INTERVIEW: Alessandro DeCaro
When Tempe, Arizona-based nu-metal outfit DED burst onto the scene with their debut album Mis-An-Thrope in 2017, the bases were loaded, so to speak. Not only was the album produced by the legendary John Feldman, known for his work on many of your favorite band’s records, including Blink-182, The Used, and Sleeping With Sirens, but Mis-An-Thrope also catapulted the band to the top of the charts on active rock radio and scored them a host of high profile tours with the likes of Korn and Stone Sour. While many would assume DED were a textbook overnight success story, it couldn’t be further from the truth with the members, including Joe Cotela (Vocals), Kyle Koelsch (Bass), Alex Adamcik (Guitar), and Matt Reinhard (Drums) having ground it out for over a decade-plus in various punk and hardcore bands to modest success. In other words, DED’s quick ascent to the top was well deserved as the collective members undoubtedly put in more blood, sweat, and tears than they could ever count.
With steady hype continuing to build behind DED, the band was poised to be unstoppable by the time their sophomore album, School Of Thought, was released. However, as we all know, the world had other plans with the sudden disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time the band released the record in October of 2021, it would be remiss not to mention that the pandemic negatively affected the band’s momentum. Soon after, DED would quietly step away from the public and music industry as a whole while navigating changes within their team and trying to figure out the best way to remerge as strong as ever when the time was right.
Thankfully, the music didn’t stop within the DED camp, and the band continued to hunker down in secret for nearly three years, writing an abundance of new songs that would eventually be their long-awaited third studio album. DED also teamed up with their brand new record label, UNFD, and have finally returned this past month with their latest single, “Rockstar,” offering fans a first taste of the new era of DED. “Rockstar” is, in many ways, the heaviest and most in-your-face song DED has released in their career thus far, and the lyrics are as timely and poignant as ever, with critiques on ego and a lack of authenticity in the music industry as a whole.
The new track also represents DED’s mission to return to the roots of what made them love music in the first palace, which has always been having fun and being unapologetically themselves. While DED is in many ways starting fresh after three years away from the spotlight, one thing is for sure: it won’t take long for them to reclaim their throne as one of the most exciting acts in nu-metal today.
In an exclusive conversation with The Pretty Cult, DED frontman Joe Cotela opens up about the band’s three-year absence from releasing music, their incendiary comeback single “Rockstar,” the importance of being authentic no matter the cost, and so much more.
“Rockstar” is the first taste of official new music from DED since your sophomore album, School Of Thought, was released in 2021. What have the last 3 years been like? I imagine you eagerly waiting to share what you have been working on.
Joe Cotela: The last three years felt like a long time. Not to go too far into it, but we were just having differences with everyone we were working with at the time, and it sucked. However, we were still writing music in our studio that whole time. The dudes in the band would send me stuff, I’d write to it and come to town to record, and eventually, we stockpiled 40-50 songs. It’s really cool because it almost felt like we were working on our first record again because we had so much time.
A lot of times, a band’s first record is awesome because the band is in a place of turmoil, which we were definitely in. Though we were stuck in this frustrating time where we were trapped, it also brought out this anger that we could release in the music. We stepped away from everything for a bit and got back to the basics of just listening to our hearts and discovering what we are really about. It ended up being really cool and helped set us up for coming back. We also have a new team and a new label with UNFD, which has been super awesome. When we went to UNFD, they just got us and felt like old friends already. They legitimately love music, which is awesome!
With the lyrics for “Rockstar,” you’re obviously touching on themes of authenticity and the lack thereof in the music industry. How do you approach remaining humble and authentic as an artist who also has to co-exist with the music industry machine?
Cotela: A rockstar like Mick Jagger or the Oasis dudes is fine; if anything, it’s just funny. What I’m really hitting on is the try-hards who suck, who are inauthentic, and you can just smell them from a mile away. When people get a little taste of success, they act like boneheads, but I always try to stay humble, and most of the people I looked up to and idolized were always that way, too.
