If you were listening to hardcore in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, you should already be familiar Over My Dead Body. Formed in 1999, the San Diego straight edge band built its legacy via fast, energetic, and socially conscious hardcore.
With releases on influential labels like Indecision Records and Bridge Nine, and several tours in the US and one in Europe under their belt, Over My Dead Body called it a day in 2004.
Since their breakup, vocalist Daniel Sant has kept busy in the music community. Some readers might recognize him from the excellent 185 Miles South hardcore music podcast where he's one of its regular co-hosts, and his ongoing F#!kin’ in the Bushes DJ nights in San Diego and San Francisco, where he spins everything from Britpop to soul to post-punk.
As I type this, Over My Dead Body is gearing up for a special set of reunion shows later this month, bringing the band back to the stage after two decades. I caught up with Daniel to talk about the group’s origins, their impact, and what to expect from these upcoming performances.
Tell me a bit about your introduction to hardcore music and what appealed to you about it during those early days.
My introduction to hardcore came from a couple of skateboarders that I had made friends with when I was on holiday visiting my Dad. My dad lived in San Diego and my brother and I would come over from the North of England for the summer every other year.
When I was 16, my brother and I would hang out on the boardwalk, go boogie boarding, and just generally bum around like teenagers do and I befriended these two skaters. They were constantly skating up and down the boardwalk and going to Pacific Drive, the skate shop.
We had talked about punk because they saw me wearing a T-shirt of the Jam. One day they offered me a drink from some kind of nefarious bottle and I refused and they asked me if I was straight edge?
I asked them what that was and and this kid Steve rooted around in his backpack and gave me a tape that had Minor Threat on one side and Fugazi 13 Songs on the other side. He then explained to me what straight edge is. And I can say that I had never felt so understood by something I didn’t understand. I would go onto learn about hardcore and the many different layers in an evolutionary way, but that initial short sharp shock was like a door opening.
I had alcoholism in my family and had never wanted to partake, also growing up in England, it was almost mandatory that pub culture was expected of you. To hear of something that was very cool, challenging, and extremely listenable, while at the same time being in line with the way, I felt deeply. I couldn’t really express to anybody without being mocked or misunderstood by my friends back home.
As I moved to America, the easier access bands of Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords and labels of the like, fell by the wayside as friends educated me and took me to shows. I have to give a special shout out to my friend Don, who showed me Judge and told me to get past them sounding so metallic to me originally. So glad I stopped being an idiot because hardcore is a fucking gift!
When did you move to the States, and what were your impressions of the American hardcore scene here during that time?
I moved to America in the early to mid-'90s and the intensity that hardcore had over the punk shows I had attended was apparent. The sharing of ideas between songs and through the lyrics grabbed a hold of me immediately.
In San Diego, the hardcore scene was amazing and there was not a focus on moshing and stage diving at the time. It was very much about being political, creative, different, and sharing ideas. However, I still love a fucking great mosh part and was glad Built to Last and Over My Dead Body helped bring that back to the Che [Café].
Before we get to Over My Dead Body, I know you played in both Swindle and Palpatine, two bands from San Diego.
Swindle was a punk band I did with dear friends that I met in my year of high school at Mission Bay high in San Diego. It was a really fast punk band but held influences from the original '77 sound as well as bands like born against, Screeching Weasel, Avail, and Filth. Melody and pace. To be honest, I believe they became a better band after I left.
Palpatine was a hardcore band incorporating so many influences from all the five members. From Filth to Hatebreed, to Fingerprint, Unbroken, and Earth Crisis. It was a screamy hardcore band that didn’t try to fit into any slot, Heavy, fast, and incorporated some emotional parts too. I emptied my soul into those lyrics. I had an incredibly difficult relationship with my father and a lot of of that formed what Palpatine songs were about.
Over My Dead Body formed in 1999 at a time when hardcore was going through some big shifts. What was the vision for the band when you first got together? The lyrics carried a strong straight edge message while also having a sense of humor at times. How important was it for you to balance that intensity with a little levity?
In San Diego, there was an incredible roots hardcore band called Built to Last and I was friendly with many of the members. I spoke to Aaron, the Built to Last drummer, after a show saying that I wanted to do a straightforward roots straight edge hardcore band. One that had a strong straight edge lyrics.
It is a band I had always wanted to do when I had started being in bands. I was asking Aaron to see if he wanted to drum in the band but he said the next hardcore band he played in. He wanted to play guitar so I said OK let’s do that. He suggested Scott who was straight edge and also in Built to Last.
Rob Moran (Unbroken) was one of my best friends and I’d always wanted to do a band with him, but I didn’t think he would be ready to do a band at this point, but I asked him anyway. He was in and suggested a drummer who had just moved to San Diego named Tommy [Anthony]. Tommy had previously played in a bunch of bands in Virginia as well as touring as the drummer in Four Walls Falling.
