Interviews can be found on individual band member sites
(linked on the front page)
Stephen Lin Review: 06/03/97
Kerrang Magazine: 12/18/99
MTV.com: 12/06/99
Alternative Press: 02/00
E! Online: 07/11/00
Alternative Press: 09/00
MTV.com: 12/13/00
Sonicnet.com: 2001
Kerrang Magazine: 01/06/01
Revoltzine.com: 06/08/01
MTV.com: 07/31/01
Alternative Press: 08/01
E! Online: 08/14/01
Familyvaluestour.com: 10/18/01
New Times: 11/01/01
Georgia State University Student Newspaper: 11/06/01
Familyvaluestour.com: 12/06/01
Meanstreet Magazine: 12/06/01
Alternative Press: 01/02
Metal Edge Magazine: 03/02
Consumable
Deadsy, Deadsy - Stephen Lin
(Sire)
Wow, where to begin on this one? I must say that Deadsy virtually sounds like
nothing else on the market. However, the individual characteristics of each song
could be attached to one influence or another; some current, some dating back
fifteen years ago. I'm still not sure how I feel about the drastic blending of
similar, yet conflicting styles.
The first thing I noticed were the synthesizers used throughout the album.
They sound like they were picked up at a yard sale along with an Atari and a Big
Wheel. Remember Gary Numan's "Cars?" Same synth-sound. Add to this a
healthy portion of big-thick Korn-like fuzz bass. Two cups of early 80s goth (a
la Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy). A dash of Marilyn Manson and Crash Test
Dummies vocals. And perhaps, occasionally, a smidge of Bush-esque lead guitar.
For one thing, the synths stick out like sore thumbs. But they're terribly
nostalgic and almost refreshing in comparison to the daily sludge we often
receive from mainstream radio. The drums and percussion are fairly lethargic at
times, but perfectly apt for the surrounding layers of music. The droning
baritone vocals of Elijah Blue are surprisingly animate considering their eerie
and methodical delivery.
"The Elements" is the first single off of Deadsy.
Knowing that it is being geared for College and Alternative radio, I wonder if
it has enough mainstream potential for success. The hooks (if they are even
hooks) aren't very memorable. It isn't something I could see myself humming in
the shower. This is not to say that it isn't a good song; only that in a crowded
rotation of hook-oriented alterna-pop, "The Elements" may get lost.
The one major gripe I have about the album is that, as a whole, the album has
no dynamics. Every song is mixed approximately the same. The vocals are produced
the same. The fuzz bass is always ready for more. The Gary Numan synths
seemingly never stop wailing over the course of the nine track album. If I had a
penny for every song that sounded somewhat the same well, Id have eight cents.
The song that stands head and shoulders above all others is "Future
Years." It's an epic, ballad-y, depressing song which slowly builds
strength over a simple yet absolutely beautifully orchestrated chord
progression. "Future Years" has such a basic structure; the simple
progression allows the natural aesthetics of the actually song to shine through
the gloom. This song alone makes the album more than worthwhile.
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DEADSY
The Viper Room, Los Angeles
Wednesday, December 1
A star-studded crowd checks out one of LA's hot prospects
It’s a night to sit back and watch the spectacle unfold. A stretch limo
nearly a city block long pulls up to the velvet-roped entrance to Hollywood’s
ageing hot-spot, The Viper Room. The gigantic vehicle discharges its contents.
Deadsy, led by Elijah Blue Allman, run into the open door of the club, with
professional celebrity hanger-on Fred Durst matching them stride for stride. For
a first ever gig, the spotlight is shining very brightly.
Already inside are Jonathan Davis, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, film star
Cameron Diaz, Orgy trio Ryan Shuck, Paige Haley and Amir Derakh, members of
Powerman 5000, and your everyday collection of supermodels and drag queens. As
the curtain parts, the five-piece (plus guest sax player) begin their set with a
song from their long-delayed ‘Commencement’ album, ‘Lake Waramaug.’
Elijah’s mum, Cher, is not in the audience, but she would have been proud.
Deadsy are simply brilliant, despite their troubles with record labels
(they’ve been dropped twice without releasing an album). A genius hybrid of
synth-pop and unspeakably heavy guitars, when the band perform the Duran Duran-ish
‘She Likes Big Words’ and ‘Flowing Glower’ they come off as A Flock Of
Seagulls and Joy Division mainlining Black Sabbath.
Just to confuse everyone, the group throw in a note-perfect cover of
Rush’s ‘Tom Sawyer,’ but Deadsy’s heart is clearly in UK techno-pop, as
demonstrated by the severity of Elijah’s faux-British accent and his band’s
art-school haircuts and vintage ‘80s gear (a synth guitar? In 1999?).
Totally awesome, Deadsy are on their way up.
