Roll of the Dice: 9 questions with Playing Dead

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The Long Island rock scene is in good hands thanks to acts like Playing Dead. With the new EP, Back To The Show due on 25 July, the band is ready to further their reputation for catchy melodies and indie-rock affectations. As the band is preparing for the new EP, songwriter/frontman Sam Hoyos took a few moments to chat with TGEFM about their sound, what’s next and bringing members of Go Big and Taking Back Sunday into the Playing Dead roster

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats, on the upcoming Back To The Show EP! Could you tell us a bit about Playing Dead and this album?

We are a 6 piece Long Island NY based band that loves to play music whenever we can. We love loud guitars with melody and harmonies. Someone once said we are an indie rock band living in a punk rock universe. I thought that was funny so ill use it here haha. 
Back To The Show is a collection of 5 songs we recorded with my friend Jamie Siegel. Hes done work with everyone from Dashboard Confessional to Smashing Pumpkins to Sting. We had recorded the single “The Vault Inside Your Mind” with him in 2022. and he did such a good job that i wanted to give him these 5. The first single “Passion Fuels” comes out May 24th. The next song “Back to the Show” drops June 13th . Then, “By A Thread” drops july 3rd. and the full 5 officially comes out july 25th

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do”  Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?

A few that come to mind but I’ll just say when I heard Samiam album Astray I was like ok this is what I wanna do. One more ill add is The Lemonheads‘ Its A Shame About Ray. Amazing melodies

Playing Dead recently incorporated members of Go Big into the band, how did that team-up come about?  How has the writing process changed since adding keys and another vocalist into the sound?

We were playing shows with Go Big through the years. Lots of mutual respect and admiration. Then one day I heard them post a cover of one of our songs “December Blue.” I was like ‘hmmmmm maybe they can do a guest spot on a song i had.’ That song ended up being “16” off of the Catharsis Of Choice ep. Well we liked that so much that we kept doing it ever since. The process hasn’t changed much other than i know i have their talents to bring the songs to life. which is pretty cool

Speaking of additional members, you’ve been working quite a bit with Taking Back Sunday‘s Mark O’Connell behind the kit.  Behind the skills, what has his experience and ear brought to the band?

Our original drummer left 2020 . But the show world was non-existent because of COVID. So on 1 hand  i was like well that sucks. On the other I was like well I can now work with different people on drums. I had about 15 songs and i was like wouldn’t it be cool to have 3 eps with 3 of our friends on drums? We did the first of then series Clock Tick Motivation with Vito of Broadcaster on the drums. Then Something To Tide You Over” with Chris Nolte of Vinny and the Hooligans. The last was going to be Mark who is obviously a pro and brings that expertise and feel to the finished product. Mark is a songwriter so he plays drums like one. super smart and passionate about all the parts and choruses that need to pop. 

Long Island, for a long time, has had a reputation within the scene. How has the “LIPP” tag affected the band? Is there a pressure to maintain the high bar previously set and/or a credibility that comes
along with the locale?

We never ever felt like a pop punk band. But at the end of the day I guess its not up to us what people think we are. We always just feel like a rock band. Not punk enough for the punks and not indie rock enough to be an indie rock band haha.
The only bar we feel pressure with is the last release. whatever the previous work is. we wanna top. At least in our minds. Other than that long island music rules and we are happy to be a molecule 

What’s the state of the scene from your point of view?  We are living in a “just deal with COVID” world and everything about this timeline is some level of completely fucked, but since 2020, it does seem like the
live experience has been rejuvenated for the crowds and artists.  How has the live scene changed over these last few years?

It was pretty awful to not be able to play for 18 months or so but now its all back to normal imo. Business as usual. Let the good times roll
Especially the younger bands. They seem to be crushing it with their friend circle. good for them

Back to the new tracks and new album, what new songs are you most excited to bring to your  live performances? What do you want those in the audience to take away from your shows?

We have been playing “Passion Fuels” for a few shows now. Its the 1st song and single. And we finally recorded the electric version of “Back to the Show” which we have been playing since late 2021. And “Don’t Look Up” is another that we have been playing already. 
We like to mix up the setlist as much as possible. we write a lot and we get bored playing the same songs 
We want the audience to walk away thinking, hey they are pretty tight live with the right amount of rock n roll loose haha 
Oh and we want them to add us to their spotify as they walk away 

One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think
they should?

so many good bands. 
the young bands on LI are killing it so they dont need my old ass to dap em up
I’ll shout out the old heads like us and say:
Go Big!
The Pilot Program
Vinny And The Hooligans
The Monkeychunks
Star Harbor 
The Rook
Too Many Voices 
Bitters And Distractions
The Ice Cold Killers
I know I left some off and now i’ll feel like a dick haha

Beyond the release of “Back to the Show”, what’s next for the members of Playing Dead?

Write rehearse record make a video play a show repeat
We have another 12 or so after this release. we will break them up into 4s or 5s

Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

TGEFM has been super nice to us since the TBS Starland show. So thank you very much for that. We are pretty much as unknown as the next band so any time someone we don’t know, connects with it. We are grateful. ……I guess check out my podcasts If I Ruled The World Podcast and Red River Podcasts. Oh and Spotify is the only metric people seem to care about so please consider following us if you like our music.  Thats all i got

Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.