Pennsylvania-based Dead End Path has made a lot of noise with their debut Death Walks Beside Us 7" on Triple B Records. Their in your face style of hardcore backed up by some heavy-ass riffing and breakdowns has not gone unnoticed and shows and tours with some of the best current hardcore bands soon followed. I am sure most of you are looking forward to their upcoming album which is also due on Triple B, and if you wanna learn more about the band and its future plans, check out this interview.
Pennsylvania-based Dead End Path has made a lot of noise with their debut Death Walks Beside Us 7" on Triple B Records. Their in your face style of hardcore backed up by some heavy-ass riffing and breakdowns has not gone unnoticed and shows and tours with some of the best current hardcore bands soon followed. I am sure most of you are looking forward to their upcoming album which is also due on Triple B, and if you wanna learn more about the band and its future plans, check out this interview.Let us begin! Intros are needed, what is your name/role in the band?
I am Uriah and I sing for Dead End Path. Foose plays bass, Ryan plays guitar, Jason plays drums and Ian plays guitar.
How did the Dead End Path form?
We started up from an idea Foose and I had. We wanted to start a band that was a mix of all the bands we loved. Outburst, Breakdown, etc. It all came together pretty quick actually. I went on tour with a friends bands for a couple weeks in the summer of 2009 and when I got back the demo was pretty much written. We practiced a few times then recorded our demo Sept. 1st 2009 and played our first show Sept. 24th 2009 with Foundation at the Black Lodge in Kingston PA. That's pretty much it. It's been a really fun and eye opening experience...
What is the story behind the bands name?
No story really, we had a long list of names. Dead End Path always really stuck out, it's a great Merauder song obviously but I think it has more meaning than that. If I didn't have this band, I feel like it the dead end path would be an easy one to take. It's a pretty hopeful and positive name to me actually now that I'm thinking about it.
Are any of the members in other projects?
Naw not really, at least not at the moment. This band is pretty time consuming and our name focus right now. I'd love to start a more straight forward hardcore band, just for fun and to play locally. But I think I speak for everyone when I say DEP is our main focus right now. Foose, Jason, our friend Maddod (bass player of Stick Together) and I were in a NYHC hardcore cover band a couple summers ago called Jail Of Depression, we covered Cro-Mags, Outburst, Warzone and Breakdown. That was fun haha.
What bands influence you guys?
Like I said early on our influences were pretty straight forward, just a hardcore band influenced by other hardcore bands. Outburst, Breakdown, Madball, Merauder and Biohazard were all big influences on the demo. While writing Death Walks Beside Us, we were all really into Alice In Chains, Only Living Witness, Metallica, Leeway and Mobb Deep. I think all of those influences reer their heads in some way or any other on the record. For our new record, It's been a year since we wrote the 7" so all our of tastes have expanded even further. Burn, Death, Meshuggah, and Dismember were all influences musically on the new record. More of a darker sounding record. Everyone in the band has a really open and eclectic taste in music so we have alot of different influences to pool from. It's really cool honestly, it makes things not so predictable haha
What song means the most to you and why?
This is a hard question. I'd have say the song "Faith/Void" off our new LP probably has the "most" meaning, it was kind of a hard song to write. It's just about losing someone close to me and being really angry about it and not knowing why the people I loved were being put through this. Deliver Us... is about something specific that happened to me, so that one is tough. There are a couple songs about my dad, and some about growing up in the trailer park. Everyone song has a meaning to me and mean the most to me in their own way. I guess it's kind of a cop out answer but it's the truth.
You guys are doing a pretty big tour with Title Fight, Touche Amore, and The Menzingers soon, how do you feel being the only “heavy” band on the tour?
Yeah dude, really excited about this tour actually. We definitely are the most ignorant band on the tour haha. Umm I think in certain places it might be a little bit awkward, but we've tour a few times and have friends in most of the places we're playing so at least if all else fails they'll make us feel at home. I'm really not too worried about it. I think DEP will be a nice change of pace, every band is soo different from one another I really don't see anyone being bored the entire time. Plus Title Fight are our best friends and we've known the Menzingers dudes for awhile so it'll be fun hanging with all of our friends. I think the people that haven't heard of us before this tour will be into us. I have faith
What can kids expect to see at a live show?
Hmm that's a hard question - well usually you can expect me to be wearing something ridiculous on stage ala a sleeveless sweatshirt, you can count on Foose moshing the kids in the front row while he's playing, you can expect Ian's amp to screeching and squealing the whole time, you can expect Ryan and Foose getting pissed at him for it, you can expect Jason just feeling the vibe and you can expect me laughing at all of them. Honestly though, I just want people to have a good time. Everyone is there for the same reason, to have fun so that's kind of the philosophy we go by. No violence, no bullshit, just fun. Stage dive, sing along, mosh yourself into a frenzy and be excellent to each other.
What is your discography so far?
Our demo came out in December 2009 on Collapse Records and is out of /300. Out 7" came out the summer of 2010 on BBB records and is out of /1000 and our new LP is coming out on BBB records and is out of /1000.
Any new releases coming up?
As I mentioned we have a new LP coming out this summer on Triple B Records. It still doesn't have a title but I can promise you it is our best material to date. I'm really excited for people to hear it. I think it's great.
What is the most memorable show you have played?
Most memorable show would have to be Richmond VA on our winter tour with Stick Together. It was probably the 5th time we had played Richmond but the vibe was just incredible and our set was actually bonkers. Definitely one of the best sets we've ever played. Also United Blood a couple weeks ago was amazing for us. This is tough, there are alot of good shows that we've played.
Most memorable show you have attended?
Damn, hmm. Frostbites last show was one of the coolest shows I've ever been to. Lifetime,Cold World and War Hungry played a show together in 2007 and that was incredible. Any Title Fight show in WB is great. Any Title Fight show period. Anytime seeing UNDERDOG is great. They're my favorite band.
I personally am from California, where are you guys from? How is it different show wise?
We're from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It's about two hours north of Philadelphia. We have a great hardcore scene here right now. Between the WB kids, the Scranton kids, the Philly kids, and the NY/NJ kids, it's great. Alot of different types of kids coming to shows and supporting every band. It's a great time for hardcore. The only major difference i've ever noticed between east coast and west coast kids is circle pitting. We're not really accustomed to that here haha.
Thanks for your time, any final thoughts/shout outs?
Thank you Jeff and HBFV for doing this interview, it was great. Shout out's to all of our friends everywhere. Check out the new Title Fight record "Shed", check out Lifeless and Not Til Death. Make sure to get the new War Hungry, Disengage, Stick Together and United Youth records when they drop and last but not least check out our new record when it drops this summer. Catch us on the Title Fight tour!
Interview done by Jeffrey Wang!
