Dead Confederate’s sophomore album Sugar, recorded by John Agnello (Hold Steady, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.), was shaped by touring with legends such as Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets and gave Dead Confederate an increased appreciation for the early underground bands of the 80s and 90s that laid the foundation on which their sound is built. Writing songs in their studio on full instrumentation, Dead Confederate’s songs are shorter and more concise this second time around,  dropping some of the ragged glory repetition of their heralded 2008 debut Wrecking Ball.


Dead Confederate will be kicking off a headlining tour of the US with their buddies Alberta Cross.The tour kicks off September 6th in Portland, Oregon, and will take the band across the country to cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and more.  Glide recently had a chance to ask co-songwriter/bassist Brantley Senn a few questions about Sugar and more.


Wrecking Ball was heralded as one of the best albums of 2008 – but Sugar is a lot different of a  record- was it tempting to do something similar to Wrecking Ball given its success? 

 Not at all. We’ve always had it in mind that we would shake things up record to record. It’s got to remain interesting for us or it won’t be for anyone else.
 
How long was the recording process for Sugar and how the majority of the songs come about and was there something in particular that sparked the creative process or served as an influence?

We spent about three weeks recording and mixing the album. This time around we didn’t learn any of the songs as a band until the week before going in the studio. We wanted to keep them malleable and exciting. As far as influence, I think the bands you tour with are going to be the biggest influence.
 
The sound of Sugar was said to be shaped by touring Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets. How did their approach to music have an effect on creating the new album?  


I can’t speak for Hardy (Morris/singer), but I made a conscience effort to write more guitar solos into the tunes. Seeing those guys wail night after night really reminded me how important good guitar solos are to rock music.

 
How has the band changed musically since Wrecking Ball and has the song-writing process changed?

The new songs are a lot shorter. We made a conscience effort to try and pack more into a shorter time frame and cut out a lot of the repetition. Some of the tunes are upbeat, which I guess just comes from being in a happier place. My songwriting process was completely different for this record. I used to just write on an acoustic guitar, but this time I wrote songs in my home studio with full instrumentation.
 

It’s been said that songwriting is subconscious, it just leaks out of you -sometimes you don’t write the song, the song writes you.  What songs on Sugar came about that way?


Probably most of them. I don’t even understand the process myself, it just happens.
 
Being a rock band from Athens , Georgia obviously comes with the tag being either an indie band or a southern rock band – what group if any do you fit into?


Probably both. I’m not big into the idea of labels being attached to music because it assumes you can put someone’s creativity in this tiny little box which really doesn’t exist.
 
Dead Confederate has constantly driven comparison to Nirvana and My Morning Jacket- which comparisons drive you nuts and how would you best describe Dead Confederate?


Those are fair. No references really bother me. I do hate that people use the term grunge, because I don’t think that’s fair. We may have some songs that lean that way, but certainly there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t fit in that category.  People need references in order to describe things to other people. I don’t really know how to describe us. I think we’re a rock band at heart. We are southern. We love distortion.
 
You recently spent time on the road with Deer Tick and will be touring soon with Alberta Cross.  Are you fans of these bands and what did you enjoy with Deer Tick and what are you looking forward to most about touring with Alberta Cross?

Yeah, with both bands we were mutual fans of each other. The best part of the tour with Deer Tick for me was the last night. We got Robbie, who is their new keyboard player, to jump on stage and play sax with us for a cover of Sonic Youth’s “Diamond Sea.” It was crazy. He jumped up on the kick drum for the crazy noise section and started smashing cymbals with his sax. I can’t wait to tour with Alberta Cross again. Their good friends and we all stay in touch but we haven’t seen each other in a while.
 
What gigs for far this year have been most memorable in particular and why?


Well, honestly they all run together for me. My memory sucks. Our show in Athens at the 40 Watt for AthFest was pretty amazing. Athens treats us really well and we got to hangout with all our friends.
 
What new bands or records have you been turned onto so far this year?


Beach House’s Teen Dream is probably my favorite of the year. I’ve listened to it probably fifty times. Also digging Best Coast. I guess I have a thing for girls that make dreamy pop. The new Arcade Fire is great. I saw them the other night in Atlanta and it was mind blowing. They’ve really grown into a monster of a live band. Very inspiring.



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