Having just hopped off a staggering European tour, metal veterans Dead Horse Trauma officially begin their North American Barrels of LaughTour TODAY (May 4). Before heading out in support of their latest album, Life, the heavy-hitting 5-piece took the time to talk with us via email about what’s coming next and what to expect from their new tour and the band itself.
Are we going to be seeing more from you food blog on this tour?
DHT: Yeah! We’re always looking for new mom & pop, historic, or unique places to check out.
You just came back from a long European tour, any difference between European and American metal fans?
DHT: Yup! There were not a lot of cell phone usage! I was amazed. People were just enjoying the moment. They were pretty receptive to a wide variety of genres. You didn’t get a whole lot of the elitist “this isn’t brutal, guttural, technical or heavy enough” stuff, just people who appreciated good music.
Speaking of fans, a lot of your social media is focused on interacting with people, do you ever correlate that into your live shows and have you ever recognized someone from social media?
DHT: Yeah. We’ve given on-stage shout outs to people who have helped us hand out flyers, put up posters, sent invites, etc. We’ve also met a lot of people in person after talking online for a while.
Is there a particular first impression you want to leave on metal fans?
DHT: Sure! We’d like to see them wanting more. If they come buy some merch to either remember us or the night, we feel we did our job.
How has touring with Life differed from your past albums?
DHT: We always try to take our show to the next level. We like to see smiles on people’s faces, and with every album put out by a touring band, you start incorporating the new music into your set, all while respecting fan faves. When we released LIFE, we started playing the album in its entirety. We’ve never really done that before the Vi-Ops cycle, and event w/ that, we went back to only consistently playing 4-5 songs from that album. now, 90% of our setlist are songs from LIFE.
Any other plans for 2018?
DHT: Yes. We’re working on new music, a new stage show, and partnerships with people who have like-minded ambition.
Why should people listen to your music?
DHT: Because everyday life happens. It’s important to get away even if it’s only while a song is playing. We write music to take you away from the week you’re having, the attitudes you have to deal with everyday, your job, whatever. It’s our escape.
Check out Dead Horse Trauma:
FB: facebook.com/deadhorsetrauma
Twitter/Instagram: @deadhorsetrauma
Website: http://www.deadhorsetrauma.com/
