by Rinaldo
After a spirited performance at ‘Canes on the 30th by opening act 20 Dead Flower Children, I had to find out more about this unsigned LA act…
Rinaldo: So how are you after the show? You said something about taking time off to recuperate.
Dennis of 20 Dead: Yeah, I’m nursing my wounds, it’s been an interesting these last four nights. The second night [of the tour] I through my hip and pinched a nerve in my lower back. It was a double whammy, I couldn’t walk for two days. So I had to lay around until we performed, and then just suck it up. And today it’s just starting to get normal.
Rinaldo: Wow. I can tell where this might come from, 20 Dead has a very energetic live show, tons of energy up onstage.
Dennis: We just give it 100%, and don’t pay attention to any of the technical bull shit. A lot of momentum was picked up by touring with (Hed) pe and Spineshank for 4 or 5 days. We’re demoing a lot of new material right now, and with the whole label negotiation thing with offers on the table, it really gets in the way of touring and sort of thing.
Rinaldo: It seems like you are pretty much an enigma right now. You have a small web-site, 20dead.com, but that seems to be about all the exposure you have right now. Is this on purpose?
Dennis: The people that know about the band know about us. And the steps that we are going to take to be known better we want to make sure are done right. I like the way the word of mouth thing is going. We tend to do things on our own terms. We even tour out of our own pockets.
Rinaldo: So what has it been like to tour with signed acts like (Hed)pe and Spineshank?
Dennis: Its been amazing. Right off the bat our van broke down. So instead of going back home, we took the chance and kept on. I rode in Spinshank’s RV, a few days in (Hed)pe’s bus and a few with the manager. They’ve been totally cool helping us out, because they know what its like. They’ve all been there, and have had to deal with that situation. We all turned out to be really good friends, hanging out and partying.
Rinaldo: A return to the straight forward rock band?
Dennis: Exactly. I’ve always been about that too. Don’t get me wrong, all the bands with their gimmicks, that’s cool. They’re just trying to do their thing, and that’s what they are about. Its just that from what I see out there today, it’s almost getting too gimmicky. OK, OK, what is this? Glam coming back? I don’t want any part of that. Nirvana was always a big influence for me. Them and Pantera. There is nothing gimmicky about them. When Nirvana went on stage, they just had their own presence. They didn’t have flashy costumes. They just came out and people just knew. And I really dug that. True rock.
Rinaldo: So what’s next for 20 Dead? You mentioned that you are in the works of trying to get a singing deal.
Dennis: There are a few, I’ve heard about a lot of different labels, but as an “up and coming” band you hear a lot of empty promises. You get your hopes up, and then it comes crashing down. So I don’t really want to hear about any of it until its something that looks like is going to be something positive for the band and those in to us. We are currently thinking of touring, but we are trying to see where the fans want us to go. So that way we can go someplace where there will be fans who will want to come out and see us.
Rinaldo: Anything else we should expect from you in the future?
Dennis: Well we are hoping to get out signing done, and then put out a new record in 2001. But even if we don’t get signed we will definitely release something around then.
