Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Kozik
Hi Jason, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We all started out playing in different metal bands in the St. Louis metal scene. Dexter (our guitarist) and Stephen (our bassist) had been playing in 2 or 3 different bands before Zach (our drummer), Tim (our other guitarist), and I asked them to join the band we were in at the time.
When they joined it was right when COVID restrictions were being lifted and shows were starting to happen, so we kept grinding and playing shows so we could get back in the studio with our producers to write more music. This was November of 2021.
After we finished writing our music with our producers they suggested that we rebrand. With that suggestion we took the following 6 months to completely redo our aesthetic. Thus becoming dead7.
Since we launched our 1st single “unwanted” back in June of 2022, we’ve just kept putting our everything into our band to make it what it is today.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
To really strive to get your band to where you would like it, you will have to struggle. If I were to compare our road to others, we’ve definitely been blessed with smooth asphalt so far.
The hardest things for us to overcome has been making sure that we can all come to an agreement or understanding on any given situation.
We’re all grown adults with jobs, families, friends, and everything else that you obtain with your time on this planet. So making sure that if something doesn’t jive with someone else, or that something is a hard no for someone, we talk it through and come to an agreement; or at the very least everyone is heard and understood.
We’ve still got so much to learn and figure out as we continue down our road but for now we’re still trucking.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are dead7, a band that produces metal music with a variety of influences.
Our mission for our band is to write music that not only has meaning that’s special to us, but can resonate with many. We do this by writing our songs with themes on subjects that may be sensitive to most; which is a lot of the times what people relate to the most.
We’re influenced by modern bands such as Loathe, The Plot in You, Bad Omens, and Bring me the Horizon while also being influenced by the music that we grew up with like Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin.
We’re know for blending numetal, metalcore, electronic elements, and even hip hop to produce a sound that is both atmospheric or ethereal; leaving you feeling like you’re in your own world if you listen with your eyes closed.
As a band, we’ve accomplished so much since we launched in 2022 and I think we’ll have so much to be proud of and looking forward to in the near future. As of now, I think we’re most proud of the newest record we finished writing this last summer. It’s cliche to say, but it’s 1,000% our best work yet.
There’s a lot that sets us out from others but if I had to choose one thing that sets us apart is that we don’t follow the norm for a metalcore band. We generally have a lot more singing in our material than other metalcore bands. We also try to focus on having merchandise that fits a wide demographic: we don’t have just black T shirts.
All in all we want to be able to say that we did something different and unique. To be able to look back at our work and be proud that we stuck true to what we wanted to do/did.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Being an artist in any capacity and releasing your work in itself is a risk. You’re putting a piece of yourself out there that you feel will either help or resonate with even 1 person.
When you’re starting a band from scratch about 90% of what you do to get it started is a risk. Whether it’s a financial, personal, or professional one you’re risking a lot to make your dreams happen.
For dead7 in particular, our biggest risk we’ve taken to date was playing our first out of town show at a major rock festival in Michigan. It took a lot of work from all of us but we made it happen and it was great exposure for us. A million things could’ve gone wrong but we did it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/dead7sound
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dead7sound
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dead7sound
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dead7sound
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuuIQKxYi6tRsyOqKj8qdbg
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/35iAdp3TrZPJT5UCv9bq7V?si=cVxxMub5SZiuxddvJELxyg
