Dead Noise: Best of 2023

2023 has come and gone, and when I reflect on the past year, it's surprising to look back and see just how much that was accomplished – from receiving my first press credentials for a horror convention (Carolina Fear Fest), to being a guest on different podcasts to talk about the things I love with awesome people I’m glad to call friends (Scream w/ Ryan C. Showers + Would You Die?), to conducting my own interviews on a more consistent basis, 2023 was full of surprises to say the absolute least. That being said, it wasn’t an easy year by any means – I’ve had my fair share of stretches where it was hard to find the time and/or motivation to get certain things rolling, but the connections I’ve made and experiences I’ve had through doing this work always makes it worth it, and I’m beyond proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish over the last year.

Much like what I did at the end of 2022, I want to take a minute to point out some of my favorite moments from the last year. It’s always hard to narrow things down and pick favorites, but off the top of my head, these are just a select few moments that stick out to me when thinking of how 2023 went. For those that have kept up with my work or are just now getting familiar with what I do, thanks for the support and feel free to comment your favorites if they differ from mine.

FAVORITE ARTICLE 

If anyone has learned anything about me, it’s that Alice Cooper is my favorite artist. He’s been my favorite for more than half my lifetime now, and 2023 was a big year for him and his fans – he released his 29th studio album Road in August, reached 40 years of sobriety, debuted a brand-new stage show named “Too Close for Comfort,” and reissued his blockbuster albums School’s Out (1971) and Killer (1972). Additionally, the 50th anniversary of his most successful album, Billion Dollar Babies (1973) and 45th anniversary of his musically greatest record, From the Inside (1978) took place. As a lifelong fan of Cooper’s work, I was able to finally see him live in concert for the first time (along with a second time in my hometown just a little over a month later), and celebrate the 20th anniversary of my personal favorite album of his, The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003).

Eyes was always my favorite Alice Cooper album since the first time I heard it, and it never seems to get the love and recognition that it deserves. When the 20th anniversary of its release arrived at the end of September, I took that as my opportunity to discuss what makes the album so great and why I love it as much as I do. It fit in perfectly with the regular Alice Cooper related articles I was writing while I was preparing for his show in Wilmington, NC that October, and it was one of the more in-depth articles I’ve written in a long time. Much like my retrospective on the 2021 album The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood by Ice Nine Kills, I felt like I reached the balance of getting my passion for the subject across while also doing justice to said subject in an expository/informational sense.

Runner-Up: Concert Recap: Alice Cooper’s “Too Close for Comfort” Tour in Wilmington, NC

FAVORITE VIDEO

I’ve been going to horror conventions since 2017, and they’re one of my favorite events to go to – there’s always been something memorable from each one I’ve attended, and the highlight for Carolina Fear Fest 2023 was being able to document it and interview select celebrity guests and vendors at the event as a credentialed media member. Before I started Dead Noise, I always liked watching convention walkthrough and recap videos from different YouTube channels, so being able to do something of my own with an event near my area was a great experience. It was always a goal of mine, but I was surprised it had happened so soon for me, with 2023 only being my second year in business (and first full one at that, with Dead Noise having started in the spring/summer of 2022).

Carolina Fear Fest was a fantastic event to cover, and I can’t say enough how grateful I am that it was my first horror convention experience as a media member – even with everything to see in all areas of the venue, it never felt insanely crowded or cramped, which made it easier and more enjoyable to do what I had to do creatively. Getting to talk with the people I did was a very fun time and a dream come true, whether it was full-blown interviews with Heather Matarazzo, Dee Wallace, and John Russo, or just quick soundbites with artists Wes Flanary, Vulgar Dragon’s Den, and Byron Winton, and I can’t wait for the next opportunity to cover another horror convention.

Runner-Up: Monster Memories: The Exorcist (1973)

FAVORITE CONCERT

As mentioned earlier, I’m a pretty big Alice Cooper fan, so it’s a no-brainer that getting to see him in Wilmington, NC wasn’t just the best concert experience of 2023, but it was without a doubt the best concert I’ve ever been to.

While my first Alice Cooper show took place at the end of August, on the Raleigh stop of the “Freaks on Parade” co-headliner with Rob Zombie, the Wilmington show was a much more memorable experience for two main reasons – first, it was a full headlining set with no openers or support acts, just Alice and his band. Second, it was as close to my hometown as I’ll be able to see someone like Alice Cooper perform – I went to college in Wilmington, and it’s only an hour away from my hometown of Jacksonville, and I never thought I’d see the day that my favorite artist would play so close to my stomping grounds. I could go on and on about how great that show was, but it’s probably best to just read the recap article.

Runner-Up: From Ashes to New at Hooligans Live in Jacksonville, NC (April 13)

FAVORITE INTERVIEW

This is the hardest topic to narrow down because of how many interviews I’ve done in 2023 – I’ve had a great time with every single interview I did and have nothing but good things to say about every band, artist, and creative that I’ve been able to interact and speak with. With all of that being said, I would say the most impactful interview would probably be the one I conducted with Palisades drummer Aaron Rosa ahead of the band’s farewell shows in February.

It’s no secret that Palisades holds a special place in my heart – I’ve been a huge fan of them ever since I first heard their music, my very first interview for Dead Noise was with former vocalist Brandon Elgar at their show at Hooligans Live in Jacksonville after the release of their album Reaching Hypercritical (2022), and I had a great time talking with the other members of the band at their merch table after their shows, so the news of the band coming to an end was hard for me to process. In an attempt to help celebrate their legacy and give fans like me some closure by hearing directly from the band, I decided to reach out to Aaron to see if him and/or any other members would be available for an interview before the farewell shows, and he didn’t hesitate to say that he’d be down for it. What I anticipated being a 20-30 minute interview turned into a 2-3 hour conversation both on and off camera, and Aaron was the definition of generous with time – he was happy to answer any and all questions I had, nothing was off limits, and it didn’t matter how long it took. On top of the fact that he remembered meeting me and my dad just a few months beforehand when they played in Jacksonville, being able to reconnect with Aaron and celebrate the amazing work that he and his band will be remembered for meant the world to me. For all of those reasons, it’s hard to put any other interviews above this one when thinking about the biggest and most meaningful moments of the year.

Runner-Up: Vampires Everywhere

Again, I greatly appreciate your support this past year and hope you stick around to see what I’ve got in the works for 2024 — I won’t say exactly what I have planned or what I’m hoping to achieve, but I will say that I hope to make 2024 a bigger and better year than 2023 was. Until the next article, interview, and/or video, stay tuned, stay scared, and I’ll catch you later!

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