EB and the Deadlights 05/10/22
MM: Tell us about EB & The Deadlights and where you draw your inspirations and ideas from
Ethan: I originally started the band as a side project to a deathcore band I was in, which isn't exactly something I listen to although I do like a few bands. My bread and butter was always acts like Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie and as controversial as he may be at the minute Marilyn Manson, as well as a healthy dose of Stephen King and all other sorts of horror away from music, so I wanted to have some form of outlet to show my love of that side of art. When this got going and we started writing the last ep it just felt too special to not make into a full-fledged band, and even though there's been a few lineup changes there are still few things in life I enjoy more than playing these songs and working on this band.
MM: What would you say is your Band's favourite song?
Ethan: I'm going to take this as our favourite song to play. I think everyone's different, there's a lot of new ones that are really fun to play but out of the ones that are released for me it'd either be unmarked grave or still see ghosts. Unmarked Grave is just so heavy and a really fun one to throw yourself about to, Ghosts on the other hand is an extremely personal song for me that always hits deep with me and the audience so it's always a treat live.
MM: Your plans for the rest of 2022 tour wise
Ethan: nothing this year although we have a big release planned for next year and we will be making our way over to the UK if all goes to plan!
MM: What can we expect from you live and do you ever do live feeds
Ethan: No live feeds as of yet! I'm sure that's something we could look into for the future though. As far as what you can expect we're working really hard to make our show an actual show if you understand what I mean. We obviously don't have the money at the moment to put into some massive production but we have ourselves and get our hands on various props to bring the songs to life. Our show on October 28th is going to be our best show to date due to this so if you're in the Belfast area definitely don't miss that!
MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies
Ethan: Aw Creeper would definitely be there. They're a massive inspiration to us so it'd be an honour to tour with them at some point down the road. Alice Cooper 100%, I'd genuinely cry tears of joy if we ever get to play a show with him. Even though the genres are somewhat different I'd say collectively as a band we'd love to do a gig with Biffy Clyro as they're the one band we can all agree on pretty much everything about between each other.
MM: The most memorable concert you've been to (other than your own) and why
Ethan: My first show was when my mum took me to Green Day when I was 8 so that is definitely one. Recently though I saw Alice Cooper on his latest arena tour which was phenomenal. I have seen him before but it's been in 2000 cap venues so to see the full spectacle of a show that I grew up watching in real life was just surreal. Creeper opened for him as well so it was essentially my favourite band opening for my hero, not to sound cheesy.
MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far
Ethan: What we have coming next year which I currently can't tell you about haha! Probably the show where we opened for Doyle (of the Misfits). It was our first show opening for a really recognizable name in the music world and the venue was packed so the nerves were definitely going strong beforehand. It just felt like we had something to prove and when we wrapped our set that we had done what we needed to.
MM: Which are your Two favorite Albums of all time
Ethan: Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf, purely because I feel like it has everything you could want from an album, and it was my number 1 until recently. Bat got dethroned by Sex, Death & The Infinite Void by Creeper. I seriously do not think there is a better album out there that shows how little you need to worry about genre, they've so much in there. Like take a song like Born Cold and compare it to something like Thorns Of Love. They sound completely different but still sound like Creeper which in my opinion is what makes Creeper such an amazing band, you genuinely never know what you'll get with them.
MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to have people watching you?
Ethan: Yep! Played a show with my god awful tech band in a pretty decent venue. There's definitely been worse first gigs, but I was actually playing drums for half the set and the sound man didn't turn my monitor on, which was a bit of a nightmare. Then I swapped to vocals for a song or two and really felt at home. Was just nice to actually play a show at that rate to be honest.
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other person
Ethan: Not exactly an easy question by any means. I think Alice Cooper gets nowhere near enough credit for the amount he's done in his career. Like he's always been evolving as an artist and a lot of his albums really represent the different eras of his career. Something like Welcome To My Nightmare is extremely different to the likes of Trash & Brutal Planet etc. Take Welcome To My Nightmare as well, there's just so much to unpack on that album. It really does feel like a Broadway show when you listen. And in 1975 a song like Black Widow must have been so heavy! I think it'd be weird to consider Coop an underrated artist, but there's definitely aspects of his career that he gets nowhere enough credit for because he has influenced A LOT of genres and stage shows.
MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?
Ethan: To continue challenging ourselves and making music that isn't exactly what you'd expect from a band with our imagery. Myself and Mac have a steady thread running through us taste wise but also listen to a lot of different things which gives us a really good dynamic when it comes to writing, and in all honesty I don't know if I'd have a better relationship as far as writing with someone else for this band, it very much does feel like we're brothers at this point which is always a good thing obviously, because if we didn't get along there'd probably not be much productivity haha! But yeah keep evolving as a band, start touring and actually get this show on the road and just keep the machine running.
MM: If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?
Ethan: Another hard question. I can't speak for everyone in the band, we've batted at the idea of covering 'Can't 'Take My Eyes Off Of You' by Frankie Valli but making it really horror centric. A personal one for me would maybe be 'I'm Eighteen' by Alice Cooper just because it's the first song I ever sang in front of people and we used to cover it at shows.
MM: Tell us why we should buy and listen to E.B & The Deadlights
Ethan: We're doing our own thing and not really worrying about genre too much. I don't particularly think any band these days can reinvent the wheel so all you can really do is be yourself and see what path it takes you down. I myself don't know what type of music we'll be making in say 5 years’ time, which makes me extremely excited, so I'd imagine if you're a fan of our work so far it'd be the same for you. With us you will get songs that move you both physically as well as emotionally, and the imagery & theatrics to back it up.
MM: Four words to describe your band
Ethan: Varied, theatrical, graphic & emotional
Final Words for your fans and our readers
Ethan: Unmarked Grave is out now, you stream the track and watch the video, here - https://youtu.be/gOqybzqwZ-M . We have a lot planned for next year so stay tuned, if you're in Belfast our next show is October 28th on the Belfast Barge, tickets on sale now from eventbrite.com. A Halloween spooktacular party on a boat with all sorts of gruesome theatrics lined up! Keep in touch with us at https://www.facebook.com/e.b.andthedeadlightsband
