#daisydead

By: Daisy Dead

Have you heard this one yet? "Decay" is our tongue-in-cheek revenge fantasy inspired by the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was defeated by the goddess Nemesis. To avenge her friend Echo, whose heart he broke, Nemesis lead Narcissus to a mirror pool; he then fell in love with his own reflection and eventually committed suicide after discovering that his love would never be realized.

We all have at least one person in our life right now that fits the general definition of narcissist *cough* trump *cough*, and despite their charisma, it's not easy to cope day-to-day with their disconnection, delusions, and demands. We'll get through it, though. In the meantime, I propose that we all take a little edge off by remembering to love one another and pump up the jamz!

XOXO,

Daisy 🤘😵🌼💖

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"Decay" by The Dead Deads

Double the size of every mirror in this big white house,

And angle them all towards me

Regard the fine finishes on my children and my spouse

You see, these are the trappings of a king

Round and round and down he goes

Decay, degrade, it's all a show

2 scoops and an afternoon nap for the king

Pizza and a double bubble bath for the king

I swear to God I think we found a trap for the king

Think we finally found a trap for the king

This is an 8-million-dollar mirror we have right here

It's the finest, it's huge, and it's the best

I can't seem to tear my eyes away from its golden glow

My reflection, like a noble bald eagle, takes my breath

Leave me here for a few minutes longer, to ponder my splendor, and puff my chest

Round and round and down he goes

Decay, degrade, it's all a show

2 scoops and an afternoon nap for the king

Pizza and a double bubble bath for the king

I swear to God I think we found a trap for the king

Finally found a trap for the king

On his knees, praying to it

Kissing his likeness, starving to death

Transfixed for weeks, he hasn't slept

The hall of mirrors he hasn't left

Two weeks more he's almost gone

Skin and bones in a stare-a-thon

He doesn't even know that something is wrong

He doesn't even know we wrote this song

Decay

Stare away

No more afternoon naps for the king

No more double bubble baths for the king

Thank god we finally found a trap for the king

By: Daisy Dead

As you all may know, unless it’s a big show or on tour, The Dead Deads are still in the “carrying our own equipment” phase of our rock careers. And that’s OK.  Not ashamed of it. But, it happens from time to time at the gig with our heavy-looking equipment that someone asks, “Hey, isn’t that heavy? Do you need some help?”  

I’d like to share a few thoughts on this, both as a tip to those on the average-to-weak end of the spectrum (women or men) and to clear up the protocol and answer the heavy question in advance of the awkward offers and chivalry.

First, tips for the lifting-challenged: Don’t let the heavy stuff get you down. Be practical, but also don’t let this weigh too much on your equipment selection or other decisions. True, I cannot lift my bass cabinet on my own. It is a monster, as it should be. Many men can’t even pick up an Orange 4x10 Bass Cabinet on their own, and many others shouldn’t. It’s just not worth hurting yourself over. Be smart and enlist a friend or bandmate to help. Invest in or borrow tools like a moving dolly/handtruck.

On the other hand, unless you are under doctor’s orders not to lift a certain amount of weight, I recommend that you not delegate this task completely. Pitch in as much as you can so that when the day comes and it’s just you, you will be prepared to handle it. It doesn’t hurt to do a little bit of strength training (eg weights, cross-fit, or yoga) to make this task a little easier. While we can’t all be Julia Vins (pictured here), she’s proof that even women can put on a weight bearing physique to rival any man’s. Fitness will make you stronger in other ways, too.

Second, as mentioned, we get into some awkward moments where people offer to help carry our gear and then wonder aloud if we’ll be offended as feminists by the offer. By all means, if you are inclined to lend a hand, we will gladly accept! Thank you!! As long as you’re not condescending about it, it’s nice to spend the extra time with you. Just remember, we are loading this equipment 5 different times for every show, and only 2-3 of those times are others even present to help. We lugged everything to the venue and we’ll be lugging it back into our practice space all on our own. For every show there are actually 5-6 stages of loading: into cars, into venue, onto stage (depending on how the show is being run this may happen as we load into the venue initially), clear stage, out of venue, empty cars back home or back into practice space. One day we’ll be able to pay professionals to do this for us, but in the meantime, it’s totally worth the hassle for the opportunity to ROCK THE HELL OUT!!  So, please don’t feel obligated to help us girls. We love you either way.

Carrying heavy stuff is just a part of being in a rock band, and we accomplish this as most of us do with most things in life: by helping each other. My cabinet is a 2-(hu)man job. I get one of the other Deads to help me load that. A lot of times it’s me and Betty helping with each others’ amps. Everyone pitches in with Billy’s drum stands, and we all take a merch tub or two. Two people get the backdrop. It’s not fun, but we get it done.

But here’s the cool thing. This carries over into helping each other with heavy emotional stuff in our lives. We pitch in when one is down and we do our bit to lift each other up. We ask others for help or advice. We are not alone, and neither are you.

As a band, we help each other bear a load that includes:

1 full drum kit,

1 carpet,

3 cabinets,

3 amp/heads,

1 combo amp,

1 keyboard and stand,

2 pedal boards,

3-6 guitars,

AND…

5 bags of nerves,

5 full-cases of self-doubt,

and multiple mounds of many momentary moods.

Also, we help each other lug around an uncountable number of hopes and dreams, which weigh-in way heavier than any amp or speaker cabinet ever could.

It’s good to have help with the heavy things.

XOXO, Daisy

You Are Not A Feminist If...

You think men should have extra benefits, freedoms, and rights just for being men

You think a woman should become attached to a man as early in her life as possible, get married, have children, and care for the family and home, to the exclusion of all other activities

You think women are like domestic animals and should be treated like cattle, chattel, slaves, subjects

You think a person's intellect and abilities are related to their sex

Not you? That all sounds archaic and uncool? Then you are a feminist. 

Welcome!

Broadly-defined, feminism is not just Team Woman, it's Team Human.

So, now what? First, you can relax. It's very common to feel this way about women. There are multiple shades, grades, levels, colors, applications, and depths within feminism and feminist philosophy, and if you would like to explore these and further define your stance here - GREAT. However, you are not required to join any clubs, read any books, dress differently, or even tell anyone. Go about your daily business. Perhaps start playing the Bechdel Test Game whenever you're chatting about movies - it makes for interesting, easy conversation and is truly eye-opening. As far as I'm concerned, you can even make juvenile remarks like "that's good...for a girl" and still fall under the feminist umbrella. It's not just men that say these things. Pretty sure I've said this in some context or another without realizing it. Nobody is perfect. But think about what Billy said the other day, maybe bite your tongue next time.

It's that simple. Ladies, you don't have to man-bash now, and gentlemen, don't worry about whether opening the door for a woman or calling her a girl is going to piss her off or not. Be yourself, respect one another as individuals, and BOOM you will be making the world a better place.