Simon RushworthCanadian rockers Theory of a Deadman have been through it all during their 15 year career, taking it all in with a smile and a heavy riff.
They play Newcastle University tonight on the first night of their UK tour, and Russell Hughes caught up with frontman Tyler Connolly ahead of the band’s latest run.
RUSHONROCK: What are your impressions of Newcastle/what have you heard about it?
TYLER CONNOLLY: We’ve been there before and we love it! They’re great people, the Geordies!
RUSHONROCK: The Newcastle show is the first in your UK tour, do you prepare differently than for your shows in Russia?
TC: Not really, we change the setlist a little bit for UK fans to cater to what they want to hear.
RUSHONROCK: For anyone in the city who hasn’t seen you play, what can they expect?
TC: Well, it’ll be a really fun rock show that I recommend everyone comes out to see! We’ll play songs from all five of our albums. There’ll be something for everyone.
RUSHONROCK: What are your favourite parts from the new album?
TC: I enjoy the heavy songs, those are always fun to play. ‘Blow’ is also one of my favourites right now too.
RUSHONROCK: A lot of your songs cover relationships and the how they can break down – are you a bit of a hopeless romantic?
TC: Oh, definitely. Inside I just wanna find THE ONE like everyone else does.
RUSHONROCK: And are songs like Angel emotionally difficult for you to write?
TC: No, but they are therapeutic. Sometimes I have to go back and take a listen to a song to really grasp what I was trying to say when I wrote it. Sometimes I say, “Man, that’s really sad”.
RUSHONROCK: How has the music business, especially rock music, changed since you’ve been a band.
TC: We’ve seen the disappearance of the “rock star”. People stopped asking us if we do blow and hookers because they’ve finally realized that just doesn’t happen anymore. The internet has changed everything. It’s so powerful and really helps us get to fans in countries we never would have had our music in before.
RUSHONROCK: Do you think you’ve been unfairly pigeonholed because some of your big hits have been a bit of a party rock anthems?
TC: Maybe a little. Honestly, we’ve had great success with the slower songs throughout our career, but we’ve definitely enjoyed the success of the more fun songs too.
RUSHONROCK: Was it a conscious decision to go in the more serious direction with Savages?
TC: Totally. We can’t write another Bad Girlfriend and would never try. We started out as a serious rock band, so it was natural to go back to that sound.
RUSHONROCK: Your Valentine’s Day social media posts were great! Who thought of those?
TC: Ha! Management and myself talked it through and tried to figure out ideas with the record label to come up with something funny. I can’t remember who actually thought of that though. Those are our real bods too!
RUSHONROCK: What was it like working with Alice Cooper?
TC: Really great. I got to fly down to his house and watch him record his parts. He’s such a great guy. It was too bad I didn’t have a chance to get a round of golf in with him!
RUSHONROCK: Blow seemed to be about getting things off your chest, but what else do you want to vent about?
TC: The list is too long, hehe! Nah, as long as people know I’m not angry and just having fun, it’s all good. I’m trying to be more optimistic these days. It’s my New Year’s resolution! Oh yeah, New Year’s resolutions…..those suck!