INTERVIEW: IN CONVERSATION WITH DEAD POET SOCIETY
Interview by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Never trust Spotify. You are listening to one band and then it sends to another band without asking…then you don’t know what you heard. “Yeah...Spotify gets lots of hate and it treats musicians like shit. Hopefully, they might start paying musicians better,” says Jack Underkofler front man for the US band Dead Poet Society.
Yes. Hating on Spotify is cathartic but it can do amazing things like take you to the music of this young American rock band Dead Poet Society who are coming to Australia to play the Good Things 2025. I can highly recommend getting in a few listens to their fantastic albums: 2015’s ‘Axiom’, 2021’s album ‘-!-‘ and their latest album ‘Fission’ and following the band on Instagram.
Dead Poet Society formed in 2013 while the guys were at college in Boston, Massachusetts. The band is made up of Jack Underkofler (vocals, guitar), Jack Collins (guitar), Dylan Brenner (bass guitar) and Will Goodroad (drums). Their music has a distinctive sound and incorporates bluesy hard rock and indie cool using bass line riffs over a thudding drumbeat, buzzing guitars, and vocals that are both poignant and passionate and if you don’t believe me – go and listen to ‘Tipping Point’ from ‘Fission’.
When asked about their song writing style Jack Underkofler and Dylan Brenner said: “It varies. It’s chaos”. Jack Underkofler explained “Someone has a riff or I might come up with a melody or a riff. Its chaos and has the ADHA thing of it going on. It does make you backtrack quite a bit and [song writing] can take you down rabbit holes. But that’s writing – mistakes and it’s a constant learning experience. You don’t know where it will take you and what past experiences will come up”.
Dead Poet Society have never been to Australia so Good Things 2025 will be their first introduction to the country. They are busy touring in the US. “We are on a joint tour with Chevelle and Asking Alexandria,” stated Jack Underkofler. “We are the first of the three bands. The guys in the other bands are really nice guys. It is great for us to get our music out in front of a new audience”.
The band look ready to take that huge flight to OZ to get their music out in front of Australian music fans, and get with the “creatures” as Dylan Brenner put it. They have been warned about the weather. Last years 40C+ day at Good Things 2024 even melted the bitumen on the road inside the Brisbane show grounds. Dead Poet Society have: “Connected with fans in Europe and the UK in a way that I never would have expected through our music,” said Jack Underkofler. “It is exciting to be coming to the eastern hemisphere for the first time. I hope people like us over there”.
Dead Poet Society have a reputation for delivering energetic, powerful, inventive performances with an inventive sound. This can be heard on their songs as well and I would recommend checking out ‘Running In Circles’, ‘CoDA’ and the fantastic song of ‘Hurt’. There is a version of ‘Hurt’ with the Mexican hard rock band The Warning. “We wrote the song first,” explained Jack Underkofler. “We share the same producer, Anton DeLost, and he connected us together. It was fun to do”.
From Jack and Dylan’s demeanour it appears that the Dead Poet Society is guided by an unwavering commitment to authenticity. And, you have to love a band that said; “Song writing tends to be painful…writing rock music that’s not cheesy is hard”. They are a band looking to evolve their sound and deepen their connection with new fans. It will be great if they get to do some headline shows while here in Australia. Keep a watch for future announcements. The band are also writing and recording new music which will hopefully be out in 2026.
If you want to follow the band: go to their site on Instagram wearedps and check out their music – and Spotify if you must.
GOOD THINGS 2025 - DATES AND VENUES:
December: Friday 5 - Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
December: Saturday 6 – Sydney Showground, Sydney
December: Sunday 7 - Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane
