INTERVIEW: THE DEAD DAISIES

The Dead Daisies have all the hallmarks of an Australian rock ‘super group’. Comprising members of some of Australia’s most loved bands, the troupe have heralded their arrival on the music scene – complete with a collaboration with iconic guitarist, Slash. Upon the announcement they would be heading to the US shortly, we sat down for a quick chat with frontman Jon Stevens to talk ‘Lock & Load’, supporting Aerosmith and joining the Uproar Festival lineup.

By Meghan Player

It’s been a busy couple of months for the Dead Daisies – you supported Aerosmith, released a single with Slash and you’ve just announced a slew of dates in the US – does it feel like a bit of a whirlwind?
Only from an outside perspective, but for me it’s just doing what you’ve got to do – I love keeping busy!

The band has been forged on the back of some legendary rock and roll careers – with yourself and David Lowry starting the band mid last year. Did you ever anticipate the collaboration would take off as well as it has?
I didn’t anticipate the songwriting chemistry, but when it happened…The rest just kind of unfolded.

It’s been mentioned before that you were looking for a new challenge when the Dead Daisies started – do you think the DD have lived up to that challenge?
We’re only just starting!

The collaboration with Slash for ‘Lock and Load’ is a pretty important one – how did that come about?
We’ve been mates for years and we wrote the song together. We’ve also written a bunch of others.

An anthematic track like L&L certainly needs a bold video – which was certainly achieved with the ‘choose your own ending’ video – where did the idea come from for the video?
Our creative team worked together with a production company called Oh Yeah Wow – who have also done videos for Gotye and Aloe Blacc. They came up with the concept that we absolutely loved.

Interestingly, you left the fate of the young boy in the clip in the hands of the fans – were you surprised by their choice? Would you have chosen the same ending?
No I wasn’t surprised. The alternate ending was a little confronting for many viewers. I would have chosen to let him live!

After having such a long career in the music industry with different bands, is it ever strange to go back to writing and recording a debut EP or even a single? Or did it provide, I guess, a clean slate to work with? The opportunity to do something different – explore new sounds etc?
Every time I write a song, it’s a clean slate! The opportunity to work with different artists is always exciting.

Certainly, the success of the single and the subsequent EP always prompts the question of an LP – is there one in the works at the moment?
Yes there certainly is….stay tuned to our website for more details!

It was announced this week that the band would be heading to the US and Canada very soon as part of the Uproar Festival – are you looking forward to hitting the road again for that?
Very excited to be going on the road and to be introducing The Dead Daisies on such great tour.

There are some excellent bands included on the lineup as well as yourselves – from varying genres and generations – is there a particular band that you’re looking forward to seeing during the tour?
Really looking forward to catching Janes Addiction and Alice In Chains

Uproar Festival is, of course, a big supporter of MusiCares. Is this an organisation that you were familiar with before? From a musicians point of view, how important are places like this for bands/artists/musicians?
I’m definitely familiar with MusiCares. We have a similar thing here called Support Act, which I have been involved with quite a bit over the years. It’s important to be involved with organisations like these because it could be you or me who needs the help.

The tour will take you into mid-September, will you be looking to take a short break during the final months of the year – or will you keep the momentum going into 2014?
Keep the momentum going without a doubt!

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Many thanks to Jon for taking the time to chat to us. You can keep up to date with all the Dead Daisies news at: http://www.thedeaddaisies.com