Dead To Me formed in 2003 and has since released two full-lengths, an EP and a seven-inch. They’ve also toured extensively, continuously advanced their sound and gone through several lineup changes, all without ever missing a beat. They recently finished recording a new album in Chicago at Atlas Studios and we talked with singer/bassist Tyson “Chicken” Annicharico before their show at Subterranean. We discussed the upcoming record in detail, as well as touring, substance abuse, the band’s hometown of San Francisco and more.
Bill – You guys just finished recording your new album here in Chicago with Matt Allison. What can you tell me about your time at Atlas Studios?
Chicken – It was really good and super fun. It was pretty much the recording experience we’ve always been looking for. Matt is a great dude and really fun to hang out with. It was like making a record with a friend and we clicked right away. We really liked his approach as far as we feel like we sound the best live and in our practice space. We kind of wanted to recreate the vibe and energy of that, from both the live show and where we feel most comfortable. We wanted to get that through to the record. We’re not a studio band, you know what I mean? We did a lot of the takes live, with everybody playing together so we could keep that kind of energy there. We didn’t play to a click track to keep it more organic and natural-sounding. I’ve heard eight of the 12 songs so far mixed and I’m so stoked on this record. He nailed it, man. He knocked it out of the park. We told him what we were going for and he got it. And like I said, we made a new friend out of it. He’s a rad dude. We had so much fun just hanging out with him every night after tracking and recording.
Bill – That sounds great. I can’t wait to hear it. Your most recent release, the Wait for It… seven-inch, features more of a straightforward punk influence and is reminiscent of your first album, Cuban Ballerina. Would you say the new record also sounds like this?
Chicken – Yeah, I think so. I personally never set out to write a specific type of song when I write. Not to sound like a total hippie, but like the Navajo say, “You don’t write a song, you catch a song.” That’s kind of how I feel, like the shit’s just floating around, then it comes into your dumb head, then it comes out your hands and you write the song. It’s like that. I can’t ever sit down and be like, “I’m gonna write a reggae song” and then a reggae song comes out. Or “I’m gonna write a fast song” and then a fast one comes out. I’m not good enough to do that. For some reason, this batch of songs came out a lot more just straightforward. I feel that it’s a lot more cohesive as a batch of songs, as opposed to African Elephants, where we were kind of trying out a lot of different shit. There are some slow songs on there, there’s the reggae one on there, it was all over the place. This one is a lot more focused and a lot more cohesive as a record, so I’m really excited about that aspect of it.
Bill – Very cool. Lyrically speaking, in what ways is the new album different than your last full-length?
Chicken – Lyrically it’s kind of the same idea. I can’t really sit down and be like, “I’m going to write a political song” or “This song is going to be about this.” I kind of write the music first and then whatever vibe or tone the music is telling me it wants; I try to write the lyrics according to that. There’s definitely some stuff on there about my stupid drug addiction, like always, but music is a really good place for me to exercise those demons, as it were. There’s definitely some stuff on the record about that, and there’s some political stuff and some random stuff. It’s pretty classic Dead To Me, lyrically.
Bill – That makes sense as far as having a similar approach with both the music and the lyrics. In terms of the band’s lineup, guitarist Nathan Grice left last year and was replaced by guitarists Sam Johnson and Ken Yamazaki. What transpired that led to this happening?
Chicken – Nate wasn’t into touring as much as we are. He plays in a lot of bands in San Francisco and that dude is so talented, such a talented songwriter. I feel like he’s going to do better on his own, being Nathan Grice, writing songs and doing his own thing with that. It was kind of hard for him I think sometimes to have his ideas realized through the Dead To Me filter, know what I mean? We’re buds, we just played San Francisco and he was there in the front row, headbangin’. We’re going to be playing Best Friends Day and he’s going to come out for that in Richmond and play a couple songs with us. We’re still really close for sure. With Sam and Kenny, I’ve known those guys forever. I’ve known Sam for over ten years now and I’ve known Kenny since I was 17. I’ve played in bands with Ken before and I love that fucker. I just like being in a band with him. He’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had. It’s also cool to have the two guitars back, because a lot of the original songs were written with two guitars in mind. I love writing songs on guitar, I write all our songs on guitar. I love coming up with the leads and stuff for them. It’s cool to be able to do that, where with Nathan I felt bad for him because a lot of times he had to pick whether to play the rhythm or the lead on certain parts. Now we’re kind of back to the idea of how Dead To Me is supposed to be where you get both, and they’re fantastic players, both those guys.
