Rock heavyweights Theory of a Deadman have just released new EP 'Part One: Funeral Songs', and are preparing to hit the road for their first tour in almost a year. Blending Southern rock and country influences with their trademark energy, the EP features upbeat tracks including ‘Barricade’ and ‘Winnebago (Lay Low)’. We speak to band leader Tyler Connolly about the band’s journey, their return to the Theory of a Dead Man name, and the success of their music, which has now surpassed 298 million streams on Spotify. With Part Two set for release in March 2027, Connolly also looks ahead to a collection of deeper, more meaningful songs. Prenup; Eamon O'Neill.
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Hi Tyler, how are you?
I'm doing great. I'm excited to get on tour. We haven't done a tour in almost a year, so man, oh man!
Do you feel rusty? Do you feel like you need a little rehearsal to get back to your best?
Well, luckily we did a few shows this year. I think four. We did four summer festival shows, so we banged out the dust. So no, I feel ready. Well, we are going to rehearse for two days. There's not much to do. We go over the songs and we're like; "alright, let's go!"
With a name like Connolly, you must have some Irish in you.
Yeah, the Connolly name comes from Monaghan. Yeah, it's so weird because I was in Montauk the last few days, and this waitress at a restaurant we were at, she was Irish, and I was like, "where are you from?" She said, "I'm from Ireland", and I was like, "oh, my last name's Connolly". We grew up in Canada, so we're always looking for some sort of roots and my mom was obsessed with English television. Canadians are quite obsessed with the Queen. When the Queen came to Vancouver, you all went to the parade, and so yeah, being Canadian, we've always been proud of our ties with the monarchy for some reason.
Have you ever been to Monaghan, or is that something you need to do?
I've never been. I don't know what I would do. I'd just walk around and be like, "Hello, is somebody here, last name Connolly?!" I've been to Ireland, which I love, but no, I haven't been down there. We've done Belfast and Dublin opening for Blackstone Cherry. I want to say that was probably almost ten years ago. We didn't have a lot of time, but I did go get a tattoo of my family crest, the cheesiest thing you can do, and then of course, had to do the Guinness tour
Where'd you get your tattoo? Was it Dublin?
Dublin, yeah. Me and one of the crew guys went. I'm like; "you want to go get tattoo? "He's like, "let's go", and we went up there, and there was two dudes, and he's like, "who's going with who?" It' was like, "I don't know". So I went and got my guy, and he took so long, it was like three hours, and my crew guy was finished so quickly. He's like, "what took you so long?" I'm like, "I don't know", but his tattoo sucked. It was so shit, and mine is still perfect. It's perfect, so I lucked out.
You've got a new EP, 'Funeral Songs', but conversely, it's a very upbeat collection of songs.
Yeah, we used a little bit of a trick there because even the artwork is dark. It's like, "these guys are going dark or metal or something", which we're not at all. We have a song called 'Funeral Song' on the EP, and we just liked that so much we were like, "it's a collection of something. What about like funeral songs? Something you play at a funeral". You wouldn't necessarily play sad or angry songs at a funeral - sometimes the songs are uplifting, so I don't know. After all these years of being in a band called Theory of a Dead Man, we've really never done anything with the play on words; we never really talked about funerals or dead men, so it's the first time for this, I guess, after all these years,
That brings to a relevant point, because for a while you reverted to Theory, and in 2003 you went back and reclaimed the full band name.
It was just more of a shortening to make it easier for people to remember, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers; no one calls them that, it's too long. You call them the Chili Peppers. Or System of a Down, people use S O A D. When we first came out, fans were calling us T.O.A.D., and we were like, "I don't know", so I remember the label back in 2008, they were like, "Can we shorten your name to Theory?" And we were like, "No, how dare you?" because they were having some pushback at crossover radio and at pop radio and stuff. So eventually, we... not gave in, but saw the light where we were like, "yeah, we're seeing a lot of people that cannot remember the band name, so if you just go by Theory, change their websites to Theory, Theory Band or Theory Official", then it was a lot easier for people to remember the band name. And yeah, we've now taken back to just push more of the Theory of a Dead Man now that the job has been done.
I'm doing great. I'm excited to get on tour. We haven't done a tour in almost a year, so man, oh man!
