ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ~ DEAD WRITERS

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Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/ bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today, we’d like to shine the spotlight on Dead Writers!

Dead Writers are a rock band with the spirit and mystique of a literary movement. An appealing aura of dark romanticism pervades their aesthetic world, providing a perfect wrapping for their emotionally intense music and poetic lyricism. With a blend of atmospheric sounds, rich dynamics, compelling vocals and delicious melodies, they synthesise their wide influences into a sweeping style very much their own.

But the world of Dead Writers is as intriguing as it is accessible. Containing memorable chorus lines that seem destined for big stages, their songs possess a timeless quality, delivering equal doses of mystery, melancholy and pure electricity. With touches of The Cure, Queen, The Cult, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Manic Street Preachers, their music has been described by reviewers as ‘epic’, ’arena-worthy’ and ‘instant classic’.

Based in London and led by charismatic frontman/songwriter Paul Shine, the band have cut their teeth by dazzling audiences with fiery performances at several independent venues in the city. Recent shows at O2 Academy Islington and a sold-out date at Camden’s The Black Heart supporting chart-topping rockers Scarlet Rebels proved that the band is ready for the next level. Their first festival appearance at Call Of The Wild caused an enthusiastic response from both press and new fans, who tagged them as their ’favourite find this year’.

‘A sublime slice of artistic rock and roll – given the chance, they will be huge’ – CyderBaby

During lockdown 2020, they impressed Nick Cave with their video cover of the song “(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?” which the artist praised on his website section ‘The Red Hand Files’. The video was featured on the Bad Seed TeeVee YouTube channel to the delight of fans all over the world.

The band will release their anticipated self-titled debut EP and first music video in December 2022. Featuring Iggy Pop’s bassist Ben Ellis on the catchy rocker “She’s All The Animals,” the record has been selected by Qatar Airways for their inflight playlist even before the official release.

Dead Writers have enjoyed airplay on UK rock radio and press coverage including Bass Player Magazine, Louder Than War, Hard Rock Hell Radio, Total Rock, Boogaloo Radio, ERB Radio, Hoxton Radio, Route 66 and FireWorks Magazine. The band is planning their first UK/Europe tours and will appear at several festivals in 2023.

We recently sat down with Dead Writers lead singer/songwriter for a short, but fun Q&A session!

Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of Dead Writers?

Paul Shine/Dead Writers: I started the band back in 2017. I instinctively wanted to merge my passion for literature with rock and roll music, blending poetic sensitivity with the raw energy of rock music. I had written a bunch of songs, but they needed some time and work to come to life in the way I imagined them. It took us about 2 years to start defining our musical personality. We went through a few different lineups whilst we were finding our sound and cutting our teeth as a live band. When things were beginning to pick up in 2019, the pandemic hit so we had to delay the release of our debut EP. But the band never stopped. They say good things come to those who wait: I say, even better things come to those who persevere.

Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind Dead Writers?

We had been going for about a year and we didn’t have a band name yet. Around that time, I had just finished reading ‘Notes From The Underground’ by Dostoyevsky (the novel that inspired ‘Lisa’). Looking to start a new one, I went through my personal book collection; I read a lot of classic authors. And I thought to myself: ‘God, almost everything I read has been written by dead people. Dead Writers. That’s it, that’s the band name’. I ran it past the band and they loved it. It contains the romanticism, sophistication and mystery that I envisioned for our music. When we introduce ourselves, everyone thinks it’s really cool.

What are you currently working on?

Our first, self-titled EP is coming out in 2023 so we’re immersed in the release process at the moment. We’re currently working on music videos for the other two singles, which we will release individually in the lead-up to the EP. Simultaneously, we’re planning our first UK tour in the new year, hopefully we will go to Europe if things go well. We’ll also be playing 3 UK festival dates (so far), so we’re really excited to spread our wings and hit the road.

If you have any tattoos, what was your very first one and does it have any meaning behind it?

I have a small one on my waist which I got when I was a Literature student at university. It’s the last lyric in ‘Stairway To Heaven’: ‘To Be A Rock And Not To Roll’, in the original leafy type that is printed on the album. To me, those words symbolised that the road to your own truth lies in the inevitability of following your calling, an invitation to become what your nature demands of you, and to remain steady and fearless on that path. Perhaps it meant something different to Robert Plant, but one of the greatest things about art is that it can be open to personal interpretation.

What are your 5 favorite albums?

Favourites (or temporary obsessions, as I call them) come and go as our perception changes through the years – it would be unfair to choose only five favourites since so many albums have had an impact on me as a musician and human being. But if you need a quick ‘desert island’ list, I would go for A Night At The Opera by Queen, Wish by The Cure, This Is The Sea by The Waterboys, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and In a Silent Way by Miles Davis. To me, they’re all spiritual records of great beauty.