An Interview With
Joey Deal
from the deals

The old adage “Blood is thicker than water” is just that; old. The Deals are a fresh, new Chicago power pop band and though they ain’t even kin, they’re a family, nonetheless. Before covid, they swung through the city like a wrecking ball, playing venues like Sleeping Village and filling bills across the Midwest.

With The Deals’ first full-length, Clear and Severe, getting ready to drop this month, it’s important to get an idea of who these folks are and what they’re all about. We had a chance to speak with Joey Deal, singer, guitarist, and songwriter (phew!) for The Deals to get a little background on the band.

Family bands are a compelling dynamic. Clue a curious Chicago readership into your backstory. What and who are The Deals, where and why did the band come about?

Joey: The Deals are a group of world class players, writers, and thinkers that I'm lucky enough to call my band, my friends, and my family. Not to quote our bandcamp bio, but we are an eclectic power pop band with a soft spot for maximalism, sarcasm, and whatever flights of fancy seem delicious enough to risk blowing everything off course.

The "Family Band" thing is, perhaps obviously, pageantry; we aren't related by blood (although I do start to think of them as my siblings, from time to time). I see so many bands, and I'm always drawn to the ones that have a strong ethos: "Here's who we are, here's what we do, and here's what it means.” There are a lot of different ways to accomplish this, and during the early days of The Deals, we landed on throwing the same last name on everybody as a good starting place.

And to anyone asking, yes, we have heard of The Ramones, and yes, we do love their music. We all met while studying music at Oberlin Conservatory, but the band didn't form in earnest until we were all in Chicago. We sort of transitioned from being a country bar band to being The Deals. We didn't even have a band name until after we recorded our first album.

What does everyone in the fam bring to the table?

Everybody in the band is here because of their musical identity. No one is here just as a "set of hands". Even though I write all the songs, it isn't until we go through a group arranging process that they become "Deals Songs".

I try not to tell anyone what specifically to play at most moments, since as a rule, everyone in the band is better than me at what they do. I may be "the leader" but it's important to me to be surrounded by musicians who push, challenge, and inspire.

Who influenced you the most, musically growing up?

I like everything, so my songwriting influences may seem all over the place, but they’re all connected by that voice in my head that says ‘Jesus Christ I wish I wrote that.’ You end up with a list that puts Nirvana and Taylor Swift right next to each other. I will say that my favorite band of all time is The Beatles.

Your sound dabbles in times reminiscent of ‘90s alternative and others are more folk/country. What draws the band in those directions? What do you all do to make music consciously yours?

I like having a wide stylistic variety at our disposal because ultimately, it’s all the same to me. It gives us more options from an arranging standpoint, and like I said, I like everything. I think of the songs like skeletons; sometimes we put them in leather jackets, sometimes cowboy hats.

You’ve released “The Levee” and “Bologna” last year ahead of your first full-length, Clear and Severe, both showcasing amazing talent from everyone in the band. What story is the band telling through this album?

I hesitate to assign a "story" to the album for fear of being disingenuous. The album is just a collection of songs that I was really happy with, and that I thought sounded good together. But if I reflect on the lyrical themes that pop up throughout the tracklist, I guess it's sort of an existential album (Jesus, I'm groaning at myself over here) as my writing seems to be preoccupied with the human experience: love, loss, happiness, sadness, comedy, tragedy, worth, growing, fears, bars, and bologna.

What has practicing and recording been like over the last year?

*bitterly* I don't wanna talk about it... What year is it now, anyways? Let's just say, we've all had more productive years. Lots of garageband.

Aside from your obvious album drop, what else is the band looking forward to in the year moving forward?

SHOWSSSSSS! And hugs. And making our next record - it's gonna absolutely destroy this one.