Deadhead Roses Welcome to Dylan Neal, aka Deadhead Roses, a multi-multi-instrumentalist with a new record to tell us about. We filed it under Experimental Rock. Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself, and your occasional band. Dylan: I'm a 21-year-old level 89 wizard from Southern California (Orange). I was trying to get fellow friends and musicians to get together and start a band, but everyone was either too busy, lazy, sex-crazed, dopesick, etc. so I decided "I'll just take everything into my own hands and not rely on anyone"... so played / programmed and recorded all of the instruments on the album: Voice, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Dulcimer, Violin, etc. After I got the material ready, get some people who are interested to play it live and such. The name comes from the act of "deadheading roses" where one peels off the dead and dying pedals from a rose to let the new bloom and is symbolic for the peeling away of the dying layers of our ego to let our new self blossom. And oh how nice it is to do so! LB: How did you start out making music? Dylan: I started out somewhere around the age of 13 when my parents bought me a guitar (even though I explicitly asked for a fucking drum set. What kind of shit is that? Oh well, I bought one later.) for my birthday. Shortly after they bought me a little analogue 4-track recording thingy and after a few years I just started to accumulate gear and mics and stuff and eventually had my own little studio which I use now. LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now? Dylan: When I was younger I listened to a lot of alternative rock and punk stuff like Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Minor threat, Weezer, Dead Kennedys, Bjork and shit like that until I got into metal a few years later with Death, Emperor, Gorguts, Acid Bath, Meshuggah, all of that good stuff. I wouldn't say they all have a major influence on me except maybe Bjork, Radiohead, and a few metal bands as I'm more influenced by some of the newer music out their along the lines of 20th century classical shit, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Aphex Twin, Ulver, Kukl, and a lot of awesome experimental stuff that really inspires a lot of great untouched ideas. LB: Tell us about your latest release. Dylan: Zastruga is my new debut full-length 8 track release and its a combination of where I've been for the past few years both musically and emotionally. Zastruga has a big mix of personalities in it; its aggressive, angry side - peaceful, pensive side - to full out electronica awesomeness. It was written and recorded throughout 08 and early 09 by myself in my dungeon studio. The name "Zastruga" is a Russian word meaning a 'deep place into which one may fall' which was the aim of the album. LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows? Dylan: Plans for live performance are still in development as I fill in the remaining spots in the open line-up. When we're ready, one can expect complete chaos, performance artish stuff, and lots of improv. LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy? Dylan: Alone, I mostly enjoy the solitude and the absolute absorption. There's no one there to bug you or shake your concentration and you can fully release yourself. I think that isolation is an important thing for artists to have as they can tune-out the external, hectic world and listen to their internal chatter and reflect (that, and you don't have to wear any clothes). However, after awhile it can get really damn humdrum and tedious which is where I begin to really miss having the human interaction (and help!). Either way, its mostly both great and frustrating but having the finished product is an awesome feeling of accomplishment. LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music? Dylan: Right now, you can purchase my music at CDBaby, and you can listen to a few tracks that are up on myspace. Please do listen and tell me what you think! www.myspace.com/deadheadroses http://deadheadrosesmusic.com