Bill – You’re currently on tour with Off With Their Heads and The Riverboat Gamblers. What have been some of the most memorable moments from being on the road with those bands?
Chicken – Man, every night has been super fun. Every night on this tour has been fuckin’ awesome. We did our first U.S. tour with Riverboat Gamblers in 2006, so we kind of have a special connection with those dudes. They’re one of our favorite bands to tour with. We love those guys and I love all their records. Ryan from Off With Their Heads is an awesome dude. I geeked-out on that guy when I used to do mail-order at Fat Wreck Chords and I found out about his band. I was a huge Rivethead fan and then he started Off With Their Heads. I got a hold of him when they played a show in San Francisco and I punished him. I was like, “Your song ‘Heroin in NYC’ is so fuckin’ good dude!” Ever since, we became buds and kind of played phone-tag and talked to each other over the years, trying to put together tours. It never really worked out for one reason or another. Finally, this thing came up and Ryan was like, “Dude, I’m thinking about doing this summer tour with three bands that could headline, putting them all in the same room and going against the Warped Tour. What do you think?” I was like, “Fuck yeah.” He was like, “You’re the first guy I called to see if you guys wanted to do it.” I was like, “Man, I’m onboard. Let me know if you need anything.” It’s been such a fun summer already. It’s only been like 12 days or something, but it’s already been ridiculous. So much fun, it’s great.
Bill – That’s great to hear. Earlier this year, Dead To Me toured Europe and played in places like Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France and elsewhere. What are some of your best memories from that tour?
Chicken – I gotta say Moscow was the best. It’s fuckin’ nuts, man. Especially being a kid in the ‘80s, I was born in ’78, and to see all the imagery that we were fed during the Cold War of this hard, imposing, kind of gray and gnarly, communist Russia. To go there and meet all these kids all these years later that were so fuckin’ sweet and so nice. They were like, “We want to show you our city!” They took us to the Red Square and to see the Kremlin. We went out to dinner; we did so much stuff and all the kids were so nice. It’s the craziest feeling in the world to be playing a song that you wrote in your bedroom in San Francisco, and you remember the day you wrote the song on your fuckin’ stupid bed, and then years later you’re in Moscow and there’s these Russian kids staring you in the face and yelling your lyrics back to you. That feeling is the best high that I’ve ever had. It’s crazy. It’s a really, really cool feeling. That was probably the craziest show we’ve ever played. Europe is so beautiful, man. There are a lot of spots over there that are really cool and it’s so old compared to America. We were in Hamburg and they were celebrating the 600th anniversary of this port. It’s like, “600 years?” Nothing in America is that old. It’s pretty crazy, man. It’s good to go there and experience all the different cultures.
Bill – That definitely sounds like an incredible time. What are your favorite venues to play in your hometown of San Francisco and why?
Chicken – There’s this place called Thee Parkside and the shows there for some reason are nuts every time. I love that spot, it’s so much fun. It’s becoming the punk spot of San Francisco, which is cool because for a while there wasn’t really a stable spot. It used to be the Covered Wagon, where they would have Stinky’s Peep Show back in the day. If you were a punk band and you toured through San Francisco, you played at fuckin’ Stinky’s Peep Show. Bottom of the Hill is always fun, we like that place too. But Thee Parkside has that more intimate, everybody up close and in your face kind of vibe, as opposed to Bottom of the Hill and its big stage.
Bill – Tell me about the sense of community that comes with being a band on Fat Wreck Chords.
Chicken – We were actually talking about that on the drive this morning. It’s a good feeling to know, because I worked there for six-and-a-half years, that literally some of my best friends are helping me with our records. It’s a total family vibe. I was asked recently what it was like to work there and it made me remember how awesome of a boss Fat Mike and his wife are. It’s just a family over there. It’s really cool and everybody helps each other. Same with the bands, there’s not a bad group of dudes in any band on that label. Everybody is really fuckin’ cool and loves to hang out with each other and have a good time doing what we’re doing. It’s really cool feeling that way. We’re really lucky and we’re really fortunate to be on that label for sure.