Do you feel rusty? Do you feel like you need a little rehearsal to get back to your best?
Well, luckily we did a few shows this year. I think four. We did four summer festival shows, so we banged out the dust. So no, I feel ready. Well, we are going to rehearse for two days. There's not much to do. We go over the songs and we're like; "alright, let's go!"
With a name like Connolly, you must have some Irish in you.
Yeah, the Connolly name comes from Monaghan. Yeah, it's so weird because I was in Montauk the last few days, and this waitress at a restaurant we were at, she was Irish, and I was like, "where are you from?" She said, "I'm from Ireland", and I was like, "oh, my last name's Connolly". We grew up in Canada, so we're always looking for some sort of roots and my mom was obsessed with English television. Canadians are quite obsessed with the Queen. When the Queen came to Vancouver, you all went to the parade, and so yeah, being Canadian, we've always been proud of our ties with the monarchy for some reason.
Have you ever been to Monaghan, or is that something you need to do?
I've never been. I don't know what I would do. I'd just walk around and be like, "Hello, is somebody here, last name Connolly?!" I've been to Ireland, which I love, but no, I haven't been down there. We've done Belfast and Dublin opening for Blackstone Cherry. I want to say that was probably almost ten years ago. We didn't have a lot of time, but I did go get a tattoo of my family crest, the cheesiest thing you can do, and then of course, had to do the Guinness tour
Where'd you get your tattoo? Was it Dublin?
Dublin, yeah. Me and one of the crew guys went. I'm like; "you want to go get tattoo? "He's like, "let's go", and we went up there, and there was two dudes, and he's like, "who's going with who?" It' was like, "I don't know". So I went and got my guy, and he took so long, it was like three hours, and my crew guy was finished so quickly. He's like, "what took you so long?" I'm like, "I don't know", but his tattoo sucked. It was so shit, and mine is still perfect. It's perfect, so I lucked out.
You've got a new EP, 'Funeral Songs', but conversely, it's a very upbeat collection of songs.
Yeah, we used a little bit of a trick there because even the artwork is dark. It's like, "these guys are going dark or metal or something", which we're not at all. We have a song called 'Funeral Song' on the EP, and we just liked that so much we were like, "it's a collection of something. What about like funeral songs? Something you play at a funeral". You wouldn't necessarily play sad or angry songs at a funeral - sometimes the songs are uplifting, so I don't know. After all these years of being in a band called Theory of a Dead Man, we've really never done anything with the play on words; we never really talked about funerals or dead men, so it's the first time for this, I guess, after all these years,
That brings to a relevant point, because for a while you reverted to Theory, and in 2003 you went back and reclaimed the full band name.
It was just more of a shortening to make it easier for people to remember, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers; no one calls them that, it's too long. You call them the Chili Peppers. Or System of a Down, people use S O A D. When we first came out, fans were calling us T.O.A.D., and we were like, "I don't know", so I remember the label back in 2008, they were like, "Can we shorten your name to Theory?" And we were like, "No, how dare you?" because they were having some pushback at crossover radio and at pop radio and stuff. So eventually, we... not gave in, but saw the light where we were like, "yeah, we're seeing a lot of people that cannot remember the band name, so if you just go by Theory, change their websites to Theory, Theory Band or Theory Official", then it was a lot easier for people to remember the band name. And yeah, we've now taken back to just push more of the Theory of a Dead Man now that the job has been done.
There's a great quote in the press release that says; "We've all had that person we wish would go away or just crawl up and die, and that's the anthem we have with funeral song". Again, that's totally subverting the expectations.
Well, our management was like; "We want you to do this thing where people can subscribe or text message. Can you do a video and talk about who the song is about, and then fans that text that number will get the the video from me saying, "Hey, it's me, on your phone, and here's who..." and I'm like; "I can't do that. I can't. I would never, especially in a negative context, ever divulge who I wish you were dead". I mean, that's nasty stuff, so I said I wouldn't do it. I kind of tricked people and said it's about multiple people. I can never actually say who it's about, but everything's so desensitised now that you can write a song about, "Hey, I wish you were dead", and people are like, "Cool, cool."
Theory of a Deadman have always had humour in your lyrics. I mean, 'Bitch Came Back' has had 29 million views on YouTube for example, so people know that's what you guys do, right?
