Ep 42: Just Google it with Grim Deeds
Above artwork lovingly ripped off from pop punk veterans The Parasites and their album “Pair of Sides.” Check out Deeds’ cover of their tune “Fool For You” and try not to tap that toe. IT CAN’T BE DONE!
1-2-3-4- JUST GOOGLE IT! In songwriter Dustin Umberger’s world, everything starts (and ends) with a laptop. If you’ve heard the bedroom pop punker’s prolific musical output, you know he’s quick to record and lightning fast to publish. There is no fancy studio time and there is certainly no lamenting over the songwriting process. The former skateboarder and forever metalhead knows what he does well, and he sticks to his instincts. The result is a flurry of output that stands as a testament to modern day dad punk DIY!
The many faces and feelings of Grim Deeds!
His songs (of which there are no less than 80 billion) are funny, sad, biting, relatable, sarcastic—but always compact and delivered straight from the gut. It’s like there is no barrier between Deeds’ initial song idea and the tune you’re hearing right now (an addictive quality, like reading someone’s innermost Tweets). That isn’t to say the songs aren’t well-crafted; they’re just immediate. Deeds also records all his own music, from bass and guitar to (lately) drums, just to show off. Yes, those are Garage Band amps, and he’s proud to say so!
Yep, we can all learn a thing of two from this guy, especially during COVID.
What can we learn? Perhaps how to stop whining and just do the thing. Between doing the dishes and working 9-to-five, the dedicated family man and music blogger somehow finds the time to squeeze all the angst and joy of modern life into the framework of a catchy-and-quick pop punk song. Whether he’s dissecting the nuanced culture of the popular kids’ JNCO jeans, taking a sledge hammer to NOFX or vividly recounting his own shitty funeral, there is no ambiguity as to what Deeds’ personality type is. That is, to say, "neurotic to the bone—-no doubt about it.” See what I did there?
Today, we chat about the utility of recording vocals in your car, dropping the “grim” prefix, thriving during covid (he’s doing the sit ups, not me) and Deeds’ new label, Laptop Punk Records. The label has already put out some killer singles by Kim Warnick, Rocky Rochelle, and Brad Marino, plus underground pop punk bands like Umberger’s newest band, Deeds, and groups from as far away as Japan and Indonesia (you gotta checkout Saturday Night Karaoke).
Whether you know him as Dustin, Grim Deeds, Deeds, or “that dude from Dumberger and the Gungans and the white corpse paint and god knows what’s next,” you will relate to what he’s crooning about. Well, if you’re a flawed human with a beating heart, that is.
Still not sure? Just fucking google it already.
