by Mike C.

Finally! I interviewed Deaden/Von a long time ago, but lost the interview when I first moved to Ironton. This interview was conducted at last year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest. They played an excellent show, as they are known to do. If you’re looking for some excellent groove oriented death metal brutality that will not disappoint your ears one bit, definitely order Deaden’s latest effort "Hymns of the Sick."

The Outcast: I’m here getting ready to interview Von before we supposedly have sex according to Kibler. (Hey Dave, you sick wanker!) So, I hear the response to "Hymns..." is excellent and that you’re getting ready to do the 2nd pressing?

Von: Actually we’re getting ready to do our 3rd.

The Outcast: So what does that tell you when you hear that metal is dead?

Von: Shit, not in our area. It’s doing pretty well where we’re at.

The Outcast: Do you think you’ll get any responses from any labels?

Von: We’re hoping so man. We’ve heard a few rumors about some, but we don’t know what’s going on with that, nothing to get our hopes up yet. We’ll see how it goes. If not, we’ll just stick with "United Gutteral"; it’s no problem with us.

The Outcast: How often do you guys practice?

Von: We do one day a week.

The Outcast: That’s it? You guys are extremely tight. Do you guys play your instruments any other days of the week?

Von: No, just when we practice.

The Outcast: Man, that’s pretty cool. Well, here’s a healthy question. From the first day I met you, and the rest of the guys, I didn’t really know you guys very well. When we went to that party in Champaign a couple years back, I noticed that you guys didn’t drink and what not.

Von: I am and Drew is, we’re both completely clean, but Ethan and Danny will get drunk and...

The Outcast: Not before shows do they?

Von: Every now and then but they don’t get smashed to where they can’t play; they’ll get their ass beat if they do that.

The Outcast: Is that a strict rule that you all agreed on?

Von: We don’t want anyone getting fucked up to where we can’t do our job, you know? And you don’t have to worry about me and Drew.

The Outcast: Does your father being a cop have an influence on your choice or is it your own personal choice?

Von: Nope, not one bit at all. Everyone thinks that because my dad is a cop, that is why I’m straight. It’s my own personal beliefs. I’ve never tried anything, never even smoked a cigarette or touched a drop of alcohol. I’ve never wanted to and I never will.

The Outcast: Man, what’s wrong with you?! Just kidding, that’s pretty cool actually.

Von: I’m the last of the dying breed.

The Outcast: Do people who don’t know you on a personal level automatically think you do drugs or think you’re an alcoholic because you play in a metal band and listen to metal?

Von: Yeah, people tend to do that a bit. That’s just ignorance.

The Outcast: Does your father help any on getting shows?

Von: Not at all.

The Outcast: That’s one of the first things I thought of when I saw you guys at the "Knights of Columbus" place. How did you get a show there?

Von: They knew they were going to get a good amount of money. Some of the members don’t like it, but you know they’re like, "So what, we’re getting a decent amount of money." They get a good amount of money from the bar sales, so they could give a shit less.

The Outcast: Leave it to the Catholics. Are you Catholic?

Von: I don’t believe in anything.

The Outcast: Really? Why’s that?

Von: You know, give me some proof.

The Outcast: Yeah, if you can’t see it, you won’t believe it.

Von: Yeah.

The Outcast: I’ve known that feeling. On to a different subject, I remember that one show in Champaign where you had that big screen TV and you were playing scenes form "Faces of Death." How often do you guys do that?

Von: Actually, that was the only time we did it.

The Outcast: Why is that?

Von: They had the TV screen there. (Laughter)

The Outcast: I thought that was yours.

Von: We don’t know if we want to do that again though because ½ the people were watching the TV instead of us.

The Outcast: Speaking of people paying attention to other things rather than the band playing. I don’t know if you saw Cradle of Filth 2 year ago here in Milwaukee and the Death Kids?

Von: Yeah, I did.

The Outcast: What’s your opinion about both bands having female dancers on stage while they’re playing?

Von: Well, for Cradle of Filth it’s alright, that’s their thing, but for Death Kids, why? They don’t even know what pussy is you know? (Laughter) I don’t know man, I think...

