You have just released your
second CD, The Death & Life Of..., through Tooth & Nail Records. Because the
Deadlines is a pretty young band, give us an introduction to the band!
Hello, we are the Deadlines, a horror-punk rock n'
roll band from Portland,
Oregon. The band consists of Shaun Coffin on vocals and guitar, Sammy Lugosi on Guitar,
Thomas Demise on Bass, Jerry Attrick on Drums and the Creature on Organ. We have been a
band for a year and a half. We started in the summer of '98. Our influences are the
Damned, Misfits, New York Dolls, the Cramps, and other early punk & rock n' roll
bands.
Horror-punk rock 'n roll seems to me as a fine
description music-wise. But also the lyrics are written from a horror-type of viewpoint
with titles like Go-Go To The Graveyard, Vampires In Love and Horrible Night. What do you
want to portray through your lyrics?
Our lyrics appear at first to just be a fun take on classic horror Schick like the Misfits
and lot of other horror punk bands have done in the past. But with a closer look hopefully
you will see that there is a real meaning behind what we do. Almost all of our songs are
written metaphorically from a Biblical standpoint. The bulk of the songs on "the
Death and Life of..." deal with sin and man's sinful nature and stuff like that. A
lot of what we do comes from Romans 6:10:11
The horror approach is also evident in your stage
presence. I read in the band's biography that you use all kinds of dark elements like old
black suits with ties, spitting blood occasionally and a psycho knife juggler stabbing
members of the band. What would you like to express through that? Or is it just
entertainment or to shock people?
It's all just part of the show...if we aren't entertaining people we aren't doing our job,
in my opinion. Some of it does have meaning though like when we all collapse and play dead
at the end of our set that represents being dead to sin.
How do people respond to your stage-presence?
The kids love it!!! Our crowds always totally get into it and dance and sing along...it's
great! We have had some problems though with Churches and youth pastors but we have kinda
backed away from playing a lot of Christian venues to avoid petty problems like that.
What do you think of horror-movies?
Old horror movies are GREAT! The new slasher, gory films are stupid and
idiotic. But we get a lot of song ideas and stuff from old 50's monster movies.
What is the worst thing people could say about The Deadlines?
Nothing...any press is good press. If people say we are horrible, untalented, cretins
that's their problem. We know what the kids want and we're gonna give it to them.
What is the most horrid thing you've ever experienced?
Uhhh...not really sure on this one...Maybe when our van tire blew up in the middle of the
highway and we weaved through three lanes of traffic...that was
horrid! |