Yeah, and I think we've leaned into it. I know our label at one point. I think it was 'Bitch came Back', we hit a wall with that one where we started getting into the misogyny of it, and people were a little worried saying this is becoming a little heavy-handed, and they were like; "no more tongue-in-cheek songs. That's it." So we were kind of sad. But honestly, it's just kind of what we do. I love writing. There's a song on a new record called 'Prenup', and I loved writing that song. It was so much fun to write a song about that, and everyone can listen to it that's been married goes, "Yep, yeah, should have got a prenup. Yeah, yeah."
I'm guessing 'Prenup' is not written from a personal perspective.
No, I mean, it is. I mean, I was married and I got divorced, and yeah, there's one of those things where you're just like, "man, oh man, I got taken to the cleaners", but yeah, it is written in heart, for everybody. That's kind of how I write all the songs; I think of what everyone can relate to, because that's how it's going to be. As soon as the song gets released, people are going to have to put themselves in my shoes, which is the whole point.
I actually did laugh out loud at the twist and the lyric towards the end.
That's the whole character arc. We typically want to see something happen at the end where everything is roses, but the reality is, human beings tend to never learn their lessons. It's like the it's another song I wrote called "I Bought a Boat. It's not on the EP, but it was the same kind of thing where a guy buys a boat and then slowly but surely realizes this was the biggest mistake of his life. And you know, like everyone who buys a boat, it's like great when you buy it, but then slowly it gets to this terrible ending. So it's yeah, I enjoy writing stuff that has some play in it like that, where it's not just so one-dimensional.
Why did you decide to do an EP at this stage, and not a full album?
It's just song writing, but nowadays too, we could write twelve songs, and I did, I had everything written, but you know the twelve songs aren't good. There's maybe three or four that are good, and that's kind of the reality of every band - no offense to every other band out there! But when we put out records, it's really difficult to put out an album that has front to back, great songs. I mean, that's why Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin put out albums with eight songs on it. With Black Sabbath. I think the first record or second had very few songs on it, seven songs, like that's it. So that's what's my whole reasoning was; let's put out an EP and put six songs that we really like on it. Give me some time. So now we have the other six. We've recorded three already, and it's awesome. It's better than the first EP, and even our producer's like, "Dude, this one is like a step up", and that's the whole point, rather than having EP two be a bunch of B sides.
This EP kicks off with 'Barricade', and it really does blow the doors off. I love the vocal effects you're using on it too. Is that like a harmonizer, or you singing your harmonies?
No, that's all sung. Joe [Dandeneau], our drummer, does some of the harmonies on that too. It's so much fun going in and building a three or four part harmony in the choruses. I just love doing that. That's just from the going back to Alice in Chains, you know, those perfect fourth harmonies that just sound so cool. You get a minor key song and you do these major harmonies, and I love it.
Then you've got Winnebago (Lay Low), and 'Monster Truck' and both have a bit of a country vibe.
Yeah, it goes back to what we used to do. Our first record was a Southern rock record. In the beginning we really wanted to make sure there was slide and banjo and lap steel on a lot of stuff because that was our roots. We really enjoyed just playing Southern rock, and we did some Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers covers in our sets. So we're just trying to go back, and we really enjoy it. I love going like; "Let's put some cool slide on there", so yeah, that's definitely our kind of vibes. You definitely have some of that southern rock. I wouldn't say country, but yeah, a lot of people say that it sounds country. I'm like; "well, we're a rock band, so it's kind of just country rock, southern rock".
Well, our management was like; "We want you to do this thing where people can subscribe or text message. Can you do a video and talk about who the song is about, and then fans that text that number will get the the video from me saying, "Hey, it's me, on your phone, and here's who..." and I'm like; "I can't do that. I can't. I would never, especially in a negative context, ever divulge who I wish you were dead". I mean, that's nasty stuff, so I said I wouldn't do it. I kind of tricked people and said it's about multiple people. I can never actually say who it's about, but everything's so desensitised now that you can write a song about, "Hey, I wish you were dead", and people are like, "Cool, cool."
Theory of a Deadman have always had humour in your lyrics. I mean, 'Bitch Came Back' has had 29 million views on YouTube for example, so people know that's what you guys do, right?
