By Lisa Morgan
Deadend Paradox is quite possibly one the best bands flying under our desert music scene’s radar, but not for long. This band and their music, born and bred here in the Coachella Valley, cut their teeth on the same ideals and punk rock influences from which their musical upperclassmen developed the infamous Stoner Rock genre. All three self-taught musicians fell on the sword of original music from the beginning with the song “Paradox” (hence their name). The latter part of their name, Deadend, came from the skateboard team that drummer Eddie Airada was part of at the time. Since 2008, this power trio has been pumping out a quality catalog of pulse altering, uniquely melodic and lyrically strong songs. While some of their music may bear essences of reggae or even hip-hop, to their very roots, they are at their core, high powered rock.
Eddie Airada, Drums: A hybrid athlete behind the kit, Eddie plays more beats inside a measure than a ten year old rattle snake during pre-strike, and he’s just as deadly. It’s a little disconcerting because he makes it all look like a brisk walk in the park. He’s tireless, inhumanly accurate and precise, with a touch on every beat that brings out everything his kit has to offer. And he does it, by all appearances, without breaking a sweat. Not a showy player, Eddie commands your attention through sheer intensity. Completely self-taught, I asked who his role models were. While being very eclectic and listening to many different drummers of varying genres, the influence of one highly respected drummer seems to shine through in his playing the most – veteran basher, Byron McMackin of Pennywise. “He’s one of my favorite drummers to watch and learn from. The way he plays is so fast and technical, it’s crazy.” Funny…that’s exactly how one would describe Eddie’s playing.
Chris Dub, Bass: Alex and Eddie had started jamming together in high school and had played around town as the band, Stone Fox. 2008 brought Chris into the band, and within two weeks of auditioning, he had to play his first gig. It was his first punk rock show, where he was told that he “looked more bro than punk”. He still does. An HVAC tech by day, Chris could also double as the band’s bouncer based on size alone. Looking like he just got transferred to the desert from a college football team in the Midwest, Chris doesn’t try to “look” the part. Instead he just brings it. He is definitely the most physical on stage. “I don’t know. The music just moves me. I don’t really do that, the music and the crowd do it to me,” he shared. His bass playing encompasses a combination of styles ranging from funk slap to using octaves and fifths littered with meaty yet tasteful, melodic fills. Between these two gate keepers of rhythm, there’s no telling who is keeping who in the pocket. They just truly play as one entity creating one of the cleanest and most powerful rhythm teams in the valley.
Alex Antonio, Lead Guitar and Vocals: Zach Huskey, co-founder of the internationally renowned Dali’s Llama, singled Alex out as one of the better young guitar players in the valley. “He’s well rounded; not stuck in any one style. You can have a conversation with him and talk about Johnny Thunder (late, great rock/punk rock guitarist best known for his work with the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers) and he knows who that is and has studied him. He’s alright. He’s a good songwriter and a good singer…he’s one of the better young cats in our music scene.”
Bringing both lead guitar and vocals together, there are times when you can barely differentiate the guitar from the man as Alex matches the melody line on his guitar with vocal tone and pitch perfection. When talking about music, Alex will be quick to tell you, “The bands I loved were saying something that I was feeling. They weren’t up there just for show.” As the main lyricist for the band, Alex helps Deadend Paradox replicate this ideal. When I asked what song was his favorite, lyrically, he named, “She Came to Me.” “It was a first for me… an exploration in writing. Before, I had been writing everything from personal experience, so I attempted to write from someone else’s perspective. The lyrics are fictional, and are a kind of a twisted skew on Romeo and Juliet. I like the tragedy of it. Looking from the outside, looking in on an obsession. He finally gets her and suddenly, the obsession gets a lot darker.”
She Came to Me
You came to me so beautifully and I can’t hide
Your heart’s your sleeve, so hard to please but I can try
A stranger’s touch don’t need too much to keep me tied
You came to me so beautifully now it’s all gone
And I can show you the world and make you love what you see
I’ll never do what you want, just know that it’s ok
You’re love to me is so discrete, I like your kind
You’re honesty when I’m in deep, your skin don’t lie
Parade of lust, the thing of touch can be defined
You came to me so beautifully, now it’s all gone
So I can show you the world and make you love what you see,
I’ll never do what you want, I only do what I please.
And if I locked you into this thing that just isn’t true and hid you all to myself,
Just know that it’s ok
Chris explained their songwriting process: “It’s a light science. We start with just hanging out and catching up. And when the right energy hits, usually within 5-10 minutes, we start constructing a song. Then Alex just adds his bad ass vocals to it. We’ll record it on our phones and fine tune it. That’s just the way it’s been working out best over the last couple of years.”
These three individual musicians come together in a “oneness” that is a well-oiled machine, but with a huge heart. This either reflects some kind of other worldly psychic connection, or an incredible work ethic. My guess, it’s the latter. Either way, like the cream in Eric Clapton’s coffee, they have the potential to rise to the top in an industry flooded with DIY labels and projects lacking in character, ethics and depth. In-spite of the amount of solid material this band has composed, you’d be hard pressed to find any reoccurring themes between the songs with two exceptions: They are all genuinely good and are all best when played loud. Deadend Paradox delivers with the passionate intent of driving the music into their audience’s very core, and they succeed in doing so with precision.
“We are in the process of signing our own record label, Verdin Entertainment, LLC,” Chris shared proudly. “It’s in the process of becoming legally finalized. We’re getting ready to take that next step. In the next couple months we’re going to lock down and complete our album. Our goal is to grow our following and work together with other musicians. We care about what we’re doing, but also care about what everyone in the crowd is feeling. We want to cheer them up or pump them up, whatever they got coming to them. We want to support everyone who supports us,” he added. “As long as your hearts in the right place, it all comes together. You got to be friends and family first, and actually like hanging with each other. Then the music just comes out.”
You can check out Deadend Paradox along with local favorites, Blasting Echo, Pictures from Eden and CIVX (all of whom have been nominated in “Coachella Valley Weekly’s Music Awards”) this Saturday night, May 10th at The Hood Bar in Palm Desert. Blasting Echo will fire up the evening around 9 pm. They’ll be followed by Pictures from Eden, Deadend Paradox and finally, CIVX who recently played the Tachevah, Palm Springs Block Party, and the 2014 Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