The Outcast: Have they even reached puberty? (Laughter)

Von: Exactly you know, their voice is still cracking. Nothing against the Death Kids, you know, I’m not trying to talk trash about anybody. I just think that’s a plot to get people to see them. They do what they do, and that’s cool.

The Outcast: I’ve noticed that your family is very supportive on what you do. How important is that for you? Do they ever give you any crap on the subject matter?

Von: Oh yeah, most definitely. At first they despised what I was doing and thought that I was in a phase or something. But you know, I’m still doing it and I think they finally realized that this is my life and this is what makes me happy and they now support me on what I do. They’ll come to shows every so often. They know what we’re about and so...

The Outcast: Have they seen the "Butchered Whore" shirt?

Von: No, they haven’t seen that yet.

The Outcast: Do you think you’ll hear a big fuss about the shirts?

Von: Probably, they’ll probably say...

The Outcast: They’ll ground you.

Von: Well, that would be hard since I don’t live with them. Ethan’s parents are the ones that are really bad.

The Outcast: Are they religious?

Von: Not really, it’s just the content.

The Outcast: So how do you view death? I read an interview in "Arrows of Malice" where she mentioned something about the "Faces of Death" videos and you said; "All that shit is fake, I like the real shit." Do you actually like watching that kind of stuff?

Von: Yeah, there’s something that fascinates me about death and how like a human can be there one minute and when something happens and they die, the body just totally looks like its fake. It’s just weird you know?

The Outcast: Have you ever seen a dead person?

Von: No

The Outcast: Do you think if you saw someone die in front of you, you might see death differently?

Von: It’s hard to say.

The Outcast: I’ve never been able to see those kinds of movies, they give me the creeps. I just don’t like the fact that people see death as entertainment you know? "Cops," "Real TV," "When Nature Strikes Back," etc...

Von: We’re the ones who get the shit for it, for singing about it, when people are at home watching it on TV you know?

The Outcast: It’s just sad that people don’t value life you know? Well, on a brighter note. How do you feel about this year’s Champaign Fest? Were there more people there than last year?

Von: There were a few more. I think there were about 400 people or so, but I thought it went alright.

The Outcast: Will you do it again next year?

Von: I don’t think "Knights of Columbus" will let me do it again next year.

The Outcast: Why is that?

Von: They might do little shows, but I don’t think they’ll do another big show, but who knows? I’d like to, you know? Kibler and Lividity would like to see it as a 2 day event, but who knows.

The Outcast: Did I ever tell you about the van full of prostitutes we encountered at the Champaign Fest 2 years ago?

Von: No.

The Outcast: It was pretty weird. Anyway, it was me and the rest of the El Pecado guys, and we were just getting ready to leave when this van pulls up. Like 6 women start asking me where the party was at after the show and stuff and I didn’t know anything about a party. Next thing I know the driver pulls down her shirt and shows me her breast and said; "Now do you know where the party is at?" I was like; "What the..." Finally, I told Trevor to talk to them because I figured that was his territory, you know? It was a really weird encounter.

Von: I didn’t even know about that.

The Outcast: Now you do.

Von: Were they cute? (Laughter)

The Outcast: Ah, no.

Von: Come down to Champaign, we have whores for you!

The Outcast: Well, enough on that. I understand you do logos. Do you still do them?

Von: I don’t really have time to do them anymore, but I’ll do them from time to time.

The Outcast: So what’s in the future for Deaden?

Von: Man, I don’t know. Out of everything we’ve ever done, we’ve pretty much accomplished everything we needed to do musically. All I really want to do is play in Europe. So who know?

The Outcast: Well my friend, any closing words?

Von: Thank you for the interview. Everyone get in touch. Hopefully we’ll have some CD’s left.

The Outcast: Are you going to keep pressing them?

Von: Oh yeah, we’ll give people what they want. We’ve already gone through 2,000 in 10 months. We can’t seem to keep our shirts very long either. But uh, get in touch and hopefully we’ll have something for you.

The Outcast: Well, thanks again. Take care and I’m sure I’ll see you again some time soon.