Interview: Dead Sons

‘You always see the lightning before you hear the thunder… and the thunder is coming.’

Those teasing words, posted online by Dead Sons over a year since their split, led to months of speculation as to when the five-piece would return to shake this city to its foundations once more. After some guesswork and a couple of false alarms, the band gave us six figures which finally answered the question: 19.12.15

Returning to The Leadmill, the scene of their last gig over two years ago, they have since announced local support in Baba Naga and Bear Chest to join them in what is sure to be a memorable return to the stage. We dropped the band a line to see how things were shaping up ahead of the big night.

So: you’re back. Nice. When was the decision made to return for this gig and why now?
The decision was made around July. We got asked to do tramlines, and we said yes, but in the end it wasn’t logistically possible. Once the seed had been sown it was kind of hard to let it go so we decided to do The Leadmill.

The Leadmill was the venue of choice for the last Dead Sons gig. Any particular reason why you’ve gone back to it?
Simple: It’s the best venue in Sheffield.

Before we go any further, is it definitely just a one-off?
More than likely. But never say never.

Will you be playing any new material at the gig?
We have a couple of new songs that we’ve been toying around with, but whether we’ll decide to play them on the night is something we haven’t decided yet. Maybe if the mood takes us…

How have rehearsals been – everything just slotted back into place nicely?
They’ve been great. I suppose that, in a way, the gigs are just an excuse for us to hang out together again. The songs are sounding better than ever and we’ve also revisited some of our older songs.

What are your thoughts on the Sheffield rock scene since you departed in 2013? We lost some bands such as yourselves and Wet Nuns, but bands like Drenge appear to be taking on the mantle well…
Yeah, Drenge seem to be doing really well. We’ve also got Baba Naga and Bear Chest playing with us in December who are both amazing bands.

After the split, a few of you later came back together as Howls. Is there anything on the horizon with that project?
Not as of yet. We’ve almost got an album of songs together now; we’re just waiting for the right time to do something with them. At the moment, though, we’re just excited to be back as a five piece getting to play round with old/new ideas and just hanging out with each other again.

Finally, would you ever be interested in doing another album together? Give us all some hope for the New Year!
The possibility is always there and ideas have been floated about. Maybe one day when the time’s right. It’d be rude not to…

Get tickets here.