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Deadlife | An Interview

Synthronicity: Few artists capture me the way this guy does. A rather prolific part of most discerning Playlists I'm sure but his music invokes imagery and swims in depth. If Synthwave has my heart then Darksynth is in my blood and Deadlifes tracks I genuinely re-visit daily. Grabbing this interview with him was such a thrill, he's not one for words as such as he lets the music do the talking as cliche as that sounds! Read on....

 

Socially you seem like an amiable, cool guy, why the name ‘Deadlife’ for your project?


There's a few reasons, but the main one was that when I was starting to produce, I was

in a really low place. I spent years between 2012 and 2017 learning to make electronic

music after a series of pretty horrible things. I had to start from the very bottom and

work my way up again, and sometimes it felt like I was kind of being reborn, back from

the dead or something.


Courtesy of Tour Fiend Travel and Entertainment - Interviewed by Jak Syn


What is your creative process like? On average how long does it take to lay down a

track?


I start by playing with chords, and when I find some chords I like the song almost writes

itself. I usually have an idea as to what vibe I want the song to be as I'm writing it, and I

aim toward that. I'd say to get the basics of a song down it can take about 6 to 8 hours

now, then I may tweak it over time. If I can't get the main structure of a song down in a

few hours I usually just move on and do something new.


I, myself am very drawn towards the mood the Dark Synth artists portray and your

aesthetics seem to marry with the music perfectly, how are you sourcing the Artwork

for your releases?


Its been different depending on the release. Ariel was an obvious first choice because I'd

already spoken to him a fair bit and I liked his style and work ethic. Tony on the other

hand was shown to me by New Retro Wave, and I love his stuff and how he entwines his

art with my music. Atomcyber was something else completely, I've admired his work for

some time now, and when the opportunity arose for him to do City of Eternal Rain, I

leapt at the chance to get him on board. All these guys are really talented, I'm lucky to

have been able to work with them. I'm very picky about my art ha-ha.




You seem to display a hugely strong work ethic with consistent fantastic releases

seemingly one after another, or at least that how it feels?


I love writing electronic music. I'm fortunate that all I need is to hear a certain synth or

sound, and it inspires me to write a track. Sometimes I'll watch something or play a

game and it inspires me to do a track based on the emotion I feel, or the image I see in

my head. I guess its just down to habit, taking breaks, and doing things non-music

related to keep my mind fresh.


If you could open any show which artist/s would it be for? Why?


There's a lot of these... But I'll go with a non-darksynth... Nine Inch Nails, because...

Yeah.



Who are the bands/artists that have inspired Deadlife over time?


Mostly game soundtracks from the late 90s and early noughties. Unreal Tournament,

Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and a lot of movie

soundtracks such as those by Vangelis and Clint Mansell. I've also been inspired by

artists like Justice, deadmau5, Perturbator and Lorn. There are so many musical artists I

listen to that its really hard to pinpoint them.


Vangelis

Perturbator



What do you think the secret to your continuing success has been?


I wouldn't say I'm qualified to say this as I still work full time and I have no illusions of

success, but I will say that I know I've been very lucky to get such a dope listener base in

a relatively short period of time. I think the main thing is to work hard and always strive

to improve. And most importantly I write music that I want to hear.


In your entire Discography which track or album are you most proud of?


Strands Unravel. I took a risk with parts of it and was using reversed cello samples, I

didn't know if people would dig it but they seem to, and I'm really proud of that. In

fairness I rarely ever write songs or records and think people will like them, I'm always

surprised when people do.



Will we be lucky enough to catch Deadlife on the circuit in 2021?


Absolutely.


What is a day off for Deadlife like? Or is that a concept you entertain given how prolific

you are with releases?


If I'm not writing I'm at work, but if I'm not at work I'm usually hanging with my house

mate or playing some game. At the moment I'm playing Last of Us 2, its very intense. I

also play a bit of Final Fantasy XIV if I want to chill.



Is there any artist on the scene currently you’re enjoying or would like to collaborate

with?


Perturbator, he's a great dude and I'd love to collab with him, not sure if that'll ever

happen though. He's a great guy, it'd be dope, but we'll see. I should probably reach out

but I'm too much of a wuss with things like that.



Can you tell us a bit more about your current projects and what we can expect from you

in the future?


Presently I'm taking a small writing break to recuperate. But I have more planned for the

near future, you'l see.


A message for your fans?


The concept of having fans is a bit jarring to me, so I'll just say I don't deserve you! But

seriously thank you for being there and listening to my stuff. I'll never feel worthy of it,

but it does make my day reading nice comments and messages.



Please consider supporting Deadlife via the following links:


https://www.facebook.com/deadlifecorps/


https://open.spotify.com/artist/6YAOorJSNGWyH8m9N7cDeX?si=KfjJkp4GS_iKFT49e1q76A


https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/city-of-eternal-rain - Catch my review of this brilliant release under the Album Review Tab


Forged in Neon would like to publicly thank Deadlife for his time to complete this interview!


#interview #music #darksynth #gaming

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