DEADLETTER's Zac Lawrence on 'Hysterical Strength', festival season, and their upcoming second album • Interview • DIY Magazine

Downtime has been a seldom seen luxury for DEADLETTER across the last few years. As we catch up with the South London-via-Yorkshire band, frontman Zac Lawrence cuts a reclined figure as plumes of cigarette smoke waft in front of his camera mid-Zoom. Although enjoying time away from their demanding touring schedule, he’s clearly a man energised to get back out on the road this summer. “Life is good, the seasons are changing and we’re all feeling a bit better about life.”

Reflecting on last year’s debut album ‘Hysterical Strength’, he describes it as a document of their journey to date. “We recorded it after the longest stretch of touring we’d ever done. We’d just done nine weeks on the road so it was maybe quite responsive to that,” he explains. “Really, it was the culmination of three and a half years of being in a band. There are some themes and topics that lie within it, but it wasn’t so conceptual, it was a load of ideas that we’d had over quite a big amount of time brought together as one piece.”

That immersive, raw and pent-up energy of the band’s live show is heard across the full-length. With a bubbling tension that ebbs and flows throughout the album, they channel their own heroes like The Fall, Magazine and Gang Of Four while also ruminating on the world we live in today. Just take the claustrophobic ‘More Heat’ as Zac sings like a wired soothsayer, “These ailments, they manifest, the doomsday arm moves doom-wise.”

There’s certainly a freedom in their feral sound. “I’m happiest about the fact that there aren’t any expectations that it’s assumed that we have to succumb to. I’d much rather have that than have people see a formula in everything you do.” Although there’s clearly no limitations to where the band feel they can go, the record has helped them cut-through their saturated guitar-wielding stomping ground.

“The thing with that post-punk term is that it seems to be such a blanket term that it doesn’t define anything anymore,” he muses. “We’re just focused on our own pathway. The music seems to have really resonated with people out on the road which is incredible. It’s been interesting to see the variety of people and different ages in our crowds. It’s always flickering and changing but in Europe they’re just getting busier and we really latched onto that excitement for our live show.”

Having already toured heavily off the back of the album - a run which saw the band headline a 1500-capacity show at Electric Brixton - it’s natural that they now feel some distance from the material. “It got to the point that we got a bit tired of the tunes,” Zac explains. “Stepping back out there this year and playing them again has felt really refreshing and exciting though. I think personally, we’re all very proud of how that first record sounds. When it’s your own work, your feelings about it will naturally shift as time goes on.”

“It’s just great to rub shoulders with some of these giants of the game. That’s one of the things you dream of as a kid.”

— Zac Lawrence

Fast approaching a busy festival season this summer, the band are looking forward to celebrating more milestone moments. “We’ve got about 40 festivals this summer and most of them are in other countries.” He points to sharing a bill with the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Iggy Pop and Massive Attack at July’s Pohoda in Slovakia as a big standout.

“We were actually due to be headlining in the place of Queens Of The Stone Age last year after they pulled out, but then because the festival is set on an airfield, this giant storm came and blew the whole thing down, so we’re really looking forward to heading there and making up for it this year. It’s just great to rub shoulders with some of these giants of the game. That’s one of the things you dream of as a kid, especially when you’ve done your first festival and it’s something you like, then you start playing them, then you end up on the same bill as major influences.”

He says soaking up these far-flung adventures with his best pals is a big driving force in keeping the band hungry and excited. “I often have these moments in hindsight where I can fully appreciate what we’ve done, where we’ve been and who we’ve played to. It is something I dreamt of so it’s important not to forget that feeling. We’re breaking new territory this year as well - we’re going to Iceland, Poland, Sweden and Norway, which we can’t wait for.”

In terms of the band’s ethos and their delivery, he says the disciplines of festival season largely stay the same though. “It’s about going into the gigs with the same intensity, the only difference is the length of the set. We try to keep it as energetic as possible, we’ve all been to loads of festivals so we always think about what we’d like to see onstage.”

Looking beyond the summer, the band plan on keeping the momentum going into their second full-length record. “We’re definitely going to have some new music out soon but then all eyes are on recording a better second album which I assume you’ll hear next year.” Zac says he’s looking forward to writing and recording from a different place. “This record will be a lot more focused and less of a sprawling amalgamation. It’s going to sound very different just considering that fact, we’re all really excited for this next one.”

DEADLETTER will play Brighten The Corners Festival, which takes place on 13th-14th June 2025 in Ipswich. Find out more and get tickets here.

DEADLETTER will play Mad Cool Festival, which takes place from 10th-13th July 2025 in Villaverde, Madrid. Find out more and get tickets at madcoolfestival.es.

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