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Dead Poetic represent a city I once heard referred to as 'the centre of nothingness'; but empty or not, the suburban paradise of Dayton, Ohio birthed singer/songwriter Brandon Rike, who started Dead Poetic with guitarist Zach Miles at the ripe old age of thirteen, intent on simply being a rock band. With the influence of '90s kingpins Zao, Stavesacre, Project 86 and more, the early DP leaned towards Deftones worship before their proper debut Four Wall Blackmail emerged on Solid State Records in 2002. Member changes ensued, and 2004's New Medicines cemented the band's place at the front of the screamo pack, though Rike and Co. have always opted for a more streamlined sound than some of their contemporaries, blessed as they are with Brandon's soaring tenor.
The latter part of 2004 was rather difficult for Rike and Dead Poetic as members left once more, and personal issues were dealt with, and with a new album due in mid-2006, the past six months has seen the band change yet again, with only Rike and Miles remaining, welcoming producer/drummer Jesse Sprinkle (Demon Hunter, Poor Old Lu, The World Inside) to the fold as well as guitarist Dusty Redmon (Beloved) and bassist John Brehm to create - hopefully - Dead Poetic's final lineup. They're in the studio as you read this, creating their third effort.
After the band's second performance at Cornerstone Festival, sweetdisaster, along with southern-Ontario radio personality Zoltan Foxx (Life 100.3 in Barrie, Ontario), bundled Rike into Dead Poetic's trailer for an interview that touched not as much on Dead Poetic as bigger topics like the change stardom brings to people, faith, art, and whether or not Wendy's truly is better than McDonald's.
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Zoltan: What's the name Dead Poetic mean?
Brandon: I wish I had an awesome explanation for this question; I get it all the time, but there is no meaning to the name. It's just something I thought up a long, long time ago and ended up using it for a band name. I always tell everybody, "Hey, if you've got a cool meaning for it, give it to me". The only thing I ever thought was that anybody with anything good to say must be dead, because I
don't hear it anymore.
sd: Were you guys on a label before Solid State?
B: No, we went through all kinds of band names and styles and everything.
sd: Hardcore!
B: *laughter* I have never even listened to any tough-guy hardcore band.
sd: So you don't wanna come over and watch N.I.V. with me tonight?
B: I had an NIV shirt one time just because Sonny from P.O.D. wore one, back when I was all into rapcore and P.O.D....but yeah, we started this eight years ago as a bunch of kids who just loved Nirvana and Green Day and Pearl Jam and all that, and that's all we ever wanted to be, just a good-times rock and roll band. There wasn't any desire to be a hardcore band or anything. Me and Zach were like thirteen when we started the band, and I feel like I'm thirty. I'm jaded already.
Zoltan: New album on the way - how's that going? Any song titles, album title?
B: There is a title, but I cannot tell it, because I wanna keep everybody in suspense.
sd: We can lock you in the trailer until you do.
B: I have the key, on my belt.
sd: We can fix that. *laughter*
B: See, what we get to do this year, Jesse is a producer as well; he does a lot of records in upstate New York and we go over there and hang out with him, and spend some time in the studio and jam. We never really had that luxury, to just chill out and focus all of our time on writing music, and that's what we do when we go to New York. We're gonna spend the rest of the year writing, but we're gonna record it in January and February of next year, and the release date is sometime mid-2006, I assume.
sd: Between Four Wall Blackmail and New Medicines,
there was such a quantum leap in songwriting ability, the production was way better, the vocal ability on your part - what happened?
B: I think we got sick of sucking. *laughter* You have to understand - Four Wall Blackmail, a lot of people don't realize, the record came out in April of 2002, and that means we were writing in in early 2001, and we were all in
high school, so we were trying new things, and being influenced by Deftones and stuff, and seriously just trying to put together something new. We'd never really heard that whole thing done. Actually, while we got the record done, we heard of Thursday, and then we heard of a lot of bands doing that kind of thing and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a trend. Which was kind of disheartening.
sd: Not like you tried for that.
B: We just wanna go out of our way to make a really, really good record, and I think personally the leap that was taken between those two records is similar to the leap taken between New Medicines and the next record.
Zoltan: What's it been like working with John and Jesse after the other guys left?
