoung album has been on a lot when I am listening to anything, which is called We Are Lonely Animals. The latest Touche Amore has been a favorite. Other than that, things have been silent!

Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?

Brian Morgante: This is actually a really tough question, and one that I’m not really entirely sure of an answer to. We definitely don’t have any plans or dreams of recording with anyone particular, a certain label that we’re shooting for, and certainly not trying to do anything with producers, so I’m not really sure of how I could answer this one. Mylene Sheath is a really cool label, but we’re not entirely sure if we’ll even go down that route or not. We are going to start working with our friend Brent from Broken Circles Records in Cincinnati to release our vinyl, but other than that, we are content with doing things ourselves, and through our friends. It has always been a shame to me that unless you work with certain people, record certain places, you won’t have a certain credibility to your music, your band, etc. Those people had to start somewhere with support from their friends and their community, so shouldn’t every band be trying to do the same with their friends that share the same talents and passions?

Reviewsic: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?

Brian Morgante: The first show I ever got to see was an all ska show which had the lineup of Buck, The Insyderz, The O.C. Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy. When I was a young kid, I was introduced to music through ska/punk, so the show was a bit of a dream for me at the time. Definitely couldn’t have asked for a better first show experience, and had the best time of my life skanking around and making a fool of myself for hours!

Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?

Brian Morgante: Erie is pretty limited when it comes to bands and musicians that are really doing anything, but as of right now I would say Biter, In The Day, and Fred Oakman. Biter is a really great hardcore band, but not in any traditional sense. They do a lot of Converge/Poison the Well/The Carrier type stuff with some great sludge parts as well. In the day is a super energetic pop punk band that gets better every time I get to see them. The new album they recorded is out of this world, and they are definitely going to get somewhere if they continue with what they are doing. Fred Oakman was the old front man for the band Signal Home that did some national touring, and his solo stuff is out of this world. He does real gritty, real honest, hard-hitting folk that is DEFINITELY worth checking out.

Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Brian Morgante: Further Seems Forever, Twothirtyeight, and Crass. Further Seems Forever never really put out a bad song or album in my opinion, and are still some of the most powerful songs of all time. I would love to be around that every single night, best anthems in the world. Twothirtyeight is what really got me going in the direction of Indie/instrumental music, and Regulate the Chemicals is still one of my top rotated albums of all time. Chris Staples is such a great singer and once again, another awesome band that I would love to sing to every single night. Crass is one of those staple bands that really changed the face of the game regardless if people give them the credit they deserve or not. Their ethics and ideals, not to mention the passion and message behind what they did is still so relevant and something to get behind today. I would love to pick their brains for hours, and be a part of the world that they created for themselves.

Reviewsic: Tell us about We Can Create Our Own World- is there a particular concept behind it? What do you hope listeners take away from this record?

Brian Morgante: Our album definitely has a concept behind it, but not what you probably think a “concept record” would be. The title stems from the idea of what underground music and culture are all about. Call the sub-genres what you want, but no matter what we are all doing, it is still punk rock in a sense if it has the right motivation behind it. Being a part of that world, right alongside the people that come to our shows and we are friends with from all over the country, we are connected by a bond that is far more than a record, some songs, some lyrics, a show, etc. We always say that you don’t really just stumble upon the music or a show by accident, but as it is something we are introduced to at some point, it becomes something much more important and relevant than “circus freaks at a rock concert”. It’s engrained into our very being, and we find a whole new family, a whole new world to be a part of. The reminder we have for people with this record is the huge responsibility that we all have as individuals and collective to find our unique similarities and differences to move forward in creating alternatives to the very things we are trying to stand against. If we are all in this together, we all have different elements to offer to the bigger scheme of things, which is exciting in itself. The music is 100 percent open for interpretation, and that’s where the idea of a concept record comes in. Even though we might see it all in one light, and view it as a creative product of these ideals, someone else listening to the album might see it in a whole different light, which we find beautiful. We want people to make the record exactly what they need it to be in order to be an inspiration to them as an individual.

Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at the point of this new release as opposed to when you first began playing together?

Brian Morgante: The funny thing is that we all haven’t really been playing together that long. With myself, Rachel, and Tyler being the only consistent members of the band, we have been in constant rotation of second guitar players and drummers since we have started last year. Because of that, there has never been any sort of extended period of time of playing, molding, and shaping some sort of creative flow with all five brains. A lot of times we have just enough time to teach some new people the songs before going on a tour or doing a string of shows, and we haven’t had a chance to write or even jam with anyone that has played with us because of our tour regiments. Tyler, Rachel and I definitely click and things have become very tight. The different musicians that have played with us have always learned everything great and play tight as well. We’ve never really had a problem with any of the rotations of musicians, but through all of the changes have definitely seen adaptations and growth in the songs as whole, and the parts individually.

Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities to play?

