Dead Alright takes the time to talk about their song writing process and their influences. Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, What’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
It’s honestly so hard to find a cool name that doesn’t already exist for a band. I must have thought of like 50 names before landing on one I liked that wasn’t already taken. That being said, the name Dead Alright derives from my favorite horror movie Dead Alive (or Braindead, depending on where you live). I thought about the expressions dead last or dead serious, and I thought it would be a funny turn of phrase to be THAT alright. Like, extremely correct, or something like that. But mainly, I just thought it sounded good!
It came along with the idea of the zombie dude mascot, which is fitting given the horror movie inspiration, but also because of a lot of the themes present in the album (getting older, reflections about death, the state of the environment, general depression and anxiety). I think the whole thing came together nicely.
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
It all started when my cousin made me listen to Dookie when I was 9, in 1994, it completely blew me away. It felt dangerous and fun and I got completely hooked on that. Then I went deeper in the rabbit hole with Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, etc. From that point I got completely obsessed by punk rock music and culture, until i played bass in my first band Lowfat when I was 17. From that point on I just knew I would play in bands for the rest of my life.
When that band broke up, I joined the band Never Hit Again as frontman, which was a first for me. I used to be the tall awkward dude playing bass in the background, so it was a big adjustment for me. I had the time of my life with those guys though, and I played music with them for 12 years, did a country-wide tour, recorded 2 EPs and 2 full-lengths (one of those we drove to Chicago to record, too!). At some point though, life happened and I moved on to another project closer to where I lived, Brand New Lungs.
We did a whole bunch of shows and recorded and self-produced a full length album which I am super proud of. Brand New Lungs is still going to this day, in parallel to Dead Alright.
One day the pandemic happened and everything screeched to a halt. I’m the type of guy that can’t stand not progressing in my projects, so I got super frustrated with the state of things. I decided to just buy a cheap electric guitar and write some songs for the band. Then the pandemic went on for way longer than expected and I ended up with a whole album worth of material, all instruments demo-recorded and all. Obviously the guys in the band didn’t really feel that involved in the process of creating those songs, which is completely natural. I was a little overzealous but I was having so much fun!
I thought I’d try something fun and go in a studio and record it all by myself, which I did (except the drums). My good friend Julien from Never Hit Again came and recorded the drums since I really couldn’t do that by myself.
And that’s what led to this project! I feel like it’s a cool thing to have done and I’m super proud of the songs and the final product.
How would you describe your sound?
I think a good way to describe it would be poppy skate punk, with a lot of influences from the 90’s and 00’s, with big choruses and as much fun as I can cram in 3min30 songs. I really tried to make an album that was on par with the classic albums I grew up listening to. I want to make songs people can remember, and most of all have fun listening to.
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
I’d say either Millencolin for the poppy catchy hooks, and A Wilhelm Scream for the energy and attitude. Other big influences on my songwriting would be Motion City Soundtrack, No Use for a Name or the Swellers.
What’s the last song you listened to?
No joke, the last song I listened to was Resurrection by Moist. I’m a sucker for 90’s radio rock, and this song rips.
What’s your source for hearing new music?
I usually discover new bands through Spotify playlists. It’s kind of stigmatized to praise Spotify these days, and things are definitely not black and white, but if anything Spotify is a great platform to discover new bands. I try to buy vinyls and merch of the bands I love to support them after that though.
Who is your dream producer?
I would probably say Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room just because they produced so many of the iconic albums I love, and I’d be curious to have their input on my work..
But also, I really like to be super involved in the production of my stuff, from guitar tones to song structures to small details to create a soundscape in certain parts, so something smaller scale where i’m not afraid to try stuff out of the box is super cool with me too.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
I would LOVE to do a collab with Nuno or Trevor of Wilhelm Scream. They are hands down my favorite band ever, and even more than their super cool voices, I just love their attitude. The dudes always look happy to be doing their thing, and their good mood is contagious. No shitty jaded attitude, just huge smiles and good vibes.
But apart from that, I usually do collabs with friends and people I appreciate, regardless of the size of the band. The goal of doing a collab in my head is more having fun and having a cool end product, than using it as a marketing tool to gain more popularity. No shame in doing that though! It’s just not really my thing.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
I think ever since I picked up an instrument, I knew I was going to keep playing forever. I just love writing songs and if i wasn’t doing it, something would be missing inside of me. I think I have a couple more good songs in me, so might as well keep having fun doing it!
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
I usually find a chorus that I find interesting with vocals on an acoustic guitar, then I record it on my computer with other instruments and try to find what would be cool to go around that. I really like to write music at the computer because it’s easy to move building blocks, play with the structure on a whim, and try different stuff here and there. The possibilities are endless.
That being said, other songs started with an intro guitar riff, others with a verse vocal idea. There’s really no universal method, you just have to be open to whatever comes to you.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to connect with you?
I love when people come talk to me at shows or fests to tell me they liked a song I did, and talk a little. I may not play in the biggest band in the world but I love to see that somehow, something I did was enjoyed by someone else.
Other than that, I *try* to do the social media thing as best as I can, so writing to me or commenting on my stuff is always a good idea, I try to answer to everything. Except if it’s to argue, I fucking hate to argue with strangers online, I don’t want to that ever again.
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
Bandcamp
What’s next for you?
Well, we are releasing the album one song at a time, one song per month so I really want to put a spotlight on every song and talk a little bit more about what the songs are about and behind the scene stuff, I hope it’s gonna be interesting.
Other than that, at some point I’d love to get a live band going and play this material live at a couple of cool shows, who knows what the future might hold?
At some point if I have some more creative juice I will probably write and record more songs, it’s been so much fun so far.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
Make sure to follow the Dead Alright page to not miss the new songs as they get released!
Bio:
Dead Alright is a passion project by Brand New Lungs and Never Hit Again vocalist Louis-Charles Berthiaume. Fast skate punk songs, poppy pop punk songs, super catchy and full of energy.
