Deadset were formed just last year, originally a product of guitarist James Massey and vocalist Sam Mellors, who discovered a genuine bond over writing together. Their sound was moulded into a more claustrophobic, gritty and tense direction when bassist Adam Arnold and drummer Rio Campbell joined, taking the classic indie sensibilities of the two original members into harsher new territories.
Deadset truly came to life when the band wrote as a group and embraced each other’s musical preferences, their influences now relying to an extent on alternative 80s and 90s bands. Influences being taken from bands such as New Order, Fontaines DC and Interpol.
Striving to be ever more progressive and unique, the band’s live sound is renowned for fluctuating between genres. Chorus laden and loaded with fuzz and grit.
New Deadset single “Bleak” encapsulates why Deadset is a band and what they want to achieve from it. The track, which was produced by Pat Pretorious (The Talks, Life, Counting Coins) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daft Punk), really feels like it is humming with the anxiety and fever that everyone feels around Hull.
It’s both a commentary on what they see and how they feel, looking at the social issues the band see in the area and how that’s impacted and twisted their lives. ‘We all want something to believe in’ is a feeling that resides in every member of Deadset. All feeling at times as if they’re stuck in a rut. Deadset being their opportunity to escape that rut.
“There’s a really prevalent mutual feeling about the area we all live in. Its rife with boredom and it feels like everyone’s stuck in mundane, monotonous cycles here”, says Sam Mellors. “Most people fall into traps of binge drinking or substance abuse to get away from it.
It’s really hard not to fall into that trap when there’s genuinely nothing else to do. There’s still a great community of people here, everyone trying to make it a special place and it will always be a special place to us. But it’s still difficult to get away from the fact a lot of people are struggling”, he further explains.
“Deadset became a band because we wanted to escape that cycle, dream of something better and create new horizons for ourselves. It’s our own escape from the depressing reality around here”, adds Adam Arnold.