Brian Morgante: Jamestown, NY is our home by far. The people in Jamestown are absolutely amazing, over the top supportive and have always stood behind us and our efforts. The funny thing is that it is literally down the road from us, only a half hour from where Rachel and I live. Erie hasn’t been very supportive as a hometown as we are very different than most of the bands that are around us, while we have been doing shows in Jamestown every month since we started, and have only seen things grow, and our friendships there expand. Florida has been good to us, and everyone we have met in places like Jacksonville, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, St. Augustine have been amazing. We are going back there on this tour and are quite excited to see everyone. Kalamazoo, MI was over the top supportive as well which was quite a surprise. We have a good family in Delaware. I could list a few more places, but I think overall we have nice small groups of friends and family in a lot of different parts of the country, and it’s always exciting to see each and every one of them no matter where we’re headed!

Reviewsic: What are the best and worst band moments so far in your career?

Brian Morgante: We’ve had some really good and really bad times overall as a band. Everyone faces great triumphs and huge obstacles with dealing with a wide spectrum of individuals in a tight group setting, and touring all the time. We’ve had a lot of great times in a wide range of different cities just playing amazing shows to amazing friends that really understand, connect, and gel with us and what we’re doing. Those moments when you connect with new like minded strangers and feel the friendships start and understanding brought about is definitely what makes it all worthwhile. We have seen a lot of growth when it comes to this, and had many days that were absolutey humbling and extremely encouraging. We have definitely had rough spots, fights and scuffles, communication mishaps, and all kinds of other nonsense. Nothing has ever really stood out as over the top crazy good and over the top crazy bad, but we have always tried to maintain a peace with one another, keep things moving forward, and get excited about what is around the corner.

Reviewsic: What are three words you’d use to describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

Brian Morgante: Epic, dynamic, and loud Haha

Reviewsic: What are your plans for your music in the next year?

Brian Morgante: At this point we are trying to move forward with plans to release We Can Create Our Own World on vinyl through Broken Circles Records. We would like to do this by the 6 month mark of the release of the CD. Hopefully we can start writing this winter and even record a short EP or release a split with some friends. Other than that we want to keep busy on the road. After the 30 day October tour it looks like we are going to do 2 weeks in November, 2 weeks in December, and then do some more extensive full time touring once Spring rolls around, touring with some friends. Best case scenario would be hitting Europe or Asia at some point next fall/winter, but we’ll see if that is a possibility, haha. We just want to keep the ball rolling, so we’ll be doing everything in our power to do so!

[photos by: Tanner Douglass]

- Reviewsic

If you follow the URL, you can preview an online PDF version of the print zine FEW Magazine that we had the privilege of doing an interview with earlier this year. http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/154111 - FEW Magazine

Deadhorse - We Can Create Our Own World

Post-rock is a genre that is moving as swiftly into the mainstream as it is into tired repetition. While it is a genre built on strong dynamics and near-orchestral compositions, the listener can only listen to the same delay-ridden guitar swells and fuzz-driven crescendos so many times. With that being noted, it would be safe to say that for a new band to really blossom in the quickly crowding post-rock scene, they would have to either portray a number of new, excessively creative ideas or create music that connects on a personal and emotional level so fully, so intensely, that reinventing the wheel feels ultimately unnecessary.

While definitely not turning the genre upside-down, Deadhorse’s We Can Create Our Own World is a work that pulls the listener in and refuses to let go until the very end. The music, while many would consider it typical post-rock fare, is characterized not by its overdramatic experimentation, but by its overall quality. Combining bleak soundscapes inspired by genre giants such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor with a number of uplifting climaxes that would not be out of place on an Explosions in the Sky album, Deadhorse has managed to make an album that is not only gracefully composed and presented, filled with songs that work as well on their own as they do in context, but is also completely accessible in a very positive way.

“No Particular Night or Morning” begins the album with a few strokes of distant guitar and piano before immediately sending forth a flurry of controlled chaos. Continuing in a fashion that provides cohesion without exhausting the listener, each song progresses in a way that almost tells a story, be it through the marching-esque beats of “Exiles” or the surprisingly optimistic “Last Night of the World.” The guitar-work is simplistic, yet smooth and cohesive, as it successfully bridges the gap between the background and foreground of each and every song. Although guitars are most often the driving factor of a post-rock song, Deadhorse’s advantage lies in their clever and tasteful use of keys that are just as important and apparent as every other instrument utilized. While it is certain that the music itself is the key factor here, it is necessary to make note of the production quality, which in spite of its overall crispness and the audibility of each instrument, seems to lack a certain punch that would really enhance the effect of the many crescendos.

Despite the album’s overall musical quality and appeal, it does shine the most in its moments of furthered creativity; those moments that find me listening and saying to myself “Wow, that was a great transition,” “I never would have thought to do something like that there,” or simply “That really sounded cool.” Such statements lead me to believe that while this album is a stellar example of straightforward post-rock at its best, their next release could easily escalate itself to instant classic status with the slightest bit more experimentation and more striking production. With that being said, We Can Create Our Own World has quickly become one of my personal favorite albums in the genre and beyond just my own opinion, it is an album that would inarguably act wonderfully as an example of the life and flavor that can still be found in modern post-rock. It may not be a game changer, but it is a tremendous album that beckons to be listened to time and time again.

