Here is a candid and adventurous interview with Smitty and Italian Music Magazine AUDIODROME:

Direct link:

http://www.audiodrome.it/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3494

English Version:

Deadsea interview / Audiodrome

They play together for glory, but everyone of them has to the other shoulders experiences musical that span from  hardcore of the Three Studies For A Crucifixion to the metal more Classic, that their second and homonymous album has a lot.  Above all in limits of passion, the same that Adam Smith, eloquent singer and guitarist of the formation, poured in what has revealed to be a pleasant interview data transmission.  To you... 

1] Since your second album represented my first contact with your music, it was quite a surprise to hear such a huge release. Can you please tell us something more about this album and its creative/recording process?

Adam: The new record has a different feel due to the song structures and a different approach to the production in many ways.

We wanted to make a record that presented what we are like live, yet retaining a cool "album journey" feel if you will. We strive for a unique yet strong transition from track to track. Also, we worked hard on making all the many different styles that actually exist in our music project clearly within the way the songs unfold on the album. Lyrically I went into different directions for each song. There is more emphasis on vocal performance as a result. Overall, we wanted a strong song where everyone is heard at all times. "Desiderata" had a more punk and crusty sound. More opaque and morose. This album captures more of what we sound like currently and features many of the events in our music that could easily get lost in a more lo-fi production.

2] Deadsea were formed six years ago. How did you all meet? When you got together, did you already have a clear picture in your mind of the direction the music would take?

Adam: I did have a clear picture of the kind of music I wanted to make in Deadsea, but I knew I needed guys who were really outside of the parameter of what was happening. I instantly thought of Alex.

 I've known Alex for many years. We never made music together until Deadsea, but we always had a great friendship and very similar tastes and intense love for many of the same more obscure Punk/Metal/Jazz/ Avant-Garde bands and artists. As I began writing the first batch of songs of Deadsea's music, Alex was the first person who came to mind. I knew that Alex could grasp the types of unique arrangements I wanted to go for and I also knew how his special writing style would be a great fit with the overall range of feelings we try to project. When Jeremy came into the band, he was such a perfect fit in terms of not only his skills, but his true musical vibe and like-minded strange mixture of tastes. I am grateful to get to play & write music with these guys. Metal music should be played by musical brethren. That's really the spirit of this band.

3] The bio-notes provided by Earsplit inform us that you were intended to be a trio since the first moment. Which are the pros and cons of this and what is brought by each member during the song writing?

Adam: As a trio, everyone is constantly responsible for the level of intensity at all times. Also, it allows for everyone to have more room to stretch out and take risks in the music. Also, as a writer I like to hear poly-chords between the guitar and bass, or guitar AND bass solos as well as drum solos over figures in the music. There is more interplay with a trio, especially live. These things are vital to Deadsea music. We are now starting to truly write as a trio. Everyone gets open season with arrangements in this band, and we change arrangements of existing songs all the time, many times nightly. This freedom really allows each of us to get the best out of the music. What we want out of our music changes also, so we work hard at meeting that awareness with what we can maximize as a trio.

4] If you were asked to describe your sound, which aspects would you stress and would you like to share about your sound and music?

Adam: Deadsea music is about impact within the music. Passion and vibe is law, styles of music are just there to project the vision of the song we are trying to express., Sometimes we are way progressive and sometimes we are violently raw. We like dynamics in all aspects of the music, whether it's the direction of the music or the lyrics. We put everything we have into every direction we take and are not afraid to be honest about how we want to make our music. We love to have a good time and go nuts live and we like to take the intensity level and good vibes to the maximum.

5] Tracks like "Frozen Rivers" show your love for 70s hard rock, whilst the sound is actual and up to date. Is this peculiar sound related just with the mixing process or is it also linked to the instruments you play?

Adam: My first musical love way before heavy metal was 70s hard rock. The vibe and the attitude. The adventure to go many places in the music. Frozen Rivers is actually about an astral projection I had many years ago. This voyage had many chapters and passageways that I tried to convey in the movements of that song. The lyrics are about transcending into that astral plane from the icy woods between these two rivers near where I lived. It's about facing the fears in your life. Illusions of inner death. To make a pledge to yourself to never become deaf to your own intuition, your calling to the collectiveness that is all the other lives around you. Lives are not objects, they are entities. To be free to live your life the way that you feel, not just the way that you see it.

In terms of the instruments, yes there are many older instruments on that track featuring a couple of old Tape echoes and Fuzz pedals. Synthesizers like the ARP 2600 and Minimoog, as well as some handmade tape loops on old reel to reel and 8-track decks that I like to do a lot of.  To me, these sounds and tools help to express some of these astral or esoteric landscapes between the stereo speakers that I hear and see. I want our albums to be something you see and feel just as much as something you hear.

6] It looks like there's a link between your lyrics, what inspired you during the creative process?

Adam: Each lyric has its own expression. Some are direct personal experience, some fantasy, some observations.