Coming from punk rock, it’s not about being super cool; it’s about making great music and being a part of a scene with unity. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a huge rockstar — that was never the goal. I just want a humble career making music that connects with enough people. I know we all feel the same way, and being in the industry this long, we want to exude authenticity and be an example for other bands. The whole song is about that, and it touches on our love of music and getting back to the mentality we had when we first started this band, which was always just about having fun.
I love that you touched on your background in punk and hardcore music because you can always tell when someone comes from that background where there is almost an unspoken code of ethics.
Cotela: I’ve always said the same thing too. When you meet someone immediately, you know if they have been a part of a scene like punk or hardcore. We were a part of that for years and, of course, went through different phases as well. When we were young, we were also a part of the real, authentic version of Nu Metal when it first came out. In fact, I remember Korn touring with Sick Of It All and Biohazard when they first came out. Many kids today don’t understand that nu-metal started as an authentic underground movement. I mean, Chino Moreno from Deftones was on a Strife song, so there really was a lot of adjacent stuff with the beginning of nu-metal. It’s about not forgetting your roots; not that I am against the radio or success, but it’s all about being real and genuine.
On “Rockstar,” you’re also diving into some of the heaviest territory you have ever explored as a band. What prompted the band to take this sonic path? In many ways, it feels like artists have more liberty now than ever to go as heavy and unfiltered as possible with their music without sacrificing commercial success. Would you agree?
Cotela: I remember when the dudes sent me the music to “Rockstar,” I ended up writing all of the lyrics in just a day or two, and I was just so blown away by how swaggy and fresh it felt. It feels like hardcore is having a huge resurgence again, which is really cool to see and inspires us to hone in on those influences. It’s exciting and empowering to see bands like Drain and Knocked Loose have success because it shows that you don’t have to play the game. You can just be good; if you’re good, it will resonate with people.
However, the real reason [for the sonic shift] on “Rockstar” is because this is also the first time we have worked on a new record [primarily] by ourselves — along with the help of our guy Zach Jones (WARGASM, Fever 333, etc.). This time, it’s really just us left to our own devices and not working with a 5th “silent member,” which a producer usually is a lot of times. We learned so much from our [past producers] John Feldman and Kevin Churko, who are both amazing people, and now, we can apply all of that to our new music in our own way. This new record will be the most unfiltered version of DED you will ever hear.
At the time of this interview, you are just about to wrap up your tour with BUTCHER BABIES. What are some of your favorite highlights from the tour, and how has the reception for the new song been in a live setting?
Cotela: It’s been amazing. We’ve played “Rockstar” for the entire tour, even before it came out, which was super fun to do. The reception has been so good since the first time we played it, and you can just see it with people getting that “stink face” on and grooving to it. The tour has been amazing as well. We’re actually sharing a bus with BUTCHER BABIES, and they’re all awesome people. I’ve loved watching Fox Lake play; they’re so badass and DROPOUT KINGS, who are also from Arizona and people we’ve known for a long time and have always tried to have their back because we believe in them. It’s all great camaraderie out here!
For us, it’s just about gratitude to be able to play music and tour. We’re just so appreciative because we didn’t know if we’d ever be able to do this again properly. During COVID, I promised never to lose that gratitude, even when I thought it was all gone. I intend to keep that promise to myself going forward and let that bleed into other facets of my life. Living in gratitude is the only way to live.
Obviously, DED is gearing up to release a new record next year. What can we expect from this new chapter?
Cotela: The new record is being mixed right now, and we’re also talking to some friends about doing some feature stuff. I don’t know if I can give an exact date yet, but we’re gonna try to release new singles every few months and keep it fresh. We’re reactivating and reintroducing ourselves to the world again because it moves so fast. 3 years [away] is like ten years, so we’re definitely of the mind of starting fresh and doing this again the way we should do it. I’m just excited to get new music out, tour, and live our purpose the best way possible.
Watch the music video for "Rockstar" by, DED below.
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