Brandon Harris: How long have you all been together as a band?
Dead in 5: Dead in 5 formed in November 2012, from the ashes of two other popular Detroit rock bands 60 Second Crush and Mansfield Park. Since both bands broke up at the same time – we decided to join forces. Dead in 5 is Robert Libres on vocals, Peder “The Terminator” Seglund on guitar, myself - Dana “Deadly” Forrester on bass, James Trunko on drums, and our new lead guitarist Dave Seymour who just replaced original member Brent Hall in March 2017.
Brandon Harris: Where did the name Dead in 5 come from?
Dead in 5: Four of the members of Dead in 5 (Dana, Peder and former members Brent Hall and Ryan Schimming) were in 60 Second Crush, and during our last year as a band, 60 Second Crush’s song “Take it Away” was featured in the movie “Dead in 5 Heartbeats” about Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger. With the new band we wanted to reference the movie. But Dead in 5 isn’t about “dying”. It’s more about LIVING like you’ll be Dead in 5 minutes, hours, days or months…We really go for it in life as a band – no excuses and no regrets!
Brandon Harris: What type of music did you listen to in your youth?
Dead in 5: What’s cool and I think is responsible for our signature sound is that we each grew up liking and listening to everything from punk (Sex Pistols, Iggy and the Stooges Dead Kennedys), to Goth (Love and Rockets, Bauhaus) to Metal (Anthrax, Slayer, Black Sabbath), to Rock (Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, The Cult) and everything in between (David Bowie, Tool, Deftones).
Brandon Harris: What does Dead in 5 have planned for spring 2017?
Any new music the fans should know about?
Dead in 5: We have seven songs written for our new CD to be titled “Automatic Death Machine.” This spring, we’re focusing on choosing a studio and producer to work with to record the new disc. Plus we’ll rock a few shows including some festival dates (Current Music Festival and others to be announced shortly).
Brandon Harris: Your self description is “ Sons Of Anarchy meets Fight Club” what does this actually mean?
Dead in 5: Dead in 5’s very first show was at a notorious biker club in Detroit. The place was like a scene straight out of the “Sons of Anarchy!” The “Fight Club” reference is really our approach to music and the music industry in Detroit. This city is no place for wimps. In fact there’s a shirt sold in local gift shops that says “Detroit ..Where the weak are eaten and killed!” (a popular seller!) While it’s not THAT bad…you really have to work hard, be hungry and tenacious here. Bands really FIGHT to make it happen. We also consider ourselves “outlaw” rockers in that we do things our way and for us. We follow no rules or conventions in terms of our careers and the music we create.
Brandon Harris: I love the Breathless Weapon video! How did you all set up the video? I have to say it was shot very well, did you have a choreographer?
Dead in 5: Thank you. We direct, shoot and edit our music videos ourselves with help from our friend and road manager “Toledo Joe” Shortridge. We shot most of “Breathless Weapon” at our rehearsal space. Additional footage was shot by several European videographers that we found online (the heroin, couple fighting and overdose scenes). It was a creative collaboration – and although a dark subject (drug addiction) – very rewarding.
Brandon Harris: Your sponsored By ColdCock Whiskey? How did that come about?
Dead in 5: We tried Coldcock Whiskey in Chicago and loved it. When we found out that Kerry King (Slayer) was involved with the liquor – we had to hit them up for sponsorship. Coldcock Whiskey immediately signed us on. Unfortunately Coldcock Whiskey is not available in Detroit yet – so we have to do our drinking and promoting mostly on the road, during out of town gigs.
Brandon Harris: So you have played on the same stage of Five Finger Death punch, Anthrax and Hell Yeah? What was that like as a band?
Dead in 5: The best was Anthrax because our drummer James Trunko and singer Robert Libres are huge fans of the band! Just watching Anthrax soundcheck was a “pinch me am I dreaming” moment for all of us. They are metal legends! We got to meet everyone in the band. Drummer Charlie Benante and singer Joey Belladonna were especially cool.
We didn’t meet Five Finger Death Punch when we played with them in Milwaukee, but we did meet Vinnie Paul and the rest of Hell Yeah when we opened for them – also an epic show – and everyone in the band were stellar to us.
The crowds at all three shows were at capacity and everyone went crazy for Dead in 5. We made lots of new fans and would open for any of those bands again in a heartbeat!
Brandon Harris: So when are you all coming to Chicago?
Dead in 5: We will probably return to Chicago in the summer or fall - We’ve played at Reggie’s and the Brauerhouse and really enjoyed rocking the Windy City.
Brandon Harris: What shows can we find Dead in 5 at this summer?
Dead in 5: We’re still working on our summer calendar. Right now we have June 10 at the Current Music Festival (Milford, Michigan) with more shows pending. Primarily we are focusing on recording our new CD – so there will probably be less live shows than in past summers.
Brandon Harris: Anything to say to your fans?
Dead in 5: We are so grateful to all of you for letting Dead in 5 be the soundtrack to your lives! Now go forth and live like you’ll be Dead in 5!
Official web site:
twitter.com/deadin5
Youtube.com/deadin5
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