Happy Anniversary, Rainbeau!
It was just one year ago that we played our CD Release for our debut album “Rainbeau” at The Lipstick Lounge in Nashville, TN. Then, on November 11th, at 11:11am, we all hopped inside of a retro bus we called “Black ‘n’ Yella,” and headed off for our first national tour in support of that record. It was on that tour that we got to meet so many of our Dead Corps family. Over the last year, the #deadcorps have asked us some great questions about “Rainbeau.” We thought it would be fun, for our anniversary of “Rainbeau” to talk about the process of the making of the record, share some lyrics, and give some insight into the meanings/stories behind the songs.
Flashback to early in the timeline of the little deads. We had only played a few shows, and we were approached by a producer named Brian Carter. Carter is the owner of Paradox Productions, a recording, mixing and mastering house in Nashville, TN. We could safely say he was one of the original Dead Corps. After seeing us play, Carter would sing our praises on social media and to all who would listen. He would write hilarious reviews of our shows such as this one...
"…if you weren't at the Dead Deads show last night, you missed a precision induction of magma-like stage temperatures and pressures previously unattainable without the aid of modern technical laboratory apparatus.
These unprecedented– and quite dangerous– achievements in the realm of modern physics, though laudable (and most likely publishable in several peer-reviewed journals) should, in this reviewer's opinion, be banned completely because of possible safety and legal ramificatons.
The thunderous, cyclone-like vortex of highly hazardous rhythmic fury– though a scientific and technical breakthrough in multiple fields of current advanced research– could pose a risk to those at risk of being at risk of having their faces removed via rock-n-roll. This band may want to consider firing their drummer if they consider their audience's health and well-being paramount.
Do not under any circumstances see this band. Their reckless and thoughtless technical achievements– though stunningly innovative and worthy of praise in any laboratory setting– should never be tested on human subjects without stringent prior vetting of any and all study participants with thorough and meticulous health examinations.
The pictures below, though not taken from last night's performance due to multiple traumatic rock-related facial injuries sustained by this reviewer, will aid the general public in identifying the risk before harm can be induced, thus avoiding contact with the extremely violent pressures and temperatures likely to cause physical and emotional damage.
If you value having your face in its currently-attached condition in relation to your head, avoid this band at all costs."
– Donelbürg Blurb-Exhumer, Arts & Music Section
When we realized that we’d need a full-length album and we’d need it done fast, we called on Carter and his vintage tape machine, eMMa, the MM-1000 to get the job done right.
Normally, a studio album by a rock band takes anywhere from three weeks to often many months to create. First, there are writing sessions where the songs take shape, then pre-production where decisions about each song’s tempo, structure and instrumentation are made, then the actual recording begins. That typically involves recording one instrument at a time to what’s called a “click track.” This is a steady beat that is the guideline for the song. If things need to be redone, moved around (flown) from one place to another, or simply omitted, the click track serves as the framework for all that editing.
For The Dead Deads, this wasn’t going to be that kind of album. It was the end of September, 2014. We had a severe timeline if we wanted to get a full-length album in hand before we hit the road with Halestorm in November. Therefore, we told Carter in the pre-production session (which took place over a couple of pints at an Irish pub), “Hey, we are gonna need to do this record in three days.” Carter said, “No problem, but let’s get eMMa involved.”
On the first day of recording, we set up in a circle facing each other. Carter already had the room wired up and ready to go. After he had all the drum sounds the way he wanted them, we were off and running. Our amps were in isolation chambers and we could hear everything through headphones. Everyone was a little nervous about the pressure of playing songs “perfectly” since we were recording live to an old tape machine, but that tension made it exciting!
Some songs, like “Astronaut” we nailed in one take. Others took several takes to get right. *rewind goes the tape machine* That gentle whirring sound became the soundtrack for assessing fuck-ups. During the rehearsals before our studio time, we had made a few notes of the things we wanted to remember. “Lemonade” was the one we were most nervous about because we’d written it just days prior to recording. This sheet is some of Betty Dead’s notes...
