Pitchfork

Fresh off the release of his second solo album as Pajo, 1968, the always-busy David Pajo is gearing up for the release of an EP by his newest project, the previously reported metal band Dead Child. He's also starting to think about the feasibility of a Slint reunion.

"I've been kind of talking to the Slint guys again, and we've been trying to figure out what we should do with ourselves," Pajo said in a recent interview with Pitchfork. "We're sort of attempting to exist as a band again, but we don't want to-- whatever is precious about Slint, we don't want to step on that. We want to play together again, but we've been trying to figure out what our next step should be if we do anything at all."

So what would be the determining factors in deciding just what that next step is? "It's mostly just what everybody wants to do with themselves. There was a huge gap between the 2005 reunion and the last time we played together [before that]. We've spent all this time developing our own lives, and it's kind of hard to put everything that you've been working on for the past 14 years on pause so that you can do Slint again. Brian [McMahan] wants to go back to school, and people have different things that they want to do with themselves, so we're trying to find out if there's even a window where we could all work together in the same capacity again. Me and Britt [Walford] and Brian have this camaraderie [where] there's so much that we don't have to explain to each other, that we just understand when it comes to putting songs together, and it seems like kind of a shame to not do that, even if it's not under the name Slint. I feel like we should continue to play together."

For now, Pajo wants his full-time gig to be with Dead Child, a band that has its origins in that 2005 Slint reunion. "Me and Michael McMahan and Todd Cook had talked about doing [a band together] when we did the Slint reunion tour last year. Musically, we hit it off, and we were jointly rediscovering the music of our past. When we were kids we used to listen to a lot of metal. We talked then about putting a band together after the tour, a band that was primarily kind of loud and artless. It's kind of a midlife crisis thing, at least for me. That's how I started off playing music, and it was so unpretentious and fun. So we talked about putting together a band like that, and it took a while to get off the ground. I had written a couple of songs that we started practicing, and then-- as everyone's schedules loosened up-- we were able to start practicing more. And then we had enough songs to record an EP, which we did recently."

That EP is self-titled and scheduled for a February 6 release on Cold Sweat Records. Pajo, however, does not see recording as Dead Child's bread and butter, saying he wants them "to be established more as a live band. We've only played one show so far, and it was so much fun. It really did remind me of the old days where people were throwing beer on you and stuff. It's totally not ironic at all. We're not clever enough to pull off a metal band that's consciously Spinal Tap-ish.

"I've always liked metal for its consistency. I still get really excited when I hear it. I guess for a while I was really anti-guitar solo, and now I think it's really cool when somebody shows off all their tricks in a song. I want to see someone quit trying to be anything and just write a rock riff that makes you want to kick out the windows or something."

After their upcoming tour and the release of the EP, Dead Child plan to release a full-length, though the deal with Cold Sweat is "sort of a one-off," and they do not yet have a label to release it. A preview of the band's music can be found below in the form of the track "Never Bet the Devil Your Head". Its straight-ahead chug is reminiscent of the Judas Priest influence they cite, and it would be even better with a little clearer production.

Pajo is also busy "trying to get stuff together to make another solo record," though he thinks Pajo (the band) may just be "a studio thing for a while [with] some one-off shows here and there."

Dead Child EP tracklist:

01 Angel of the Odd
02 Black Blood Leather
03 Never Bet the Devil Your Head
04 Curse of a Legend
05 I Will Live Again

Dead Child dates:

11-09 Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House
11-10 Louisville, KY - Headliners
11-11 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
11-12 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
11-13 Buffalo, NY - Icon
11-14 Boston, MA - Middle East
11-15 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
11-16 Philadelphia, PA - Khyber
11-17 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head
11-18 Columbus, OH - Little Brother's
11-19 Louisville, KY - TBA