(8.5/10)

RIYL: This Will Destroy You, Caspian, Godspeed You! Black Emperor - (Re)open Ears

American post rock/ instrumental kids Deadhorse released their excellent debut studio album We Can Create Our Own World late last year in between a hectic touring schedule of the states. Drop-d caught up with the band’s guitarist and all round nice guy Brian Morgante to discuss among other things the highs and lows of recording their debut album, the bands three live recordings and why Deadhorse have no problems with people stealing their music.

Drop-d: Thanks for taking the time to do this Brian. Can you tell us a bit about how Deadhorse came to be?

Brian: Deadhorse started as an idea to put a full band sound to my solo stuff. I was doing a lot of acoustic/folk music at the time, as well as playing in another band called Awaken, North Wind. Rachel and I got some other friends together to start turning the folky stuff I was writing into something with a lot more life in it. It was a lot of fun and meant as something to be a side project as Awaken, North Wind was still the main focus. Through a series of events that if I explained would make this a ridiculously long interview, Awaken North Wind was no longer, and we moved Deadhorse to the forefront of our focus. After doing some shows with the material we had, we decided it was time to write. When this started, we toyed with the idea of going completely instrumental as it would be a challenge for all of us, something we have never done, and something we had been wanting to try. The curiosity was well worth it, and we started going in that direction, and here we are today.

D: The band seem to rotate a lot of different musicians, is there a reason for this?

Brian: We face the same exact challenges as any other band. When it comes down to it, you have to know what your priorities are, and what you’re trying to accomplish. Deadhorse is meant to be a work machine, something full time and out on the road as much as possible. We have gone through a wide number of people just on the basis alone that people were unable to tour. We also come from a part of the country where we are the only band doing anything like this, and there aren’t a lot of people that want to commit full time to a project like this. The passion in our area is still firmly rooted in the hardcore scene. There is nothing wrong with that, but it has made it difficult to secure a solid lineup because of it. We had to play with a lot of friends at the beginning who were willing to fill in when they could to get this going. Now we are spread out across 4 states, but finally have a solid lineup. A lot of bands trying to do something full-time go through the same stress of finding people that are passionate about the music, are talented at what they do, able to get along with one another, and tour full time. That is a very small minority of the population when it comes down to it,(laughs).

D: The debut album We Can Create Our Own World, which I thought was excellent, was released late last year. What were the highs and lows when making the record?

Brian: Well thank you, I’m glad you have been enjoying the music. We finished up and released the album in June of last year, after we had started recording it in November of 2009. There was a lot of start/stop in the recording process for many reasons. First off, we were still writing the songs as we were recording them, so we were constantly changing things up, and revising songs before we were happy enough with them to go to record. We were busy with shows, and everyone was busy with work as well, so schedules would conflict with spending time in the actual studio. Also, we were recording with friends here in Erie that were also working on a wide variety of other projects, and we were splitting up the time equally to give everyone a fair chance at making some progress, so it was slowed down for all of us, truth be told.

On a good note, it was great to work with our friends Mark Graziano and Eric Buman, whom I had recorded with before with Awaken North Wind. They are just local friends of ours who have an intimate studio, a lot of knowledge, and a lot of passion for what they do. Sure, they’re no “big name” producers, but we have a lot of fun, a lot of control, and we get things sounding exactly how we want them to sound without spending tens of thousands of dollars. It was laid back, and we were able to try a lot, take our time, and really make the record all it was supposed to be. Also, the studio is located behind what is now a defunct venue in our area called Forward Hall. It was a legendary place locally, and for thousands of touring bands over the years. We were able to record a lot of the guitars in the empty hall during the days, which made for some of the really big sounds on the album. We had mic’s from the front to the back of the venue, stretching over 40 feet for some real big room noise. It came out beautiful, and we were quite happy with it.

As far as lows go, it mostly came at the very end of the entire process. Everything was behind schedule and and we were leaving for tour in just a couple days, and still did not have the album finished. We spent sleepless nights recording the final touches and mixing/mastering together to get everything done. I’m not going to lie, we were quite delusional by the end of it, and had not slept in over 30 hours on the last day of straight mixing. It was crazy to take it all the way to the deadline like that, but it still came out awesome, and we owe it all to Mark and Eric for sticking through with us and helping us create exactly what we were shooting for.

D: With one studio album under your belt do you think is it going to get harder to make music that you are excited to make?