Most of my lyrics point to awareness. Many times I try and project images with the lyrics as the musical passage scores those images. Lyrics really are a big denominator to the arrangements of the music in Deadsea. It was something that really made a huge impact on me when I began listening to Music. There are some great lyricists out there. I just try to always have an honest and personal thread in my lyrics.

7] The last track is a long instrumental suite, quite different from the previous songs (more violent and direct), don't you fear this can somehow scare less open minded listeners?

Adam: Not really. If you're not open minded about music, it'd be great if those people would get out of the way of those who are.

I'd like to hear a wonderful band like CIRCLE or BLUE OYSTER CULT answer this question.

 8] Which were your favorite artists and albums as a teenager?

Adam: As a teenager…Talking Metal I'd have to say Fates Warning, Mercyful Fate, Cirith Ungol, English Dogs, Blessed Death, Ozzy Osbourne, Possessed, Saint Vitus, Trouble, and Sleeping Death.

As a teen I was also really deep into Classical music, especially works for Organ, Guitar & early film arrangements.

9] Adam, when did you first realize you had such a peculiar voice?

Adam: I guess I didn't realize that I had one….Until now. (Lol!) I don't know, I try to do my best to approach each song a bit differently from the other.  

10] It's been said that the third album is the most difficult for a band. Have you already planned yours? Do you already have ideas or songs for it?

Adam: We're writing and playing music from it live right now. We're all really excited about it because it will possess the most evidence of Deadsea truly writing and arranging as a band. It appears that it will be more epic than the last record. The songs so far are really far reaching, yet ultra-fucking heavy.

I'm striving for it to have even more of a live feel, but I again intend sections of it to be engulfed in 70s headphone production.

11] Why did you choose a name like Deadsea to represent the band?

Adam: It just kind of appeared. It's vast, full of life and desolation all at the same time. It's a place where you can sail free into the early misty morning or you can die a slow and murky death whilst being blisteringly tormented by old ghosts for many, many years…

I have always had a strange fascination with waterways and the idea of there being tombs hidden beneath them. Like crypts that lie dormant under rivers, streams, the ocean, old country ponds. They're out there. I believe that there are streams in the thick of the woods that are filled with ghosts, if you gaze into them long enough you can see them and even hear their echoes. All streams flow to the sea at some point, so to me that's the "Deadsea". Hence why it's also one word. It's just an artistic atavism of mine.

12] Can you tell us something about the cover artwork and its author? Is there a message behind it?

Adam: The artist is Dan Lerner of the Black Moon Trade CO. (www.blackmoontrade.com)

Dan is a great friend and brother of art. Like the rest of the band Dan hails from the wooded depths of West Virginia.

It's in these woods our artistic roots began. There are certain things about art, film, and music we have the same strong feelings and inspirations about. Dan was right there when we spoke together about this album and of the esoteric and the occult that lies in our music. The mystic and erotic, The firelight and starlight, the violent alleyways of the schizophrenic. Astral projections and the hum of the Native American hillsides.

I let Dan have as much freedom as possible with the artwork. Our connectedness installed the faith he would make a great cover for this album. We're all very pleased with it. We hope to have Dan do more work with us. Anthony Yankovic, the cover artist on "Desiderata" is another amazing talent we'd love to work with again.

13] Comment these words…
Blood =   "Drink The Blood, From my Chalice!" (what song is this from?)
Destiny =  "Good health, Good people, Loud laughter & Music"
Italy =   Amazing Women, Superb Coffee, Elka Organ Co., The Zawinul Family, Dario Argento, GOBLIN!
N.W.O.C.H.M. = New Wave Of Columbus Heavy Metal!  HEAVY FUCKING METAL.

Progressive Rock = "Yes, Rush, Captain Beyond, UK, Genesis, Magma, Socrates, T2" I love the stuff!
Revenge = "Your nostrils will burn as you fever with death".

14] If "Deadsea" were a book, what would it be?

Adam: It would be about a journey in the eerie halls of Erebus, It would be haunted by a myriad of succubi, all sounds would be in reverse. All the waterways and tunnels would be haunted by the undead. There would be three incantations if found and recited at the same time a semitone apart in pitch, will transform the Deadsea that lies at the end of the hall into an astral skyway. In that skyway all spirits and entities of all timetables would polymorph in an apocalyptic ascension

15] What has been your most memorable gig to date and why? Are there any you would like to forget?

Adam: There have been many wonderful gigs; one that comes to mind was our first comeback gig with Jeremy. The vibe was so elevating and the room was packed tight. It was heavy duty!  We were so stoked and grateful to hear and see everyone's excitement. The symbiosis was at the maximum. Any gigs I'd like to forget are there to serve as a reminder to never take enjoying good music with good people for granted.

16] Thank you for taking time to answer my questions. The closing sentiments are yours:

Adam: Thank You and Audiodrome for your interest in the music of Deadsea. This has been one of the coolest interviews yet!

Thanks for all the unique and enthusiastic questions and for bringing more to the surface of what Deadsea is all about. I hope your readers in Italy will enjoy this enough to turn up some Deadsea music soon!. Thanks again and STAY HEAVY!!!