Interview: When Garage Rock Flirts with Pop Punk, Sad Cell is Born
Post-COVID hiatus, Sad Cell stands at the forefront of the West Campus live music scene. With new music under their belts and a newfound appreciation for the privilege of playing for an audience, the Austin locals are taking on the town, and ready to take on the world.
Written by Ellen Daly
Photos courtesy of Kat Cruz
Derek, Dylan, Deven, and Jacob (“Bibby”) make up the Austin four-piece garage rock/pop punk unit Sad Cell. The boys, like the rest of us, had to take an involuntary COVID-induced break from the live music scene, but now they’re back and better than ever. Below, the band sits down with Afterglow to describe this return to bliss.
Afterglow: Who is Sad Cell?
Derek: Sad Cell’s all Dylan.
Dylan: No, it's not. It's ... I don't know. Pretty much 50-50, I guess, with me and Derek, because it's like, our solo songs that we bring, mostly. We’re down a member right now as well, by the way. Sorry about that. He's at work. It's Bibby. He's a guitarist, or one of them.
Derek: He's making delicious sandwiches for the public right now.
Deven: I'm Deven. I play drums.
Derek: I'm Derek. I play guitar and sing as well, as Dylan does.
Dylan: I am Dylan, and I play bass and sing.
Derek: I sing not as well as Dylan does, but I sing just as much.
How did you guys start out as a band?
Dylan: We actually started without Deven. It was just me and Derek and this guy, Bibby. And we started out like in high school. And it wasn't a very serious thing. And we just started playing our solo songs. And then we played like one. The only show we played without Deven was like a house show. Bibby’s house. And then after that, we got Deven to join and play drums, which made it easier. So we didn't have to, because none of us could really play drums. So then we started branching out and getting real shows.
How did COVID affect you as a band?
Derek: We basically didn't see each other or practice for like half a year.
Dylan: Yeah, it shut us up for almost like a full year.
Derek: Basically our first time playing together again was to record the album, which was in December.
Dylan: Yeah. And that was like, we were pretty much only seeing each other at like our friend's studio out in, like, the middle of nowhere.
Deven: I'd say since COVID’s kind of let up just a tiny bit, that I think people have been cooped up for so long.
Dylan: Oh, they're desperate, yeah. (...) And we've been booking more shows than we were before.
Deven: And we were also lucky enough to put out an album a bit ago, maybe a year, or more...
Derek: It came out in May.
Deven: So, people have been digging on that. And so they've been really hyped and I think it's really helped our shows’ energy.
Dylan: It’s been better since after COVID, rather than before COVID because whenever it let up, everyone was like desperate, pretty much. Not saying that like they're only choosing us because they're just desperate for shows, but we booked a lot more shows after COVID.
How’d it feel to start playing shows again?
Dylan: It felt wrong for like a second, but we've gotten used to it I guess. At first it was like very, I mean, I gotta say we're not playing it safe every time, but like, at first when we first started getting back into it, they were like, “Oh, everyone's gonna be wearing masks and it's gonna be outside. Everyone's gonna be spaced,” and so we're like, “Oh, seems cool.” So we agreed to it. But, I don’t know, it's gotten a little, a little more risqué. (...) But it felt wrong at first, it felt a little weird going back into it.
Deven: It’s also good knowing that most of, if not all of, our friends are vaccinated.
Dylan: Yeah, our whole group. That's the weird thing about shows, though, because it's not like just our group. It's like playing co-ops or playing bars or something — it's like random people. But our friend group is vaccinated and everything.
Do you think the lack of live music for so long affects the energy of the audience or your performance?
Dylan: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the energy of the audience is definitely more amped up.
Derek: I basically spent like a year, like, dreaming about playing another show. And I'm like, I don't know, I'm a lot happier now, playing shows, than I was before the situation.
Dylan: And like weirdly more confident too, ‘cause I just don't really care.
Deven: Yeah, I think like not having a creative outlet, like, creating’s one thing, but performing in front of people is almost like an addiction. And it's been pent up for so long that I think we really bring the energy now, and I hit the drums as hard as I can now, you know, literally just playing as hard as I can all the time because I didn't get to for a year.
Dylan: And all three of us were in our rooms during COVID, just making our own stuff on our own computers.
Derek: I definitely feel like a better songwriter and musician now since I had self-reflection and time to work on it on my own.
Photo courtesy of Kat Cruz
What’s your favorite song to play?
Dylan: I would say “Sandpaper.”
Derek: I like “I Thought You Were Dead.”
Dylan: “I Thought You Were Dead” is pretty much our most famous song.
Derek: I like it because the crowd sings along. They know all the words.
Dylan: Yeah, it's a very simple song. And it's kind of like a call-and-response song almost. So it's easy to sing along to. And the crowd’s always saying all the words.
Derek: They're whooping.
Dylan: Yeah, so that's the coolest to play for that reason, I guess. But, I like playing “Sandpaper” a lot, because it's hard, and it's like, super fun to get into.
Deven: Also, in “I Thought You Were Dead,” I get to play a pretty ripping and impressive-sounding drum solo. It’s like, my moment to shine, in the whole set. It’s pretty badass.
What do you think makes Sad Cell work as a band?
Derek: Chemistry. We've all been friends long before the band existed, and the band wouldn't exist if we didn't know each other.
Dylan: Also, similarity in genre.
Derek: We all listen to the same music basically.
Deven: It's not like the military, you know. But you know, we're flexible with each other and we work with it.
Dylan: It’s a very, very lax situation.
Derek: It's basically because we want to do it. We don't have any need to.
Dylan: We’re not sellouts — yet.
How would you describe your genre?
Derek: Borges of Hike Naked said we were “alternative punk.”
Dylan: I didn’t know that. I always just said “pop.”
Deven: Alternative pop punk.
Dylan: Alternative garage rock.
Derek: Alternative’s a really broad term.
Dylan: Poppy garage rock. Alternative garage pop.
Deven: Rock. (...) I don’t know. We're not quite pop punk, but we’re sort of...
Dylan: Super hardcore.
Deven: We're flirting with pop punk, for sure. Maybe “garage rock flirting with pop-punk.”
What's next for you guys as a band?
Derek: We're gonna keep playing shows, but we're kind of scratching on the idea of recording a new album soon.
Dylan: Or at least a couple new singles. We have songs that we perform right now that we haven't recorded.
Derek: And I feel like our newest songs that we haven't recorded yet are probably our best.
Deven: Let's say we're waiting for that big band to come scoop us up on tour. Because we are a tour-ready band. Single and ready to mingle.
Derek: Yeah, the van’s packed. We're just waiting on the call.
Hopefully soon. We’ll see.
Derek: I really hope so.
Dylan: Foo Fighters?
Derek: Yeah, Foo Fighters wants to bring us on tour.
Dylan: Yeah, they keep hitting us up.
Derek: They keep hitting us up. I usually just leave them on read. Kind of annoying.
Is there anything else you want to share about your band? Any other plans?
Derek: We're sorry, Bibby. The other guitarist couldn’t make it. But he would love to be here.
Deven: He's a great guy.
Derek: He's a good guy.
Next time.
This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.