Dead Sea Souls profile picture

Dead Sea Souls

About Me

DEAD SEA SOULS HAS DISBANDED AND SOME OF ITS MEMBERS ARE LOOKING TO DO NEW THINGS...
MICHAEL RAPHAEL is dabbling with the occasional solo effort called The Mystic Hours . He's decided that he's written more than enough songs inspired by pain and has moved on to writing more affirmative songs rooted in his newfound "spiritual path" (no, he hasn't been "born again").
JOSH YOUNG is going to keep writing songs and is looking to do some kind of shoegazer/Cure-esque project since those are his primary influences. Catchy pop with noise, basically. He is currently working on a DIY project called Scarred Art .
ROB DeSTEFANO was playing bass and occasional keyboards for Plexus Loom . He has since moved on to a Doors cover band and Sloan Automatic .
MATTHEW WHITE is open to doing just about anything. He just wants to play some bass. "Has bass, will travel" is the way he puts it.
You can contact any of the guys by clicking on their pictures to the left.
Review: "Dead Sea Souls New Wave-y, down-tempo musical style contrasted with lead singer Michael Raphael's writhing, contorting stage presence. The band itself has a clear Bauhaus feel, with lead guitarist Josh Young's guitar work strongly reminiscent of The Cure. As with any live show, the vocals were difficult to fully grasp but the onstage performance by Raphael more than made up for it. Raphael's vocals shot out of his lungs like a cannon as he deformed, distorted and warped his frame into odd angles. Periodically looking more like an exorcism than a musical set, the singer's affecting display of emotion was punctuated between songs by a goofy grin and silly banter with the audience. The emotional connection to the audience that goes above and beyond the songs themselves is the fundamental staple of every great performer, and the Dead Sea Souls are well worth a visit." - TexasGigs.com
Diderot once remarked that good music is very close to a primitive language. While one can debate for ages what actually constitutes good music, it’s hard to argue against the notion that the best tunes emote to us in ways that are often incapable of being properly categorized and articulated. Rather, good music touches us in ways that are primal and unspoken. When Jimi Hendrix nails a solo or Robert Smith caterwauls about his latest malady, we feel those ebbs and flows and we can only ascribe words to those sensations that are associated with our most basic actions and feelings. A song might make us feel high or orgasmic, or maybe it turns us remorseful or angry. In the end, it doesn’t matter how the song makes you feel, but that it makes you feel something. Something primitive.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 21/01/2005
Band Website: myspace.com/deadseasouls
Band Members: The members of DSS have split up and are looking for new musical endeavors. Please see the area to the right for more info--->

Michael Raphael (Lead Vocals, Loops, Demon Exorcisms, Epileptic Fits)

Josh Young (Guitar, Webmaster, Statue Impersonator)

Rob DeStefano (Drums, Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, Kitchen Sink)

Matthew White (Bass, Vocals, Globe Trotter)
Influences: love... loneliness... tumultuous romantic relationships... the death of loved ones... emptiness... rain... fog... dreams... fantasies... religions and philosophies... nature... blood... sensuality and seduction... sex... the battle between instinct and intellect... mistakes and misdeeds... regret... forgiveness... colours... shadows... light... darkness... silence... tranquility... altered mental states... books... films...
These and other artists: Bauhaus, Bowie, The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Depeche Mode, Dinosaur Jr., The Doors, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), Jane's Addiction, Japan, Peter Murphy, Pink Floyd, Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Nick Cave & The Badseeds, NIN, Radiohead, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Tool, U2, Tom Waits, Various Latin, Arabic, and African artists.
Sounds Like: driving with the windows down... a lover's quarrel... an orgasm... a mumbling lunatic wandering through the city with a sign that says "The End Is Near!"... a murder... a breaking heart... a primal scream... a hallucination... lightening bugs... walking naked down an empty street at 2:34 AM... a therapy session... a thunder storm... a whale song...
So far, we've heard that we sound like Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Doors, HIM, LIVE, "a gothic Maroon 5", Peter Murphy, PIL, "early Rush", U2, and other comparisons we've forgotten.
Everyone seems to hear something different. What do YOU think we sound like?
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

this is the end, beautiful friends

They say that being in a band is like being in a marriage, and there's a lot of truth to that.  And I guess on that same note it shouldn't be a surprise that most bands get a divorce at some poin...
Posted by on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:17:00 GMT

update on our upcoming schedule/recording

Last night at practice, the idea was raised that we should not book another show after the O'Riley's gig in December until we have finished recording.  In fact, the idea was not only to postpone ...
Posted by on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:03:00 GMT

a status report of sorts...

To all our loyal minions out there, I felt that you were owed an update on our progress with the EP as well as other things we've been working on.We have obviously been working on this EP for a very, ...
Posted by on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:11:00 GMT

Liquid - Andys - ORileys

OK, well, I'm a little late on the show blogs and I have to type this one from some laptop with a tiny keyboard on my vacation in South Carolina, so this should be fun. Unfortunately, I don't remember...
Posted by on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:18:00 GMT

Reno's gig blog, 6/16/07

Our gigs have been few and far between lately while we work on the EP which I'm starting to think we should call The Neverending Story.  Our one back in March at Bar Of Soap seems like ages ago, ...
Posted by on Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:12:00 GMT

Bar Of Soap, 3-31-07

So last night, or rather technically this morning since we didn't come on until about 12:20 or so, we played our first gig in nearly 4 1/2 months at the Bar Of Soap.  As most folks who follow us ...
Posted by on Sun, 01 Apr 2007 09:55:00 GMT

Review: Dead Sea Souls @ The Elysium, Austin, TX - Nov 17th 2006

The self proclaimed 'Live Music Capital of the World' experienced a bit of an invasion this past Friday, when Dallas outfit Dead Sea Souls crept into Austin's Elysium to perform their brand of seducti...
Posted by on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:22:00 GMT

rocking out, Halloween style

So we had our first gig in a while last night at Liquid Lounge.  We've been busy recording songs for our EP (and not getting very far, FWIW.  We've laid the bass tracks for a whopping two so...
Posted by on Sun, 29 Oct 2006 11:19:00 GMT

Hot Time In The City

We had two shows this past weekend, our second and third already this month.  Normally, we don't like to book more than one or two at the most in a month, but we had all three of our Dallas shows...
Posted by on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:21:00 GMT

NEW!: Custom DSS Merchandise Internet Shop!

For those of you who would rather have a white T-shirt, or a Spaghetti-strap shirt larger than Medium, we've created an Online Custom DSS Merchandise Shop. Also available here are hooded sweat-shirts,...
Posted by on Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:14:00 GMT