Their video for “Deny,” starring Muhammad Ali ‘s daughter Laila Ali, is nearing release, and the hard-rockin’ song is going strong on radio, but Default are already planning their next single.
Vocalist Dallas Smith would love to hear the propulsive “Sick & Tired” booming across the radio, but he’s aware that marketing two heavy songs back-to-back might not be the best career move, and he and his bandmates can’t agree on a softer track to push. So they’re leaving it up to their fans to vote on the Default Web site for the next single from Fallout (2001).
” ‘Live a Lie’ is the one winning right now, and that’s the one I actually want,” Smith said, adding that he might be subtly encouraging the fans’ decision. “I mention that’s one of my favorite songs on the album every night in the shows.”
Like “Deny,” “Live a Lie” is about living among the ruins of a crumbling relationship, and the lyrics are vague enough to remain universal.
“Actually, I try to keep them pretty general so I keep myself out of trouble,” Smith said. “We all grew up in pretty good households. All of our parents are still together, which is very rare. I wasn’t abused as a kid, so we didn’t have anything like that to write about. So we just write about things everyone has gone through. And the only things that we have really gone through is girl problems.”
In order to avoid future girl problems, Smith plans to fly Kelly, his girlfriend of four years, to as many shows as possible. And there are lots of shows. Over the next four months, Default will tour heavily, first with Nickelback until May 1 as part of the Campus Invasion tour, then with Creed on a jaunt that starts May 3 in Noblesville, Indiana. While he enjoys spending time at home with friends and family, Smith feels comfortable on the road and looks forward to every show.
“We try to keep it as high-energy as possible by bringing the emotion that’s on the CD to the stage,” he said. “When I was a kid, I was a fan of a lot of bands. I would love their CDs, then I saw them live and I was totally disappointed. So we practice a lot to make sure we can bring across the music. We try really hard not to disappoint people.”
