The Best Guide for the B36 Area

An Interview With The Dead Betas

Who is answering the questions?

Tobias Monsters and Aidan Sugaboi.

Can you tell us a little bit about the formation of The Dead Betas?

The Dead Betas

The Dead Betas formed when Aidan was due to record my failed acoustic band, I forgot to tell him not to come over and turned up to my house, I told him it was all over and he asked me to appear on his electronic solo project, and for the next 3 weeks, we drank rum, wrote music and recorded to electronic backing tracks! About 3 months later we pulled in a band for our live sound.

As a musician, when was it that you decided that this is what you wanted to do with your life?

Tobias: I had just split from a long term realtionship, I had screwed up college and was stuck living life as a builder... so it was all i had to live life to it's full, and I went nuts making it happen. Trust me, when you have nothing else going for you, music becomes your life!

So how did you guys get to the band name The Dead Betas?

Basically, old punks were known as Dead Beats and when you are diabetic (which aidan is) your Beta cells in your pancreas die... and so, The Dead Betas.

For unfamiliar readers, can you tell them what you sound like?

Well, we've been described as "Ritalin-dodging, adrenaline-fuelled, synth-smashing, electronic-smattered punks" but we call it synth-punk, like UK Subs and Black Flag meets Mindless Self Indulgence and Duran Duran.

What band have you enjoyed touring the most with since your formation and why?

Call The Doctor, they are like female fronted jerky girl punk band, and they are just the nicest people we've ever had the pleasure of being involved with, I think there is a band romance for life, we hope to record in the spring and one of our songs needs a female vocal, Patti (Call The Doctor front woman) is a prime candidate for the part! Best band in Bristol!

As an upcoming band, what makes you stand out above the rest?

We work like no-one else we know, we have a bit of a monopoly on the North Devon music scene with our promotions company Black Hole which has given us contacts UK wide. We've always been as DIY as possible with our recordings and gigs and still manage to get some great slots. Our mix of old school punk and modern synth is exciting and we give it the s**t on stage, we've left many an audience terrified but wanting more! Our ability to put together a 21 day UK tour and pull it off with no help showed the haters that when you want it like we do, you can do it!

In a kind of reference to the last question, what would you say is the hardest factor about being in an upcoming band?

Touring is hard, it's almost impossible to bleed money out of promoters for a gig in a Betas virgin town. And we really are skint! Most of all, it's getting people to care about what we do. The competition is vast, so whether it's talent, stage presence or promotional tallent you really need something to stand out.

Aidan: I have never met anyone that can twist the truth blag like Tobias, if that boy needs something done for us, he'll find a way to do it.

What track of yours currently means the most to you and why?

Bideford College is one of our well known songs locally, having been banned from bandcamp it's a controvertial one. Basically, we were in full support of an anti bullying campaign that had arrisen in the school we both attended and we wrote an all out offensive and confrontational song to make a point. We come from a rough little town overun with kids beating up "emos" for a laugh and it was time for a change.  And the fact the song was aimed at the local schools' inability to help the cause actually pulled together all the kids into something they could all laugh at. So whether you were a chav or an emo, you could laugh at the song, creating a common ground for everyone... which also royally annoyed the school, and strangely enough made them up the anti bullying game!

As 2011 has just ended, looking back now, can you give us one or two of your proudest achievements from that year?

One of our proudest moments of 2011 was getting back off a 21 day UK tour to tell people it was a success. We were told time and time again it would be rubbish and we would never pull it off without proper management and a PR company and we managed to pull it off. Just before we went on tour we walked round all of our local towns with a money box asking for donations to help us pay for petrol and stuff, we made enough money to pay for half our fuel because so many local businesses and people knew us from running Black Hole and giving their sons, daughters and other relatives gig slots. So when we came home after a successful tour and hundreds of new fans, having nearly sold out of 7" vinyl eps and t-shirts, we were able to say this band from the middle of nowhere did something!

What do you want 2012 to do for the status of The Dead Betas?

We would love to get playing a few festivals, tour a couple more times and play to new people! We just want you to listen to what we have to offer! If by the end of 2012 we can say, we played a couple festivals, did our 2nd UK tour and have a few new fans, we'll be happy! If we can be millionaires with an album in every CD player in the country we'll be happier!

For more information on The Dead Betas you can check out their facebook page here: www.facebook.com/thedeadbetas.

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