Musician Interview With Rob Roy of Dead By Wednesday
July 12, 2019 — We recently chatted with Rob Roy frontman of the band Dead By Wednesday about a number of topics. Below is what Rob Roy had to say to us:
Need406: Can you tell us how Dead By Wednesday decided on its band name?
Rob Roy: "Dead by Wednesday" was a touring lingo used by my Drummer Opus back in his "G-Soul" days. They did some heavy touring and used the phrase together and it stuck in Opus' head when he started his next project DBW.
Needob406: Dead By Wednesday recently released an eponymous album. Why did the band decide to go the self-titled route with this album?
Rob Roy: We decided to self title this album because the band has gone through such a maturation process along with the member changes that now that we've found what we feel to be "the lineup" we felt the band deserved a chance to say "This is Dead by Wednesday." I truly feel we bring a lot to the table in terms of making rock and metal fans happy. There are songs on this album that virtually anyone could like and songs that even a "techy" metal head can get in to. I'm proud of the way we really explored and reached our musical tendrils out on this album but still stayed true to ourselves. That takes balls.
Need406: How many songs did the band have going into the studio and how did Dead By Wednesday decide which songs would make the album and which one(s) would not?
Rob Roy: We literally had one acoustic song when we first hit the studio. There's lots of ways to do it but we pieced this album together as it came to us naturally and freely. We would usually do it in chunks for financial reasons but Opus & I wrote "You & Die" Just me and him playing acoustic shortly after I joined the band in 2015, and when we did an acoustic tour with Rizzo from ex-Ill Nino/Soulfly he came into the studio at the end and helped us translate it into a more metallic form from the original melodies. When Nicky Bellmore (Producer/Drummer - Toxic Holocaust/Dee Snider) got his hands on it it morphed into something we felt special about. After that the rest of the album came in three-song chunks of development.
Need406: Dead By Wednesday has 12 tracks on it. How did the band decide the track order of the album?
Rob Roy: Lucky for me, the band kinda let me run free with that with some input from the guys; Which I appreciated since I wrote the lyrics for the entire album and wanted to give it a certain flow between lyrics referencing broader world subjects as well as personal subjects.
Need406: Can you tell us something about the creation process of Dead By Wednesday that you haven’t told anyone else on planet earth yet?
Rob Roy: We don't cut songs. We kinda weed things out before it becomes "a song," I guess. Once we follow the rabbit hole through the other end of a song I think we at that point have devoted artistic selves unto it enough to see it through. There was one song on the recent album I personally wanted to cut but that was it and I was outvoted 3 to 1 so lost that one (laughs).
Need406: Can we get your thoughts on what the song “You and Die” is about?
Rob Roy: That song is very personal to me and very heartfelt. It is written about a lost love in all timeframes of the relationship literally real time, which I think makes it special. The beginning of the lyrical composition was written during the happy phase of that relationship, and so forth to the point where - as the song matures, the lyrics are coming from the maturing and eventually demise of the relationship. Most love songs are written after the fact or during - one or the other - not both which makes it a cool piece. The thesis of the song is that people change and although it can be painful to lose someone, in the end there's no one to blame. If your direction is shaped and changed for the better by someone brushing your life, there is no need to be angry or sad in the end.
Need406: How did director Jessica Spinelli help Dead by Wednesday craft the video for You and Die into the vision the band had for it when the recording process started?
Rob Roy: She was awesome and basically once I explained the meaning of my words to her, we worked together to craft it into a condensed 4 1/2 minute version.
Need406: Which song off Dead By Wednesday most strikes home with you and why?
Rob Roy: Lyrically I'd have to say "Darwin's Dance" has the most poetic meaning to me, but vocally I felt my best performance was on "(un)FTW." I hadn't recorded for 10 years before starting this album so there was a learning curve but I felt like I found a great sound on that track..
Need406: Which song(s) off Dead By Wednesday do you like to perform live and why?
Rob Roy: Manimal is definitely my favorite song that was recently added to our live set list. I also feel (un)FTW is one of our best live tracks. Smelling Salts has been great to reel line the thrash lovers as well!
Need406: If you look at the charts on any given day in 2019 you won’t see many songs on it from heavy metal artists. Do you were starting to see the end of heavy metal as a popular genre of music?
Rob Roy: Hell fucking no! Metal is alive and well. We just need people to buy records more. That goes for all genres though for sure. If people all went out and bought a record from their top 10 favorite musicians once a year the industry would be alive and well.
Need406: Where do you see Dead By Wednesday say five years from now?
Rob Roy: Hopefully pushing the boundaries on another album cycle or two!
Need406: What venue(s) in Massachusetts are you jonesing to perform at?
Rob Roy: Paradise [Rock Club] or Middle East, really anywhere in Boston. That town is hard to get into for acts like us who are kinda caught between the major big time worldwides and semi-national acts.
Dead By Wednesday is from New Haven, CT. Dead By Wednesday is: Rob Roy (Vocals). Opus (Drums/Vocals), Mike Modeste (Bass/Vocals) and Dave Sharpe (Guitar). Their self-titled album is on Combat Records and is available at all the usual outlets.
DEAD BY WEDNESDAY LINKS: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM