{"id":25173,"date":"2023-05-04T05:30:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T09:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25173"},"modified":"2023-04-25T10:56:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:56:27","slug":"rock-is-dead-theorys-tyler-connolly-says-long-live-rock-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/04\/rock-is-dead-theorys-tyler-connolly-says-long-live-rock-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock is Dead? Theory’s Tyler Connolly Says \u2018Long Live Rock\u2019 (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

Connolly says that \u201cDinosaur\u201d builds on that kind of thinking. \u201cI was playing on the human emotion of misery and the pessimism of the future things to come.\u201d But in the same breath, he suggests that \u2013 just maybe \u2013 he\u2019s not irrevocably convinced that we\u2019re all going to Hell in a hand basket. \u201cI think everything’s going to be fine<\/i>,\u201d he says with a chuckle. \u201cI don’t<\/i> think we’re going to go out like the dinosaurs. [The song] is just a sentimental take on the glass-half-empty perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to lyrics, Connolly isn\u2019t afraid to include something to amuse himself. \u201cDinosaur\u201d features a snippet of lyrics, \u201c20, 24 hours to go,\u201d a direct lift from \u201cI Wanna Be Sedated,\u201d a classic from punk heroes the Ramones, featured on their breakthrough 1978 LP Road to Ruin<\/i>. That inside reference is likely to be lost on many Theory of a Deadman fans. And that\u2019s okay with Connolly. \u201cSometimes it’s fun to do stuff like that and see who catches it,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re the first person to mention it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, Connolly says, fans of his band know the words to songs that he wouldn’t expect. He recalls a gig in Russia, years ago before that country launched its current war of aggression upon Ukraine. \u201cWe were just playing our normal set of songs,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd when we came back for the encore, the crowd was chanting: \u2018Say goodbye! Say goodbye!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, Connolly and his band mates wondered what was going on. Was the crowd encouraging them to leave? But then they realized: \u201cOh, \u2018Say Goodbye.\u2019\u201d The song was a deep album cut on Theory of a Deadman\u2019s second album, 2005\u2019s Gasoline<\/i>. Save for a promotional-only CD, the song was never released as a single. But it had caught on in Russia. \u201cIt was our big song over there,\u201d Connolly says. \u201cThis was before streaming, so we couldn\u2019t even [track] what our popular songs were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Russian audience, Theory didn\u2019t play the song for them. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t,\u201d Connolly explains, the embarrassment still stinging all these years later. \u201cIt had different [guitar] tunings.\u201d But he made a note, and the next time the band played in Russia, they made sure to play \u201cSay Goodbye.\u201d \u201cAnd they were really happy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s lineup has been constant since 2009, featuring Connolly and two founding members \u2013 guitarist Dave Brenner and Dean Back \u2013 plus drummer Joey Dandeneau. But being in a rock band in the 21st<\/sup> century is about more than writing and recording songs, releasing albums and touring the globe. The economics of making music are such that those activities don\u2019t necessarily generate the kind of income required to sustain a group. So merchandising \u2013 something that\u2019s been a part of the mix since the dawn of rock and roll \u2013 plays a larger role.<\/p>\n

The label definitely wants to try to expand the band as much as possible with syncs,\u201d Connolly explains, referring to licensed \u201csynchronized\u201d use of Theory music in film, television, advertisements, games and other contexts outside traditional albums and streaming. Connolly notes that a Theory song was recently played at a New York Knicks game. \u201cThat stuff\u2019s really cool,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He points to Kiss as the musical masters of merchandising. \u201cThey’ve got Kiss coffins, Kiss pinball. And I think that as we get older, that’s turning into our model. As we have a core fanbase now, we’re starting to do [those sorts of] things.\u201d He mentions Deadman’s Brew, a branded coffee, and says that the group is working on coming out with a Theory-branded alcoholic beverage. \u201cJust like with the music,\u201d he suggests, \u201cwe\u2019re doing things to try to get ourselves out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a quarter century after they started, the four members of Theory of a Deadman are committed to staying<\/i> out there, playing their brand of 21st<\/sup> century rock. \u201cSome bands actually broke up during COVID,\u201d he says. \u201cThey weren’t making money off streaming or sales.\u201d Connolly emphasizes that he\u2019s grateful that his group has a body of work that continues to sell. \u201cHopefully forever,\u201d he says with a good-natured laugh. \u201cWe’ve been lucky. And I hope it will just keep going that way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One… Connolly says that \u201cDinosaur\u201d builds on that kind of thinking. \u201cI was playing on the human emotion of misery and the pessimism of the future things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,62],"tags":[5120,5121],"class_list":["post-25173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-theory","tag-theory-of-a-deadman","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25178,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25173\/revisions\/25178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}