After all the songs were recorded, it was time to add-in the vocal harmonies and screams. We all gathered around one microphone and sang our parts. It was the hardest portion of the process because we’d never sang them before without holding our instruments. We’d also never sang them when we could truly hear each other. Working together with Carter and his engineer Jeremy Dickens, we tweaked any issues and finalized our parts. This process took one full evening, and one full bottle of Fireball. (Pictured below is Jeremy Dickens taking notes by eMMa)
After we’d done all we could do in three days, Carter did some preliminary editing and gathered all the songs for Matt Mahaffey to mix. As promised, Matt mixed the hell out of our record in less than two days. He immediately took the tracks back to Carter, who mastered them in an insane overnight mastering session back at Paradox. (Matt and Carter pictured below)
Final edits of the iconic moon artwork, created by Jordan Noel, Atlanta-based branding tastemaker and graphical genius of Ginger Group Designs, arrived in our inbox the same morning. It was all real, it was all happening, and we had an album, that for all practical purposes, we’d made in a week with the help of several folks working through the night. We would be able to take “Rainbeau” on the road!
Lots of reasons. Some private, some public. Some obvious, some probably more...abstract. In the simplest context, rainbows symbolize love, equality, and a place to live your dreams. That’s what this band is to us. A platform for us to spread messages of love and equality.
Changing the spelling allows the title to allude more to these other meanings. It gives us a personification of sorts. A “beau” is someone you love, someone you put energy and time into. Perhaps we look at our band as our “beau.” It’s a relationship we work hard at and its very rewarding.
What’s our favorite song on “Rainbeau?”
Duh. It’s “Rainbeau.” However, “Nope” is a band favorite. We also really love playing “Astronaut.” Lyrically and musically both of those songs really get us off.
What is “Sour Blooms” about?
It’s about an alien apocalypse, but its a metaphor for a relationship as well. “Storm of mud, from the sky into the sea. Born of blood, what to make of all these things.” The person in the story is seeing all this shit they’ve never seen before. They are human--”born of blood,” but are witness to things they don’t understand as the aliens descend. Lots of times it feels like that in a relationship. You are powerless to this--more or less--shit storm, and it's so foreign to you that you just let it overtake you. The bridge of the song, “All of you--I want not some not part but all of you--to hear the message that is bleeding through the static version of your life” That’s both a message from the person in the song to their lover and a message from us to our listeners. Oh, and from the aliens to the humans. See what we did there?
Lots of the songs on “Rainbeau” have double and often triple meanings. We do this on purpose because we want people to be able to listen to a song and develop their own relationship with it. If everyone takes our songs a different, but highly specific way, then we are doing what we set out to do!
What inspired “Organ P?” Is it a love song?
It started, as many of our songs do, with us standing in a circle and somebody “starting” the song. This time it was Betty Dead. She wanted us to have a bluesy chord progression song. We started jamming and it came together quickly. Only......it was half the speed. After we sped it up, we fell in love with it. The lyrics just started pouring out of me over the song as they always do. “organ P...organ P...” Organ P is the name of the sound that Hella uses on the song. It’s short for “Organ Piano.” Now its short for something else, right? Yes, “Organ P” is a love song. Again, it could be many things, but here are the lyrics. You decide.
It’s not a vision. It’s a mediocre thought. It’s not a collision, its just headlights in the fog. Put, put, put your faith in the fleas. Blood, blood, suck my blood. Let it run down your cheeks, then give me that Organ P. It’s all I need today. Can’t get a reaction so I’m throwing hand grenades. This isn’t attraction, let me show you to your grave. Put, put, put your faith in machines. Blood, blood, suck my blood. Wipe it off on the sheets, then give me that Organ P. It’s all I need today.
The song ends in a big explosion of whoaing and rocking. Isn’t that how everything should end?
Will the songs on the next record sound like the ones on “Rainbeau?”
We think so. Our writing process is exactly as it was for that record. We get in a room and talk about what kind of jam we wanna write. Then someone starts playing and we start organizing the sounds and creating the song. Maybe someone gives me an idea or theme they want to have a song about. I take that info and begin to sing nonsense while I create a vocal melody that catches. We make a voice memo of the song. I take this voice memo home and craft the lyric. The next time we gather, we play the song with the finished lyric and decide if its worthy of being in our next set. If so, it goes into the pile for the next recording session. Currently, we are half-way through writing our sophomore record. We think its gonna be pretty grungy! Here’s a look at our rehearsal room, of course, you could just watch the video for “Organ P!”
The first time I painted black X’s on my eyes was Halloween of 2013. Our first album came out Halloween 2014. Now on Halloween of 2015, I look back at the last two years with overflowing gratitude to all the people that helped make all of this happen. Look at us at Paradox in March 2014:
Now, here’s us on Motörhead’s Motörboat in September 2015:
A lot can happen in one year. Keep dreaming, #deadcorps! Can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us!
By: Meta Dead, on behalf of The Dead Deads
Photos by us, Jeremy Dickens, Brian Carter, Erick Anderson and Amy Harris
