You can’t blame Elijah Blue Allman for speaking so quickly. In his role as Exeter, frontman of Deadsy, he’s had to fight to get his audience. Now, Exeter’s fairly eager to express himself. He doesn’t waste time on niceties, either.
This opinion is especially good, coming over the phone shortly before Deadsy hits the stage in Kansas: “I’m not going to name names, but we all know Deadsy has influenced a lot of records in the past, and a lot of records coming out now. A lot of bands owe a debt to us.”
The best thing about that statement is that it’s absolutely true. Deadsy has been a huge influence on today’s music scene, and they mostly did it with two albums that weren’t even released; a lot of bands took advantage of Deadsy’s corporate troubles. When a version of Commencement finally made it out in 2002—three years after an original scheduled release—the album was still an innovative mix of synth-pop and prog and nu-metal. And the shoulda-been-hit single, “The Key to Gramercy Park,” let us pretend that Deadsy was one of us. They’d certainly fit in as a local act. Deadsy has songs about the joys of attending a nice boarding school. Also, any nightclub would quickly clear a table for a rockstar scion like Exeter. Yet, amazingly enough, the son of Allman & Cher seems to have been raised right.
“We’ve done all that,” explains Exeter. “We know it’s not a rewarding existence. If you’re given these gifts, then it’s your obligation to do something with it. What you see in magazines and gossip columns are people who don’t have any gifts to use. I know that I’m from the same neighborhood, but my life is very different. I’m in the trenches of fucking rock.”
That includes Deadsy slugging it out on the bill of this year’s Family Values Tour. As Exeter’s noted, the band has an unfair advantage. Their only competition is from Korn itself. Deadsy is certainly sounding heavier and scarier and just as melodic on the new Phantasmagore. This sophomore album sounds like what would’ve been the rallying fifth release if Deadsy had gotten their proper start back in ’99.
“Every time we release a record,” says Exeter, “it’ll be coming from another time and another place. We’re not concerned with what’s on the radio in 2006. We both know the mentality that made for the great music of the 1960s and the 1970s, and it wasn’t trying to latch onto other people’s sounds. This record is definitely a risk. We’re proud of that.”
The arrogance is inspiring, but give Deadsy credit for a sense of humor. The band made their NYC debut back in the ’90s as a three-piece at Coney Island High. The members sported neon face paint, and a glitch in their backing tapes forced them to play one song twice in a row. The music was still great. More importantly, the band seemed to love the disaster.
“I don’t like counting that as our first show,” says Exeter, “but that was the first time we ever played before an audience. The sound was bad, and we didn’t have a drummer. We just sort of looped together things—but, yeah, you have to keep selling it once you’re on the stage. You can’t take yourself too seriously. No good art’s going to come out of that.”
September 2. Family Values tour w/ Korn, Deftones and more. Nikon at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, 516-221-1000; 3, $9.99--$59.50.