—Joshua Sindell
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Korn, Limp Bizkit, Orgy, Sugar Ray Come Out For Deadsy
Members of Limp Bizkit, Orgy, and Sugar Ray as well as Korn's Jonathan Davis were all in attendance when the
underground electro-rock act Deadsy played a showcase gig last week at West
Hollywood's famed Viper Room.
Last Tuesday's star-studded affair was actually the group's first performance since
it formed in 1996. The unsigned group is headed by Elijah Blue, the son of Cher
and Gregg Allman.
Other notables inside the packed house were Cameron Diaz, Balthazar Getty, and Jared
Leto, who caught the event on tape (including footage of the group taking on
Rush's "Tom Sawyer").
Deadsy (previously signed to Sire Records) has garnered interest from a number of
labels since acquiring the rights to its unreleased album "Commencement."
—Tina Johnson
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In A.P. 135, we interviewed Deadsy, the spooky electro-goth team led by Phillip Exeter Blue, a.k.a. Elijah Blue Allman.
Soon after our piece ran, we received mail from readers complaining that they
couldn't find the band's debut album, Commencement, in stores. The A.P.
News Desk has learned that new executives at the band's label, Sire, didn't know
what to do with the group and released Deadsy from their contract without
putting out the record (the band went through a similar situation with Elektra
in 1997). Deadsy spent the last few months of '99 preparing their stage
show and rehearsing for some California shows. Watch this space.
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All in the Family: Negotiations are
under way among Slipknot, Orgy, Papa Roach, Marilyn Manson and Elijah Blue
Allman's goth-pop band Deadsy for the third annual Family Values Tour this fall.
Former Family act Limp Bizkit won't be along for the ride this year, but since
Korn is a partner in the production, they may surprise fans at a venue (or two
or three).
After being horribly mishandled at a
couple of major labels, Deadsy has finally found a home with Korn's Elementree
label in a joint venture with DreamWorks. The doom-poppers are in the studio
recording some new tracks for to their Warner Bros. Commencement album.
In a statement at the band's very
groovy Website, Elijah, the product of the union
between Cher and Gregg Allman, enthuses, "I think Deadsy will be the Trojan
horse of death metal; we're going to bring it to the masses because we have that
goth and bubblegum element."
I've seen and heard Deadsy, and look out, dolls, Elijah has so much wacky
charisma, he's up to his knees in the stuff.
—Pamela Des Barres
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Comin' on Kubrick-Style, Deadsy Debut for Early 2001
The A.P. News Desk has learned that L.A. doom-pop
merchants Deadsy will have their Elementree/Dreamworks debut, Commencement,
released in early 2001. This spring, the band added synth-guitarist Carlton
Megaladon to their lineup, rerecording four songs (including "Flowing
Glower" and "Cruella"), added two new ones ("Dream
Crusher" and "Colossus") and have ditched their cover of the
Sweet's "Fox on the Run" to wax a version of the Rush classic
"Tom Sawyer." Insiders report that the band and producer Josh Abraham
keep switching studios because they keep blowing out the rooms' monitors during
playback. A plausible story, considering band founder Elijah Blue Allman
recently hired splatter-core specialists Cannibal Corpse to play his private
birthday bash at Camaro, the Viper Room's metal night.
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Stars Come Out For
Rare Deadsy Show
Deadsy, perhaps the most famous "unknown" band in the country, made just the second live appearance in
their four-year history Friday night, drawing a star-packed crowd to the Roxy in
Los Angeles.
Guest appearances with and from members of Orgy, Sugar Ray and Korn on past recordings
have raised the profile of the industrial-tinged synth-rockers and their
frontman, Elijah Blue Allman. The singer's famous lineage — he is the son of
Cher and Greg Allman — hasn't hurt, either.
Cher was on hand for the Roxy show, as was Elijah Blue Allman's sister, Chastity
Bono. Also among the many celebrities in the crowd were Korn's Jonathan Davis
and Munky, the members of Sugar Ray, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, A Perfect
Circle's Troy Van Leeuwen, singer Bijou Phillips, gadfly Paris Hilton and actors
Jared Leto and Alicia Silverstone, according to Elementree Records, Deadsy's
label.
Although the band has been recording since 1996, Deadsy have yet to release an album.
Their self-titled debut was recorded and pressed in 1997, with promo copies
shipped to the appropriate retail and media sources by Sire/Elektra before
business problems at the label brought the release to a grinding halt before it
ever reached store shelves.
The group suffered through various other label deals, including a joint venture
between Sire and Warner Bros. that was supposed to see a new CD titled
Commencement issued a year ago. A label shakeup resulted in Deadsy being cut
loose, but they managed to retain ownership of their recordings. They're now on
Korn's Elementree label in a joint venture with Dreamworks, making them
Elementree's first signing since the label left a partnership with Reprise.
Elementree said Deadsy have been retooling Commencement, re-recording tracks and cutting
new songs. A label spokesperson said the album will likely hit stores in July,
and that it may have a new title by then — though he added that it could come
out as early as March or as late as September.
—Sorelle Saidman
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