I can’t remember how I came across Death Pedals, but I heard “Turn Off the Noise” from a live show and was curious enough to check them out. That was back in May of 2013, and now here they are with a new album – The Carvery – (their first) just released in December. I can say that The Carvery is in high rotation in my house (and in the car) at the moment.
Based out of London – Death Pedals are heavily involved in the London DIY community – inspired by the Dischord and SST attitude of bands and friends that support each others gigs. Thanks to Alex for taking the time to answer a few questions for us.
• We are originally from…..
Brighton, UK. Well two of us are, the other two are from Essex and Northamptonshire but they moved to Brighton, met us, and never looked back.
• The first time we met was…..
Love at first sight, and a little awkward.
• We knew we were going to be a Band when………
We built ourselves a practice room in a warehouse and thought it’d be wise to write some songs to play in it.
• Before starting the band we were employed as…….
I think we were students, or working freelance building and making stuff for people. Ironically, since starting the band two of us have got ourselves proper jobs, the other two are from Essex and Northamptonshire.
• The first song we wrote was…….
Not too bad, we don’t play it anymore though, it was called Spread Your Legs.
• It’s about……
Getting bored with your sexual relationship with your girlfriend, I wrote it and me and my girlfriend split up not long afterwards.
Reading about Death Pedals – names such as Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, and Rocket From the Crypt appear, but also The Bronx, Nirvana and The Hives. Having said that:
• Our sound might be best described as….
Riff-heavy, loud, fast, punk rock ‘n’ roll. We’re not too precious, we just take influences from bands like the ones you mention and accidentally turn it into our own sound. We write songs in about an hour and then ditch them just as quickly if they’re not any fun to play. If we’re not enjoying it live then why the fuck would anyone else?
• What we listen to on the tour bus (or van)…
All sorts, but also a lot of the same shit over and over as we forget to bring any new music with us and have to re-play all the cd’s in the van’s glove box. Exile On Main Street, The Bronx, Weezer, Distillers, QOTSA, Bo Diddley………..we should get that glove box collection up to date.
• For fun we like to…..
Play darts, pool, bar billiards, snap, pub golf, anything you can do easily with a beer in your hand. Other than that, playing rock ‘n’ roll music passes the time.
• The one thing we want you to remember while your listening to us……
Is that we know it’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but these days there ain’t much else to look forward to.
• Expect….. From us in 2014
Plenty more gigs, hopefully an EP, a couple of tours and a baby due about August.
• Any North American dates planned?
We’d love to but not yet, two of us are pushing in that direction by having North American girlfriends but the others aren’t interested, one day………….
Here’s the first video from the album
Just listen to Sharks Vs. Jets and go buy The Carvery
Death Pedals – Sharks vs. Jets
