“I just got back from the gym. I usually don’t get up this early but I knew I had some interviews this morning so I went to the gym before and I just made it home,” Tyler Connolly explains to me when calling from his home in California. “I actually just got home in the nick of time” (laughs).
Connolly is staying in shape between legs of his tour with Theory Of A Deadman, who are out promoting their latest offering The Truth Is. Featuring such rocking tunes as the straight-shooting “Love Is Hell”, the sneering bite of “Hurricane” and the almost giddy rockabilly pop of the title track, the band was a big hit on 2011’s Carnival Of Madness tour with Alter Bridge and Adelitas Way.
Formed in 2001 by Connolly and his neighborhood buddies in British Columbia, Canada, Theory Of A Deadman is one of those bands that can rock & sock you one moment and then touch a raw nerve the next. Where does all this mixture of Tabasco rock come from? Try the early days of Connolly, an admitted bad boy from day one.
The first question I would like to ask you is where did you grow up and what kind of kid were you?
I grew up in a small town called North Delta, which is a suburb of Vancouver in Canada. And what kind of kid was I? I was a trouble-maker. Oh yeah, big time. I was always getting into trouble and I’m one of those guys that I almost want to go back and apologize to all the people (laughs) but I was the guy changing the sign in the front of our school because I was just such a jackass. I was just so mean to teachers. I wasn’t a bully, definitely not a bully. I was a small kid but I guess that’s why I couldn’t be a bully so I had a huge mouth.
So what would you say was the most mischievous thing that you did?
Oh God, I can’t even remember. We’ve done stupid stuff like light garbage bins on fire and put cars on blocks, just random, stupid, mischievous stuff. Me and my friends would figure out how to make Molotov cocktails, which is you put gas in like a wine bottle and light it with a match and throw it (laughs). Just stuff like that, breaking into the school and being chased by cops. I don’t know, to me it was just kind of like a regular weekend with all our friends. We would get into a lot of fights. I’ve had my face punched here and there, which is good. I always tell people, you can’t grow up until you get punched right in the face (laughs).
Did you get into music really early?
Yeah, I was really lucky. My dad was a musician, or still is a musician and he still plays gigs and stuff, and so since I was born my dad was singing and playing music. He had a band and in our basement he had rehearsal space and his band would come over and jam and it would smell like beer and cigarettes. I’d go down there and like bang on the drums or try to pick up the guitar or something and having absolutely no interest in it when I was young. But my friends would come over and it was like this amazing thing for my friends who’d be like “wow” (laughs). And I was like, “Eh, I don’t care”. But when I got older, when I became like thirteen or fourteen, I realized how amazing it really was, that I had all these instruments and recording equipment. I was really lucky, you know. I didn’t realize it till I became a teenager.
What kind of music did your dad play?
It’s rock & roll. Back then when I was a kid, my dad was doing stuff from the 60’s and 70’s, anything from Elton John, Billy Joel, Cream, the Beatles, etc etc. When I was young that music didn’t really impress me until I became a teenager and then I started looking through all my dad’s records and I found The Doors and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and Supertramp and all of a sudden it was like this epiphany hit me and I was like, how did I miss this my whole life? And it all just kind of came together literally within a month. It instantly just changed my life.
So what album blew you away?
It would be Led Zeppelin II. You put the record on and the first song is “Whole Lotta Love” and back when that record was made it was really ahead of its time because it had the stereo panning thing with the guitars, which back then stereo was really new and amazing. And I idolized Jimmy Page, the guitar player. My dad had this piece of crap acoustic guitar that looked like someone had stomped on it or hit it over someone’s head, all caved in (laughs). And I just picked it up and learned every single Led Zeppelin song I could. My dad picked up the phone and called this guitar player and said, “My son I think wants to become a guitar player”; so the guitar player kind of helped me look for a guitar and teach me some stuff and then went from there. I think I was around thirteen, fourteen.
You started off playing guitar. When did you realize you could sing?
Well, actually, the first instrument I learned was drums and I hated it. I took lessons. I guess I just picked the most masculine instrument (laughs). I took lessons and the teacher would stand behind me and every time I made a mistake he would hit me on the head with the drumstick. So I took like three lessons and I quit, can’t do it. And I felt bad cause my parents bought me like this practice pad for Christmas and I was just like I hated it, just too much practicing. I couldn’t just go down there and rock. But then I got a guitar.
The singing didn’t come till years later. I played in a couple of different bands as just a guitar player and it probably wasn’t till I was in my late teens, maybe just out of high school, where I was in this band with a friend of mine and he was the singer and was like, “Dude, you’re going to have to do some background harmony” and I was like, I don’t know how to sing. But he was like, “Oh it’s really easy. You just have to do this.” It was hard for me to sing and play the guitar at the same time. It was like multi-tasking. But once I figured it out, I all of a sudden had this other epiphany where I was like, wow, now I can play guitar and sing, why not just write my own songs and sing them myself. And that’s kind of where Theory Of A Deadman started.
Do you remember the first time you got on a stage and sang in front of people? How did that feel?
I don’t remember the first time but it was probably seriously nerve-wracking. I never had any problems playing guitar. I’d play school recitals and stuff like that and for me it was like showing off. I could go up there and show off and show everyone that I could shred or whatever on guitar. But singing was way more personal for some reason. It still is, to this day it’s different. I could probably get up on stage and play guitar and be totally fine but when you start singing it’s a different story. I don’t know what it is but … yeah, I was probably nervous.
Do you think it’s because you’re so exposed up there, just you and your voice?
