Artist Spotlight
Notedead
Distance can be the end of many bands, but for Notedead it seems to be the fuel. With members spanning between Edmonton and Lacombe, this group has mastered a long-distance creative chemistry that results in some of the most visceral post-hardcore coming out of Alberta. We sat down with the guys to talk about their latest music, their experiences, and what's next for their brand of high-decibel chaos.
- Trymer Martin - Vocals
- Max Preuss - Drums
- Rene Guzman - Guitar
- John Wells - Bass
- Scott Leidl - Guitar
Tell us the story behind the name "Notedead"
The name was inspired by some of the signature writing we do. In our music we utilize a lot of dead notes percussively on guitar so we flipped that to notedead. We loved the ring and originality. Though simple, we are the only notedead.
Catastrophizing
What inspires your music?
That classic 2004 post-hardcore sound. We try to stay true to our roots where we all started as young musicians that got into rock, metal, and all the other sub genres. But there's something about heartache and mental stress that is so relatable in our style of music, passing something along to a listener that can relate and heal through the haunting melodies that pull at your heart strings. That's a good enough reason to write and to just get the sounds in our head out is healing for us.
Unconditional Love
Which song are you most proud of?
That's a hard question honestly, there's two songs we'd say.
"Catastrophizing". Something about that song just captures the true essence of Notedead's style and it's one of our oldest tracks.
But also "Unconditional Love". it was a song Trymer wrote about losing a loved member of his family but at that time Max and Rene had also lost loved ones as well. So it's a song that just speaks to all of us and from speaking to the crowd and fans of the band, it's a song that goes out to more than just one person.
Alt waves - Medicine Hat 2025
Alt waves - Medicine Hat 2025
What has been your favourite experience as a band?
Playing shows and meeting the many people that care about our music. We love the involvement we see in the crowd!
Your shovel, My hatchet
What would be your dream gig or venue?
Definitely to play with some of our favourite bands we grew up on, and even newer bands we love. One day we hope to play a packed show at The Starlite Room in Edmonton.
Alt waves - Medicine Hat 2025
Bottoms up
What's next for Notedead?
We have a full length LP we wrapped up last year and are just getting the stage set to showcase this new record the right way.
