Interview: Deadly Apples' frontman Alex Martel discusses new song, video, upcoming album

Written By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications

Keeping industrial music alive-and-well and placing the genre in the forefront with their own unique rock twists and turns, Canada’s Deadly Apples—duo Alex Martel, vocalist/lyricist and Antoine Lamothe, drummer/composer—recently released a dark, edgy music video for their new single “Volatile.”

The song features a collaboration with fellow music artists Richard Patrick (Filter) on vocal harmony and Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) on guitar and bass. In fact, Lohner plays all the guitars and bass on Deadly Apples’ entire upcoming album, titled DISTRESS.

“Volatile” and DISTRESS, both produced by Lamothe, also has other renowned names behind it: mixed by Ben Grosse (Marilyn Manson, Depeche Mode), mastered by Tom Baker (Nine Inch Nails), with early pre-production work by Michael Beinhorn (Korn, Soundgarden).

The French-Canadian band from Montreal, Quebec has previously released an EP titled Infected, and since 2017 they have shared stages with Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Korn, Deftones, Rammstein, Front 242, Slipknot, Filter and others. The duo’s energetic performances include a live guitarist and keyboardist.

In this interview with OOTB, Deadly Apples’ lead vocalist Alex Martel discusses the new song and video as well as the band’s upcoming album and plans leading up to its summer release.

How did the idea behind the imagery and direction of the video “Volatile” come together?

The video was directed and edited by my bandmate Antoine. I originally came up with a basic concept for the video, then he expanded on it and added his own ideas and vision. He worked as a director in Montreal for many years with everyone from Celine Dion to Rush, Cirque du Soleil and tons more, so he’s got a lot of experience in that field.

We collaborated with Montreal’s fetish, latex and BDSM communities for this video to get the right aesthetics that represent the song. We ended up releasing a censored version, as we were strongly advised not to release the original. Maybe it’ll leak someday.

Why did you choose this particular song to introduce upcoming album DISTRESS?

“Volatile” is a good introduction as it represents the different elements on the album. It’s catchy and accessible as a single, but also heavy and dark. Some of the other songs are heavier, while others are more accessible. Also, Richard Patrick of Filter came in and sang the harmony vocals on the song.

In what ways will the new album be different from previous releases?

It’s definitely the most accessible work we’ve done, but also the heaviest and darkest in every sense.

We were both going through terrible experiences while writing it, and I think that comes through on both the music that Antoine wrote and in my lyrics.

We spent a lot of time working on it, from early pre-production with Michael Beinhorn to spending nearly a year at a studio in LA to record and mix the album.

Antoine produced it, Ben Grosse mixed it and Danny Lohner of NIN played all the guitars and bass.

It was an excruciating and nightmarish process, but we’re proud of the result and we truly believe its quality will stand out.

Even though we live in a singles world now and most people don’t listen to albums anymore, it was important to us to not only have songs that work well on their own, but also to have a cohesive piece of art that tells a meaningful story.

What are your future plans (more singles, videos, touring, etc.) that fans can anticipate leading up to the new album this summer?

We’ll be releasing a new single and some music videos every 5 to 6 weeks approximately until the full album release this summer.

We’ll be playing in Peru in late March at the Vivo X El rock festival on the Main Stage with Marilyn Manson and Avenged Sevenfold, which will be massive.

Lots more festivals and tour dates will be announced soon in the US and elsewhere.

We’re looking forward to getting back on stage–our shows are very intense and that’s the best way to experience Deadly Apples.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

We’re very grateful for the overwhelming support since the release of “Volatile,” we’re doing amazing numbers so far. This is just the beginning.

Listen To “Volatile”

https://ffm.to/deadlyapples