I think so, yeah. And you know what? There is a lot of emotion in guitar playing but for some reason when you sing, you’re right, it’s like you’re naked up there. It’s like you just completely exposed yourself as soon as you opened your mouth. It’s almost like you opened your diary up for the whole world to read. So yeah, it can be nerve-wracking. It’s cathartic at the same time cause it’s like this huge rush cause obviously it’s your own song but it’s pretty amazing to be able to get it out, whatever you’re singing about. Yeah, it’s definitely tough.
Talking about your songwriting, you really seem to just put everything out there from your life. Do you remember the first autobiographical song that you wrote and what did that feel like setting those thoughts and emotions free?
I can’t remember what it would have been but it probably would be a song off our first record maybe. I’m not sure. I mean, every song I write is from something inside me. Especially early on when all of them were all coded, where I almost couldn’t figure out what they were. I’ve got a song called “Smile” that I wrote when I was young and it was about some girl but I actually don’t remember which girl (laughs).
The first song I actually wrote was with my sister when I was really young. I bet you my sister still knows that song. We recorded it. I just have no idea where it could be. That was actually the very first song I wrote.
What was the first concert that you went to?
I don’t know but I went to an Ice-T concert when I was young, which was pretty awesome. I got my face punched in there so that was pretty good. I was about twelve or thirteen. There was like five of us, five friends went. It wasn’t rock, it was rap, and my friend’s dad went cause we were so young and he went and sat in the back. At one point Ice-T threw like this handkerchief out or something and this dude grabbed it and I tried to grab it from him and he punched me in the face (laughs). I was probably like twelve.
So who was the first real rock star you met?
There’s still people I wish I could meet that I haven’t met yet. But you know, I was at the MTV Awards show in 2002 and I sat beside John Mayer and sat behind Christina Aguilera and it was like I did not belong there at all. I think I was wearing a white t-shirt with blue jeans. I think John Mayer was up for New Artist or something like that and he lost to Britney Spears, that’s how long ago it was. I think that night I’d met so many stars that it was pretty exciting.
I remember going up to David Lee Roth at this after-party and his security guard was like, “Whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re going?” I’m like, “I’m just going to talk to Dave”. And he’s like, “Well, who are you?” “I’m Tyler from Theory Of A Deadman”, as if he should know (laughs). The guy has no idea so I was playing it up so he’s like, “Ok”. And he lets me go by and Dave had all these chicks and I just went up and said “Hi” and he was so nice. Our first record had come out and for me that was kind of a really cool thing for me to go to the MTV Awards and be able to sit among all these people. And I would just go up and say hi to people. I remember walking up to Kirsten Dunst and said “Hi” and she was wasted and kind of gave me this weird look, like who is this weirdo trying to pick me up? (laughs) Yeah, that night I met a lot of rock stars.
You grew up with your bandmates, is that correct?
Yeah, you know, not Joe the drummer now but Dave Brenner and Dean Back, the other two guys in the band, they lived within walking distance to one another, within a mile I’d say from one another, which was really cool. Literally, Dave would ride his bike over to my house to practice. It’s almost like it helped ground us. Even to this day, it’s felt like it was such a small community that even today, even though we don’t live in the same city, it just feels the same, you know, which is really cool.
So there’s trust there, obviously.
Yeah and I don’t go back to my hometown very much but when I do it feels like I haven’t left. I drive through the city and think, man,
it’s changed a little bit but it brings back a lot of awesome memories.
Who would you say is your biggest influence as a musician and why them?
You know, I’ve always liked Joe Satriani as a guitar player. He never really sang, he just played guitar and he was able to play these amazing melodies with his guitar. Kind of like Jeff Beck does in a way. He became very successful with his guitar and he sold millions of records. But this guy who didn’t sing would sing with his guitar. And I think that influenced me a lot with my singing where I seem to write a lot of melodic catchy stuff. I think maybe that’s because his guitar playing influenced me in my singing. I’m trying to think of all the singers that influenced me and there seem to be more guitar players that influenced me than singers. And I think that’s maybe why. So I would probably say him.
That’s very interesting how his playing influenced your singing.
Yeah, a lot of people talk about their favorite singers but my favorite singers are singers that I can’t even sing like, like Robert Plant. I absolutely cannot and don’t sing like Robert Plant, which is kind of odd.
What is your all-time favorite album?
I would probably go back to saying Led Zeppelin II because that’s what introduced me to my world of rock & roll; and I think without that record I honestly don’t think I would be here. I think it really was the singular moment of listening to that record that changed my life. It’s so ironic, it’s so weird, but I actually honestly believe that.
You’ve got some interesting tattoos. When did you get your first tattoo?
I got a tattoo on my left forearm when I was probably in my early twenties. It says “for the love of music” in Mandarin Chinese. And I got hassled for it for a while. My buddies would say, “You sure it says for the love of music?” know what I mean? (laughs) But it was my first tattoo and I still look at it. I’m glad I got it, though it’s probably not the best tattoo but I think it means a lot.
Last Question: What is going on in your musical world?
Early next year [2012] we do a Canadian tour up north. It’s going to be freezing cold but we haven’t done a Canadian tour in like three or four years so that’ll be good. Then I think we’re going back and doing a full European tour and that will take us to March or April and then after that I don’t know.
Sounds like you’re going to be busy.
Yeah, we are always busy but I guess staying busy is good.
Have you thought about another album?
No, I don’t think so. I think we’re hoping this one lasts a while, like the last one. It was out for three years so we’re hoping this one lasts at least two or three years.
To keep the rocking & rolling going strong into the new year, we have Black Label Society bass player JD DeServio talking about his youth in next week’s installment of MY ROOTS.
