Hi! My name is Theresa Jeane, and I am the lead singer for Nashville, TN-based band The Nearly Deads. I currently live in Rhode Island with my fiancé and have been busy planning a wedding in between working on musical projects. I have been a lifelong pianist and went to the University of South Florida where I obtained a Bachelor of Music in Composition.
My influences range from classical to jazz to pop but when we started The Nearly Deads, I was specifically channeling The Used, My Chemical Romance, and No Doubt. I am also a big fan of Shirley Manson and Garbage.
Last year during lockdown, my wedding had been postponed, and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands so I began finishing up solo projects that had previously been on the back burner. This year I’m so excited for a fresh start with The Nearly Deads and I hope we can get back out on the road soon!
Check out these two new releases: “Punk Rock Kitty Cat” (The Nearly Deads) released on February 12, 2021, and “Cold Day in Hell” (Theresa Jeane)
“Punk Rock Kitty Cat” is a fun, campy homage to our punk-rock musical influences. It’s all about being your own unique self and realizing that you are purrfect just the way you are! It’s about clawing your way through the noise of the world and coming out on the other side totally confident and powerful!”
“Cold Day in Hell” is about not letting your ex back into your life because they want their old stuff back. Tell them they can keep it, replace everything yourself, and move on because you are strong and independent, and you don’t need them or their crap anymore.
Tell us about your new music and the inspiration behind it.
“Punk Rock Kitty Cat” is a fun song about being yourself and finding your place. I was very influenced by The Ramones and the Sex Pistols and wanted it to have that goofy lo-fi punk rock sound. “Cold Day in Hell” was inspired by an old guitar riff I found one day while going through voice memos on my phone. I can’t play guitar very well, but I loved the progression and the words “It’ll be a cold day in hell when I let you back into my life” just flowed into it so perfectly. I pulled back old memories of exes wanting their things back after a breakup and how they can seem to linger and hang on just to stay a part of your life. Knowing several other people in my circle had gone through similar circumstances, specifically with sunglasses, which tend to be borrowed a lot in relationships, I knew I needed to write this song! Ex kept your old sunglasses? Buy new ones and move on!
What was the songwriting and recording process?
It was a bit unique this time around. Because of COVID restrictions, I was unable to make it to Nashville to get into the studio. I ended up recording all the vocals from home and sending them down to producer Brian Craddock at The Cat Room Studios. I had a vision and sent a demo to Brian, and he recorded all the parts and arranged the song perfectly! It was a lot of phone calls and transferring files back to each other, but in the end, I am thrilled with the results. I do love working with producers in person, but I’m not gonna lie, it was kind of nice to record in my own bedroom!
What do you hope your fans/listeners take away with them when they listen to your music?
I hope that listeners find hope and empowerment in my music. I just so badly want everyone out there to know that no matter what they are going through, they are not alone. The more people you meet, the more you realize that we are all the same—and that nobody knows what the hell they’re doing! We’re all just humans trying to find our way through life.
When did you first start playing an instrument?
I always say I have been playing since I could reach the keys, and that’s pretty true. I don’t remember when I first started playing because I was very young. My parents had an old Casio keyboard, and I was always figuring it out and writing my own little melodies, so they soon put me into lessons. Honestly, musicians like The Beatles and Billy Joel really drew me to piano because it is so prevalent in all of their music. So growing up, those were the main musicians we listened to at home, so of course, as a kid, I thought oh, all music is like this. I was very much encouraged by my family to compose my own music and to keep playing. Of course, our keyboard at home always had headphones, so that’s probably why they didn’t mind! When I got a bit older and first started going through my emo/goth phase and heard Evanescence on the radio for the first time, I was like, “That’s it. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
Who are some of your musical influences?
Garbage, The Distillers, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, Evanescence. For my solo music, it would be Avril Lavigne, Julia Michaels, Ellie Goulding, and you better believe I used to tape-record myself singing along to Christina Aguilera when I was a kid trying to replicate those runs and high notes!
What’s next?
We are just about to start recording our first acoustic album where all the songs will have kind of a ‘campfire’ rearrangement to them. We’ve been working on the new versions for a few months now, and I’m really excited about the direction. After that, we are going to continue to write music as a band and have plans for a new full-length album, hopefully by the end of the year.
Website – https://www.thenearlydeads.com and https://theresajeane.bandcamp.com
Social media – https://www.facebook.com/thenearlydeads, https://www.instagram.com/thenearlydeadsofficial, https://www.twitter.com/thenearlydeads, https://www.patreon.com/thenearlydeads, https://twitter.com/MissJeane44, https://www.instagram.com/theresajeane