By Nick Balazs
Sin City rockers Crash Midnight have returned with their first single release of 2023, “Dead Aces”.
The song is a blistering tribute to the legendary artists and infamous dive bars that influenced the sound and direction of Crash Midnight. "Dead Aces" combines the band's early streetwise East Coast style with a strong nod to the Wild West swagger of their new home in Las Vegas. Firmly establishing themselves as the highest drawing independent Rock Act in the "Entertainment Capital Of The World" through headlining the city's major venues like Hard Rock, House of Blues, and Brooklyn Bowl along with multiple residencies downtown, Crash Midnight hurtles you through a collection of late-night hedonism and inspiration.
Talking about the new single, singer Shaun Soho says, "We give some shoutouts in this thing to everyone from the old Model Cafe in Boston to 'Self Destruction Blues' by Hanoi Rocks. The solo sounds like a fucking bar fight. We wanted to write something dedicated to where we came from through the lens of where we are now out west. 'Dead Aces' is sort of a catch all stand in for so many of the great artists and establishments that shaped this band, especially the ones that unfortunately are no longer with us."
Soho took some questions from BraveWords’ Nick Balazs about “Dead Aces” and other happenings in the Crash Midnight camp.
BraveWords: What was the genesis of the new single? What was the impetus for writing a song inspired by the band’s past?
Shaun Soho: “So back at one of my apartments in Boston, there was this place a couple miles down the road that for some reason I only would end up driving by late at night when the sign was off. I always thought it was a little bar or something called ‘Dead Aces’ but I never ended up thinking to go there earlier when it would have been open. It hit me as a really cool name for a bar and I kinda kept that name tucked away for a while. Maybe a year or two later when I was living in a different spot, I ended up cruising past the place in the day and it was actually some sort of crafting store called ‘Dead Art.’ Sort of a funny revelation or whatever, but I liked that old name I thought it had for a song so I carried it all the way out here to Vegas and sort of fleshed out the idea from there. There were so many cool places we used to hang out back in Boston, and so many of them are long gone, and there are all these artists that influenced us that unfortunately are no longer with us. That list keeps on growing and ‘Dead Aces’ was a good catch-all for all those things that shaped this band, especially the ones that are gone now.”
BraveWords: How do you feel your songwriting has changed/developed over the last few years?
Shaun Soho: Living out west has had a real impact. Between Las Vegas and LA, there's been a lot of inspiration. ‘Dead Aces’ is the last track that we'll be compiling into a full album release called Wreckage Of Youth - consisting of that track and our previous seven single releases. We're already putting together a follow up album to that tentatively titled Hollywood Refugees. The name is a comment on how much of the LA music industry has been moving out here to Las Vegas. It features a bunch of songs inspired by experiences in LA as well as here in Vegas. It's cool that we have kind of two real different eras to draw from now though. We've got that east coast formative stuff that still fuels a lot of material, but the west coast is a totally different vibe and really adds a new gear to our sound.”
BraveWords: This is your first single release of 2023. Are there any other songs in the pipeline?
Shaun Soho: Yeah we have three songs in the works at our studio right now. The next single is a ballad called ‘Strung Out On Sunset.’ It's been a fan favorite for a little over a year right now at shows. It's got a cool House Of The Rising Sun sort of vibe and hits right on the nose for the Hollywood Refugees album it will eventually be a part of. Couple others we're just starting to get to the vocals and lead guitars on are ‘Too Far Gone’ and ‘See You Around.’ Those have been around since right around the time we moved here. Actually, ‘Too Far Gone’ was one of our very first songs early on in the band, but it's been totally changed at this point from back then so I guess I look at it like a whole new song at this point. Both of those are going to be big anthems. Excited to see them come together.
BraveWords: I’m glad you guys are preparing an album, but is the gameplan to still continue the singles route in the future?
Shaun Soho: “Our gameplan is still the same - to put out eight singles and then retroactively compile them all together as an ‘album.’ It just seems to be a better fit for how people are consuming music these days. This way, we're able to give our fans a new song about every 3 months or so and it allows us to really take our time with each song individually. Treating each song as a legitimate radio single has been a big part of how strong each of these releases turn out instead of putting a handful of singles together with a bunch of filler like so many bands have had to do in the past. Think that gives everyone the best of both worlds. The album people get their album and we get to keep churning out something new for them multiple times a year.”
BraveWords: Tell me about this venue in Vegas you're working with.
Shaun Soho: “Coming out of the shutdown, we did a bunch of shows at this great new venue called The Sand Dollar Downtown. It's at the Plaza Hotel and Casino and the owners did such a great job at putting a super high end sound and lighting system in there and making the place a cool spot with these elevated booths in the back overlooking the stage. We love the place. It's one of the only mid-level 400 cap venues in this town and they've been down for all the ideas we've been bringing in. We're bringing our buddy Gooch from KOMP 92.3 on board to get the radio station involved and help us curate an ongoing string of shows featuring us alongside other great KOMP bands coming through town. Should be announcing the first few of our shows there soon.”
BraveWords: What else is going on in the world of Crash Midnight? Future plans?
Shaun Soho: “We've got a great show coming up next week July 28 at Vamp'd here in Las Vegas with Gilby Clarke. That's gonna be a cool night. Also just confirmed a Saturday September 2 at Brooklyn Bowl with Puddle Of Mudd. We were all set to play a show with them right as the shutdown began and everything got cancelled so we're psyched to get another crack at this one!”
Keep up to date with CM at crashmidnight.com.
