…All the cool kids are doing it.
If you like catchy dance beats, songs about shaking it off (whatever “It” is…) and bubblegum pop; then fuck off, reevaluate your life and listen to Dead Broke’s latest self titled release.
This album is solid, right from the get go of the opening track Baby’s Leavin’ you know you’re in for some serious, loud, fast, ball grabbing, punk rock and roll. That’s not all though, while it’s clear these Guys (and Girl) have a passion for aggressive rock, they’re not afraid to let their musicianship shine through. Listen to closing track Gen X and try not to have some respect for this Band. They’re talented and defently worth a listen.
You know when you hear an album, and you can tell the Band REALLY put their all into it? That’s this album. You can feel the passion in it. I dug it. So I decided to do a little Q&A with Zack (Of Dead Broke in case you were wondering).
Daly: Can you give us a little background on the name Dead Broke? How did it come about?
Zack: Dead Broke started about 5 years ago but has gone through a number of changes since then. The beginning of it was us being huge fans of Against Me and covering their songs at shows and coffee houses at our high school. Mike and Evan were watching an interview with Laura Jane Grace describing how Against Me would just go out on tour to support records in their early years and come home broke as hell and do shit like sell their plasma for money.
I wouldn’t say the name came about from wanting to be broke for most of the year and having to sell our bodily fluids, but I would say that we had this strong desire to create high-energy music and tour around to support a record like our favourite bands were doing at the time.
D: Your latest album is Great. It kicks off with the really high energy, Punk Rock “Baby’s Leavin'”….Although I wouldn’t say it’s just a Punk Rock Album, as throughout it you cross many genre’s while still retaining the sound of Dead Broke. What attitude did you have going into the album? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted the album to sound like? What approach do you take to your songwriting?
Z: We started recording the album less than a year after becoming a four-piece; our sound had changed at that point because we were a three-piece band for a couple years until we added Rachel on bass. We were dying to get into the studio and track all the stuff we had written since we became a four-piece. I think we wanted to create an album that had a lot of different sounds and influences incorporated into every song and which had a real live-feel throughout. In terms of songwriting, Mike had written a bunch of the song frames that we all filled in with our parts and made them what they are, but there are a few on the album that were created from us just jamming it out and improvising.
D: What is everyone listening too right now?
Z: We all listen to a lot of different stuff. Right now from what I know, Evan has been listening to a lot of old sea shanties that are pretty fun to chime in after a night of drinking and I’ve been listening to a lot of weird drone and shoegaze stuff to space out to. Aside from that, I think I can speak for everyone in the band and say that Huey Lewis and the News tapes are the most played in the van. Heart and Soul all day.
D: That said, if Dead Broke could share the stage with any Musicians, who would it be?
Z: I think we all would love to play with Against Me as they were a big part of our band forming but that being said we love to play the weirdest shows. We’ve ended up playing hip-hop, reggae and death metal shows in the past year so I think that if like Santana or something offered us a slot on his tour to Japan there would be no debate. Just praying that Rob Thomas would randomly appear for ‘Smooth’ every night would alone be a dream come true.
D: This past year, there was a lot of controversy in the music industry over streaming services like Spotify. With Artists like Taylor Swift pulling their music off the service saying it doesn’t compensate the Artists well enough. Now for a band who is clearly in a different situation than Taylor Swift, who also has their music on Spotify…What’s your take on that?
Z: Having our new album on Spotify is definitely beneficial. We put a lot of our own money into creating this album, and I can say we’re very proud of what we did in the studio. We want people to hear what we’ve worked on no matter what the compensation is. The music industry has definitely changed and now I think it is a little harder for people to get motivated to go out and buy records because everything is online and free. Bands need to work hard to get the money they need to cover the long list of expenses and playing as many shows as possible is more relevant than ever. Regardless of what T-swift says, I think having our music on Spotify and having it more accessible online will give people a chance to check out what we’ve been working on for the last year or two and hopefully bring more people out to shows.
Upcoming Shows:
- January 30 – Hamilton @ The Baltimore House
- February 21 – Toronto @ Silver Dollar w/ Stuck Out Here
- March 21 –Toronto @Horseshoe Tavern w/ Restorations
Links For More Dead Broke:
This band is great and worth your time to listen to. 7 bucks at their Bandcamp for a high energy high quality album. Maybe with your purchase they can become Moderately Broke?
The Indie Blender 
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