Dead Sara is a band that rocks, HARD… and has been hitting the road equally so. Fresh off tour with Chevelle, then The Used and an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show, Dead Sara jumped in head first to the 2012 Vans Warped Tour.
Unfortunately, that ride was to be cut short when guitarist, Siouxsie Medley, suffered from fractured ribs and the band announced their premature leaving on July 19th via Facebook:
We are sad to announce that we are unable to play the remaining dates of The Vans Warped Tour due to our guitarist, Siouxsie, recently fracturing her ribs. Unfortunately, rib injuries are a tricky thing to heal and she has been advised to rest and recover for the next several weeks to avoid any permanent damage and cancellation of future shows. We will make it up to all our fans and plan to return to the road late this summer/early fall. Thanks to Kevin (Lyman), all the bands on Warped, and everyone that came out to see us – it was an amazing experience and we had a blast. We look forward to seeing you all again…
Much Love,
Dead Sara
Prior to this, I was able to briefly chat with the two leading ladies, singer Emily Armstrong and guitarist Siouxsie Medley, at the San Francisco stop of the tour.
How’s your day going?
Emily Armstrong: Alright, a little tired
Siouxsie Medley: Yea, pretty tired
Same here, been a long day… and you guys were on tour before this.
Emily: Oh yea. We were along with Chevelle and then we on tour with the The Used.
So you guys are a little bit farther along in your journey than a lot of the bands that are here. It’s more like a marathon for you.
Siouxsie: Yea
Emily: Exactly.
You’ve been getting a lot of attention with your latest album, the self titled that came out April 10th, how have you felt the response has been to that?
Emily: Good.
This was your first album?
Siouxsie: This is our first full album. Before that, we had an EP that was out on iTunes.
You have Pocket Kid Records going for you… how did that come about and where are you hoping to take it?
Emily: Well, always wanted to do things our way, you know. There’s a lot of labels, you know, that we’ve talked to throughout the years it was kind of like… they didn’t share our vision. You know, so we just got to the point where we said you know what?… it’s the times too, you can do your own label. We just get support with distribution and stuff like that. So we decided we’ll do our own label, and we found Fontana/Universal who wanted to do everything that we wanted to do… and it’s a good time for it.
Yea, with the economic downturn, it’s kind of taken goliath down a notch and brought a lot of things in reach. There’s a lot more upstarts. That’s very punk rock attitude, to be true to yourself and not cave to what you’re offered.
Emily: I agree
I admire that.
Emily: Thank you
Your sound has a lot of diverse influences, from what I can tell. What have been some musical influences for you (Emily), specifically .
Emily: I like rock, you know… rock and roll really, when it comes down to it. It inspires me more than anything. It could be any.. 60’s 70’s 90’s 80’s. There’s some really good genres of that type of thing. Maybe it doesn’t sound the same, but it has that type of raw power. Not to take Iggy Pop’s words, but like “raw power”.
That definitely translates into your music
Emily: It’s what motivates me
…and that shows!
Emily: Thank you
Siouxsie, with the guitar, what have been your influences, for your music.
Siouxsie: A lot of different bands. Sometimes not necessarily a guitar player, sometimes singers or bands as a whole. I’m just really into melody and I like riffs obviously, like Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin to blues stuff like Sun House and Charlie Patton… and things like that, but it’s kind of all over the place.
After the Vans Warped tour, what are you guys doing? Where are you guys going?
Emily: To bed? (laughs)
Siouxsie: (laughs) ..for a little bit.
Emily: We have some time in August, to really just relax. Then after that we’ll be up and touring again.
Well, I’m looking forward to hearing more music from you guys, and good luck on the rest of the tour.
Siouxsie: Thank you so much!
Dead Sara will be returing to the road August 11th for Dirt Fest in Michigan. After that:
8/18 – West Hollywood, Sunset Strip Festival
8/23 – Boise, Knitting Factory
8/24 – Spokane, Knitting Factory
8/30 – Illinois, Waterfront Festival
They will then join up with The Offspring Tour on Aug 31st, and continuing on into the fall, playing other various shows as well. Check here for more complete tour dates. Or follow them on their Facebook or Twitter
photos by Tina Barnes
