DED
About
Joe Cotela started bands as early as middle school when he was 14. His first band was a punk band called Goin’ Postal, influenced heavily by bands like The Suicide Machines & MxPx. They recorded a 4-song EP and played mostly backyard shows and bowling alley diy punk shows. (1996-1998)
He then ventured into more Nu-Metal stylings in his band Halfgain through high school, independently releasing the full length album Techniques and garnering a large local following in Arizona. (1999-2003)
Following high school he would form the southern tinged hardcore and emo band The Cover Up who would release three independent ep’s before signing to Modern Art Records, a subsidiary of Sony/Epic. Cotela said that the band was very derivative of a sound like Every Time I Die mixed with The Used. The band toured minimally and after being unhappy with the label and the release of their album Monster Eats The Pilot The Cover Up disbanded. (2003-2010)
He then formed the hard rock and metal band Man Made Machine. Man Made Machine would sign with now defunct Razor and Tie Records and had a top 40 radio single with the song “Victim.” Their label debut BECOME was produced by Mudvayne and Hellyeah members Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett. Man Made Machine would go on to tour with Godsmack, Staind, Halestorm, Fuel, Pop Evil and others before disbanding in 2015. (2010-2015)
Ded formed in 2015 with Cotela and co-founding members Matt Good (From First To Last) and David Ludlow (Greeley Estates) both guitarists for the band. They would record a 6-song EP together that would never get a public release. The EP would bring on a whirlwind of industry attention.
Matt Good stepped down from Ded wanting to focus on producing bands and has done so with Asking Alexandria, Hollywood Undead and released music with his band From First to Last. Rounding out the line-up would be Kyle Koelsch on bass and Matt Reinhard on drums. Ded ended up working with legendary producer and Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann. Feldmann aligned the band with their first management from MDDN, run by Benji and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte.
After a year of writing and recording back and forth between AZ and CA and opening for bands like Insane Clown Posse, Beartooth, Powerman 5000, Every Time I Die, The Acacia Strain and more, the band would finish their debut album Misanthrope and sign with industry titan Jordan Schur and his Suretone Records label. Schur would also take the reins of managing the band and executive producing with them on their album.
The band has gone on to have 2 top 20 singles at radio with “Anti Everything” and “Remember the Enemy.” Both music videos were directed by Fred Durst of the band Limp Bizkit. Ded was named SiriusXM Octane’s breakout artist of the year in 2017. Ded has toured with Korn, Stone Sour, In This Moment, Hollywood Undead, Motionless In White, Beartooth, Pop Evil and more. The band recorded their Suretone Records sophomore release at The Hideout Studios in Las Vegas, NV with hard rock producing juggernaut Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed).
The band has released 3 new songs including the lead track “A Mannequin Idol (lullaby)” with a music video directed by Marc Klasfeld (Slipknot, Twenty One Pilots). DED will release their still untitled sophomore record sometime in 2021 after the covid pandemic subsides.