Bill – You often speak openly about your past struggles with addiction and the fact that you’re now sober. What advice or words of encouragement can you offer to someone who’s trying to get clean?
Chicken – I’m not the best at being sober, that’s for sure. I wish I was better at it. It is the biggest deal in my whole life. It’s a daily, constant, fuckin’ thing that never goes away and it sucks. I wish I could just be a normal person and hang out, especially doing what we do. Going all over the country it’s like every night is a party and it’s really hard. I have no filter. Once I start it’s basically impossible for me to stop and it’s never enough. I can never get high enough, I can never get drunk enough and it sucks. It fucks up so many things in my life and it has and it continues to this day. I think if anybody’s trying to get sober the first thing you’ve got to do is find some possible way to love yourself. That’s truly what you’re doing is you’re just self-destructing and you’re wallowing in your own self-destruction when you’re being an addict. The hardest thing is that you get this instant love from using drugs and alcohol. It can change your emotions instantly and there’s nothing else in life that does that for you. It’s not like you drink a bottle of wine and then a week later you feel good. It changes your emotions instantly and it’s hard to do that, to switch when you’re sober. It’s hard to do things that you’re not going to see the immediate benefits of. Making the right decision feels sucky at the time, but in the long run it’s going to be better for you. That’s a really hard thing for your brain and your body to adjust to, because you’re so used to getting these instant fixes from using and stuff. For me, the main thing is just trying to find a way to love myself and when I can do that, I’m okay with not hurting myself and not using so much. I think that’s really what it is for a lot of other people too. If you can find a way in your heart and in your brain to love yourself, then it can be a little bit easier to not use all the time. Good luck trying to figure that out. Good luck trying to figure out how to love yourself. It’s not easy.
Bill – Thank you for being so candid and open. I think some people will really benefit from hearing you say that. On a different note, Dead To Me is nothing if not resilient. Few bands can go through numerous lineup changes and emerge each time as strong as before, if not better. What do you attribute your band’s durability to?
Chicken – I don’t know, man. My cousin and I, our drummer Ian, we’re the only two dudes that have been in it since the beginning. Punk rock is our favorite thing in the world, that’s really what it comes down to. We’re punks. We’re little dudes that grew up listening to punk bands and got into it. This is literally what we’ve always wanted, to be in a touring punk rock band on a decent label, playing shows with our friends every night and going all over the world. It’s a fuckin’ dream come true. Literally, every day is a dream come true. I think the recognition of that and us knowing that it’s all a gift, like everything’s a bonus. If it ended tomorrow, we’d be like, “Dude, that was rad!” We try to approach each day and every situation as a bonus. We’re so fuckin’ lucky we’re here. I think a lot of bands lose sight of that. You really are lucky to be able to do this. I talk to my friends back home and I’m like, “What are you doing?” They’re like, “Working.” I’m like, “Aw, that sucks.” I mean, just the little stuff, like you’ve got to wear a certain outfit to go show up and be in this room all day and that’s fucked. We don’t have to do that. We get to wear the same shit, all day every day, and be gross and hang out. It’s the most fun shit ever. It really is everything we always wanted. I think it’s our knowing that we’re doing what we’ve always wanted to do that keeps us like, “Dude, we’re not fuckin’ stopping.” When dudes left it was a bummer, I didn’t see it coming. For sure I didn’t see Jack leaving. I didn’t see Nathan leaving, but it happens. We’re like, “Well fuck, we’re not going to stop now. Let’s just keep doing it.” Ian and I have figured out how to be in a band as time goes on. The hope is that you get better at it and I feel like we’re a better band now than when we started.
Bill – For sure. That’s definitely a great outlook to have. When will your new album be released and what do you have planned after it comes out?
Chicken – It comes out in early October, I think October 11th if I’m not crazy. We’re going to go do CMJ and The Fest. I think we’re going back to Europe in January and then we’ll try to do as much full U.S. touring as we can next year. Hopefully I can talk Ryan into having Off With Their Heads tour again with us next summer.
