The Refrain Interview; Call In Dead

Orlando Florida’s Call In Dead is back with their latest track “Patriarchy“, the first song featuring their new vocalist Ripley. The band features four veteran punk rockers, who blend their different musical experiences and styles to make a sound that is at once familiar to fans of hardcore punk while also giving it a fresh, unique take.

We had a chance to interview Call In Dead as part of our Refrain interview series. Check it out below.

Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new single out now. What’s it called?

Call In Dead: Patriarchy

RMB: What is the song about, in terms of lyrics? Any overarching messages or themes?

Ripley: It’s about toxic performative masculinity and the detrimental effects it has on society. I want to call out that elephant in the room because it’s holding us back as a species. It creates people who walk into schools and kill kids, it creates inequality for women and nonbinary people. It needs to stop. We can’t repress the truth and stop talking about the issues we have as a human race.

RMB: Is this single part of an album? If so tell us a little bit about that.

Scott: Nope. It’s the first song we had with Ripley. We recorded a second song by a British hardcore punk band that I think rarely gets covered (unfortunately), and we will be releasing that soon.

RMB: How does this single differ from your previous work?

Ripley: It’s a little more socially-charged and direct.

Scott: What she said.

RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded?

Scott: We recorded with Josh from Danger Room Recording Services. Despite recording in an unairconditioned warehouse in FL, it’s always smooth. Well except for the first time we showed up to record and the door locks had been changed, and so we couldn’t get in and had to reschedule.

We generally record “live” with scratch vocals and then overdub guitar and bass as needed before we lay down full vocals.

RMB: Tell us a little about the band.

Scott: The band is made up of four veteran punk rockers, one from DC, and the other three from FL. With the oldest at 47 and the youngest at 31, we bring our different music experiences and styles together to make a sound that should be familiar to fans of hardcore punk while also giving it the uniqueness that comes from blending our past together into the present. Fitting on shows with pop punk bands, old school hardcore bands, psychobilly bands and metal bands is just one example of how it’s been difficult to pin down the answer to the perennial question: What band do you sound like? Four years into playing shows we have released a CD EP, The EP, via Violent Breed Records, a set of digital singles, a live split 7” with 2AMature via DCxPC Live, a forthcoming full-length vinyl album, Deepest Condolences, via Wrecking Crew Records, and of course our new single “Patriarchy”. The band’s first tour was canceled due to Covid, but we used that time to put on various live streams, start a record label (DCxPC Live), raise money for mental health and for the LGBTQ Center of Central Florida, get voted Best Punk Band in Orlando by Orlando Weekly readers in 2020 and 2021, and book a tour for this upcoming summer.

RMB: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Ripley: Gouge Away, Slayer, Comeback Kid, Ella Fitzgerald, Death, G.L.O.S.S., NOFX, Glenn Miller, Billie Holiday, J.S. Bach.

Scott: Circle Jerks was my first punk album and the whole fast, short song thing has never left me. Growing up in DC (yeah yeah I know I mention DC a lot), I loved all the early Discord stuff but especially Minor Threat, Void, Scream, and Dag Nasty. The Germs was one of the first punk shirts I ever bought, because after I saw them on Decline of the Western Civilization when I was 16, I thought fuck, if that’s all it takes to be in a punk band, I’m done trying to poorly play 8 minute long metal songs with changing time signature!

Mike: Bad Religion, All Pigs Must Die, Converge, Motörhead, Hatebreed, Municipal Waste, Sick Of It All, Slayer, Misfits, Bane and really into a lot of this new wave of Hardcore and Powerviolence stuff been coming out from bands like Scowl, GEL, Regional Justice Center and Full Of Hell

RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?

Ripley: Making good music

Scott: Attracting good people to play with who just luckily happen to be good musicians–or at least better than me.

Mike: definitely the people and friends we’ve made, getting to share the stage with some names we’ve all listened to for a long time and sharing that comradery with friends especially after I wasn’t playing with anyone for about 16 years.

RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?

Ripley: This music will make you want to break things

Scott: If you’re watching us live for the first time, don’t bother trying to figure out a song’s lyrics so you can sing along during show, by the time you’ve figured out the chorus, the song will be over.

Mike: Short Loud trashy Hardcore Punk… but once we had a sound guy who listened to us before the show when in the store and he said “ it’s perfect for angry grocery shopping “

RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?

Scott: If you’re unknown/opening for a big headliner/on a show with a lot of bands, then keep your set short. 10 minutes in they start to like you, 20 minutes they might really like you, 30 minutes and they are thinking about peeing, smoking outside, getting another beer, and wishing you’d end, so the next band could play. Get off before that happens. Always leave them wanting more not less. Also take care of touring bands. If you’re local, just give you money to the touring band, they need it more than you do.

RMB: If you could go back in time, what’s a piece of advice you would give to a younger you?

Ripley: Go to therapy

Scott: Quit the job and go on tour.

Mike: don’t stop playing, keep an open mind, and learn computers/social media and stuff like that… That the future of music.

RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?

Scott: After the tour, we hope to record some new songs, and release a 7”.

RMB: Anything we haven’t thought of that you want to talk about?

Scott: We need more all ages venues. All ages venues don’t just bring in more audience, they create new bands. Would I have kept forming bands in high school if I didn’t know that there were places for my teen band to play? I’d like to think so, but I’m positive that knowing that I could play shows was a big motivation.

“Patriarchy” was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Josh Dobbs at Danger Room Recording Services. It is currently streaming across all Digital Streaming Platforms. Listen to it now on Spotify or on YouTube below: