Staying fairly close to home with today’s Headline Act. Hailing from around these sceptered isles (plus the beautiful country of Romania) are Deadwing…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Dragos: We are all from different parts of the world. Scotland, England, Wales and Romania.
How did you meet?
Dragos: We met at University in Manchester.
Jack: I was in a band with Jake before Deadwing, he showed me some early Deadwing demos and said he was starting a new band with Ellie. They asked if I wanted to be in the band, and I really liked how they sounded so I was really happy to have been asked.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Ellie: We’ve been a band since mid to late 2019 with Dragos, but officially since 2018. It feels like so much longer but at the same time it’s not really been that long at all especially with a year long pandemic in the middle of all of it!
Before you get sick of being asked… Where does the band name come from?
Dragos: Our band is named after a Porcupine Tree album.
Ellie: It was my idea, all me, 100% mine.
What are your influences?
Ellie: I’m personally influenced by a little bit of everything. Whether that’s feelings, situations, other music.
Jack: Bands like Tool, Karnivool and Elder have been a big influence on me.
Dragos: I grew up being a massive proghead. Bands like Dream Theater and Tool were my religion for a good few years. Also, growing up in Romania, the alternative rock scene there had a big impact on me, most notably bands like Vita de Vie and Alternosfera. More recently I’ve really been into everything that Chris Cornell has touched: Soundgarden, Audioslave and his solo stuff. All these influences come across in my songwriting style and they shine through our songs.
Jake: I love to combine Neil Peart’s complex drum parts and John Bonham’s power as a drummer. Marillion know how to structure a song beautifully and I take so much inspiration from them as a songwriter. This all comes together to make Deadwing drum parts.
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Ellie: I think our music is quite theatrical and honest. What makes us unique is our complete opposition against acting differently to suit a particular image or sound. If we want to wear something or sound a particular way, we will do it.
Jack: I’d probably say that our sound is quite unique, each of our songs pull from different influences. We never seem to fit in just one category.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Ellie: The lyrics tend to either be about something I’m upset or ionate about at the time, or they will be focused on a particular idea or story. I do tend to struggle to write happy songs though.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Ellie: I can’t say I an exact number, but we’ve played quite a few by now. I’d say our live show was quite dramatic and intense. The last one we did at Satans was great for me at least, because we tried out In Ear Monitoring for the first time.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Jack: We had a gig at Blossoms in Stockport where we had our first mosh pit, that was pretty exciting to see.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Ellie: A cheap tambourine and a trusty sm58 at the minute! I’m thinking about getting a different mic though…
Dragos: As I’m left handed, the options are very limited, at the moment I play a PRS SE Custom 24.
Jack: I play a Fender modern player jazz bass with humbuckers, running into lots of pedals.
Jake: Ludwig kit in red sparkle, with big PHAT kick drum and Paiste 2002 cymbals. Promark sticks and dw pedals, all painstakingly chosen over years of trying different things. I’m totally happy with my current setup.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Dragos: At the moment we are promoting our next single, “The Faceless”, out on the 8th of October!
Ellie: This single feels like a change of gear for us, so it’s all quite exciting.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Dragos: We are just finishing writing a new single, and gearing up to enter the studio with it.
Ellie: We’re also wanting to gig loads. It’s been too long! We’ve written so much more new music and are dying to go out and play it.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be ing and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Jake: I’d love to Elder, they’re cool as fuck. And I’d absolutely love to play alongside Scruffy Bear again. My brother is in that band and our first gig was with them. I’ve learned so much from them in the past few years
Jack: A dream band for me to would be Karnivool who are a big influence, and a band to us would have to be our mates in HWY (Facebook, Instagram) who are a local band from Manchester that we’ve played with before.
Ellie: Hmmmm I think I’d absolutely love to Marillion. Me and Jake saw them in Manchester a couple of years ago and they had an orchestra, it was phenomenal. To us I reckon I’d ask InTechnicolour, we played a gig with them recently and they were awesome!
Check out 2021’s Headline Act Playlist on Spotify and YouTube
Deadwing: facebook | instagram | spotify | youtube
