WATCH: Deadly Since ignites local metal stage
Guitarist JD Baird, inspired by Children of Bodom, leads Deadly Since with intense riffs and raw emotion, driven by a mission to expand Krugersdorp’s metal community.
Most metal heads have one thing in common – their sheer love for the genre and local band, Deadly Since, is no different.
Guitarist for the band, JD Baird, revealed that their band specifically plays melodic death metal, where he recently performed at a local brewery.
“I am not the only person in the band, but currently, I’m the only member ready enough to perform. I have got a bassist, drummer and rhythm guitarist,” he said.
He added that the band was found around a year ago, where JD was inspired by Children of Bodom (a metal band from Finland), and he wanted to write his own music to that taste. Initially, he was recording and releasing under his name, but then, once he got a bass player, they decided to give the project the name Deadly Since.
I spend about seven hours a week writing songs or practising my craft. Sometimes I will go weeks without writing, especially after recently releasing music.
“This gives my creativity time to reset. I’d like to stick to a minimum of five new songs per year and I’m well on track for that at the moment. I take pride in my own skills and songwriting, so I aim to produce well-written pieces every time,” he explained.
He said some of their best songs are Don’t Look Back and Believer in Me, but his personal favourite is Eternal Fire because he loves the guitar riffs he wrote.
“I am a music coach and part of being a coach is being an inspiration to my clients and fans. I love music with all my heart and it’s all I do. The metal is a beautiful way to release inner rage or trauma. It’s a creative outlet that I’ve learned to depend on,” he believes.
He plans to continue building a community around his music and to assist his students in building a music career of their own, where he takes his passion for coaching very seriously and thrives off the community he’s built.
“A highlight for me when I perform is feeling the rush of adrenaline when the crowd starts cheering. There’s no better feeling than that.
Heavy metal is important to me and stands out to me because of how aggressive it is. The music is designed to feel uncomfortable or unsettling or even aggravated. This is a thrill that no other genre satisfies for me,” he concluded.
