Today we’d like to introduce you to Dezmon Dean. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Say It Back started actually as a recommendation to Dezmon (frontman) from his therapist. Dezmon experienced a handful of traumatic experiences like the suicide of his best friend and then following that suicide, the suicide of a couple of other people he grew up with. His therapist told him to use a creative outlet to express what he was going through so he started writing songs. Dezmon found a full band to produce the songs with and started making the songs in the studio. The songs instantly started catching traction in Utah and some of the surrounding areas.
Our first show we had over 250 people present and a crowd chanting our name as we were in the back room getting ready to perform.
Here is a little snippet Dezmon wrote about the show with some backstory of how significant the first show was.
I was born to a Father and Mother who were 17 and 18 and still in high school. I was born, and they never married. My mother moved her and I from Farmington New Mexico shortly after she graduated and before my first birthday so my Father has never played a big role in my life. He was never present for any of my sports games as a kid and through high school and he never really made it to many of my concerts with my bands after high school. Not until my first concert and live performance with Say It Back.
It was December 7th of last year and Say It Back had been selected to perform at Velour’s Battle of The Bands in Provo Utah as our first concert. This was a huge event and opportunity for us. Grammy-nominated band Imagine Dragons and world-known Indie Pop band Neon Trees had previously won this competition and it had helped them in their progression to the music career that they have today.
We had promoted this show with everything we had, contacting everyone we knew personally and sharing it on every social media platform that we have as a group of five of us. We weren’t sure who was going to make it or how many people were going to come and we definitely weren’t ready for the outcome that played into the rest of the evening.
As I was greeting the many incoming guests coming to see the concert, I noticed a familiar face that was unexpectedly at the ticket booth, paying for a ticket to see the concert. It was my Father. My father that I hadn’t seen in about a year. I ended my conversation with whoever I was currently engaged with and started making my way through the crowd to greet my old man. I greeted him with a hug and asked him what he was doing there. He told me that he had made the 9-hour drive that morning so that he could watch his son perform his first concert with this new group. I was blown away. It felt like something from a movie and up until this point I had not experienced any hint of anxiety and my heart was starting to pound. After talking with him, I got pulled away to visit and greet other members of the crowd and I thanked him for coming and told him that I hoped he enjoyed the show.
The show went off like a rocket. The crowd was so loud that we couldn’t hear ourselves in our monitors. With over 250 people packed into the small venue, we were swimming in a pool that felt too deep for the first performance. We ended our setlist with the first song I had written and a message about my best friend that had ended his life the year before and as I looked into the crowd, I saw many eyes with tears in them as we finished the set.
I caught my father one last time before the night ended and he was off back to New Mexico just like he had been before.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the challenges we have been facing is financial challenges. Recording songs with quality takes work and a lot of finances. We believe in producing content that is done right the first time and that requires a lot of practice and monetary investment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our songs tell a deep story in their lyrics. Even the order of the songs have significance in their meaning. The artwork for each song has meaning too.
Our First song is called
Dreaming
This is about Dezmon’s life after his best friend died by suicide and how Dezmon’s life spiraled out of control after.
Without You
This is the struggle of coming to terms with being alone after the loss of a romantic partner and feelings of betrayal from their actions as promises were broken.
Picking Up the Pieces
This is the struggle of trying to move on to new people after feeling betrayed. This song is a story about not feeling like I can reciprocate the feelings of another.
Dani, Boy
This song is a play on words from the old 1900s ballad “Danny Boy” about someone with the same name.
This song tells the story and shares the feelings with becoming strangers with someone you once loved and felt close to.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Our studio engineer is Devin Barrus with Revel Recording Devin has also helped us produce some of our music. Devin also is the frontman/singer in the band Sunsleep.
Other studios we have worked with are Grotto Audio and June Audio.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.sayitbackmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sayitbackband/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Say-It-Back/100090240324757/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sayitbackut?s=21&t=1F940n-Irdb81-qB0aX9fA
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCia9NQZYVASh7me6VpAKzCA
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-739494925
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3W3Wj17hpCM3AEXcmfZdf5?si=GCFIMUpASFaSy4CCxmAE9Q&nd=1