Yeah, and I think we've leaned into it. I know our label at one point. I think it was 'Bitch came Back', we hit a wall with that one where we started getting into the misogyny of it, and people were a little worried saying this is becoming a little heavy-handed, and they were like; "no more tongue-in-cheek songs. That's it." So we were kind of sad. But honestly, it's just kind of what we do. I love writing. There's a song on a new record called 'Prenup', and I loved writing that song. It was so much fun to write a song about that, and everyone can listen to it that's been married goes, "Yep, yeah, should have got a prenup. Yeah, yeah."
I'm guessing 'Prenup' is not written from a personal perspective.
No, I mean, it is. I mean, I was married and I got divorced, and yeah, there's one of those things where you're just like, "man, oh man, I got taken to the cleaners", but yeah, it is written in heart, for everybody. That's kind of how I write all the songs; I think of what everyone can relate to, because that's how it's going to be. As soon as the song gets released, people are going to have to put themselves in my shoes, which is the whole point.
I actually did laugh out loud at the twist and the lyric towards the end.
That's the whole character arc. We typically want to see something happen at the end where everything is roses, but the reality is, human beings tend to never learn their lessons. It's like the it's another song I wrote called "I Bought a Boat. It's not on the EP, but it was the same kind of thing where a guy buys a boat and then slowly but surely realizes this was the biggest mistake of his life. And you know, like everyone who buys a boat, it's like great when you buy it, but then slowly it gets to this terrible ending. So it's yeah, I enjoy writing stuff that has some play in it like that, where it's not just so one-dimensional.
Why did you decide to do an EP at this stage, and not a full album?
It's just song writing, but nowadays too, we could write twelve songs, and I did, I had everything written, but you know the twelve songs aren't good. There's maybe three or four that are good, and that's kind of the reality of every band - no offense to every other band out there! But when we put out records, it's really difficult to put out an album that has front to back, great songs. I mean, that's why Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin put out albums with eight songs on it. With Black Sabbath. I think the first record or second had very few songs on it, seven songs, like that's it. So that's what's my whole reasoning was; let's put out an EP and put six songs that we really like on it. Give me some time. So now we have the other six. We've recorded three already, and it's awesome. It's better than the first EP, and even our producer's like, "Dude, this one is like a step up", and that's the whole point, rather than having EP two be a bunch of B sides.
This EP kicks off with 'Barricade', and it really does blow the doors off. I love the vocal effects you're using on it too. Is that like a harmonizer, or you singing your harmonies?
No, that's all sung. Joe [Dandeneau], our drummer, does some of the harmonies on that too. It's so much fun going in and building a three or four part harmony in the choruses. I just love doing that. That's just from the going back to Alice in Chains, you know, those perfect fourth harmonies that just sound so cool. You get a minor key song and you do these major harmonies, and I love it.
Then you've got Winnebago (Lay Low), and 'Monster Truck' and both have a bit of a country vibe.
Yeah, it goes back to what we used to do. Our first record was a Southern rock record. In the beginning we really wanted to make sure there was slide and banjo and lap steel on a lot of stuff because that was our roots. We really enjoyed just playing Southern rock, and we did some Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers covers in our sets. So we're just trying to go back, and we really enjoy it. I love going like; "Let's put some cool slide on there", so yeah, that's definitely our kind of vibes. You definitely have some of that southern rock. I wouldn't say country, but yeah, a lot of people say that it sounds country. I'm like; "well, we're a rock band, so it's kind of just country rock, southern rock".
There's a lot of bombast on the EP, but then you've got 'Deep End', which is a really big ballad.
Yeah, that one really came together. I co-wrote that with, ironically, my ex-wife. So it's very easy when you're writing with your ex, you can actually just write about yourself. So because we both were there. So and that's I really love the metaphor of the deep end. How you're just like kind of in a relationship and you're drowning and someone's just swimming away watching you drown. Once again, it's a very relatable topic. So sometimes I like to write kind of metaphorically, but yeah, I also agree. I really almost feel like that song was a little looked over, but fans haven't heard it yet. So I hope fans will hear that and go, "Wow, I really like that song."
Are you planning to play all of these, or most of them live when you're hitting the road?
