Dead Shades will take to the stage this weekend, an event that has been some time coming.
“This is going to be our first show in two and a half years,” says drummer Crystle ‘Fleepwood Mac’ Fleper, “and I don't think we have anything on the calendar for maybe the next six months.”
A move south was the catalyst for the enforced hiatus. “I relocated to Melbourne, in 2013, about a month after we recorded our EP. Lack of being at the same place at the same time have stopped us from doing shows, but it doesn't mean that [the band is] dead in the water.”
The one-off show at The Bearded Lady will also serve as the start for the band's crowd-funding plans to press their ‘Garage A Trois’ EP on vinyl. “We're launching a Kickstarter around the time of the gig to see if we can convince our friends to pre-order some vinyl, and we're gonna press 100 or so little 7-inches... We have four, little tunes that we really like and that we think would sound a lot cooler on an LP than just floating around SoundCloud."
According to Crystle, the new songs are little less refined in terms of editing in post-production, with more fun and a little bit more craftsmanship. But still with the same kind of vibe as their last EP, ‘Sea Shandies’.
If you’ve read anything about Dead Shades before, chances are you might've picked up on their love for shandies. And the answer to the obsession? It was an in-joke that started early on, because to make the beers included in their rider drinkable, the only solution was to add lemonade. “As much as we do bang on about partying a lot, we are still fairly responsible and all have day jobs,” Crystle ensures.
“But when we do cut loose it is essentially just three Brisbane bogans sitting around, consuming as much beer as possible and then heading to the nearest late-night restaurant for a feed.”
Dead Shades play The Bearded Lady 17 October. Every punter who attends will score themselves a free copy of 'Sea Shandies'.
