A day in the life of alternative-rock band, Deadwing.
I spent the day with the alternative-rock band, Deadwing, for their music video shoot of their new, hard-hitting single, ‘The Faceless.’
Having recently shot a whole music video for this song and then deciding they weren't going to use it, the band wanted this day to go well. Their original video was shot in the popular pub called Blossoms in Stockport. Although it was an awesome gig, the band didn't get enough footage to create the video they envisioned. So, they planned to record their new music video at one of the coolest upcoming music venues in the North, Pealies Barn in Northallerton.
After staying the night at Ellie’s (singer) and Jake’s (drummer) house with the rest of the band in the quaint town of Todmorden, we rose early so we could all pack the car and get ready for the 2 hour drive to Northallerton. Waking up to the view of hills from the window and Ellie’s adorable cats, Rick and Morty - you can understand why Jake and Ellie love their little home. Many bathroom trips and coffee’s later, we all squished into Ellie’s KIA Picanto with our belongings and headed for the road.
We stopped at a little garage in Todmorden to pump up the tyres for Ellie’s car. And of course, we couldn’t resist a greggs. This band loves greggs. And, you can’t blame them. Coffee, toast, vegan sausage rolls and a chicken lattice was all the band needed to fuel their day of shooting. We listened to lots of tunes on the way including Ian Dury and The Blockheads - ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’. Which I don’t think Dragoș was too keen on, as he put his earphones in a few seconds into the song. As we were approaching a roundabout, Ellie noticed her car was making a funny sound when she was braking. So we had our fingers crossed for the rest of the journey that we would make it there in one piece.
Fortunately, we did! As we got to the farm and parked up, we were greeted by Ryan, the drummer of psychedelic rock band, Scruffy Bear. Scruffy Bear had offered to record Deadwing’s music video for them. Scruffy Bear, who once studied and lived in Manchester, moved to Pealie Pealie’s Barn during the lockdown of 2020. The band wanted to live in a house together to work on their music, which has worked out perfectly for them.
They not only live in a house together on the farm but they are also the ones setting up and eventually running Pealie’s Barn. They have recently held their first proper event called ‘Pealie’s Barn Halloween Barnanza’. It looked like a great night, with pumpkin bowling, open mic performances and pizza. You should definitely follow them on social media and get down to their next event.
After saying our hellos to the rest of Scruffy Bear, we headed into the main venue space. The barn has a gothic, Victorian feel to it, with its little church shaped windows with partly melted white candles and long wooden benches and seats, like you see in Harry Potter. Which Ellie of course adored, as she later told myself and Georgy (the singer of Scruffy Bear) about her love for trips to Harry Potter World in London. At the end of the barn is an elevated stage with large beams. Underneath it, is a room with a big pizza oven. On the other side of the barn, there is a sound desk and control desk to alter the lighting. You can see why Deadwing picked this place for their music video. It fitted them to a T.
Sass (the bassist of Scruffy Bear) really wanted to help Deadwing capture the exact vision they had in mind. After debriefing with the band, he helped them get set up. Jack (the guitarist of Scruffy Bear) was in charge of the sound desk. Originally Deadwing thought they might just play the song live along with the track, to capture the spirit of their live set. However, they came to the decision that their best was to have the song playing and mime along to it. It did take them a little while to properly get into it and feel like they were playing live properly, but as soon as they did, they started to move more. Ellie was flipping her hair and Dragoș was headbanging and miming the lyrics along with Ellie on parts.
Ryan was the cameraman for the day. He informed me that he had only recently gotten into photography and filming, and was really enjoying it. He said that there would be a photographer moving to the farm soon, so he’s looking forward to learning more from them. Pealie's Barn is looking for more creatives to join them on their project. Ryan did a brilliant job and as you can see now, the video looks great.
It was very funny to see him perched on top of a ladder trying to not fall off when filming the band. He captured the classic drum faces of Jake, the animated nature of Dragoș and the Jack Stanley signature sway.
When talking about the lyrics for the ‘Faceless’, Jack spoke about his time on a train home to Manchester after staying in Wales and writing some of the lyrics that inspired the song. Ellie had the concept of ‘what if you were dead but hadn’t moved on yet?’. He said that he thought about how it would feel to be trapped in purgatory, which reminded me of the film, Lovely Bones. The way Sass had set up the lights and used the smoke machine really captured the ethereal essence of Ellie and the original idea for this song. The light was bouncing off her voluminous hair and making her look a ghost in a mist. Ellie has said that the song is very much open to interpretation and the lyrics can have a plethora of meaning to different individuals.
After many hours and many takes, everyone decided that they had gotten enough footage that they were happy with, to call it a wrap. The band all sat down looking pleasantly tired and content with their day on set. Jake and Ellie drinking their new found love, JD coke, Jack with a spiced captain morgan's rum and coke (he does look like a pirate a bit as well) and Dragoș with his fruity cider. They all had smiles on their faces. You could see that this is the work that they love to do. It's sometimes rare to find doing something that you love and are very passionate about, but they have found it.
After a few drinks, we were all ready for some pizza. Scruffy Bear had kindly made their own dough, their own fresh tomato sauce and even got in some vegan cheese for people. We all stood around the big pizza oven, chatting and having a laugh while Sass and Georgy cooked the pizza’s. The food was delicious. Pizza really does taste better when cooked in a proper pizza oven.
The happiness the band were feeling becomes even more apparent when they play their live set later on that day at the barn. Although they were only performing to a small group of us, they seemed like they were playing a massive show. Ellie was stomping her feet and singing with vigour, Jack was moving around the stage and grooving to the songs, Dragoș performed intense, shredding solos and Jake’s impressive drum fills created a vehement, relentless energy. The band even added a section of one of Scruffy Bear’s singles, ‘Water’, to their song ‘Freedom’, which was a nice gesture. Scruffy Bear were looking at each other as if they were thinking, “is this our song or does it just sound similar?”and then they soon realised it was theirs, and were laughing. At the end of the song, Jack who was on the sound desk said into his mic, “Well done, Deadbear”.
Deadwing played their popular singles, ‘May’, ‘Post Mortem’, ‘Start Again’ and now, their newest release as of the 8th of October, ‘The Faceless’. They also played a bunch of new material, which will be released in the near future. Listening to their live set, you can really hear the progression of the band. Their older songs are amazing, but their new ones seem like they are starting to truly find their sound and the direction they want to go in. This is very apparent on their new track. Our friend Josh had never heard the band play live before, so he was just in awe throughout the eternity of their set. He kept looking at me and going “wow” and I was like, “I know!”. I don’t think Deadwing realizes how good they are, and I think that is something that makes people love them more. Anyone that watches them can see they will go far and achieve their dreams as a band.
After the band had finished, we all came up to them and told them how great a set it was. The band were laughing because they thought we might have heard some of their mistakes. They said they thought they had a little bit too much to drink before going on stage, but you couldn’t notice. For the rest of the evening, we all drank and chatted about everything and anything. It was a wholesome evening, which ended with us in Scruffy Bear’s house cuddling their cute rabbits and standing in the courtyard looking up at the stars.
Spending the day with Deadwing on their music video shoot was an extremely enjoyable experience, and will for sure, be a memorable one. Go and check out their new music video and their awesome new merch below. Click on the "Listen Now" button to listen to the single on different platforms.