DIALING BAEBLE: A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH TRAIL OF DEAD'S KEVIN ALLEN

To describe my conversation as a tad on the awkward side…well that would probably be a statement of slightly understated proportions. It’s not every day Kevin Allen dials in from Berkley CA to tell you about the latest doings of the band he victimizes guitar after bloody guitar for, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Tack the current affairs the band found themselves in the thick of this past week over their split and riff with Interscope (a topic Allen had purposely dodged), and there were certainly plenty of questions to throw Allen’s way, but unfortunately, not a whole heap of answers. So what though… You can’t blame a guy for not divulging the motivations behind every decision a band makes. Plus Allen did hint at several ideas of the massive variety the band are currently kicking around for their immediate future. And isn’t that what ultimately matters?

Currently enjoying himself on the Adult Swim Presents’ tour…a college campus onslaught with Gorillaz-style animated metal band Dethklok on in support…Allen doesn’t quite know how such an unlikely partnership came to be. “They just told me to play, so I showed up for it.” We’ll just leave the mysteries of corporate sponsorship for another day altogether. What we did touch on was what long-time fans can expect from the Austin outfit on their current tour. Surprisingly, Trail of Dead are currently playing a wide range of material, spanning their entire career…an unlikely fact considering the band is preparing to record a new album this February. “We’re still rolling through plenty of our older songs…we really won’t be playing any unfamiliar gems at these shows just yet.”

Why? Turns out Trail of Dead are still working through plenty of the new songs they are scheduled to record. “At the moment, I’d say it is only half way done.” And while they might be scrambling to find material (not to mention a label), Allen did hint at the band’s desire to venture into more interactive territory with the as yet to be named album. Big fans of Guitar Hero III, the band is working through several ideas to work the game into their record…though I personally fear the results of millions of teenagers smashing their Guitar Hero controllers at the end of a triumphant set! On top of that, Trail of Dead are also prepping a collection of “near misses”, to be released early next year as well. Expect the kind of collection (b-sides, basement recordings, rarities, demos, etc.) that will help fill in the gaps and flesh out their entire, ten year recorded history.

And with that Allen saluted me after a tidy ten minutes “world peace and chicken grease”, and the line went dead. I’ll just assume he destroyed the phone. – David Pitz

Trail of Dead On Tour:
11/08/07: University of South Dakota, Vermillian, S.D.
11/11/07: University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
11/13/07: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill.
11/15/07: University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
11/17/07: University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
11/18/07: Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.
11/19/07: Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, IL
11/20/07: Lee’s Palace, Tornoto, ON
11/21/07: Grog Shop, Cleveland OH
11/23/07: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Trail of Dead on MySpace