Dead Mans Root - I think the average metalhead would be confused by a cheese sandwich

"Dead Mans Root" have been around a few years but still haven't got the recognition they deserve.They played a harsh brand of Stoner Metal that has been compared to "High On Fire","Mastodon",and "Rwake" but in my opinion they don't really sound like any of these bands.You really need to hear them yourself and make up your own mind.Enjoy this very entertaining interview.

1.Tell us how the band got together ?

Ben: My brother and I have been playing in bands together since we were about 12. We have been playing as Dead Man's Root for about 3 1/2 years and Yanni has been with us nearly 2 years.

2.The music showcases a range of influences and styles. Is there a particular direction do you think the band is heading in ?

Yanni: The wrong direction?

Ben: Whatever direction is interesting for us. We are the ones that have to drive 200 miles up the M1 to play to 3 people, so its got to be interesting to us or else whats the point?

3.When i listen to your tunes you sound more like a American band than a British band.Would you say you are influenced by US bands more so than the English stuff ?

Ben: Well, 2/3rds of the band members are American, me and my brother are from Brooklyn. And Yanni is often accused of being an American, but in fact he is just a hairy Greek.

Yanni: The English bands that influence me are no longer around. Since I was a kid I found the guitar to be what I listened to the most in music, after listening to albums like master of puppets, blood sugar sex magik and appetite for destruction it was hard for me to get excited about what Oasis and Blur were doing like everyone else seemed to be when I was growing up.


4. Do you have a certain approach to songwriting ?

Ben: I think Bob Dylan said "write 10 songs a day and throw away 9". Pretty much that...but instead of 10 songs a day its more like 10 songs a year, and instead of throwing them away we keep them and just release sub-standard material.

5.Who writes the lyrics and the music or is it a real band effort ?

Ben: I write the lyrics and the riffs, then we work on them all together in rehearsal and see where it goes. Then we usually try out new songs live to see how it feels.

6.How has the local scene been treating you ? Do you get many requests for live shows etc ?

Ben: Terribly. There is no local scene to speak of, and all the London hipster metal bands don't want anything to do with us. The UK is pretty much a wasteland as far as this type of music is concerned. It doesn't help that we are all horrible and ugly people so nobody ever wants to approach us. If it sounds like I'm bitter its because I am.

Yanni: haha as far as the ‘local’ scene goes. We have hurt a few feelings along the way, it’s not all our fault tho, we have some mischievous friends that seem to ruffle a few feathers every time we are out. Lucky for us this bands been playing live here in London since 2005 and we are finally getting to the point where we can start thinking about promoting our own events.


7. At times you sound like a thrash band from the 80's,do you listen to a lot of bands from that era ?

Ben: Well we kind of grew up on that stuff. Speaking for myself I don't really listen to that much new music. I mean, I'll listen to new releases of bands I like, but they are pretty much all older bands like The Melvins and Slayer. Mastodon are amazing though, they have influenced us a lot.

Yanni: yeah there’s a few cd’s from that era on rotation in our van (‘the bat chain puller’)

8.How did the album come together,how much time did you spend on it ?

Ben: We spent about a week recording and about a week or two weeks mixing and mastering, spread out over a few months due to money and time issues.

9.The band could almost be called Sludge Thrash which is very unique in todays metal scene.Would you think that mixing these styles up confuses the average metalhead ?

Ben: I think the average metalhead would be confused by a cheese sandwich.

10.What do you listen to when you at home or whatever ?

Yanni: This past month the new mars volta album, the new mastodon album, the new john frusciante album...OH! and the Mon£y Maker$ album is amazing!

Ben: Hardly any metal. Mostly stuff like Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Nick Cave and so on.


11.What has been the reaction to your album,i have read some mixed reviews !

Ben: Mostly apathetic.

Yanni: I think its awesome that the people that hate it really can’t stand it! The people that get it fuckin’ love it. I can tell from now that the next one will probably get the same reaction. The fact the song’ Indie Fag’s Fuck off’ is on there doesn’t do us much favors, but there is no way that song shouldn’t have been on the album. Hopefully one day when people look at the date on the back of the album and see 2007 they can have the perspective to understand how pissed off all of us that don’t follow that trend here in London feel. I guess indie has different meanings in different parts of the world, but here the typical indie band is some such bullshit like Razorlight with all the fans parading around in skinny jeans, fancy haircuts etc. We go out as much as we can afford to and at the time it was just in our faces everywhere we would go, and it still is.


12.What have you got planned for the rest of the year ?

Ben: Book another tour and try to get some money together to record a new album!

Yanni: Hopefully we can get some more gigs in Europe and get our new songs out at some point. We had a lot of plans last year and they all went down the toilet, our van broke, gigs got canceled, I broke my wrist. Musically it’s a good a time as any for us.


13.You got a pretty awesome guitar sound,what kind of equipment do you use ?

Ben: Why thank you. I have an Orange OR120, I think its from 1973. I use a Krank Distortion pedal and have a Gibson Explorer.

14. If someone asked you to describe the band in a few words what would you say ?

Yanni: broke and hungry with a pessimistic sense of humor

15.What is the current state of Metal in the UK ?

Ben: Awful. There are a lot of metal bands but almost all of them are terrible. Hopefully not us included, but sometimes im not even sure of that.

Yanni: Other than some friends that play in heavy bands I don’t really keep up with what else is going on to give you a good enough answer. Gigs and CD’s are expensive!


16.Tell everyone how to get a copy of your album.

Ben: If your in the UK you can get them off our myspace. If your in the USA, you can pick them up in east coast stores or from Oppressive Sound System Releases' website.

Yanni: You can buy it off the website if you still like to buy CD’s, we are down to our last 100! I think you can download it off soulseek for free but the quality isn’t as good. It’s also streaming on lastfm.com.


17.Thanks for the chance for this interview.Any final words ?

Ben: Thank you very much! We are really glad you gave us the opportunity to be interviewed. And for everyone out there, Dead Man's Root are coming to a turd town near you. If anyone out there like folky music check out my vanity project at www.myspace.com/bendelacour

Yanni: thanks to everyone that gets what we are about.