Brian: Not in the slightest. We were very excited about this release, and even though it has started to get a bit redundant on our ears, it has been super encouraging to share the music with new audiences each and every night on the road. It has given new life and depth to the music, to where it is still very much enjoyable to go out and share these songs. We’re getting geared up for the vinyl release at the moment, which is within this very month, and that alone has even poured some new excitement back into this music we have played to death,(laughs). We already have a lot of ideas for new material, and are excited to actually find some time to get writing and working on it. We would like to get back into the studio at some point in 2011, and make it a much quicker process than last time,(laughs). We want a more raw feel, that’s for sure, but still big as ever, if not bigger than We Can Create Our Own World. We’re going to be trying a few different things, some interesting collaborations, but nothing that is going to reinvent our sound or mark us as something you won’t be able to recognize. We’re just ready to keep the gears rollin’ and make sure we have new music to share with the world as soon as possible!

D: You have released three live recordings, what was the thinking behind this?

Brian: The thinking behind this was quite simple – why not? As far as those three recordings went, it was nothing that was planned, or had any sort of strategy behind it. Both The Blot Spot and Musica had just come to us before we had played our sets that night and said “Hey, we’re recording this, do you want the tracks?” We said yes, tore them apart, and said, why don’t we just put these up online so people can check it out. People are always 50/50 about live releases, and in my personal opinion, I don’t even really like them that much. We just wanted something else we could share with people, and want to continue to do the same thing with other live sets we might get. Every one has a different feel to it, or those little mess ups you can pick up on, it just puts life into what we’re doing, and just a silly way to document what we have been up to. The radio show was a ton of fun as well, and definitely the best “live” album we had done so far. It’s almost like we release our own bootlegs, so think of it in that way. These are nothing special, just something you would be able to hear if you came and saw us live, and something we want to share with you for free. Sure, pay for the studio tracks if you can, but you can have these ones for free.

D: Are the band working on any new material?

Brian: Yes, we are working on a new piece for this next tour. We have not changed up the set at all since we started touring, and we wanted to introduce a new piece on this one. I’m not going to say too much, but what I do want to say is that it is going to be collaboration between us and our tour mate – William James. He does “punk rock performance poetry” and we’re going to combine what we do with what he does, so it will make for something quite different all together, we’re really excited about it. We might have a new intro as well, but we will not be playing any of the full -length newer songs live as they are not completely written as of yet. As the 2011 tours progress though, we will slowly introduce more new material before we start recording!

D: What would you say has been the pivotal moment of the bands existence so far?

Brian: We have had a few stressful moments on tour where it felt like it was do or die and coming down to a decision of trying to stick it through or give it all up and try something else. One that really sticks out to me was on our last tour in October, when our bass player since the beginning decided he was going to part ways with us right in the middle of the tour. We all sat on the floor in a friend’s dorm room in Harrisburg trying to figure out what we were going to do. We had to decide if we were just going to call it quits and head home, or try to figure out a way to continue the tour, and keep the ball rolling for Deadhorse. Sure enough, we made some phone calls, and ended up with Michael, our new bass player from Delaware, that has been a friend for years. It just happened to work out that we were headed south, and we left Harrisburg bright and early, picked him up in Delaware, started teaching him the songs in the van on the way to our next show in Virginia, and he started playing with us that night. It was unbelievable, and I still can’t believe we pulled it off, but we did. The tour ended up being a success, and he is now our new full time guy, and couldn’t be happier about it. It was probably the most stressful/pivotal moment for us as a whole as of yet,(laughs).

D: How much does illegal downloading affect your sales and does it bother you that people steal your music?

Brian: Illegal downloading has affected everyone’s sales, but honestly, it really isn’t that big of a deal to us. Truth be told, we made sure to send the album out ourselves to the trusted download sites that we download music from. Let’s all be real – we all download music. Most of us download music before we purchase it these days to make sure it’s a band we want to support and music we will continue to enjoy for a long time. We figured if most people are truly thinking like this these days, its not time to change everyone’s minds, but rather start changing how bands are dealing with their music. We sent our album out to every blog site, peer sharing site, etc. etc. we could, just to get it out there. Because of that, we have seen the album spread to literally hundreds of other sites, and really stretch to all corners of the country, giving us a lot more exposure than we could have imagined if we would have frowned upon the illegal downloading. The people that have really enjoyed the music have stayed in touch, and have even purchased albums, shirts, vinyl, etc. off of our online store that we operate ourselves. We are connecting with audiences that we do not have the ability to reach yet in person due to being an independent band, but whatever is going on, it’s working.

If anything, we would like to encourage other bands to do the same thing. Stop being stingy and get off your high horse when it comes to your music. People are going to find a way to get it for free, but if it’s good, you should have nothing to worry about. People that connect with what you’re doing will want to support it just as you support what you love. We just have to remember people cannot support you if they have never heard you, so make sure you’re heard as far as you can push the envelope!

So by all means, we encourage people to steal our album, listen to it, burn copies for friends, put it on your iPod and everyone else’s iPod on your street. Re-blog the album downloads on your site, and send it to 10 of your friends’ download sites as well. At the end of the day we’d rather people be listening to our music for free, then not hearing it at all.

D: A lot more bands nowadays are being forced to go it alone – do you think the lack of investment and risk taking by record companies is going to have a negative effect on the development of new bands?

