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It's a poke at us growing up in a super religious part of the country. It's just [about] the hypocrisies of the über-religious. -Hardy Morris on Dead Confederate's song "The Rat" |
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SOUTHERN ROCK?
 Hardy Morris - Dead Confederate |
The term "Southern Rock" has gotten a bit of a bad name in the past decade or so. Bands like The Drive-By Truckers, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Widespread Panic, Kings of Leon and many others including Dead Confederate (and even Canadian hero Neil Young straddles the line) play rock music influenced by the South but falling well outside the stereotypes of Confederate flags, straight-ahead/predictable guitar songs or, god forbid, being lumped with crossover artists like Kid Rock and Black Stone Cherry. It wasn't always this way. Back in the 1970s heyday when bands like the Allman Brothers still had Duane (although there's a strong argument for the quality of post-Duane Allmans, too) and Skynyrd still had Ronnie Van Zandt, when The Marshall Tucker Band, Little Feat and Dixie Dregs were pushing the boundaries of the genre, back then it was a patch you'd wear with pride. So it begs the question, coming from Georgia with the word "confederate" in their name, is Dead Confederate a southern rock band?
"We're making rock & roll and we live in the South so I guess at some point it has to be referred to as that, but no, I just think of it as a lot more personalized, emotional, artistic rock & roll. I don't really think of it as having a region," says Morris.
He makes a good point. You won't hear any covers of "Freebird," these aren't blues-based guitar progressions and you likely won't see any lighters in the air at a Dead Confederate gig. You're far more likely to see a healthy mix of hip indie rockers, older metal heads, adventurous jam fans and a fair share of whiskey-swillin' rockers from south of the Mason-Dixon line, all with eyes closed swaying back-and-forth to the distorted swells of sound.
 Dead Confederate |
"I don't think of us as much different than R.E.M. [another Athens band]," continues Morris. "We don't sound anything like R.E.M., but just the overall vibe and spirit [of our music] shares some similarities, and I don't think of them as Southern rock at all. I don't think anybody ever has."
When pushed about the name of his band, and if perhaps it's misleading, Morris shrugs it off, "I wanted something kind of dark and something kind of militant, but also I just thought it sounded like us." And as long as you don't get hung up on the "Confederate" imagery, he's damn right. There's a brooding sense of urgency and a timeless, vintage quality to their music - uncertain terrain where you can almost see a Civil War soldier sneaking over dead bodies on a deserted battlefield at dawn. Sometimes it's what you don't play and Dead Confederate instinctually leave vast chunks of space open. Reverberating guitars, shaking strings, rumbling bass and lingering thoughts all waft across foggy patches of earth. Cinematic, spooky and colored by Morris' shrieks, there's plenty of room for personal interpretation, but as Morris said, the music is always dark and often filled with the intensity of close-range combat.
In a time of glossy press shots, 30-second soundbites, assembled A&R "super groups" and singles prepped for shallow TV show placement, it's refreshing to get whacked over the head by a band like Dead Confederate. Funneling their diverse influences into a sonic maelstrom and bringing us back to the bloody knuckle D.I.Y. ethos that defined punk and grunge before they became marketing terms, Dead Confederate is the genuine article.
"We're just honest and no bullshit. And it comes through in our songs," says Morris. "We're not trying to kill you with our good looks. We don't sit down and try to write giant hooks. It's just very honest, from us to you, and that's the same way we would be if I met you face-to-face. Everybody in our band would shake your hand and say, 'Good to meet you,' because honestly, it is good to meet you."
Dead Confederate is on tour now, tour dates available here.
Dead Confederate - "The Rat"
Dead Confederate - Athens Georgia
Dead Confederate - "The Wrecking Ball" (Tripwire Session)
JamBase | Georgia
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