Interview with The Deadbeat Cousins: ‘Folk and blues ARE Deadbeat Cousins!’

Mesa, Arizona-based blues rock band The Deadbeat Cousins are working on their debut full-length album, Old Habits, which will be released next summer.

The band comprises Mat Shaker (lead vocals/guitar), Jaren Soelberg (guitar/vocals), his nephew Jess (bass) and Jason Roedl (drums). Their name was the result of a brainstorming session, according to Soelberg: ‘We got to down to Coyote Cousins and Deadbeat Cousins and we thought Deadbeat Cousins was cooler!’ Shaker and Soelberg are long-time friends. Roedl is a new recruit to the band and previously performed with rock band Mergence, who have since disbanded.

The Deadbeat Cousins released two heartwarming and funny Christmas singles at the end of November, ‘Merry Christmas, I’ve Tried’ and ‘I Could Be Wrong’, which remain true to their bluesey roots: ‘Merry Christmas, I’ve Tried’, was written by Shaker about his Christmas shopping habits: ‘I have a terrible habit of waiting until Christmas Eve to do it,’ he laughed. ‘Every year, I end up at Walmart (a hypermarket chain), it’s about that and the stresses of Christmas. There’s a line to myself in it “I’m thinking that I shoulda, coulda, woulda but I did it again”. Me and Jaren bounce ideas off each other, a guitar part or a melody. We have hundreds of voice memos on our phones, so it goes back and forth until we have a general direction.’

I say that I love the langorous, bluesey, fuzzy riff of A, G and E that kicks off ‘I Could Be Wrong’, where they use a Big Muff fuzz pedal with a Fender Reverb tank. ‘That’s Jaren playing it,’ Shaker said. ‘We had a concept Jaren had started, it was going to be a regular song. We had the melody but it was incomplete. We had the chorus, we’d been working on it for a while.’ Soelberg nods: ‘We’d been getting on it for about six months. Originally, it was about losing your faith or belief in God. We thought it would be cooler to make it about losing your belief in Santa Claus. When we changed that, it kinda came to life and felt right.’ Shaker is laughing; ‘It was funny to start it, the idea of making someone question their beliefs or faith, the lyrics feed into that.’

‘The music is powerful and fun, it’ll make you want to move’

For Shaker, the track that holds the forthcoming album together is ‘Heaven Help Me’: ‘Lyrically, it’s pretty specific,’ he said. ‘We have a line “heaven help me but not ’til I’m dead”. The music is powerful and fun, it’ll make you want to move. It’s heavy and dark, transitioning into something folky and bluesey. After it, we have a soft, acoustic one.’ Soelberg quips: ‘Folk and blues ARE Deadbeat Cousins! We’ve played ‘Heaven Help Me’ live a couple of times. It’s about divine intervention. It’s the song that was kind of the catalyst for the rest of the songs.’

They have already got five songs for their upcoming full-length album, which will include their next single ‘I Don’t Want To Fight’ – which Shaker cites as his favourite to perform – and four tracks from this year’s EP, ‘Don’t Tell Me No Lies’: the title track, ‘The Wolf’ and ‘Time Is Up’. The EP – and to some extent, the upcoming album – references the gamut of emotions associated with a mid-life crisis: ‘We were jamming with our sound engineer Dominic, who was on drums. The whole album deals with a mid-life crisis,’ Soelberg said.

‘Don’t Tell Me No Lies’ interweaves lyrical themes that recur throughout the EP, include feeling invisible, wanting something or someone who’s bad for you and navigating life on your own, which is the central theme in ‘Time Is Up’, on the EP’: ‘That one was the first video we did of the new album. It’s about questioning everything, taking the reins on your own. A lot of out songs toy with the idea of coming out on your own, being on your own,’ Shaker said. Soelberg agrees: ‘With ‘Time Is Up’, the music is where it starts for me – an idea, a riff and once we have a lyrical concept, I go to Mat.’

Retro vibes also permeate some of their tracks, most notably on songs such as ‘Reverse Engineer’: ‘We wanted something catchy and upbeat with a retro vibe,’ Soelberg said. ‘We’d been listening to a lot of ’50’s rock ‘n’ roll. Lyrically, it goes with the theme. The chorus is pretty personal and intimate, it’s pleading “I’m not lazy, I just can’t keep up”. Our wives were out of town, we got together one night and cranked it out.’ Shaker interjects: ‘We end a lot of sets with that one, it’s really fun to play. Each verse is almost the same but words are flipped. We wanted to make them sound very similar, it all rhymes.’

As the track kicks off: ‘I’ve thrown away each chance that I got. You said that you were done but you’re not. I’m trying not to be insincere with these problems we reverse engineer.’

‘We were hanging out in my backyard with our guitars – I had the beginning then Jaren came up with “You be the wolf, I’ll be the sheep”‘

However, for me, their best track is ‘The Wolf’, which kicks off with a bluesey yet faintly grungy riff before Shaker’s poweful vocals sweep in with exactly the right amount of swagger. It’s incredibly catchy, with a huge singalong chorus: “You be the wolf, I’ll be the sheep, I’ll be the one who gets you what you need. You be the wolf, I’ll be the sheep, once you get closer, I’ll be yours to keep.”

‘I like that one,’ Shaker enthused. ‘We were hanging out in my backyard with our guitars – I had the beginning (he sings it) then Jaren came up with “You be the wolf, I’ll be the sheep”. It was easy to get the wolf taking advantage of the sheep. It’s a bit like ‘Reverse Engineer” – you’re willing to go with the wolf even though you know what that means, that it’ll be the end for you.’

As a band, they like to plan ahead and already have 7-8 tracks for their second full-length album, according to Shaker: ‘We like to stay busy,’ he grinned. Soelberg is a huge fan of Nashville-based frontman of The White Stripes, Jack White and Ohio bluesey rockers, The Black Keys. Shaker says he’s seen most bands perform locally but that the best gig he ever went to was by local rock heavyweights, Jimmy Eat World: ‘There were just 200 people in this tiny packed venue,’ he said animatedly. ‘It was intense, really interactive, just sooooo good!’ Soelberg is a big fan of The Format, a big indie pop band from Arizona: ‘I love their album Dog Problems, it’s really fun,’ he said. ‘Shaker agrees: ‘My fave track on it is ‘If Work Permits’, although the real crowd pleaser is ‘Tune Out’.’

If they could tour with anyone, Soelberg is quick to say The Beatles and Shaker gets very excited. ‘Have you seen Get Back (the new Beatles documentary)?’ I say that I haven’t but that I really want to. ‘I’m in episode 2, they are soooo good!,’ he exclaimed. Soelberg cuts in: ‘Who’s next? I want to tour with Jack White to watch him play and check out his gear (laughs). He’s one of the most creative musicians of our time.’ Shaker is pondering who to pick: ‘I’m a big fan of Motown, can I bring back The Temptations? I could do a duet with them.’ I ask whether he’d like to perform one of their songs together or one of his. ‘Oh, I’d sing one of theirs, I like ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, that would be fun!’

(Photo from left to right: Jason, Jaren, Mat and Jess.)