Brian: I think if anything, it can be more of a positive effect at this point. I could write pages an pages on this question alone, but I will try to keep it brief,(laughs). With the evolution of music over the last few years, we saw this pivotal transition of all things considered “underground” moving to the forefront of a lot of media, and popular society. Because of that, there was finally a lot more money to be made in a culture that never really had much money to begin with. Just like anywhere else that people find there is money to be made, we saw a gigantic influx of bands jumping on style wagons to ride all the way to the top of the charts without having to do any work. Labels knew how to market the underground to a wide mainstream audience, and the fans and bands bought into it.

With a lot of that disappearing, I feel it’s almost a breath of fresh air for a lot of us that are trying to do something real, and not just get a free ride to the top of the world. It is going to help weed out a lot of the bands that are just trying to jump on a bandwagon, and completely cut out a lot of elements that were starting to ruin music in and of itself. Without all the help from the record companies, bands have to get smart and creative – something a lot of bands do not know how to do these days. They have to take care of their own business and expenses, make their own budgets, and not rely on big record label banks to bail them out with tour support, and cd sales to stores worldwide. There is no more money like it was before, so it has to be more about connecting the true passion, the true creativity, the true art form of what we do. It will be back down to the die hards, which is something I am excited to see.

D: Deadhorse have toured the states quite extensively, what do the band do to pass the time on the road?

Brian: We stay pretty quiet in the van, and do not really do much different than other bands. We like to read, listen to music, watch movies on laptops, etc. Sometimes we just have simple discussions, and we take a lot of naps, eat a lot of snacks. We’ll put on 90’s hits and sing really loud sometimes. Other times we’ll just watch the scenery roll by as well as all of the people in the cars. For a while we were really big into the video game emulators, so Oregon trail for windows 95 became a staple of van activity. We’ll do band work that needs to be done, which could involve interviews like this, or taking care of booking some shows over the phone for future tours, working on new merch designs, that sort of thing. We just do whatever we can to make the long drives not seem so awful,(laughs).

D: What is the bands tour schedule for 2011? Any dates planned for Ireland?

Brian: As of now we are headed out in Feb/March with our friend William James, whom I was talking about earlier. Check out what he does at http://williamjames.whatis174.com . Our drummer is going on a short tour with his other band first few weeks of April, but we’re looking to be back out on the road April 16 to May 13. That will be New England loop for the first time, as well as some upper Midwest. After that tour, we really want to go west, and finally hit the left coast for the first time. We’re trying to play Cornerstone festival this year, and hoping that we can figure out plans to get overseas by late 2011, or sometime early 2012. We’ll be looking for as many other bands to tour with as we possibly can this year, and we want to show no signs of slowing down. Hoping to tour 90% of the year if we can.

D: Who is the best band you guys have played/toured with and why?

Brian: We have met a lot of incredible bands on the road, and it’s really hard to say just one. There are so many people that we feel so connected to, and really enjoy everything about the people and their creations. If I can name a few, I would highly recommend checking out some of the following bands that we have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with this year: Analecta, William James, Halibut, Anderson Cale, John Gold, Like Wild, Torch Runner, Low Sky, Braveyoung, The Never Setting Suns, Advent, Skyline Summer, Run Forever, Aficionado. They are all doing amazing things, and all deserve so much credit, so check them out!

D: Who was the last person you went to see live?

Brian: It was a local show here in Erie after we got off the last tour. Rachel and I went to see The Chariot at a venue called The Hangout. The Chariot has always been a favorite of mine due to their wild stage antics, but unfortunately for the performance, Josh Scogin was not at this show because he had to fly home that day, because his baby was being born. This is obviously a great and exciting thing, but definitely a bummer for the show, as it was The Chariot with no front man, which meant no vocals, and no Josh Scogin antics(laughs). I am excited though for right after this upcoming tour, Rachel and I got tickets to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor in Philly, which will be one of their final shows ever after a 10 year hiatus.

D: How would you describe Deadhorse to a person that had never heard of you?

Brian: I usually tell people we have a very big, very epic sound, something comparable to “movie soundtrack music”. We just play heart-felt, passionate music that put a big smle on our faces, and can only hope it puts a smile on yours.

D: Any last words?

Brian: A huge thank you for this interview, it was a lot of fun to do, and hope it was a good read even though my answers can be quite long sometimes(laughs). We want to invite you guys in Ireland to be a “fan” on our face book page to keep up with what we’re doing, as well as where our tour dates are headed. www.facebook.com/deadhorsemusic . Also, we have our full length album coming out on vinyl shortly after the next tour begins, so you can pre-order one of those over at our online store, www.deadhorse.storenvy.com as well as pick up shirts, cds, hoodies, patches, all other kinds of merch. If you do the “tweet” thing, check out @deadhorsemusic, and follow us. You can listen to our entire full length for free as well as download the three live albums we were talking about before exclusively through our band camp site, www.deadhorse.bandcamp.com . That is all the online promotion I will do for now(laughs). Thanks again, and hope to see you all out there on the road in the near future!

