DEAD LUCID

Pressure is a wild thing. It can crush and it can create. There are moments when we are forced into a corner, when we have to make a choice. Moments when we take a leap of faith – a decision to press forward with an impossible goal. DEAD LUCID has made the impossible an art. This is a band that, when passed over for opportunities, has learned to create their own. A band that formed only after booking their first gig – with only two weeks to create the songs they’d debut. One of those songs, ‘If You Don’t Mind’, continues to be a mesmerizing, unforgettable closer for their live gigs eight years later. For a man whose lyrics nearly exclusively express feelings of depression and isolation, lead singer and guitarist Jon Grammer seems right in his element on a brightly lit stage. “It’s one of the only places where I’ve ever felt at home, you know?” There is a real urgency to the music of DEAD LUCID, a sense that all can be lost at any moment. Grammer shows this feeling when the band plays live, throwing his body around the stage in a whirlwind, his long curly locks trailing in the air. It pulls you in and forces you to pay attention. Bassist Ryan Rhoades and drummer Andrew Tschiltsch provide the bedrock with great virtuosity and fervor, creating a foundation filled with both emotion and groove – a combination that is difficult to master. To see DEAD LUCID perform live is to wonder how only three humans can produce such a gargantuan sound. DEAD LUCID’s journey to finding their sound has been a trying one – wrought with lots of sweat, tears, and honesty. From their beginnings as a clear cut psych-rock band in the vein of Jimi Hendrix and early Tame Impala, to the dark and moody post-punk tracks influenced by the likes of Joy Division and Interpol on their second EP ‘Desolation’, to now seamlessly blending those influences into a style all their own, a sound simultaneously at home with Fontaines D.C., Iggy Pop, Gang of Four, and The Strokes. On their third EP entitled ‘Vision’ we begin to see it all come together for this Chicago band with endless potential.