The other element this band was built on besides straight edge was the fact that hardcore is short for hardcore punk. Punk was as strong of a foundation musically as sxe and politics were lyrically. Rob and I had many dinners discussing this as the band formed.
READ MORE: 2016 interview with Rob Moran (Unbroken, Narrows, Some Girls, Over My Dead Body)
So, Over My Dead Body was a band where the message was as important as the music.
Nothing has impacted my life like straight edge hardcore and I wanted to do a band with people I could trust to mean it just as much as me. There were many straight edge bands that I love(d) that had let me down, and there were many that I love that I found to be too unrealistic in what their message was.
For me, straight edge is a personal choice, but one in which you can find community. All of the militant straight edge bands (that I love) had a level of militancy that I find just wasn’t realistic in what it takes to be a friend. I have always viewed straight edge as being a personal choice of uplifting yourself in this world where there are many things that can drag you down.
My lyrics regarding straight edge were always serious and a reflection of my own singular feelings. Even the songs that perhaps could be perceived as having a little levity like "Drug Free Adult" were actually quite serious.
Obviously, the name of the song is what is quite funny as it’s referencing drug-free youth, yet the message was about young people claiming straight edge, doing damage to the scene in the name of straight edge, and then selling out the next year. It was very disappointing to see and I had to speak on it.
You released the This Feeling Will Never Fade demo, and then dropped the No Runners EP in 2001. That’s when I first heard OMDB and I remember being psyched that Rob was playing straight-up hardcore.
I remember being very proud that it seemed to resonate with so many kids. The demo seemed to go everywhere, friends were distributing it up north and it seemed there were a bunch of kids all over the US that were into it.
When we played our first few shows we had made sure to get the demo out and in the hands of the Cali scene and it really paid off. I was so floored by so many people upfront singing along at the first few shows. There will never be a time when I take for granted someone wanting to sing along to the words/music you have written, it’s magical.
How did Dave Mandel of Indecision Records become involved with the band?
We had given Dave Mandel a demo and after one of our shows at Headline Records he said that he’d like us to put a record out on Indecision. Rob and Dave were great friends but this was a dream to me. I loved Indecision and was so psyched to be on the same label as Count Me Out and Throwdown and all the great releases that had come before.
Also, Mandel is a legend and to get closer to him as a result is another gift hardcore has delivered.
What do you remember about the reaction to the band and EP when it came out?
For the EP, we recorded at Doubletime with Jeff Forrest and his hair piece [laughs]. I think the recording came out well and I was really psyched on the art. I had given Shaun Stroup this shitty drawing of this hooded skull guy that I wanted him to redraw but as a band of five of them and he killed it. The record sounds good and has a good mix of songs that seem to have resonated with kids all over because I started to get contacted by so many people telling me how much they liked it or inviting us to come and play their town.
I remember kids being psyched that their was a band that was so overtly straight edge while being also inclusive. I was so happy that people seemed to get where we were coming from. Straight Edge Hardcore has meant the world to me and I poured everything I had into this band to see if we could maybe have a tiny place in the lineage of straight edge hardcore bands.
To receive words from some kids in different places in the world that they were into it was so rewarding. Hardcore is beyond special because putting out some songs can forge friendships that will last the rest of your life.
Over My Dead Body’s debut LP, Rusty Medals and Broken Badges, includes a track I’ve always dug called “Silver Platter Hardcore.” What inspired that song’s lyrics? It feels very personal!
"Silver Platter Hardcore" is a song that we had Lance from Faded Grey do some guest vocals on. Its a song about people not really knowing what they have, and what they could ruin with complaining, ambivalence, or destructive behavior. At the time, some DIY spots were being shut down due to people treating them like shit.
Also, at the same time Message Board culture was on fire and so many people would hide behind screen names and just talk shit. It was mainly a beautiful time but there were those that didn’t really get the spirit and just wanted to be negative as fuck about everything. It’s a song I wrote about checking your fucking attitude within hardcore to contribute, not just be a spoiled brat.
You hit a lot of places and played with a wide range of bands during that time. What were some of the most memorable shows or tours?
Bane is a band that did everything for us out the gate. They brought us out to the East Coast for our first tour out there. That was amazing and the shows were were so great. It meant the world to us.
I really loved the European tour we did in 2004 as well. In fact, I pretty much can truly say I loved almost every single show we played and the only thing I hated was the long drives to get to the next place.
Even though those drives, like any band knows, yielded some of the funniest moments within the band. So many secrets told, so many laughs shared. I just hated doing the driving and always felt like I was gonna fall asleep, until I made everyone listen to books on tape on my drives.
