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Hard dance is having its moment in the United States. As hardcore, rawstyle, and countless other peripheral genres seep into headline sets, rail-grabbing headbangers are being supplemented by fist-pumping crowds. One of the most exciting artists at the core of this movement is Dead X. Since the release of his first single in 2021, the Los Angeles-based producer has blended thunderous kicks and crisp melodies into an alluring blend of all things hardcore. And through collaborations with heavy-hitters ranging from Lil Texas to Yosuf, he’s firmly cemented himself as an essential name in the scene.
We spoke with the self-proclaimed “All American Boy” about his prolific production flow, a bird’s eye view of the American hard dance community, and his forthcoming EP, 'Smoking Section' – out April 18th.
End Overdose: Your music strikes a fine balance between melodic elements and the rawness of hardcore. How do you find that precise middleground as a producer?
Dead X: Most of the music I was raised on had both of those elements. I guess the dichotomy between melody and rawness is just in my DNA as a music lover. I’ve always loved industrial music as well, which is inherently raw. When I started listening to hard dance, the meeting of those elements immediately stuck out as pleasantly familiar to me. I definitely try to carry that forward in my production.
EO: You've released music at a prolific clip over the past year. What's inspiring you creatively? And how do you maintain that pace?
DX: Lately, writing new tracks has been more about chasing a feeling than looking for a specific outcome or sound, then eventually I polish everything to make a finished product. I want to get that amazing feeling from my own music that I get when I listen to my favorite artists. I get as close to that as I can, then I finish the song and send it in for release. Many days and nights have been spent learning different approaches to certain genre-specific sounds, which has given me the confidence to begin carving a unique path with my production. As far as inspiration goes; it used to be that I would listen to artists in the same genre as me in order to get inspired, whereas now I’ll listen to other genres and find myself wanting to bring new elements into my own work whether it’s melodies or samples, etc. Every song presents a new challenge and a new lesson. As far as maintaining pace, I’m simply a workaholic and I love being in the studio. I start to go crazy if I haven’t sat down and produced for a few consecutive days.
EO: Late last year, you dropped your 'The All American Boy Vol. 2' EP via Barong Family. Can you speak to their role in pushing hard dance globally?
DX: Barong Family was awesome to work with. I kind of blindly trusted them from the start because they’ve hosted some amazing artists, so it felt like a natural step in the right direction for me when they reached out. I’ve built a relationship with the label manager (Ricky, AKA Sihk, also a super talented producer) who has since become a close friend, and here’s what I know about him: he LOVES the music and most of his decisions at the label are based on that…huge green flag in this day and age. What makes Barong cool is that they have relationships with artists all over the world and have been responsible for some collaborations that may not have happened otherwise. They also just have a generally cool vibe and their whole team are super fun to be around.
EO: What's exciting you most about the American hardcore scene? It feels like it's finally having its moment with crowds and streams only going up.
DX: I think that in the last couple of years we’ve seen a ton of new underground/upcoming artists and parties pop up that were not around when I first started this project. I can go to an after hours in LA and the DJ is playing the latest Gearbox tracks, it wasn’t always that way. I’m also hyped on artists like Equal2 and Yosuf for example, who have a bunch of well deserved hype around them and are building their audience in a really cool way. There’s also just hype in general around subgenres like rawstyle and uptempo, with super devoted listeners - you’ve even got MUSTDIE dropping zaag kicks during his dubstep sets, which we love to see. I also have to mention the surge of hard techno over the last two to three years, and to see artists like Holy Priest and Fantasm collabing with hardstyle and hardcore artists definitely shows huge crossover potential. Exciting times for sure.
EO: You're performing at Beyond Wonderland this week. How does it feel bringing your project to such a crucial festival in the American dance circuit?
DX: Yes! I’m extremely hyped to bring what I’ve been working on to the stage at Beyond. There are thousands of people who love the sound as much as I do, and I can confidently say they will not be disappointed when they hear my set. I’m coming very well prepared.
EO: What's your overarching vision for Dead X in the months and years moving forward?
DX: My team and I are working on building Dead X into a name that is unavoidably recognizable. I want to be headlining shows and continuing to play bigger and better festival stages as I grow. Performing is in my DNA and it helps that I’m obsessed with the production side of things as well. I’d obviously love to get to Europe eventually, and I’m ready to pull up as soon as they’ll have me.
EO: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
DX: My next EP, 'Smoking Section,' will be out April 18th. You heard it here first.