Dead Mechanical – Full Album Stream / Interview

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By Jeff Takacs
When two-thirds of your members are in the process of planning their wedding, that could sound the death knell for some bands. Not so for the Baltimore, Maryland punk band DEAD MECHANICAL. The band just released their second full-length, Addict Rhythms, and are looking forward to hitting the road post-nuptials. AMP had a chance to catch up with the band’s singer/guitarist Lucas Carscadden to talk about their new record, their hometown and more.

Let’s start at the beginning. How did you guys meet and come together as DEAD MECHANICAL?

Mike, our original bass player, started a thread on a message board we were on, looking to start a band. I had just moved back to the area and really wanted to start playing, so I jumped on, and then Matt offered to play drums. Mike and Matt had played in the GAMMA RAYS together, and I sort of knew them from playing shows. So we started practicing and writing and stuff and did a few shows, then about six months in, Mike left to go back to school and we got Dan (who is Matt’s cousin) to play bass.

When you guys first got together, did you make the conscious decision to play JAWBREAKER-inspired pop-punk or was that what came naturally?

Well, I think we knew we wanted to play punk rock, and we knew we wanted to play punk rock that sounded like punk rock that we would genuinely like and listen to. Since JAWBREAKER is one of all of our favorite bands, it was kind of bound to get in there to some degree. It’s not something that came up in pre-band conversations or anything. Also, when you’ve got a scratchy voice, like I do, it’s almost hard NOT to play JAWBREAKER-inspired punk rock. JAWBREAKER is kind of the platonic form of the scratchy voice punk band.

Your amazing new record, Addict Rhythms, was released recently. Did you do anything differently in your approach to this record versus your last full-length, Medium Noise?

Oh, thanks! I think this one was a lot more collaborative in the writing process. Most of the songs on Medium Noise were primarily written by Matt or me – on our own – without too much fiddling. On this one, a lot of the songs came together in practice. Also, Dan was in the writing mix a lot more, which was pretty great. It wasn’t really a conscious decision to do it like that. I think it just came out of us being more comfortable with each other and more willing to offer input.

Addict Rhythms was your first full-length for the Washington, DC label Traffic Street. How did you guys hook up with them and how was it working with them on the release?

We’d known Sam (who does Traffic Street) for a while from shows and the Internet and stuff. We also had a song on one of his Dangerous Intersections comp 7″s (Dangerous Intersections II). So, when he was interested in putting out the CD, it was a pretty good fit for us, because we were already friends and liked the stuff on his label and everything. It’s been pretty great so far. Another friend of our who does Toxic Pop records in Baltimore is putting out the LP version, which should be out in late July/early August.

Thinking of your hometown of Baltimore, you guys have written about the city from time to time. How do you like Baltimore and what is the music scene like there?

I’ve only lived here about 4 years now, but I love Baltimore. Matt and Dan have lived here for a lot longer. Sometimes, I still get pretty amazed at how beautiful the city is and how much there is to find. It’s also a great place to do music. There’s a ton of great music venues of all sizes all over the city and there’s a ton of awesome bands, like DOUBLE DAGGER or RUINER or
SICK SICK BIRDS. Since it’s a pretty small city, there’s also a pretty good amount of genre crossover, which is always good, I think.

Are you planning on doing any touring in support of Addict Rhythms?

I’m sure we’ll do some touring eventually, but Matt and I are both getting married in the next few months, so we’re going to have to put it off for a bit.

Congratulations! Has it been hard for you two to do DEAD MECHANICAL activities and plan a wedding at the same time?

Thanks! It hasn’t been too hard so far, other than not being able to do a longer tour. We can still play around town or do weekends and stuff.

We talked earlier about your obvious JAWBREAKER influence. What are some other influences you guys have had that might not be so obvious?

Well, I think a lot of the stuff Matt writes is pretty HUSKER DU influenced, particularly in that he likes to have drone notes in his chord progressions. I kind of picked up doing a lot of that too, from him. I think there’s some Chapel Hill style indie stuff in there, like SUPERCHUNK or ARCHERS OF LOAF. Also, I grew up on mid-90s DC emo stuff, like HOOVER and what not, and I think that kind of stuff usually finds its way in the forms of odd time signatures that we like to throw in occasionally.

I definitely hear those influences in your songwriting. What are some bands that you are listening to now?

Oh, man. I’m never listening to that many bands. Matt and Dan are always listening to a million new bands, and I’m only listening to, like, 4. So…I’m a pretty big fan of LEMURIA right now. And GOOD LUCK. I like the new DOPAMINES record a lot. There’s a great band from a little ways outside Baltimore called HEAD HOME that does really great DINOSAUR JR. kind of stuff. I really like that last NEKO CASE album. I mentioned DOUBLE DAGGER and SICK SICK BIRDS from Baltimore a bit ago. I really like that band LA ROUX that does that Bulletproof song that all over the radio. I still listen to our album a pretty embarrassing amount, too.

Any parting shots or final words of wisdom?

I could use some words of wisdom. Tell people to email me words of wisdom.

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