A quick chat with DEADLIGHTS

Hey guys congratulations on the new track ‘Born Of A Lie’, what’s the inspiration behind the track?

‘Born Of A Lie’ is the story of a generation lost. A generation raised on technology trying to find meaning in the world around them. Religion was the answer to some, but more and more people are being awakened to the hypocrisy of some of its teachings and are trying to fill the hole with something else. For a lot of us, social media and technology has taken over to fill that hole. I see a future where death is believed to have been beaten. I see a future where the idea of an afterlife is sold to the masses in a digital heaven. I see a future where hordes of people cannot live without their technology and buy into whatever they are sold without thought. I see a future with no answers, only more questions. ‘Born Of A Lie’ tackles these themes and tries to put forward an alternate suggestions to fill the void. The true Holy Trinity; nature, humans & the mind.  

Who are your biggest inspirations when it comes to creating music?

Our biggest inspirations come from everywhere. Lyrically, I love the way Nick Cave writes. It’s personal yet commentary. Meaningful yet abstract. Other inspirations are Maynard from Tool with his tongue-in-cheek psychedelia and metaphors, and Stu Mackenzie from King Gizzard with his unique world building and storytelling. Musically, for Tynan, he loves Tom Morello from RATM, with the interesting guitar tones and powerful hooky riffs. To accompany that, he also loves a lot of pop music and utilises pop song structures and catchy, interesting chord progressions to give our sound its melodic nature. Sean is a big fan of MCR and anything that’s a banger really and writes to complement Tynan’s guitar work. Josh takes inspiration from the crazy technical heavy drummers like Tomas Haake from Meshuggah and melds it in with his love for simple interesting beats that are found in his other love of rap / hip hop. Our main consistent link between us, which has very deep roots is our love for Underoath.  

Tell us about how you came up with the idea for the accompanying music video for the track?

Originally, I sent a mood board off to Ben from Third Eye Visuals with imagery of churches, giant server rooms, confession booths and cables. After some interesting discussion, mostly about our favourite sci-fi movies, he pitched the idea that we physically build a robot. This was right up my alley as I love all things sci-fi, and we refined the idea from there. The themes of the song, religion and technology, are summed up in such an obvious way with the robot mounted in the centre of a giant church, looking down on the pews below. It’s ominous and menacing, which gives off the perfect vibe for the song. This contrasts brilliantly with the beautiful lighting and stained-glass windows, portraying the double edge that Deadlights is. The light and the dark, all at once.  

What has been the highlight of your music journey so far?

Finishing our new album ‘The Uncanny Valley’ was an incredible journey for us. So many ideas and so much time poured into a single release, we are so proud of what we have created. It has such an honest DIY vibe for us, as our guitarist Tynan produced it, and all the ideas had no external hands. It is an incredible feeling to work on something for so long and then once finished, to know it is the best it could be. 

Nothing compares to being able to show your soul to the world in such a unique way.  

What would you love to achieve in the next five years as a band?

We see a future for Deadlights around the world. We would love to tour Europe, Japan, USA, and wherever else wants us. Hopefully the world gets on top of COVID and we can manifest this into a reality. There will also be more music. Much more. Finally, we would like to expand out and do some interesting collabs with artists outside the metal scene.