Los Angeles based noise-rock trio DEYSSI will be releasing their second album, $273.96, January 15, 2021 on Chain Letter Collective. Max Terlecki launched DEYSSI in 2014 and the band released their first EP in 2015 and first full-length album (Ten Persons, Ten Colors) in 2019. In the spring of 2020, the band’s three members gathered in a windowless concrete room inside an industrial building just outside of LA’s Chinatown neighborhood to record $273.96. The result: dark, improvisational chaos.

I spoke with Max about the band and the upcoming release of their second full-length album, $273.96. I highly recommend listening to DEYSSI if you’re into noisy, experimental, DIY, indie punk rock. Anyway, continue reading below for my interview with Max Terlecki of DEYSSI.

AJ: Hi Max! How are you?!?

MT: What’s up, Andy?!? The world is a strange place, but I’m doing okay.

AJ: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your band Deyssi? When, where, and how was the band formed?

MT: I’m from Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. The band originally started as a two-piece (bass and drums) under the name “Daisy.” I was playing with another Boston guy early on, for some of the original songs and first Daisy release (a 7″). Pretty soon after that, Griffin Kisner and I met in Los Angeles. We liked a lot of the same music and started playing some small house shows/parties/bars, and started writing music together as a two-piece. Then, we met Andy—we had a lot of similar music interests so he joined the band as the guitar player. We were always looking for a guitar player. As a three-piece, we still try to play warehouse shows and non-venues whenever we can.

AJ: Deyssi’s second album, $273.96, will be released on 1/15/2021. When and where was it recorded? How long did it take to record and what was the recording process like?

MT: $273.96 was written, in Los Angeles in a little warehouse in Chinatown where we practice and record. We were working on recording a more conventional record—10 song record (more like Ten persons, Ten Colors) and we were working out some ideas. Generally, we would cut down the long form ideas into a 3-minute song or so. After listening back to the recording (recorded/engineered by Griffin Kisner), Andy had the idea to release some of these long form songs. $273.96 is a divergent from some of our first songs—dipping a toe into some hardcore, and some heavier noise (which I love).

AJ: Is there any significance to the title of the forthcoming album, $273.96?

MT: The title of the album is a reference to the weekly take-home pay of a typical American minimum wage worker; coincidentally it is also roughly the amount one stands to gain by robbing a convenience store. The album cover is real-life CCTV footage of a store robbery taking place.

AJ: Did you take a different approach or change anything about the way you had previously been writing or playing when creating the new album? Anything different or unique about the songwriting or recording process?

MT: The recording method for this album was a bit different from any other recording project I’ve worked on. It was just the three of us, in one room, with minimal equipment, for about ten straight days. No engineer, no producer, no headphones. It was a spontaneous recording process. The album represents how we feel about the current state of the world, and hopefully others feel the same way too.

AJ: Any other new music coming out in the near future?

MT: We are still finishing up our third album. That’s the record we intended to make while recording $273.96. Ideally, we will release it sometime in the summer. This release will be more of an 8-12 song conventional record (like Ten Person, Ten Colors) with elements of the noise and aggression on $273.96 (but ultimately shorter form songs).

AJ: When and where was your last show? What do you remember about it?

MT: The last show we played was in LA. It was actually a record release show for Ten Persons, Ten Colors.

AJ: Are there any particular musical styles/genres that influence DEYSSI?

MT: We don’t make any money off the band, so we try our best to be original. We make whatever music we want to make, and in whatever style we are into. We play shows when we want or don’t play if we don’t want to. We make music videos if we want or we don’t. We use the internet to promote the band, or we don’t. There’s very little pressure in DEYSSI. We all do things we don’t want do our whole lives, but there is no money pressure in this part of our lives. We simply try to do whatever we want, and not do whatever we don’t want to do.

AJ: Is there anything you would like to add?

MT: I sincerely appreciate your time and willingness to work with us.

AJ: Thanks Max! Fin.

Be sure to check out DEYSSI on bandcamp and stream their new album, $273.96, on Spotify: