DEAD STAR TALK, the innovative force behind the acclaimed debut 'Too Many Too Much,' is back with their second album, 'Solid State Chemicals'
This latest release not only showcases their signature melodic, guitar-driven sound but also pushes the boundaries of modern rock with intricate layers and new territories. Produced by Grammy-winning legend Flemming Rasmussen, the album stands out with tracks like the psychedelic 'The Hurricane' and the pop art-inspired title track. In a bold move against conventional distribution, 'Solid State Chemicals' will be available on streaming platforms for only one month, urging fans to support the band through limited edition vinyl, NFTs, and downloads. Join us as we delve into the creative minds behind DEAD STAR TALK and explore the inspirations and intentions driving this groundbreaking project.
1. How does 'Solid State Chemicals' differ from your debut album 'Too Many Too Much,' both musically and thematically?
I think “Solid State Chemicals” as an album truly documents us finding our own identity as a band, while taking a big playful step away from the clear references on our debut. At least sound wise. A big part of that is probably because we recorded all the vocals and guitars first, and only added the rhythm section towards the end of the recording process with our producer Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, etc.). In contrast to the debut where the live recorded rhythm section was the point of departure. This sounds like a technicality, but to me it's a lot more. All our songs start with me and an acoustic guitar (Christian), and if you start with the melodies you are a lot more free to develop the ideas in the studio, than if you lock in all the dynamics from the 1st second (which is what happens when you lay down drum and bass first). Lyrically/thematically the style is coherent with the debut. It simply portraits our lives. The good, the bad. The ugly, the beautiful, built around “pop art like” hooklines.
2. Can you discuss the challenges and rewards of having a band spread across multiple countries, and how this influences your creative process?
The reward is the freedom of not belonging to any given scene. That’s a gift and allows us to do things without peer pressure and other blinding ideas of how things should be done and sound. It's also great to be able to add special instruments to our sounds through our multicultural heritage such as the superbly psychedelic Turkish Saz guitar. Challenge is that we don’t belong to any given scene and can’t reap the benefits of that (easy shows, patriotic support from key decision makers, etc.).
3. What was the most surprising or unexpected moment during the recording sessions for 'Solid State Chemicals'?
Definitely when we discovered the psychedlic power of adding the Turkish saz-guitar to our “wall of sound” on the song “The Hurricane”. We hereafter ended up layering Saz on several other tracks on the album. It a magical instrument and compliments the traditional western and electric guitar extremely well…
4. How do you envision the future of music distribution, and do you think more artists will adopt your approach of limited streaming availability?
It's tricky. We are not sure whether there’s any clear recipe yet. I do believe we need to start embracing web3 much more. When you hold up the costs of creating against the financial and promotional rewards of basically giving away music and content for free on spotify, youtube, instagram, etc. it's clear that web2 is killing diversity and is ultimately bad for non-mainstream culture. What we love about Web3 is that it enables us to claim value again. For example we sell 50 limited digital versions (so called NFT’s) of a single or album and the real fans can collect them and they will get something special on top that you can’t find anywhere else (b-sides, etc). Making your art limited and valuable again. And it works. We’re making more income via web3 platforms like Lens than we are on Web2 giants like Spotify. But we’re of course a tiny indie band with punk attitudes. So it's not sure that our approach would work with artists with broader ambitions…
5. Your music has been described as a blend of melodic and polyphonic guitar-driven sounds. How do you maintain a balance between experimentation and staying true to your core sound?
By following our intuition. We write and record fast and spontaneously. The fact that we’re two very complementary singers and guitarists (me, Christian, and Günes) make this a very rewarding process.
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