D: And thank you Brian, we hope to see you guys grace our shores real soon. - Drop-D

You know those nights: the ones where you are fresh off work, tired, bored to death, needing a beer, and wishing something was going on. You get home and decide to do a random sweep of the local venues to see if any shows are coming up worth checking out. You then notice that a great band is playing THAT NIGHT, door have already opened; you say 'hell yes', and head downtown. This was me last night, and as it turns out, I was able to catch an amazing show thanks to my random internet sweep.

DEADHORSE are an Erie, PA-based post rock band utilizing heavy piano riffs layered on the standard guitar-heavy post rock sound. While this by itself makes for a great concert, they are touring with William James, a Pittsburgh-based slam poet. James delivered a ten minute long slam poem opening, as Deadhorse layered sounds underneath. James's words ranged from vaguely religious to suicidal to hopeful to depressed and back to hopeful again. He told stories of broken homes, broken dreams, and fighting back. He was an imposing figure; his voice hit like a sledgehammer. I have never seen slam poetry in such a setting, and it's incorporation was amazing.

When James finished, Deadhorse went immediately into 'No Particular Night or Morning', the opener from their 2010 full-length "We Can Create Our Own World." Live post-rock is an amazing experience because, unlike many other genres, the emotions drawn out by the music vary greatly from moment to moment in the songs. Deadhorse weaved their sound around the minds of the audience, lulling them into trances one moment with calming ambiance and then bringing the waves crashing back with tremendous crescendos that shook the floor. Their cohesion was amazing. After Deadhorse trekked through several of the tracks off their album, James came back on stage, again delivering a poem over walls of atmosphere (I believe it was the track 'The Long Rain'), before they all ended the night with thanks and cheers.

This was an incredible, unique concert experience, and if this tour is swinging near you, be sure to check it out.

http://www.facebook.com/deadhorsemusic - Lunar Hypnosis

Deadhorse, with their first release, has sprung onto the scene like no other band has for quite a while. Seriously, everyone I’ve spoken to has said something along the lines of, “Yeah, just got that new Deadhorse EP. Some solid shit there,” or “Dude, I totally want to play a show with Deadhorse. They have to be amazing live.” Just some honest, good ol’ fashioned post-rock. No bells and whistles to distract you from a lack of talent.

Oh, there’s no shortage of talent here. This 5-piece band from Erie, Pennsylvania (also the home of xRepresentx) have been hard at work, distributing their fantastic album to the masses. Now, if other bands were as good as this, they’d certainly make you pay for their music. Deadhorse, however, have their album and an additional 3 other live albums for absolutely free. They do it for the love of the music, and that’s part of the reason why I loved them before I even listened in. And then I did.

Mix one part Beware of Safety, one part attitude and one part originality, and you have Deadhorse. Their sound is very dreary at some points, including the opening of the album, but that’s just the beginning. Songs such as “Questions for Which There Are No Answers” are little sleepers in the album:they start off really soft and pretty, and then come CRASHING in with a wave of energy and emotion that it completely overwhelms you. It draws you in with it’s beautiful piano, spits you back out with booming, distorted guitar and thudding drums. Whatever you were feeling, set it aside, and let WCCOOW sweep you in for one hell of an album. It finishes up with “The Long Rain”, a song that many listeners may ignore, but I feel wraps it all up and gives it a memorable end. I listened to this album many, many times, and I never get bored. It’s like picking up your favorite book and discovering why you love it again and again. I seriously recommend this for anyone who loves post-rock.

Rating: I am giving these guys a 5/5 powder kegs for an explosive performance that leaves me craving the next installment. Incredible work. - Is This Revolutionary?

There almost always is something wrong with a band. Either their music sucks, their members are garbage or they’re in music for the wrong reasons (trying to make money, get famous…etc.). Deadhorse is a shining exception: their EP was absolutely incredible (one of my first 5/5's), they make music for the love of it (and have a serious DIY attitude to boot) and the people are just some of the nicest people you’ll get to know. That’s why I sat down with them to talk about the past, present and future of their band, and just post-rock in general.

Ben: How did Deadhorse begin?

Brian: Deadhorse began as an idea to put a full band sound to acoustic music that I was making. Rachel and I thought it would be something fun to do on the side from my main band at the time, “Awaken North Wind”. I was doing a lot of the acoustic shows regionally, and basically it was just getting boring. I was missing doing something with a bigger sound, and figured it was worth the try. We got some friends together, made a set out of those songs, and started playing out. This made Deadhorse originally an indie band with vocals and everything. After a while we were getting bored with those songs and decided to start the writing process together. We were having a good time with the songs, but everyone was capable of writing some new and exciting material, so we figured why not? When we started this process, however, we decided to go full instrumental. It was something some of us had always wanted to do and had a passion for, just never pushed forward with the vision. After talking it over and messing around with some ideas, we decided it was worth a shot. From there we started writing the first pieces from our full length, and the rest is what has brought us up to today.