Memorable tours were with Bane, American Nightmare, Death Threat, Carry On, Most Precious Blood, The Hope Conspiracy, Count Me Out, Death By Stereo, Panic, Breaker Breaker, 100 Demons, and the mighty mighty Terror. We loved playing alongside these bands and becoming great friends with many of them.
Some bands we played with often in California were In Control, No Reply, Diehard Youth, Throwdown, Life’s Halt, Fields of Fire, the Suicide File, FHAKH, American Tragedy, Swindle, and Champion. All of these bands meant the world to OMDB as well as all those we toured with.
What’s the story behind that Over My Dead Body with Time X from Portugal? Was that a Mike Phyte idea, or were you friends with those guys?
Mike wanted to do a record with us and had come up with the idea for us to do a split with a band from Europe that he wanted to put out. We didn’t know Time X before the recording and communicated with them a little bit at the time.
It was a cool idea to essentially break bread through doing a record and to showcase two straight edge bands from different parts of the world. Unfortunately, we never got to play Portugal so we didn’t get to meet those guys in person.
I love that split with Death Threat. Did that project stem from the tour you did with them and Terror? I don’t remember the timeline. Bridge Nine was on fire during that era, so it was cool seeing a Southern California band on the label.
I had become good friends with Chris Wrenn who did Bridge Nine and he was eager for us to do something on the label. He had also re-released Death Threat’s Peace & Security. We had also done a bunch of shows on both coasts with Death Threat and had become great friends, so when Chris suggested it, both bands were way into it.
Aaron and I came up with the idea of them covering a West Coast band and for us to cover an East Coast band. They did Chain [of Strength] and we did Reagan Youth. I really love the split, I think it has some of our strongest songs and I really love the recording too. Of course, I absolutely adore the Death Threat side.
The art was done by our great friend, and someone who had done many great covers for Bridge Nine, Linas Garsys. He absolutely crushed it in my opinion.
READ MORE: 2018 interview with artist Linas Garsys
This is another testament to friendship and connection being at the foundation of what hardcore is. This 7 inch would not have happened without that being the case.
Prepping for this interview, I listened to Sink or Swim for the first time in quite a while and it holds up so well. I also appreciate how there’s a lot of melodic stuff on there to hang onto, like the vocal parts in “Bricks.”
How was the response to the album, and did you play a lot of shows in in support of it?
I feel I’m in two minds when it comes to Sink or Swim. I think it’s the best thing we ever did and yet I think it’d be so much better if we shaved 2 or 3 songs off of it. I think it could’ve had a stronger place in people’s thoughts when it comes to us.
Also, the fact we broke up not too long after it came out maybe hurt it I suppose. Paul Miner recorded us and I think he did an amazing job. It sounds great and it’s interesting you point out all the melody on the record because I think it rides a nice balance between melodic songs, octave parts, and harder parts. Definitely what we were going for in incorporating the influences of all the members at the time.
I think there are some of our very best songs on there. "Anchors Aweigh," "Don’t Call It a Comeback," "Dead Alive," and "Bricks" are some of my favorite songs I’ve ever done. Rob wasn’t in the band at this time as he was concentrating on Some Girls at the time. However, we were still best friends and it was important that for "Bricks" which was essentially "Be There" part two we had Rob on it killing it with his singy vocals.
Also, if there is someone checking this out for the first time, make sure to check out Throwdown’s Dave Peter’s amazing guest spot on "Tunnel Vision," he sounds so fucking good!
What was the reaction to the album like from your point of view?
The response to the LP was really good and we did a Euro tour to support it. Sometimes with hardcore bands, the first stuff people hear from you is always gonna be their favorite stuff. All in all, I’m really proud of it.
READ MORE: Hardcore’s Brief Flirtation with Reggae
Why did Over My Dead Body break up and how tough of a decision was it to make?
While we were on tour in Europe, we had some conversations about having done pretty much what we would’ve wanted to do with the band and having been so proud of the LP. So it was discussed that we go out without sucking — some people may disagree [laughs].
We also were all good friends and wanted to stay that way (and mainly have). At least the lineup that has reunited are all good pals. Rob is still my bff and we do so much together even though we live in different cities at the moment.
Hardcore has evolved a lot since the early 2000s. What are your thoughts on where the scene is now compared to when OMDB was active?
Hardcore is an ever evolving beautiful thing that can also be ugly as fuck. That is how I feel about modern day hardcore. Everywhere you look there is a new demo or record coming out that blows you away. The fact the worldwide scene is so huge and also so accessible makes it feel somewhat fleeting to enjoy. That sounds weird, but I mean that it is completely overwhelming to try and hear everything that is recommended to me.
