By Jens

You want no-frills hardcore punkrock that goes for the jugular? Well, look no futher cuz this fast-as-fuck Detroit monster trio is more than able to satisfy your speedcrazed r'n'r cravings. My sinister Rockford connection, Dr. Mality (www.wormwoodchronicles.com), informed me that The Dead Heroes was right up my alley and since the reliable Doctor has yet to tell a lie, I got the Sin Klub label of Ohio to send me their "Let It Ride" CD (distr. by Cargo). Mixing old school 80s punkcore with newer outfits like Zeke, these 18 ragin' tracks totally blew whats left of my mind. Dead Heroes personnel: Kirk Morrison (vocals, guitar), Tom Hardy (bass, vocals) and Doug on drums and backing vocals.

LC: When did you guys formed Dead Heroes? Line-up changes?

Kirk: The Dead Heroes became a band in the Fall of 1998. Tom and I had been playing around a bit in another project and the stuff we were writing just kept getting faster and faster. That drummer was more of a rock guy than a punk player so we stumbled across a new one. The result didn't really sound like the other band anymore so we changed the name to the Dead Heroes. The first drummer quit in the fall of 2001. We decided to continue the band and that's when I called Doug.
Doug: Kirk first called me about trying out for the band in December of 2001 around the holidays. I had known the both of them for like a year and a half by that time. I think I was officially inducted into the band a couple weeks later, January 2002. Damn, am I glad I answered that phone call!

LC:Inspirations? I can hear bands like Motörhead, Zeke, GBH and Agnostic Front in your music.

Kirk: Yeah I found bands like the Ramones and the Clash when I was about 12, I was a teenager during the eighties. I'm basically just playing what I grew up listening to, a lot of Brit-Punk and American hardcore. Discharge, GBH, Varukers, Blitz, One Way System, Abrasive Wheels, Motorhead, Black Flag. ZEKE is the best thing out of Seattle ever.

LC:How's the punk scene in Detroit? It's mostly garagerock like Dirtbombs and White Stripes that gets noticed at the moment.

Doug: Well there are some kick ass Detroit punk outfits currently active right now. A lot of these bands are doing it all on their own, totally DIY which is really cool and down to Earth. I think that's the best way to represent and portray a hard working city like Detroit.
Kirk: Detroit is a tough city to get attention, there's just so much diversity in the music scene here that a lot of great bands never get any attention. If it's not the garage bands its Kid Rock or Eminem or the electronic music scene that get all the attention. What's so fucking great about the Detroit punk scene is it's always there regardless of the press they don't get. It's never gone away and it never will. There always seems to be another band ready to grab the flag when the others fall.

LC:Your lyrics are pretty pissed off stuff about everyday life. Are songs like "14th Floor" and "Riding On Fumes" on based personal experiences?

Kirk: Yeah, that's the only way to write. If it was fake then we may as well be a cover band!

LC:Dead Heroes has two leadsingers (Kirk and Tom), aint that sometimes a problem of who the fans should consider the lead screamer?

Doug: Well it should be quite obvious that Kirk is the lead crooner, he does sing like 95% of the songs. Although I think both Kirk & Tommy sound great. Their voices compliment each other really well and are both of use at certain times. Both voices are instrumental in achieving our sound.
Tom: No, this just keeps the crowd on their toes on who's singing.
Kirk: I don't want to sing Toms' songs!, that shit is way too personal!

LC:I can see you've played with legends like Circle Jerks, UK Subs and GBH - are they some of your (not dead) heroes?

Kirk: Yes, Yes and Yes!
Doug: Of course! Where would Punk Rock be without bands like those!? They totally upped the ante and pushed things to that extreme point that many people didn't think existed. So here we are playing faster, louder and more pissed off because of bands like them.

LC:You hate fake punk bands like Good Charlotte. What do you think of Rancid working with MTV people like Pink?

Doug: I dig Rancid. They can do whatever they want as long as they keep putting out good records. They came from honest hard working punk roots. They toured in shitty vans across country and sometimes played for meager crowds. But it's all those one hit wonder "Punk Boy Bands" that just come out of the middle of nowhere that really bother me. It just makes me question how much hard work and sacrifice they really put forth in order to get where they are now.
Kirk: I think Punk is the "hot topic" trend and that Rancid and Pink are trying to sell more CDs! It's the nature of the business. It always gets diluted.

LC:Craziest incident on the road?

Doug: With Tommy around, ya never fuckin' know what's gonna happen. It kind of changes on a daily basis. There's certainly some stories about all of us in the vaults already though.
Tom: The time in Kalamazoo when I dropped my pants in the bar then crashed into two parked cars going to the motel. Picked up two hookers for the night and the next morning their pimp was banging on our door looking for his girls who were missing and we were the last ones seen with them.

LC:Fave album and movie?

Doug: Album; Ramones "Rocket To Russia", Movie; Tie between "The Graduate"(1968) and "Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977)
Kirk: Album; Too many to name one, Clash- "Give 'em Enough Rope", Ramones- "It's Alive", Cock Sparrer- "Shock Troops", Discharge- "Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing".. That's a start. Movie? Anything by Kubrick but especially "A Clockwork Orange" and "Full Metal Jacket."

LC:Anything to add about your future plans, Euro tour etc.?

Doug: We would like to continue playing and touring heavily in an effort to support the release of "Let It Ride" and to branch out to new audiences everywhere we possibly can. National, US, European and Canadian tours would kick ass! We definitely have stuff like that in our sights. And of course we can't wait to lay down some of these new songs we've been sitting on the past year. They're some of the best stuff yet!
Kirk: Get in, Shut up and Hold on!!

www.deadheroes.com