A Dirty Dozen with ALEX PALERMO from death pose – September 2023

According to a recent press release: “death pose are a brand new heavy-as-sh*t band from Chicago, IL. Originally known as big bird., the band formed in 2022 from the ashes of numerous punk/hardcore/indie bands including Typesetter, The Sky We Scrape, Little Teeth, etc. After quickly releasing a three-song EP, they supported heavy hitters like The Casket Lottery, Local H and Hum’s Matt Talbot, along with an appearance at Gainesville’s 20th anniversary of the legendary Fest. Additionally, death pose have confirmed a record release show in Chicago on October 20th along with an appearance at this year’s The Fest alongside Strike Anywhere, Death of a Nation and more. An east coast tour will be announced shortly.” We get bassist Alex to discuss new music, influences, and more.

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

This is our first LP as a band and it is called Midnight Society. We are very lucky to have a super solid team over at Brutal Panda Records putting this one out. I’d say a fun little nugget we have is the untitled track. It’s instrumental but has a nod to the “Are You Afraid of the Dark” intro song, features strange noise percussion such as license plates / coins / keys, and also is the same notes of the following song on the record, “Steady as Ever” just played slower.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Personally, my older brother was super into punk rock and he started to lend me CDs when I was still in elementary school. I immediately fell in love with the idea of embracing who you are unapologetically and being able to band together with other misfits and create a solid community.  I started touring straight out of high school and I haven’t looked back.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

This one is hard because i love so many different kinds of music. I’d say if I had to put it in a nutshell a band like AFI was really formative for me. They got me into the hardcore punk sound in the 90’s and then they transformed into something so much more and I stayed in love with that entire idea. Pushing the boundaries of music is really inspiring to me.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Robert Smith from The Cure. I probably don’t need to elaborate on that but as we all know he is just sort of the king of creativity so to be in a room with him would be insane from the jump.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

This band has been known to enjoy a nice cocktail or two, haha. I also love cooking up vegan dishes so that’s a big part of my down time, cooking!

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

We’ve been going with ‘heavy as shit’, ha! I think our sound covers a lot of bases when it comes to the pigeon-holing of a genre. Alternative, Metal, Hardcore, Punk, I think we kinda got all those vibes floating around. Luckily we’re such a new band that I haven’ seen much cringe but I’m sure that’s right around the corner.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

I’d say we’re all cooking but in different ways. I would probably take over since I’m the vegan and have needy needs. Jeff grows his own veggies so those would be in the mix for sure. Jason is great at making cocktails so we put him on that since Jeff and myself have to do that for a living already. As for the acoustic guitar… we’ll just leave it in the corner and crank up the vinyl records.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I was recently on a tour where I was the Tour Manager. Walton Goggins walked into the green room excited to meet the artist I was working for and I was like HOLY SHIIIIIIT! Uncle Baby Billy! Such an underrated actor.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Touring has always been such a cool thing. Getting to see the world, explore other cultures, etc. It’s hard work but its so rewarding in so many ways. It’s hard to imagine my life without being a musician but I’d probably own my own vegan spot.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I think asking about how your surroundings (where you grew up, etc.) affected your way of writing music is a good question. For me growing up down in St. Louis there’s all walks of life and all kinds of music. I think that made me more open minded and ready to make all kinds of music. I think the root of your band name is over done in interviews. It’s ok for one person to ask but after that its like GOOGLE IT! haha!

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

When I first started touring in bands we were kind of just winging it in every sense. If I could do it over I’d surely invest in buying new vans as opposed to many old ones. I would have also pitched my band more instead of just endlessly touring and expecting exposure to happen purely based on that. But you know, no regrets.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails has always been a fascinating record to me. There’s so much depth and wild production in there. Also none of it really feels forced to me. Trent Reznor is such a machine when it comes music so would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that one. It was one of the first times where I was like “whoa, this is punk but like not punk? cool!”

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Category: Interviews