No, I mean once the EP comes out, I think we'll get an idea of which ones become the most popular. Right now we're playing 'Barricade' in the set, and then 'Winnebago', which is the new single over here in the States, and it's going to radio in Canada in the next couple weeks, so those are the two we're playing for now. But this is our ninth record, so we have too many songs.
The stats for some of your songs are insane, with multiple having streams in the millions; what do those sorts of numbers mean to you?
I don't know. It's cool to see. I think 'Rx' is one hundred, and those numbers mean something. It's not like it used to be back in the day when those would have been CDs, but that's the world we're in now, and it's cool. It's cool to see like, three hundred million streams on Spotify. That's a lot of listens. So yeah, I think for me, being a song writer, that's a pretty powerful thing. That's the bucket list, to go to your grave with, but you have to be careful that you go "okay we did that. I want more", but without being complacent. But yeah it's just pure joy, and it's just amazing that we could write a song and people listen to it a lot.
You could retire with stats like that, but being creative seems to be really, really important to you. Is that what drives you and keeps you going?
Yeah, I mean it's cathartic, but I just love doing it. Someone once told me; "I just want to have one song, I just want one hit, so then I can retire"; I'm like; "Man, this is the wrong business for you". Like, you've completely missed the whole point. The whole point is we don't write songs to have hits, we write songs because we love to write songs. Once you get a record deal and stuff, then yeah, it does become different, but different because now you're speaking to someone directly. Before, when I was in my basement, I was singing to nobody, so I didn't really know the effect, right? But once you get the feedback and have a response, then it becomes exciting. Then you can actually know how to write. You figure out how to write a song. I love writing songs and love getting the feedback. I love our fans, and like you said, seeing the streams and stuff - that's the feedback. That's the best reward we could ever get. But yeah, that's the creativity. I think I still have it. I'm turning 51 in a few weeks, and I still love to write and still feel like there's something there.
One thing I wanted to chat about was guitars because I was watching one of your videos and your guitarist was playing a double neck SG, the same as Don Felder's. What guitars were you using on the EP?
Oh, all over the place. I just saw Don Felder actually, live. But yeah, what kind of guitars we using? So Dave [Brenner]'s got a lot of Gibsons, [Fender] Teles. My favourite guitar is a Tele in the studio, and then a Gibson Les Paul Jr with the P90 pickup. Nothing sounds like it. That's just the best rhythm and lead sounds. I've got a '57 at home. It doesn't come on tour because it's all original, but any time I send something to the guys, it's like; "What guitar did you use?" I'm like; "it's the Les Paul, man!". In the studio we did fly in some guitars for this stuff rather than just use random guitars in the studio. You find that that's not a good way to go, so we did ship in some of our own guitars. I think I had my Flying V on some stuff. I've got this white one, and I can't remember what it's called, and it's like it's an artist's signature model. The Flying V is all white, and even the fretboard's white. I think it's the guy from Dethklok. Yeah, it's badass, and it just sounds ratty.
Yeah, that one really came together. I co-wrote that with, ironically, my ex-wife. So it's very easy when you're writing with your ex, you can actually just write about yourself. So because we both were there. So and that's I really love the metaphor of the deep end. How you're just like kind of in a relationship and you're drowning and someone's just swimming away watching you drown. Once again, it's a very relatable topic. So sometimes I like to write kind of metaphorically, but yeah, I also agree. I really almost feel like that song was a little looked over, but fans haven't heard it yet. So I hope fans will hear that and go, "Wow, I really like that song."
Are you planning to play all of these, or most of them live when you're hitting the road?
No, I mean once the EP comes out, I think we'll get an idea of which ones become the most popular. Right now we're playing 'Barricade' in the set, and then 'Winnebago', which is the new single over here in the States, and it's going to radio in Canada in the next couple weeks, so those are the two we're playing for now. But this is our ninth record, so we have too many songs.
The stats for some of your songs are insane, with multiple having streams in the millions; what do those sorts of numbers mean to you?
I don't know. It's cool to see. I think 'Rx' is one hundred, and those numbers mean something. It's not like it used to be back in the day when those would have been CDs, but that's the world we're in now, and it's cool. It's cool to see like, three hundred million streams on Spotify. That's a lot of listens. So yeah, I think for me, being a song writer, that's a pretty powerful thing. That's the bucket list, to go to your grave with, but you have to be careful that you go "okay we did that. I want more", but without being complacent. But yeah it's just pure joy, and it's just amazing that we could write a song and people listen to it a lot.
