Dethwish, the stage moniker of Connecticut artist Shawn Fortier, is a truly unique act. Drawing on industrial, mall emo, nu-metal, and whatever else fits in the blender, Tripp Pants aficionados, tune in.
We sat down to discuss his new single, “One of Us Is the Killer,” the Tri-State music scene, and more.
Tell me about the new single. What inspired “One of Us Is the Killer”?
Honestly, it was the first song I had written for the album. I think it’s no secret at this point that the project is conceptual.
In a literal sense, it’s about the main character of the story realizing what she’s done and the feeling of regret.
In a metaphorical sense, it’s about the yin and yang inside of everyone, the parts of yourself that you like and the parts you don’t. Sometimes you let the parts of yourself that you don’t like win.
“One of us is the killer, and the other winds up dead.”
How did you link up with Montclair?
Montclair are some of my oldest friends in the hardcore scene. At one point, I was playing guitar in their band, and Ash and Nick were playing guitar in mine. We did a few shows together, most notably opening for Militarie Gun.
We all did a My Chemical Romance cover set on Halloween years ago with Max on drums. I ended up losing my voice entirely. I’m honestly a D1 Montclair supporter. I love that band so much, and they’re all awesome friends as well.
Your sound is notably varied. I get the impression your pool of influences is vast. Who are some of the main bands and artists you’ve drawn from? How have they informed the new single?
My all-time favorites are My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, Rage Against the Machine, 100 Gecs, Skrillex, underscores, and The Strokes.
Obviously, there’s a very wide variety of sounds there, but I think my sound pulls from a million different areas. I love distorted vocals, which I initially pulled from The Strokes, not Deftones, believe it or not. For synths, I’m always watching Skrillex and NIN videos.
And with songwriting, I pull from the rock bands I grew up with. I feel like “One of Us Is the Killer” sounds like something my cool babysitter would have played in the car while bringing me to the park.
Connecticut has a long history of alternative and underground music. Tell us about your showgoing experience coming up. What were some of your first shows?
My high school friend Violet used to throw basement shows that I would perform at with my first couple of bands and an improv comedy band I used to do with my friends.
That initially got me involved in the local music scene, and from there, I started going to house shows and punk shows. I grew up going to shows at The Space, Crunch House, UHart, and basements in New Haven.
I ran a DIY space in Willimantic post-COVID with my friends in Spray Bottle Fever and a few other scene friends, which taught me a lot about booking shows and working with larger acts.
Things were a lot simpler then [laughs].
How have your formative years informed your approach to music?
It taught me that DIY and community are so, so important to me. If I don’t have my community, I have nothing. Numbers mean nothing. Instagram followers mean nothing.
That’s something I think is lost on labels today.
People showing up for you and you showing up for other people is important. DIY taught me how to treat people, work with other artists, and take care of the people coming to my shows.
It also taught me the importance of music as an art form.
I was doing design work for a label for a while when I lived in NYC, and I think quite a few of the entities and people I had done work for were so concerned about numbers and repeatedly replicating music as a product as opposed to art. That always bothered the shit out of me, but the industry seems to be moving away from that as a whole, and I couldn’t be happier.
Connecticut often finds itself a central and skippable location for touring musicians, leaving local bands to quickly become regional acts across Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and even Pennsylvania. Have you found notable differences between regional stops?
100%. Everywhere is different. Town to town is different.
Connecticut is my home. I hate hearing people talk poorly about Connecticut because the scene is so talented here. I think CT is truly the honorary Fantano state because these guys listen to everything and are always down to hear different forms of art. CT is super into DIY, and that’s why I love it so much.
Jersey is my second home. It’s like Connecticut but 10 times more alternative. Those mfs are so into punk and hardcore. Some of the best shows I’ve ever played have been in Jersey. Shoutout NJHC.
New York City has literally everything you can think of, and there’s a scene for everything. There’s so much happening all the time that I guarantee if you looked up #nychyperjazz on Instagram, you’d find at least 30 artists. There also aren’t many other cities where you can get a dollar slice and poppers before the afters on the same block.
I also wanna shout out LIHC because those shows rock. VFW and backyard shows always hit different.
I’ve noticed Philly is super into emo, but also hyperpop and EDM, and super into basement shows. Philly is cool as hell. One of my favorite cities. Shoutout Wawa.
Mass is probably the state I play the least, surprisingly, but I’d love to play it more. I know that Western Mass has just as much of a poppin’ scene as Boston and is super into screamo, which rocks. Some of my favorite bands recently have been out of Mass. Shoutout I Have No Mouth. Shoutout Holder.
Boston is full of Berklee kids, so if you’re in a band and touring to O’Brien’s Pub, just know that you’re going to be shown up by kids 10 years younger than you.
What can we expect from Dethwish in the coming year? Touring plans? New music?
RUBY DROPS OCTOBER 31. TOURING IN NOVEMBER. COME PARTY.
Final thoughts?
FREE PALESTINE.
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Presave "Ruby" on streaming here.
Dethwish on social media: Instagram
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