Oli Brown & The Dead Collective

Oli Brown has been through the changes since I first saw his as a young but very talented Blues guitarist. His early career had him packing out venues such as London’s Jazz Café and supporting the likes of Joe Satriani, Buddy Guy and Vieux Farke Toure, winning stacks of awards in the process.
He then made a change in direction with the blistering rock of Raven Eye which earned support slots with the likes of Slash, Deep Purple & Aerosmith and appearances at a number of major festivals including Download.
Lockdown saw him developing a new change in direction and this is the first release by his new band, featuring collaborations with drummer Wayne Proctor (the two co-wrote all the tracks, produced, mixed and mastered at Superfly Studios Newark), Alex Phillips on bass and Andrew Banfield on synth.
“It all comes from a unique and honest place, the perfect blend of my origins and distinctive alternative roots sound with the weight and earnestness of my previous band.” muses the Norfolk UK born frontman on what is clearly a very personal release, “At the time, my subconscious was more aware of my mental health than my consciousness, so it was a big wake-up call for me to make many changes in my life.”


The result is an incredibly listenable EP, very much in the melodic hard rock vein, and with highly emotive vocals from Oli. His guitar tears out of the speakers whether he is riffing or playing searing solos and with Proctor’s powerful and explosive drumming and superb bass from Phillips each track comes out as a real refreshment in this longest and darkest month of the calendar.

The EP sees two very difference versions of the song ‘Haunted’. Says Oli himself, “Take the song ‘Haunted’, it’s one of the most natural songs I’ve ever written which was the foundation of the whole band and gave birth to the idea of it. There’s an alternate take to highlight the lyric content and we were lucky to have Jo Quail, a fantastic cello player, create the most beautiful string arrangement that closes the EP.” It is quite a stunning song and the two versions give a great feel for the melodic side of the pair’s writing.


It will be available on 27th January via Pre-order here