You could retire with stats like that, but being creative seems to be really, really important to you. Is that what drives you and keeps you going?
Yeah, I mean it's cathartic, but I just love doing it. Someone once told me; "I just want to have one song, I just want one hit, so then I can retire"; I'm like; "Man, this is the wrong business for you". Like, you've completely missed the whole point. The whole point is we don't write songs to have hits, we write songs because we love to write songs. Once you get a record deal and stuff, then yeah, it does become different, but different because now you're speaking to someone directly. Before, when I was in my basement, I was singing to nobody, so I didn't really know the effect, right? But once you get the feedback and have a response, then it becomes exciting. Then you can actually know how to write. You figure out how to write a song. I love writing songs and love getting the feedback. I love our fans, and like you said, seeing the streams and stuff - that's the feedback. That's the best reward we could ever get. But yeah, that's the creativity. I think I still have it. I'm turning 51 in a few weeks, and I still love to write and still feel like there's something there.
One thing I wanted to chat about was guitars because I was watching one of your videos and your guitarist was playing a double neck SG, the same as Don Felder's. What guitars were you using on the EP?
Oh, all over the place. I just saw Don Felder actually, live. But yeah, what kind of guitars we using? So Dave [Brenner]'s got a lot of Gibsons, [Fender] Teles. My favourite guitar is a Tele in the studio, and then a Gibson Les Paul Jr with the P90 pickup. Nothing sounds like it. That's just the best rhythm and lead sounds. I've got a '57 at home. It doesn't come on tour because it's all original, but any time I send something to the guys, it's like; "What guitar did you use?" I'm like; "it's the Les Paul, man!". In the studio we did fly in some guitars for this stuff rather than just use random guitars in the studio. You find that that's not a good way to go, so we did ship in some of our own guitars. I think I had my Flying V on some stuff. I've got this white one, and I can't remember what it's called, and it's like it's an artist's signature model. The Flying V is all white, and even the fretboard's white. I think it's the guy from Dethklok. Yeah, it's badass, and it just sounds ratty.
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What's it like to be playing huge venues in the States versus more modest ones in the UK and Europe?
It's different, right? There's not as much connection when you play in front of a bunch of people, especially when you do it at a festival. I think my least favourite is doing something during the day, but unfortunately we're not headlining a Download, so whenever they give us a slot, we're there. Honestly, the most fun I ever have is doing shows when it's actually a smaller venue. We did a tour in Australia, and some of the shows were quite small, like 500 capacity clubs, and I just had a blast. Those sticky floors, and the smell; you walk in and you can smell the stale beer, like a pub. I guess it just goes back to starting out, so you turn back into being a kid. But yeah, I mean we've got a tour in England coming up in February, and those are my favourite. I can just see everyone's faces, and I can see everybody, which you would think would be intimidating, but I just feel like I'm with everyone.
It must be special, because like you can never play venues like that in America and Canada, can you?
Yeah, I mean, Canada, especially, is like this. There is some smaller stuff, but yeah, the Canadian tour we've put together right now is arenas and some big venues. Don't get me wrong; I love doing them, but yeah, there is something about going back and reminding yourself why you did it and being very thankful getting on stage. If I was on stage playing in front of 300 people in Australia going, "I hate this. This sucks. Why am I even doing?", you'd be like, "Dude, once again, you're missing the whole point".
You've achieved so much in your career. What would you say have been the highlights?
It's going to sound really cheesy, but my highlight is honestly the band. It's us. It's the fact that we've been doing this for 25 years. I mean, me and Dean [Back], the bass player, have been in the band since we were in high school, and the fact that we will be on a plane together halfway around the world, we'll be in Japan or somewhere, and we're just like, "Jesus Christ, this is crazy!" So I love playing music, but I love playing music with my band, and just being able to do this with these guys, because they're just really sweet dudes, it could be a lot worse.
You've maintained the same line-up, more or less, since the beginning of the band.
Yeah, and we've seen bands come and go. We've seen bands break up in front of us. We've seen bands that come onto our tour bus and sit there and bitch about how much they hate their singer, so yeah, it's a pretty amazing thing. Like, I went and saw The Guess Who recently, where Don Felder was opening, and they're in their eighties now. I think Randy Bachman is eighty-something years old, and I was just like, "dude, if I can be doing this with the guys in the band for another 30 years, that's the dream."
