Montreal-based rock/metal powerhouses Deadly Apples recently released their new single, "Volatile," which will be on their upcoming album titled Distress.
"Volatile" is produced by Lamothe and mixed by Ben Grosse (Marilyn Manson, Depends Mode) with pre-production by Michael Beinhorn (Korn, Soundgarden.)
The track also features fellow industrial rockers Richard Patrick (Filter) on guest vocals and Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) on guitar and bass.
Known for their electrifying live performances, Deadly Apples have built a loyal audience eager to hear their new music.
Rock Life recently spoke with frontman/lyricist Alex Martel on the day the video for "Volatile" was released.
Rock Life: The video for your new single "Volatile" is out today. How did the track come together?
Alex Martel: Essentially, it's our first single in quite a long time. We spent nearly a year recording at a studio in Los Angeles. My bandmate Antoine Lamothe (drummer) produced the record and Ben Grosse mixed it. He's worked with everyone from Marilyn Manson to Depeche Mode and so many other great artists.
We also got Danny Lohner of Nine Inch Nails to do all the guitars and bass on the album including this song and Richard Patrick of Filter did some additional vocals on this track. It's a big moment for us to finally release the first song from the record, which will be called Distress and will be out this Summer.
RL: You knew Danny and Richard before this?
AM: Yeah, I had actually met Danny a few years ago through my old friend Fat Mike from NOFX. Danny wss working with Mike on his solo record. That's how I met him and I was obviously a big Nine Inch Nails fan.
When Mike actually invited me over to Danny's house where they were recording and I saw the Nine Inch Nails' Grammy just sitting there, it was pretty cool. We kept in touch and as for Richard, I had actually met him backstage at a show years ago, but I don't think he remembers that. He was basically following Deadly Apples on Instagram and saw we were working with Danny, who he knew and also Ben Grosse,who produced and mixed the first five Filter albums. That's how he got involved with this track. He came by the studio and is the nicest guy and even took us out on tour with Filter.
RL: You are already getting some solid traction for the video. It came out really well. Can you talk about the process of putting it together?
AM: Basically, the video was created by Antoine, who has worked in the film industry here in Montreal for a long time. For instance, he did the streaming footage for tours for several artists including Celine Dion, Rush and Avenged Sevenfold. He has the experience and is very talented in that regard.
We also put together a solid team to make it happen and also collaborated with the Montreal latex, fetish and BDSM communities for the aesthetic that we wanted. It's a great feeling to know it's finally out.
RL: It definitely has that early nineties alternative feel to it. Have you seen fans responding to that?
AM: Yeah, I feel in general, a lot of the music from the nineties is making a comeback. A lot of younger kids who have Tiktok have discovered this genre of music and are super into it. That's the kind of music we enjoy and I guess what we're trying to do is create a potentially modern, relevant version of that sound to hopefully bring back the sense of danger that is missing in today's music.
It feels like everything now is so generic and safe. The danger and unpredictability that used to be in rock is missing. That's something we've been told is present in our live shows. We are proud to bring that back. Our shows are intense and chaotic.
RL: What can people expect from the new album?
AM: It's called Distress and there are twelve tracks. It's a very, very dark record. There are lots of heavy songs, but also a few songs that are a bit softer. Even though the current climate is essentially singles, it was important to us to actually have an album that if listened from beginning to end would take you on a journey and tell a story and all fit together.
The songs still work individually and that's fine for the people who listen to it that way, but for the diehard music fans who are more old school and enjoy full albums then they can have that too. It's important to us to make a comprehensive work.
RL: What can fans expect on a live stage during this album run?
AM: Chaos and intense, energetic shows. We've already announced the first festival we're going to do is Vivo Ex L Rock in Peru on Marçh 29 with Marilyn Manson and Avenged Sevenfold among others. That's going to be really huge and we're confirmed for a few other festivals that haven't been announced yet. We're also waiting on different tour confirmations, but we'll definitely be out there later this year.
RL: You have gotten to go out with a lot of big names over the years.
AM: Yeah, we've definitely been fortunate in that regard. We did a few tours with Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. We grew up listening to that music. Also Korn taking us out in Japan and Deftones in Mexico and South America. I could go on,but it's definitely been a great feeling to just get those endorsements from artists that we grew up listening to.
RL: And what's the plan for the rest of the year?
AM: Until the album is released this Summer, we're going to release a new track every five to six weeks. Some of them will have music videos and we've actually made a second video already for a single called "Sacrifice," which will be out in April. We're actually planning to shoot two additional videos so that will be our main focus.
Comments