Artist Spotlight: Dead Rabbits

Taking a cue from The Ramones, Dead Rabbits strive to keep their music simple and honest. In the short time that this Atlanta-based rock duo has been together, they have garnered multiple comparisons to big names in music, including Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, and The Black Keys. Dead Rabbits play bluesy garage rock with noticeable classic rock overtones, as evidenced in the standout track “Freedom” from their album The Rabbit That Roared. The hooks and raw energy transmitted by vocalist/guitarist Joshua DeRosa on this track are genuine and fervent, while drummer Lucas Fuentes explodes concisely alongside, giving the song no room to exist as an artifact of influence.

Though DeRosa and Fuentes have played together for years in other bands, they’ve only been a two-piece since 2009. Because of their history, the duo has found it easy to make honest music based on the comfort level they share with each other. DeRosa explains, “We understand each other without having to explain a lot – we know each other’s styles, so we can write and it is just free flowing.” The guys grew up in a small town in north Georgia, where they describe the local music as mostly hardcore or metal. Instead of becoming engrossed in that scene, they drew much of their inspiration simply from being out in the country, which in turn helped them create a more unique sound, because they lacked any direct influences.

Dead Rabbits independently released their first album, The Rabbit That Roared earlier this year. The band had a lot of recording experience from their time in other groups. DeRosa reveals, “I worked with Phil Abbate at Woodridge Studios recording other bands. From just working with Phil, I picked up on how to get different sounds and I knew before we recorded that I wanted our album to sound dirty and under-produced.” DeRosa visited plenty of nice studios with his former band, Royal Family, where they lost most of their creative control over the recordings when the studio insisted on a cleaner sound. With Dead Rabbits, DeRosa and Fuentes had total control over the entire recording process, mixing and producing the entire record themselves at Woodridge. They even opted out of allowing a printer to do the work on their album’s cover art. Instead, each album cover was handmade by the band with cardboard and black paint.

The band just wrapped up an extensive U.S. tour of the South and Northeast, making it the first time they took their sound up the coast. Even with only two band members, Dead Rabbits manage to keep a full and layered sound in their live set. DeRosa discloses, “I rely a lot on my tone control to get a darker, fuller sound.”

Fuentes’ main goal when playing live is to grab people’s attention. “I’ve found that making such a huge sound out of such a small drum kit tends to turn heads. We’re firm believers in the whole ‘less is more’ theory and I try to play my drums in a way that reflects that. Also, we like to write music that grabs your attention and doesn’t let the listener realize that there isn’t a bass or a second guitar. It’s all about keeping the audience interested in what is there, instead of what isn’t.”

The group received overwhelmingly positive feedback throughout their tour, and found the most inspiration up North where they felt welcomed by the (sometimes frigid) local music scenes.

Dead Rabbits are sticking around home for a while, getting back into the studio and working on a video release. A new EP is in the works, with a tentative release date set before the end of the year. While these efforts will keep them from touring, they have booked a few out-of-state shows for the end of the year and continue to look around for management. Dead Rabbits have made fans out of music critics with their first release and have gained new fans across the East Coast following their tour.

Their song “Help Me” was recently featured in a short film by Jason Hawkins titled YardByrds. The guys conclude, “We’re working on keeping up this momentum.”

http://www.myspace.com/killthedeadrabbit

By: Nadia Lelutiu