Finally, we touched on EP Part Two; what can you tell us about it?
So part two, I think we're trying to get that out in March 2027. I wish we could get out earlier so we could have some stuff for the Europe and UK fans when we're out there, but it's too quick. So far the songs, it's hard to describe, but they're, I'm not saying better, but there's just something about them so far. It's some really deep stuff. I'm really proud of some of the songs. We've tracked three, so we've got to go back and track the other three, and then we have to name it. Whether it's going to be 'Part Two: Funeral Songs' or 'Part Two: Something Songs', we're not sure, but that's the fun part.
Do you think you'll maintain a theme then, and it'll be something songs?
Yeah, I think so. I think that was our whole point, was to make it some sort something songs, you know; 'Redemption Songs' or something, and then when I'll do an interview, people will be like; "so there's not really any redemption songs", and I'd be like; "yeah!"
Theory of a Deadman's 'Part One: Funeral Songs' is out now.
It's different, right? There's not as much connection when you play in front of a bunch of people, especially when you do it at a festival. I think my least favourite is doing something during the day, but unfortunately we're not headlining a Download, so whenever they give us a slot, we're there. Honestly, the most fun I ever have is doing shows when it's actually a smaller venue. We did a tour in Australia, and some of the shows were quite small, like 500 capacity clubs, and I just had a blast. Those sticky floors, and the smell; you walk in and you can smell the stale beer, like a pub. I guess it just goes back to starting out, so you turn back into being a kid. But yeah, I mean we've got a tour in England coming up in February, and those are my favourite. I can just see everyone's faces, and I can see everybody, which you would think would be intimidating, but I just feel like I'm with everyone.
It must be special, because like you can never play venues like that in America and Canada, can you?
Yeah, I mean, Canada, especially, is like this. There is some smaller stuff, but yeah, the Canadian tour we've put together right now is arenas and some big venues. Don't get me wrong; I love doing them, but yeah, there is something about going back and reminding yourself why you did it and being very thankful getting on stage. If I was on stage playing in front of 300 people in Australia going, "I hate this. This sucks. Why am I even doing?", you'd be like, "Dude, once again, you're missing the whole point".
You've achieved so much in your career. What would you say have been the highlights?
It's going to sound really cheesy, but my highlight is honestly the band. It's us. It's the fact that we've been doing this for 25 years. I mean, me and Dean [Back], the bass player, have been in the band since we were in high school, and the fact that we will be on a plane together halfway around the world, we'll be in Japan or somewhere, and we're just like, "Jesus Christ, this is crazy!" So I love playing music, but I love playing music with my band, and just being able to do this with these guys, because they're just really sweet dudes, it could be a lot worse.
You've maintained the same line-up, more or less, since the beginning of the band.
Yeah, and we've seen bands come and go. We've seen bands break up in front of us. We've seen bands that come onto our tour bus and sit there and bitch about how much they hate their singer, so yeah, it's a pretty amazing thing. Like, I went and saw The Guess Who recently, where Don Felder was opening, and they're in their eighties now. I think Randy Bachman is eighty-something years old, and I was just like, "dude, if I can be doing this with the guys in the band for another 30 years, that's the dream."
Finally, we touched on EP Part Two; what can you tell us about it?
So part two, I think we're trying to get that out in March 2027. I wish we could get out earlier so we could have some stuff for the Europe and UK fans when we're out there, but it's too quick. So far the songs, it's hard to describe, but they're, I'm not saying better, but there's just something about them so far. It's some really deep stuff. I'm really proud of some of the songs. We've tracked three, so we've got to go back and track the other three, and then we have to name it. Whether it's going to be 'Part Two: Funeral Songs' or 'Part Two: Something Songs', we're not sure, but that's the fun part.
Do you think you'll maintain a theme then, and it'll be something songs?
Yeah, I think so. I think that was our whole point, was to make it some sort something songs, you know; 'Redemption Songs' or something, and then when I'll do an interview, people will be like; "so there's not really any redemption songs", and I'd be like; "yeah!"
Theory of a Deadman's 'Part One: Funeral Songs' is out now.
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