EMQ’s With The Deathtones
EMQ’s With The Deathtones
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with USA Horror Rock band, The Deathtones. Huge thanks to them for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Billy Bones – Lead Singer/Key Player/Songwriter
Mr. Grim – Drums
Mikey Murder – Bass Guitar/ Backup Vocals
Killer Pat – Rhythm Guitar/ Lead guitar
Dorian Mordrake – Lead Guitar
Founded in early 2021, The Deathtones are a 5-piece Horror Rock band hailing from Milford, Pennsylvania, USA. Covering everything from classic slashers to true crime to famous authors and literature, if it can be considered horror, they write about it. In the short time they have been active they have garnered thousands of fans spanning the globe on their social media as well as hundreds of monthly listeners through streaming, album sales, internet radio and the FM airwaves.
How did you come up with your band name?
We were sitting around brainstorming potential horror band names that weren’t already taken and we ended up with B-Horror, The Psychotixx and The Deathtones. The latter really clicked with us, we voted and The Deathtones won out.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Milford, Pennsylvania, which is in the North-eastern United States. The scene here is weird. There’s a lot of Death Metal, Metalcore and Screamo around here. There used to be a nice amount of Punk, but over the years it’s just become more and more Metal with more and more bands sounding virtually the same. Blast beats and pig squeals, ad infinitum. Sometimes you’ll find a cool unique band around here, but more often than not they’re like a Bluegrass trio or some Avant-Garde Beatnik Hipster kinda act. Not saying anything against either of those, just that that’s where the originality seems to lie. Also, Rap and Hip Hop have taken a rather large and unsettling foothold in the area as well.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
“Horrordays”, our holiday EP and ‘The Asylum’, January’s single of the month. We would steer you more towards our earlier EP’s, “Hail To The King”, “Boomsticks and Bloodshed” and “American Monster” as we like those better 😉
Who have been your greatest influences?
Iron Maiden, Misfits, Danzig, Sabaton, Calabrese, Blitzkid
What first got you into music?
As a group? We had been working individually as musicians for the last 15 years or so. Billy and Mikey had been trying to get a mainstream Punk band going, put an ad on Craigslist and Mr. Grim answered. We played a few gigs with our original lead guitarist, then after his departure we found Pat. Then our music started to take a darker turn thematically speaking and we decided to rebrand ourselves as a horror band. About a year and a half later Dorian came in as the missing piece. He and Mr. Grim had been best friends for decades and Billy and Mikey had been best friends for about the same amount, so it just ended up being a bunch of friends making cool music.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Ghost or Ice Nine Kills. A lot of people say that we have similar thematic style and I think we could work well together.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Of all time? Woodstock 1969. Current…idk… Wacken Open Air Festival is pretty nuts. I don’t know if Ozzfest still exists, but that was always a good time as well.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
We haven’t received any gifts from fans. (You could be the first, dear reader!)
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Hi! How are you? Hope you are keeping well. Tell the family I said hi. Oh, and please listen to our music and buy our merch. Pretty please?
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
I know Mr. Grim would say Lemmy. I would say Jimi Hendrix. He was just getting into some really cool stuff around the time he died, and I really would’ve liked to see how far he would’ve gone.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The creative freedom to write about what you want, and hearing people say they like your material. That’s the biggest rush. When somebody says they enjoy it. Hate? Load in/load out and unsavory business practices. Another “hate” is almost exclusively working with people with substance abuse problems. It takes a long time before you find good people who are in it for the music and not the booze, drugs and girls. And thankfully we found that.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Ha ha it will never change because of the almighty dollar, but I’d like to see major record labels sign bands based on talent. Not waist size, bust size and ability to make money. That’s why we love being a part of the We Are Horror Records team. The head honcho, Dan, has good taste in music and brings groups in that he personally enjoys, and thinks can help the genre grow. It’s very refreshing how for once it’s not an old school popularity contest, but that talent and drive really win the day.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Billy: Axis: Bold As Love – Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mr. Grim: Danzig 1- Danzig
Mikey: Highway To Hell- AC/DC
Pat: No Gods, No Managers – Choking Victim
Dorian: Volumes 1 and 2 – Pure Moods
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Whatever sells and people prefer to listen on. Personally? I think vinyl sounds the most unique and classic, but pressing vinyl is an expensive project. So, we’re happy with CD’s and streaming.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Opening for Richie Ramone of The Ramones.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Probably still doing our day jobs. (Chef, Baker, Stage Manager, College Professor and Regional Director of Environmental Service.) I’ll let you pick who is who.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Lemmy, Elvis, Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Jimi Hendrix
What’s next for the band?
We try to release new content monthly, so keep up with us on our social media!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://www.facebook.com/TheDeathtonesBand
https://www.instagram.com/the_deathtones/
https://twitter.com/deathtonesband1
https://youtube.com/channel/UCYXHJl8PtADr-oos8rXZ_mg
https://thedeathtones.bandcamp.com
https://wearehorrorrecords.bandcamp.com
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
I have no idea what any of that means. Is a humble sandwich just a sandwich that doesn’t have a lot of pizzazz or are you saying it like “the humble meerkat emerges from its den?” Either way, after a cursory Google search it seems that it’s a regional thing more so than a right vs. wrong thing, but what do we know? We slather everything in cheese and deep fry it. ‘Murica!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for having us and we hope you like our music! Shout out to our friends at We Are Horror Records! It’s gonna be an amazing year! Happy 2023 everybody!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.