B: What was the recording process like?

Bri: The recording process was long and drawn out over a period of several months. We had started recording “We Can Create Our Own World” in Dec. of ‘09 and the process went all the way up through June of ‘10. We were writing the songs in the middle of recording with some friends, and pieced things together when we had the time, and when they had the time in between other projects. It was hard to be patient at times, but when it all came down to it, it was worthwhile to do it like this our first time around. We had a lot of fun working with our friends Eric Buman and Mark Graziano here in Erie on the project. They are certainly not “by the book” type guys and always like to have fun and experiment. We tried all sorts of crazy things, crazy micing patterns, and everything in between. We are quite excited to start the process all over again, to be honest.

B: What fuels your D-I-Y mentality behind your production of CD’s/merchandise?

Bri: Honestly, DIY is all that any of us have ever known [laughs]. We like to keep it simple, and we’re certainly not shooting to land the interest of some big label that has big money to push their big ideas on us. That sort of world just doesn’t exist anymore, and definitely does not exist in the post-rock world. We are all punk rock kids, and come from crazy punk rock backgrounds. In all of the other bands we have been a part of, it has always been DIY. Deadhorse was to be nothing different, but we really wanted to try and push the envelope this time around, wanting to consistently put out DIY merch of all type that we were proud to stand behind for years and tours to come.

When it comes down to it, it’s a lot more fun and rewarding to do it yourself. It gives you a blank canvas to really throw your own ideas on, and make something that you can say “WOW” to. You don’t have to put a cd in a jewel case just because thousands of other bands have done the same. You don’t have to make 8 color cartoon kiddie shirts just because that’s what sells these days. Sure, market your band and your products in a way that’s appealing, but make sure you’re happy about every aspect of those creations. After all, it is your music that is behind those ideas!

B: What bands have served inspirational to you and your music?

Bri: We all have very different backgrounds when it comes to music, and I could really rattle off a huge list for myself personally. As far as the writing in this album goes, I can give you a basic list of bands that we really enjoy: Further Seems Forever, Sigur Ros, Twothirtyeight, Dignan, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono, This Will Destroy You, Crass, Giants, As Cities Burn, Poison the Well, Scarlet, One21, Mewithoutyou, Caspian, Braveyoung. I mean, I could go on all day, honestly. We enjoy bands that enjoy what they are doing, and you can just see it in everything that they do.

B: What’s behind the name Deadhorse?

Bri: The name embodies the idea of music in general. We have seen such an extreme change in the dynamic of what would be considered the “underground” these days. What once made you an outcast, and someone most of the world didn’t want to relate alongside, now turns you into an artistic and creative individual, something that is interesting and different, and in some cases, “popular” and “trendy”.

The whole attitude behind shows, music, punk rock, hardcore, etc. has shifted on all fronts, and because of that, we have seen a shift in what is being represented out there with any sort of counter-cultural branding. Everything is a dime a dozen, and sad to say that a lot of times it is hard to differentiate between what is sincere and what is a scheme to try and climb some ladder to recognition and riches.

Because of this, it’s almost like those who do still see the beauty in being an outcast so to say, or being part of a world that we all helped create, a world that took us in when everyone else rejected us, we are the horses being beat to death by a lot of the garbage that continues to be put out over and over again.

Make no mistake – there is something beautiful and creative in each and every individual, and if people would stop worrying about impressing everyone around them, and just did what they loved, we wouldn’t have this problem. So when it all comes down to it, it’s to send a message out to those who can look at the current state of things within some of the more major factions of the “underground” and shake their head alongside of us. We are all the dead horses.

B: How difficult is it to convey emotion without the use of a vocalist? What was the reason you guys don’t actually have a vocalist?

Bri: When it comes down to it, it has almost been easier to convey emotion without a vocalist. If songs have very specific messages behind songs that might even be fueled by pride, hate, racism, prejudice, religion, etc. it can really pigeonhole their audience. It can be quite the turn off for people that might not see eye to eye with what the singer is bantering on about. Because of this, the entire emotion the band is trying to create as well can be lost. Without having extremely specific messages, or lyrical anthems, our music is 100 percent open to interpretation.

This isn’t saying we don’t try to take a stand for something though. Once again, with our roots, there really is no point in creating something just to create it if you’re trying so diligently to share it on the stage. If you want to create to create, that is fine! When it becomes public though, we feel an importance for connection with those we will be sharing with. To go along with the previous paragraph, this has it’s obvious drawbacks because you cannot please everybody. This is why we try to stand for something more universal, no matter what you’re specifics might be.