B: They're great. I'm having a blast, man. We just sit in the van and crack up for hours, and just enjoy each other's company. There's still so much new about each other. There's a lot of things about each other that we don't know; there's a lot of things to talk about. Before, it was like...you do something for so long that your heart's not in it anymore, and every day on tour is closer to the day you go home, and you think of it that way. But now, I sincerely enjoy being out here, I sincerely enjoy just having a good time, and the talent has just gone through the roof. I'm really excited about what's to come, and I honestly could not be happier with where we are right now.
sd: I can tell by how you act onstage and what you write on the website that it seems like you've found what you've been looking for a long time.
B: Unfortunately, keeping a band together means you have to go through a lot of crap. You really do. And you have to tick a lot of people off, and a lot of bad stuff goes down, and people become different people. Everybody changes. I've changed, everybody in our band has changed, and unfortunately, sometimes those changes turn into different people that don't get along, when eight years ago they did. I don't like to go into detail about it out of respect for the other guys, because I love them, but I think we got to a point where we realized that stuff needed to be changed if we were to go on.
Zoltan: Have the new guys been more of a 'filler', I guess, for lack of a better word, or have they been a big influence on the new album?
B: They are the writers of the new album. John, our bass player - most bass players don't come in writing things, but he did, and now everybody's writing and bringing a lot to the table. Me and Zach were very strict about "this is all of our band"; me and Zach aren't in the authoritative positions because we've been here the longest. It's not like this is 'our' band. It's like, "you guys take ownership of this band, and let's all mesh together." Like I said, I'm really happy with where we are right now.
sd: Are you still the lyricist? Will that ever change, if anyone else decides to step up?
B: I still write all the lyrics, yeah. And I don't think it'll change, because I've got way too much to say, and I'm way too opinionated. *laughter*
Zoltan: What does the song 'New Medicines' mean?
B: That song is about a lot of people who like to talk a lot of crap. There are a lot of faceless critics who will spend their time tearing down somebody else's passion because they can't do it themselves. The critics speak so much, but they can't be the artist, because all they can do is be the critic. My idea is, if you got so much to say about our band, then please, send me a CD of your band and show me how it's done. [The song] is a lot of that stuff, but it's more of the extreme route where I've wanted quit this band because of peoples' criticism. I've wanted to be like, "Screw all of this! Why am I doing this? I didn't start a band so some dude on the other side of the country can hate me without even knowing me!"
sd: Was that part of the trouble last year, when you went through a lot?
B: This was something completely different. This was more about coming out with a record and realizing, whoa, okay, I'm in the public eye now; my record is now at everybody's disposal. The troubles I mentioned earlier - just the realization that everyone turned into different people, and those people weren't able to get along the way they used to. It's a crappy situation, man, and I'm not happy about any of it, but what happened, happened.
sd: It can be reconciled.
B: Yeah. I think it's all water under the bridge now.
Zoltan: This is a seriously deep question - McDonald's or Wendy's?
sd: I really do have a deep question after this.
B: McDonald's. I hate Wendy's!
sd: Really?? That's such a bummer!
B: Everybody else in my band likes Wendy's, but...I don't know what it is. The nuggets are good over there, but...McDonald's sucks too. All fast food sucks. Burger King's pretty good.
sd: Noooooooo!
B: Burger King's char-broiled, dude!
sd: Wendy's spicy chicken is...I live and die by the spicy chicken!
B: Not my thing.
sd: I do have a serious question; I saw a documentary screened this morning - Steve Albini's girlfriend was one of the producers -called Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music; a lot of it was filmed here [at Cornerstone], and the thrust of it was the impossibly blurred lines between 'Christian' and 'art'. My thought is that we should excel; I should excel at what I'm doing, he should excel at what he's doing - what do you think?
