KIMT Interview
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:03PM GRAFTON, IA -It's the stuff dreams are made of. Five friends form a band and record an album.
"I've known I wanted to be a musician since, you know, I can remember," said Will Bartz who grew up in Grafton.
"It's kind of been a whirlwind experience. Sometimes you just think, you know, only really good bands record. You don't think you're actually going to be doing that and then you're like oh we're actually doing this," said Reid Clagett who's from just outside of Kensett.
Along with Will and Reid, there are three others: AJ Wilder, Cody Fedeler and Marena Bartz. All from North Iowa, and all with their own unique musical talents. But together, they make up the band Deadnote.
"Pure rock and roll. I think that's kind of the best way to describe it," said Will.
Deadnote has been together for about four years now, but it wasn't until this past summer when they got the chance of a lifetime.
One of the members has a connection to Grammy winning sound engineer and producer Joe Trevino. So the band headed to Texas to record their first album.
"Being down in San Antonio and recording that album was just an awesome experience in general. It kind of pushed us to learn more about the industry," said Cody.
With their first album now under their belts, the members of Deadnote have their eyes on the future.
"I think all of us have the same ambition to really have this be successful. We want to go somewhere with this," said Reid.
"This is something that I've thought about my entire life practically. Just making music," Cody said.
"Not just about having fun for us, but really about making it enjoyable for the listeners," Marena said.
"I think we're going in the right direction so all we have to do is keep moving," said Will.
"Become rockstars!" AJ said with a laugh.
Deadnote's first album, called Redhead, is available at Kepharts Music Center in Mason City. The band is hoping to book some shows in the coming months.