Every show we play, before we start I always give a short little speech about who we are and what we do. What it boils down to is this – some bands have nothing to say, and others have entirely too much. Regardless, most of the time, people do not want to hear it. We are not here with our music to get you to do anything, or change in any way, or agree or disagree with us at all. We just want to remind everyone that we have a lot of power within ourselves to create serious change. As individuals and collectively, we are all meant for amazing things. A lot of times, we hold ourselves back from what we’re truly capable of. We just want to remind people that these songs are an idea of that celebration/revolution. We invite them to embody that idea in any way they may see fit with the music we are playing. It will always be 100 percent unique for every person standing in that room, as well as the five of us creating. That is a beautiful thing in and of itself, and something I am truly proud to stand behind.

B: After the decent success of your first album and high rankings on the Post-Rock poll, where do you see Deadhorse heading now?

Bri: We are just going to keep doing what we have been doing all along [laughs]. 2011 is going to be a busy touring year for us. We are actually leaving tomorrow morning for just over a month on the road with our friend William James, who does “Punk Rock Performance Poetry”. We’ll be home for a few weeks and then we’re going to head right back out most of April/May. End of May and into June will see us hit the west coast for the first time. We just released our full length on vinyl through Broken Circles Records, so that is definitely something we’re excited about sharing with the world this year. We are going to have music featured in some phenomenal documentary soundtracks, as well as have some incredible short film/music videos of our own to some of the pieces off of our full length. More tours to follow the summer, fall and winter, as well as appearances at a couple of festivals around the country. We’re still keeping our fingers crossed to get overseas as soon as we can too. Shooting to do something in Europe and Japan as soon as we possibly can.

B: What gear do you use?

Bri: A whole lot. It would be quite silly to type out an entire list of every single thing we use. If anyone is wondering about anything specific we might use, just send us an email, Deadhorse814@gmail.com and we’ll tell you all about it [laughs].

B: Erie, Pennsylvania’s pretty small. Do you guys know the guys from xRepresentx?

[Laughs] Yes, we know them well. Tyler Long, our bass player before Mikey, was the bass player of xRepresentx as well. He did all kinds of national and international touring with them. All of the members are friends of ours, and they are definitely a great band to have representing our area, no pun intended.

B: Besides from Deadhorse, it seems like someone in the band has a pretty successful side business. Can you fill us in?

Bri: I don’t know so much about successful as of yet, but most of us have little things we do on the side. Personally, I make buttons for bands, businesses, organizations, events, etc. It’s called Out of Step Buttons, and you can order any amount of buttons you may need. I also have hundreds of defunct band buttons that people can choose from on the site, so that’s a lot of fun! www.outofstepbuttons.storenvy.com if you want to check it out or order some buttons!

Rachel makes a bunch of awesome handmade jewelry that she sells at our shows on the road. It is supposed to be up online here in the near future as well, but we can’t keep it in stock long enough to every put up on the internet! She makes beautiful necklaces, feather earrings, hair pieces, etc. sometimes she’ll even sew bags and shirts. Everything is one of a kind, and goes over extremely well, as well as adds a different dynamic to the entirety of the merch display!

Garrett plays drums with an internationally recognized guitar legend named Neil Zaza. He doe all of that crazy riff show off rock-n-roll sort of thing. He also does a lot of graphic design work, and film work.

Mikey and Seth are superheroes that save the world from crime, but we cannot reveal their super identities.

B: Our fans have been dying to ask you this: what is the meaning of life?

Bri: The meaning of life, hmmm. This is most certainly a question that we have never been asked. There’s the very simple joking way we could answer this question, and then the more serious route we could take. Maybe we could try both.

Sometimes I feel people might look at this question as something far more vast and scary than it needs to be. I feel the meaning of life is to simply live it to the fullest. It goes right a long with the message in our music. We are all meant for amazing things, find out what those amazing things are, and do them. Don’t let yourself get stuck, and don’t just stop trying because you think you can’t do something. The meaning of life would be to LIVE life, don’t be a passive observer of your own time.

B: What was your first exposure to post-rock?

Bri: My first exposure to post-rock was through a great friend named Jon McClay. I was in a god awful metal core band called The Sensory that was touring around the country. He was the singer for a band called A Girl A Gun A Ghost. We toured together many many years ago, and fell in love instantly. At this point I was into a lot of heavier stuff, but I was starting to stray away from that being a full time listening thing and branching out into a lot of different genres. I was getting more into a lot of indie stuff, and continued to search for more.

We were on tour, talking about this very thing, and we stopped at a little independent record store that had a ton of great albums. Jon asked me if I ever listened to much instrumental music. I told him no, but from the way he was describing some of these epic bands to me, it felt like something I would fall in love with. He handed me an Explosions in the Sky album to purchase, and after that, I was hooked! [laughs]

B: With many post-rock bands being created and many more being recognized publicly, where do you feel the genre of music as a whole is moving?

Bri: The genre, just like any other genre, will continue to adapt and evolve as time progresses. No one wants to put out the same album twice, and no one wants to hear the same recycled bands. We’ll continue to see all sorts of elements played into the genre as a whole, and people branching out farther and farther to put as much creativity they possibly can into everything they create. The future is always something to look forward to! - Is This Revolutionary?