B: I think there's a lot of emphasis put on is-this-band-a-Christian-band-or-not. "Are you guys Christians? Because I wanna buy your record." If somebody wants to judge bands by beliefs - and I've said this so many times - then call Godsmack 'Wicca rock' or call Beastie Boys 'Buddhist rap'. If you're gonna name bands like that, then sure, call us Christian rock, because all of us are Christian, but there is no term I hate more than 'Christian rock'. We as Christians have to realize that the term 'Christian', to the outside world, means 'narrow-minded', 'judgmental', all that stuff. The word 'Christian' does not mean 'love' to the outside world, you know? And it's our fault; it's our fault as Christians that it's like that. It's not a marketing scheme - "don't call us a Christian band because we won't sell as many records." The purpose for this band is to write the best music we can write. There's not necessarily a ministry purpose behind it. I don't feel bad saying that; I'm just being honest. I don't write songs to try to win peoples' hearts. I write songs to get out my own crap. Honestly, I've got enough of my own crap to get out before I try to spread the gospel through my music, you know? But if someone wants to talk to me about my beliefs, I'll talk their leg off. And anybody in our band will. But do we want to call ourselves a ministry? No, because
if we call ourselves a ministry, all these kids are gonna be let down. They're gonna be waiting for an altar call, or some big, huge presentation, and they're not gonna get that from us because that's not us. Is there any bitterness towards Christianity? No. I'm more in love with God now than I've ever been. I feel like I'm learning to be more diligent in my walk with God now than I've ever been, but this band is about making good rock and roll music and getting out what we need to get out. You'll hear hints of my spirituality in the lyrics, of course, because it's me and it's coming from my heart, but as far as calling us a Christian band or a ministry, I would say no.
sd: With Tooth & Nail Day being yesterday, would you say all of those bands that played all day would say what you just said?
B: That's the thing. This is my stance on this; there's a lot of bands out there that will preach and say a lot of things about God during their shows - that's awesome, and it works for them. But keep in mind, we have been doing this for eight years, and we have seen the way people react, and seen what works and doesn't work as far as being individual Christians that understand the Great Commission. That's still there; you're still watching five guys with their own
individual Christian lives who are trying to carry out the Great Comission in their own ways. For us, what we've found to be the most effective way, and the most honest to who we are, is just to be real to people, and show them how screwed up we are, and show them our faults. Why in the world am I
gonna try to stand on some pedestal spiritually? If I do that, then nobody in that whole entire audience is gonna be able to relate to me. You don't wanna be the guy in the room that has no problems, because if you are you're not gonna be able to help anybody else, and you're lying. *laughter* I think our ministry is more of a personal thing, and I know that sounds cliche, but it's what works. I've seen bands give altar calls, and all kinds of people changed their lives. That's cool for whoever wants to do that, but it's definitely not us. We're gonna disappoint a lot of our Christian fans here and there, and I understand that, because we're not perfect Christians, but we're not gonna hide that from people. You're gonna see things about us that are probably kinda controversial, that you disagree with -
sd: Like this towel? *gestures towards a beach towel featuring a cartoon woman*
B: And we have towels with almost-naked chicks on 'em. *uproarious
laughter* That kinda crap. We're still normal dudes, and we still have our problems and things that definitely aren't very 'holy'.
Zoltan: What kind of stuff have you seen after shows, like how kids responded, both Christians and kids who have no idea about you? I've seen people that definitely aren't Christian that just love your music, or Underoath or As I Lay Dying, just walking around in the t-shirts and have no idea.
B: And what those kids realize is that, "Oh, okay, there are Christians out there who aren't just completely weird and judgemental. I like their music; I like what they're singing about. I like these people." If you want kids to buy it, you gotta make good music. Underoath are a good example; those guys, they are a great band and I support them a hundred percent. They're one of the bands blurring the gap. There's been bands over the past five or six years that are making that line very blurry, and that's a good thing, because I've noticed that spirituality doesn't seem to get in the way of someone's success, and people are becoming more open to it, [especially] since 9/11. Switchfoot's on TRL singing songs that are blatantly about their spirituality, and people are cool with it. People will argue that if we're not pushing any buttons and everything's cool, then we're not
doing enough, and those are the people who are always gonna tell you you're going to hell, and the minute they disagree with someone's beliefs, they're just gonna go nuts on 'em. I personally think that when people are a little more openminded about spirituality, they might not agree, but they'll at least buy a record that they know is from a Christian band. We're getting closer to that time when the word 'Christian' can become synonymous with 'love'. We're very far from that, but I think, slowly, we're getting there.
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Dead Poetic, on the heels of the Dead Summer City tour this past summer with The Beautiful Mistake and As Cities Burn, are now hard at work on their new album; check out their website for a studio journal, news, tour dates and more.