Deadly Apples: Right Place, Right Time

Unpredictable, powerful, and intensely passionate—this is the musical drive of Montreal’s Deadly Apples. Since their 2017 Infected EP, they have built a loyal following, performing worldwide with heavy hitters in the rock and metal universe. Untraditionally, instead of leaning on an album for support, the duo has intermittently provided teaser song after teaser song, giving us just enough that we want more.

The band recently released their latest single, “Sacrifice,” featuring collaborations with Richard Patrick (Filter and Nine Inch Nails) on vocals and Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails and Till Lindemann) on guitars and bass. Going deeper, they recorded the drum track on Lars Ulrich’s Black Album kit, carving out metal history reimagined. Previous to this song was “Volatile,” a song that experienced over 100k streams on Spotify. Not too shabby for a band stepping into the limelight without a backing album.

About that album?

“We’re trying to spread things out a bit so each song or each single and music video can have its own moment,” said vocalist Alex Martel.

Eventually their debut album will be released. But the duo, consisting of Martel and drummer and keyboardist Antoine Lamothe, are having a blast exploring their creativity through sound and vision. For both “Volatile” and “Sacrifice” these songs have become two very important elements for the band. Both take on distinct different directions.

“When we released ‘Volatile,’ we really saw how we were able to create a special moment that incorporates the music video and all of the visuals that come with it,” said Martel. “That’s essentially what we tried to recreate with ‘Sacrifice,’ and what we are aiming to do with some of the following songs.”

As for the video itself, the creative process starts with Martel and then gets handed over to Lamothe for his video expertise and direction. Lamothe has worked as a director as well as compiling stage videos for big names like Celine Dion and Rush, Avenged Sevenfold, and even visual work with Cirque du Soleil.

“It was a lot of work to convert these songs into a visual storyline, but we are both very satisfied with the results.”

The two like to carve their own paths even from the beginning when Martel met Lamothe.

“Antoine is older than I, and he was already doing this kind of music,” he said. “When I found out that he was essentially from the same area, I was shocked that someone else was trying to do this kind of music. So we joined forces.”

Despite living in a city that did not fit into their musical vision, it was important that Martel believed in himself to make connections and take this idea and drive to the next step.

Martel grew up in the nu metal era and gravitated towards bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Deftones. That led to discovering darker bands like Rob Zombie,Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and Ministry.

“When I started making music, there was no one doing this kind of thing around here,” he said. “There were several scenes like a punk scene, a hardcore scene, and a death metal scene. I always really had a big drive to just make things happen and go for it despite popularity.”

This passionate initiative started as a fan who challenged himself to meet his idols, which started with repeated experiences meeting Munky from Korn.

“After a while, he just recognized me in different cities. They were probably wondering who this kid was that shows up randomly backstage at all of these different shows.”

When Deadly Apples began getting their music out to the public, Munky was very supportive and gave them the opportunity to perform at festivals with Korn. Then came a collaboration with Munky and an eye-opening tour in Japan.

Martel’s full circle moment was with Rob Zombie.

“I heard that he was going to do some interviews at MTV Music Plus. I created a sign and asked the host of the show to come in and meet Rob Zombie. I knocked on the window and showed them my sign. Surprisingly, they let me in. I was like a 15-year-old kid hanging out in the studio all afternoon just sitting next to Rob Zombie.

“Fast forward years later, we got to do an arena tour with Zombie for an entire summer across the United States. I ended up showing him the picture of him and I that day in the TV studio. He got a kick out of it. It’s a moment I will never forget”

For a young band, the two wrapped a lot of worldly experience on stage. Their live show is where Deadly Apples shine, exhibiting a primal rawness and an unpredictable energy comes to life.

“I’m a quiet and reserved guy in everyday life, but when I get up on stage, a whole other side of me comes out. It’s important to us to bring back that feeling that anything can happen and explore that excitement of adventure and danger to rock music.”

Despite extensive touring, the two spent almost a year in Los Angeles to record. Before that, they spent years working on songs and exploring different versions, trying to get their first impression perfected. The timing also allowed them to collaborate with a lot of people.

“Before we went into the studio during the pandemic, we did some pre-production work remotely with Michael Beinhorn (producer for everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Ozzy Ozbourne). We worked on ‘Sacrifice’ with him and he sent back something crazy like 10 pages of notes on that song alone. That really changed our perspective.”

As songs started to come to life, they took from that moment and explored an unrestrained approach to their songwriting with heavier songs emerging.

Although Martel is an overthinker, he’s happy with how the music is shaping up and showing success to their vision. He reminds himself to keep pushing himself as a vocalist and leaning into creativity. All of this leads to more video work ahead, teasing out more songs, and eventually releasing the album as a whole for those who like a complete experience. For now, they are enjoying each and every moment and excited to get back on the road. We are along for the joyride.