The Arizona group Ded are a band with plenty of buzz. They were one of the first bands of the day at Carolina Rebellion, but still drew a decent sized crowd. Ded deliver plenty of heaviness, but their songs have radio appeal as well, with the audience favorite “Anti-Everything” getting ample airplay at the moment. “FMFY” was another one the crowd enjoyed. As you can see from the photos above, the white contacts also give them a unique look.

After their well-received set, Loudwire sat down with frontman Joe Cotela and guitarist David Ludlow for a talk about their upcoming debut album Mis.an.thrope and other subjects. Check out the chat below.

Since Ded are a new band and some may not be familiar with you yet, give us a brief history of the group.

Joe Cotela: We just had an idea, a certain vibe we wanted to do. We just wanted to sing a lot of the really big bands that were around when we were growing up, like System of a Down, Pantera, Slipknot and all that stuff. We wanted to bring that into a modern world because we don't feel like there's enough bands doing that really heavy and dangerous sound combining with the universal anthemic vibes. I guess that was the beginning of it.

David Ludlow: I run a studio so I record a lot of different music, a lot of different genres, and we were listening to Spotify, and we were looking for other bands that gave us that vibe of like Rage or Pantera, Slipknot. We were like, "Dude let's just try it; let's see what we got," and then we just started having fun with it, and it ran from there.

Your debut album Mis.an.thrope is set to be released July 14. What was the process in putting it together?

Joe: Two and a half years, like 50 songs recorded.

David: Yeah, 50 plus songs. Fully mixed, not just ideas in a computer, that we totally completed. There were more ideas, but those were the actual songs.

Joe: We did that in Arizona, and we went and did the full length album with John Feldmann (Disturbed, Blink-182) in L.A.

How did you narrow those 50 songs to the ones that appear on the album?

David: We were really hard on ourselves, but we have this vibe that we just never actually disagreed, ever. We're going with it. It's good.

How did you get hooked up with producer John Feldmann?

Joe: I randomly met him through a friend, actually, and we started talking about music and stuff, and he was asking about my old bands and what I'm doing now, and all this other stuff. And I told him, I’ve got a couple songs on a USB if you want to check it out, and within 30 seconds, he's like, “You guys are really good.” I am just writing stuff for fun. He went straight to business, saying, "I want to get a record" and all this stuff. It was crazy to us. It was really just for fun, and then now we're here at Carolina Rebellion.

Were you surprised at the positive response and fairly quick success of “Anti-Everything?”

David: Pleasantly surprised. Again, we did it for two-and-a-half years, and it was nice not to do it under the microscope and really have friends judge your music, producers like Feldmann, people like Jordan (Schur, their manager), all of these people giving us insight on how to make a really incredible album as opposed to us having one song. So, it was kind of nice. It felt like we were sitting on a secret, but at the same time you never really know until you see the development.

Joe: And it's so cool, because when we started writing it and because of the way we are doing it, it's so selfish, there's just such a part of us that if nobody did like it, we would still be fine with it. That's what's so cool about it. We've been in other bands where we've needed to cater to something. We want to cater to ourselves, we are cooking our own meal. When we want a little extra barbecue sauce, we put it on.

David: What it's about honestly is just being true to yourself. Decide what you actually like. Don't just like stuff because people tell you to, or because you think you're supposed to. Do what you actually feel in your soul, what feels correct. You listen to your body, it tells you every answer you need.

You were the first band of the day today, with two other bands playing at the exact same time, and yet your set had a lot of people there ...

Joe: You never know what you are going to get. We've never even been here. We've never been to North Carolina. This is actually technically our first major tour. We've done a couple of short runs. This is the kickoff of everything. So, you never know. And then, when I walked outside, I was like, "Nice, dude." And then they were singing “FMFY” lyrics, they were singing “Anti-Everything” lyrics. That's so cool.

David: It feels good, and it's cool to have people knowing the songs. We only had two songs released. So, it's dope. We are seeing the power of radio, I guess. The song went into the top 20 on radio, which is crazy. And then it was number two on the Octane charts. On Billboard, it’s like 21 on the rock chart. We didn't know any of this was going to happen.

You were set to do some shows with Korn this month that were canceled, so did you have to scramble to find other dates?

Joe: We are still on all the festivals with Korn and then we are doing this "Serenity of Summer" tour with them in July. So, we were a little bummed on that, but then we were like, "We will tour with them in July, it will be cool." Also we have time with Animals as Leaders who was also on the Korn tour, so we are just gonna just tour with Animals as Leaders for a little bit. Going up to Brooklyn for a couple of shows.

David: We filled in a couple of dates with All That Remains. It will be kind of fun, it's almost instead of losing dates, we added dates.

How is the heavy music scene in Phoenix?

Joe: It's awesome, man.

David: It's back. There was a time when it was hot in the mid-2000s and late 2000s, and now it's good again. There is a lot of great bands.

Joe: And they're all friends with each other. It's really cool. We know everybody in that town because we've all played together. Everybody goes to all the same parties for the most part. It’s a good social circle, if that makes sense? And they all really support each other.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

David: Look for us on the "Serenity of Summer" tour. Look for us at all the festivals: Rocklahoma, Chicago Open Air, Rock on the Range, Pointfest. Everything's popping, it's good. Thank you everybody for your support.

Our thanks to Ded's Joe Coleta and David Ludlow for the interview. Stay tuned for info on the 'Mis.an.thrope' album, but for now you can pick up "Anti-Everything" here. And look for Ded on tour at these locations.

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