{"id":1419,"date":"2017-08-23T10:43:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T10:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:15:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:15:50","slug":"interview-dead-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Dead Leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves<\/b>, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes for some powerfully sentimental vignettes that hit hard and speak volumes of the human condition. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s in these stories \u2013 and boy, can Dead Leaves<\/b> tell you stories \u2013 that ‘Vultures’<\/i>, the follow-up to the group\u2019s 2015 self-titled EP, comes alive. <\/p>\n

Of course, melancholy overtones count for nought if they\u2019re just empty platitudes, and songwriter Elliott Blair<\/b>, fresh from a day at the office and on his first day of living cigarette-free, is keen to talk about what makes Dead Leaves<\/b> tick. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe new record has a vulnerability, but it\u2019s about being self-confident too,\u201d<\/i> he says. \u201cI\u2019d say the lyrics are definitely on the brighter side, as opposed to the EP and split that we released; you\u2019ve got to have the bad experiences to appreciate the good.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say ‘Vultures’<\/i>\u2019- is brimming with positivity. In fact, some songs \u2013 and one in particular \u2013 are just devastating. \u2018Sunrise\u2019<\/i> paints a personal portrait of Alzheimer\u2019s, and is based on Blair<\/b>\u2019s experiences of watching his grandma live with the condition almost a decade ago. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking about it a lot when I was writing the song, and I was reading a lot about Alzheimer\u2019s and the things that happen to the brain during that disease. I wanted to express that. So the song is about trying to remember the person that they love while dealing with Alzheimer\u2019s or losing their sense of self.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Named after a chain of assisted living homes in the US, \u2018Sunrise\u2019<\/i> has the beautifully poetic, but emotionally crushing, chorus of \u201cI was trying to remember your name\u201d<\/i>, and it\u2019s such a perfectly-realised insight, it is impossible not to get a little emotional at the sentiment. For Blair<\/b>, the song also has a second meaning: \u201cIt kind of works in a broader sense as well I think; like losing that idea of who you once were or might have once been,\u201d<\/i> he says. <\/p>\n

Similarly, the outstanding \u2018Hopeless Dweller\u2019<\/i> sees Blair<\/b> recount his experience of moving home with his girlfriend. Again, nostalgia plays a part, and for anyone who\u2019s taken those first steps into adulthood by moving in with a partner, it\u2019s sure to raise a wry smile. Bad heating? Dreadful plastering? Noisy neighbours? Blair<\/b>\u2019s got it all covered: <\/p>\n

\u201cThat song [\u2018Hopeless Dweller\u2019] was spawned off this idea of being a little homesick. So we\u2019d just bought a house, but we had been in the same apartment for 5 years, and then we moved into this new house \u2013 and it was a lot nicer than what we\u2019d been living in \u2013 but I was homesick a little bit.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

One lyric will strike a chord for anyone living in close proximity to neighbours though \u2013 that of having neighbours who make too much noise. Unsurprisingly, it\u2019s based off a real experience. \u201cIt would be late at night – 11pm or midnight \u2013 and the upstairs neighbour, I think she\u2019d just move in, and it would sound like all the furniture was moving \u2013 like she was dragging it across the floor. It was awful and loud.<\/i> <\/p>\n

\u201cWe found out later when we met her that she was actually deaf. We felt so bad,\u201d<\/i> he adds with an rueful laugh.<\/p>\n

Yet for the serious nature of the lyrics, there\u2019s a certain element of fun to the music. Like The Hotelier before them, ‘Vultures’<\/i> possesses a pop nous that blows away the oppressive gloom. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we went more of the indie route with the previous releases,\u201d<\/i> considers Blair<\/b>. \u201cBut, when we\u2019d written the first song for the record, we decided to go for more of the pop route for some of the songs \u2013 because it kind of fit with what we wanted to do. <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re pretty open minded as far as writing goes. We\u2019re all music lover in general, so we weren\u2019t closed off to the idea of going down the pop route while still combining the heavy themes.\u201d<\/i> <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a decision that has paid off handsomely, resulting in a lyrically mature \u2013 but unbelievably vivid \u2013 experience that doesn\u2019t wallow in sentiment. Instead, ‘Vultures’<\/i> fizzes with pop abandon on the likes of \u2018Talk Me Down\u2019<\/i> and \u2018Sunset\u2019<\/i>, marrying the deep themes with strong hooks. The result is one of the best emo\/indie-rock albums of the year. <\/p>\n

‘Vultures’<\/i> by Dead Leaves<\/b> is released on 25th August on Take This To Heart Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Dead Leaves<\/b> links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Rob Mair (@BobNightMair<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes for some powerfully sentimental vignettes that hit hard and speak volumes of the human condition. It\u2019s in these stories \u2013 and boy, can Dead Leaves tell you stories \u2013 that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[735,1197,15022,201,1194],"class_list":["post-1419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-dead-leaves","tag-elliott-blair","tag-rob-mair","tag-take-this-to-heart-records","tag-vultures"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInterview: Dead Leaves - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview: Dead Leaves - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-23T10:43:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-21T22:15:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Mair\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob Mair\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Interview: Dead Leaves - Already Heard Staging","description":"For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Interview: Dead Leaves - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2017-08-23T10:43:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-21T22:15:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rob Mair","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rob Mair","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/"},"author":{"name":"Rob Mair","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/89b13496eb0786e75bb1c0b15bf71267"},"headline":"Interview: Dead Leaves","datePublished":"2017-08-23T10:43:12+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-21T22:15:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/"},"wordCount":787,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg","keywords":["Dead Leaves","Elliott Blair","Rob Mair","Take This To Heart Records","Vultures"],"articleSection":["Interviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/","name":"Interview: Dead Leaves - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-23T10:43:12+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-21T22:15:50+00:00","description":"For Ohio\u2019s Dead Leaves, it\u2019s all about the moments. A little detail here, a nostalgic remembrance there. When these moments are added together it makes","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-dead-leaves\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so9_r18_1280.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/89b13496eb0786e75bb1c0b15bf71267","name":"Rob Mair","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7feccbb8cf9d4de2bea7f0900e02126bcc918e01935cbe6de5ddcb4906a0c8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7feccbb8cf9d4de2bea7f0900e02126bcc918e01935cbe6de5ddcb4906a0c8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7feccbb8cf9d4de2bea7f0900e02126bcc918e01935cbe6de5ddcb4906a0c8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rob Mair"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/robmair\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35743,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions\/35743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}