PREMIERE: "What Happened" by The Dead Licks
Take your first listen of “What Happened” by Chicago rock band The Dead Licks below.
The Dead Licks are Jack Grbac (guitar), Tom Inzinga (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Gallagher (drums) and Johnny McNamara (bass) / Photo by Cooper Fox
The Dead Licks formed in 2016 at the University of Dayton, and the four members quickly became tight-knit friends as they bonded over their love for Radiohead, The Strokes, Pearl Jam and Wilco. After releasing their debut full length Stay Away From the Aliens in 2018, the group is back with new music for 2019, and they’re starting with the single “What Happened.”
Talking about the new single, lead singer Tom Inzinga says, “What Happened started as my attempt to start writing simpler songs. At the time I had been really into Jeff Tweedy’s style of songwriting, and the chords came one afternoon, like most do, where I just picked up the acoustic and started playing. When I brought it to the band, it transformed into a very powerful, melancholic song about complacency and moving forward. The lyrics started being developed during a time I was unhappy with being complacent. It was my attempt to get out of a songwriting rut. However, as time went on, it turned into a song about heartbreak, and the idea of trying to move forward no matter what the outcome may be.”
The song was recorded at Treehouse Records on analog tape, which was a first for The Dead Licks. “We had a great time recording the song on analog for the first time—it was a learning experience and really pulled the best out of us. This is a new and exciting sound for us and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it,” says the band’s guitarist Jack Grbac. The group’s drummer Jimmy Gallagher says the analog recording gave the track a more live sound, adding, “You can expect a much more natural sound than our previous release.”
Tune into the new song below, and celebrate the single release with the band tomorrow, May 3rd at Harte’s Saloon.