By Suzanne Sanchez
Joshua Dean from Seed the Rock Band: Interview “Brave the
weather, weather the storm”
June 3, 2022
Breakthrough artist, Joshua Dean has come far from his time as an acoustical opening act. Lead singer of the Seed the Rock Band meets up with me on a special sit-down. With his intense breakdowns and heavy melodic undertones, his stage presence surpasses anyone’s expectations. Influential sounds of Tool, Danzig, and Nirvana can be heard, but not without his own personal sound that captivates anyone that listens to his music.
Suzanne: Thank you for joining me! It’s great to talk to you about your music and your life. We have known each other for over 10 years and worked together in this crazy music industry. You began working with me back when I was running national tours and you opened for some big artists as an acoustic act. And now you have developed into such an amazing artist and formed a band that is unstoppable, “Seed the Rock Band”. When did your band pull together?
Joshua: We started in 2011, been through different band members, people go in other directions music-wise. But I think the band is in a great direction now.
Suzanne: What influences do you pull your music from:
Josh: The Doors, Nirvana, Tool, and Danzig. Opera, Tribal… A lot of Tribal. Some middle eastern sounds.
Suzanne: God, that is sick. I did not expect you to say that it is very interesting. Of course, your music is very complex. You have a plethora of stuff going on, which makes you weird and interesting. It is a good weird, I like it. Josh, who was the first artist you admired and that inspired you to play?
Josh: When I was in Kindergarten, I had a Sesame Street, Press and Play toy that played Alice Cooper’s “Out for Summer”. As I played it on my sesame street press and play, I loved it! I did not like school from the first day it started. I hated it. It was so boring, and I could not wait to get home and listen to Alice Cooper’s cassette “School’s out for Summer”. I think Alice Cooper was my first rock and roll influence.
Suzanne: Who influenced you musically? What was the gateway to music for you?
Josh: Well, my mom always sang to me, she has a beautiful voice. She should have been a professional musician, but she never went after it. I was always making up songs in my head walking down the hallway, I was always singing. It was something I always did. When I was 12, I got the old guitar in the attic, and started playing it. I knew then I was a rock and roll guy, and this is what I do now.
Suzanne: What’s a song that you wrote that really resonates with your life and your future album.
Josh: We have a few newer songs recorded; we have a lot to record! So far “the Weather “is the most meaningful I guess… “Brave the Weather, Weather the Storm”. I think that sometimes I will write about something and then months later I will be like, oh, that’s what this is for. Life for everybody has been difficult because of Covid and the shutting down. The price of everything has gone up, you must be brave. Brave the weather, weather the storm, and keep going at it. Don’t give up and try to have fun in the meantime; just keep everyone’s spirits up. That is kind of my goal.
Suzanne: What do you think is your favorite song you have ever written so far, and what inspired you?
Josh: Well, I like all my songs, but I would say the most powerful is “11th Garden”. This song is about when I died when I was 16 years old. I got hit by someone in a white convertible. I was in a coma for 3 days; my brain was a little different after that. I woke up, I couldn’t count, couldn’t walk. Several months went by, I was finally able to start moving around again. The first thing that came back to me was playing the guitar. There was this thing I studied in the Egyptian culture. This was about a dimension where there is this place with a sort of cosmic consciousness, where everyone knows everything in this consciousness and it where you find the answers you are looking for. That’s kind of what it’s about. After you die you go to this place where you see everything, kind of like Nirvana. That is pretty much what it is about. I think that is my favorite subject. The metaphysical stuff.
Suzanne: I have seen you develop throughout the years, and you have become a force to reckon with. You do not hold back. You have your own sound. I know it is hard to find band members that have the same energy, that can understand your path; to find that compatibility. And when bands go on tour sometimes it can be hard to stay cohesive.
Josh: You know, it has always been a revolving door. “Jewop” Steve and Dave Graves were the ones that started this with me. It is hard to find band members that can stay in it.
Suzanne: I see you going somewhere with this, not too long from now. I see you tapping on that door. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Josh: Hopefully a few tours, and maybe after that reaping the benefits of those tours. Album sales, challenging myself too, and helping the band survive, to get people to dig deeper within themselves with a positive attitude.
Suzanne: Do you think you are ready for it all, the next step?
Josh: Actually, I have been ready for it. It takes a lot to take someone away from their town. You’ve got to be able to pick up and go. I think it takes a lot of patience and just timing.
Suzanne: What do you think is the worst part of the music industry?
Josh: The monotony of it. You go around and hear the same bands singing the same songs. The cover band life, and some originals they just don’t have a point. More bands should create their own music as an artist should.
Suzanne: What is your message that you want to give to the world and what you are about?
Josh: I would say, sex, drugs and rock and roll. But it just is not applicable anymore. I would say the “altruistic rebellion” , to not be caged and one needs to have one’s abilities and talents nurtured because nobody in this world can be you, except for you. Everyone has the skill set to perform, that is what will make this world a happier place as conscious individuals.
Suzanne: You are one of the reasons why I still stay in the industry, and why I came back. The love for music is so heavy that there are still people that feel this way. And being in the music industry can make you very jaded. You see so much negativity. What kept you in it for so long?
Josh: Everyone listens to music, well pretty much everyone. The homeless, the crackheads, lawyers, doctors, rich people, and preachers; all groups are prescribed. All want to get something out of music. It is kind of a responsibility when you have that much ground to do something good with it.
Suzanne: Finally, a question I often ask many bands. Who would you like to tour with?
Josh: Tool, and Korn, I love them both. I also love Hollywood vampires. I love Johnny Depp, and what he has been through in his life, he is great. Yea, I would say the Hollywood Vampires.
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