I am on my friend Zack’s amazing podcast, 185 Miles South, sometimes and a discussion we have all the time is that this era has so much amazing stuff going on, that hardcore is truly winning. Yet, sometimes it seems you only stick with a record for two weeks max because there is something rad coming down the pike immediately. Not only that, but in this streaming world you don’t pay or trade for everything you listen to and therefore can perhaps be less invested, and listen to things with less engagement maybe.
Back when I’d spend my money on a record if I loved it, I’d pour over it for weeks, looking at the art, looking at the thanks list, etc. Now, often we listen and if we love it, we buy it. Anyway, enough old man conversing with cloud [laughs].
The scene right now is the same as it ever was and also very different. You can find exactly what you want and go very focused or you can cast a wide net. Seriously though, hardcore today is amazing and the important tenets of community, passion, and participation are present in every strata of what’s real.
What are some current hardcore bands that you endorse?
Some bands I really love in modern times are High Vis, Dynamite, Restraining Order, Syndrome 81, Punitive Damage, Bayonet, Kriegshog, Rat Cage, Our Fight, Street Sweeper, The Flex, Lost legion, Hindsight, About Face, Change, Split System, Face the Pain, Steamroll, Scarab, Fine Equipe, Big Boy, and of course, Terror, to name but a few.
One thing I will say though is fuck crowd killing, fuck people punching kids from the stage, and fuck anyone actively ruin anyone else’s time at a show to make themselves feel good. I do see that happening too much.
Tell me about F#!kin’ in the Bushes. How long have you been doing it? Also, what are a few records that are some must-plays in your playlists on those nights?
It’s a Britpop night Rob [Moran] and I started 16 years ago. We do it at the Whistlestop in San Diego, every third Friday. Lately, I’ve been rotating the themes to have a sort of focus, some recent themes have been Bowie vs Morrissey, Pulp vs Depeche Mode vs Suede, or a Haçienda night. It’s really fun and it’s gratifying to be still doing it after all these years.
What are some tracks you absolutely have to play when you DJ?
- Blur - "Girls and Boys"
- Pulp - "Babies"
- The Smiths - "This Charming Man"
- The Lightning Seeds - "Pure"
- Primal Scream - "Loaded"
- Stone Roses - "She Bangs the Drums"
- Underworld - "Born Slippy"
So, let’s get into the upcoming Over My Dead Body reunion. What inspired you guys to bring the band back for these shows?
Ati, Rob’s brother (who also sings for the great Crashing Forward) asked us if we’d play last year for Edge Day at the Che. We weren’t able to do it but it got all of us talking about doing shows next year after Rob had concluded most of what was going on with Unbroken.
We are old geezers and have a wide variety of stuff going on in our lives. But as the Streets said, “Geezers need excitement”! And since we are all still friends it is nice to do this once in a blue moon.
Indecision 30 was so much fun for us and we all had a great time honoring Itow, Mandel, and the amazing Indecision Records. At that time we didn’t get a chance to play the Che so we all jumped at the chance to do it. Also playing with lots of current great bands is exciting too.
How have rehearsals been going?
We all live in different cities at the moment so we have all been practicing alone at the moment but the week before the show we should have a couple of days to all practice together. That being said, if you are reading this and are coming to either of the shows, I need you up front to sing along! That’s an order!
Yes, this will be a rare chance for newer hardcore kids to see Over My Dead Body live. What do you hope they take away from these shows?
I hope they enjoy it and move it [laughs]. But for real, I hope they realize we are all sincere lifers that truly care about hardcore and are not doing a reunion show for any self aggrandizing.
I hope, as I’ve always hoped, that maybe something said can make someone in the crowd think about things in their life or how things are in the world and perhaps make a change for the better. Maybe taking on board that being negative and mean just ain’t that cool.
What is your favorite Over My Dead Body song, and why is it “Be There?”
"Be There" is definitely special to me. It is a song about the friendship that hardcore has given me, given us all. I wrote it with Rob and he cribbed / interpolated the ‘chorus part’ “When I saw you, and you told me…” from the Morrissey B-side, "Lost." It’s Rob’s favorite Moz solo song and one I love as well. But the main thing about the song is that it sums up the home and companionship we’ve all discovered within hardcore.
That all being said, my fav OMDB track is the song, "Over My Dead Body." The refrain of, “I will never give up on Straight Edge” is something I am deadly serious about. Straight Edge and Straight Edge Hardcore has given me so much and I owed it a song that says as much. I’ll be SXE forever and this song is that declaration.
I think we covered a ton today. Thanks for your time, Mr. Sant!
Thanks Carlos, I appreciate the interest and the convo and furthermore I truly appreciate all you do for hardcore. We all love No Echo!
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The Over My Dead Body reunion shows are going down on April 19 @ Che Café in La Jolla, CA, and April 20 @ Programme Skate & Sound in Fullerton, California.
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