There’s a common misconception that “heavy” music is dark by nature; that it can’t convey a positive message. While we could point out 100 instances where heavy music is not “dark” in any sense, there’s a relatively new artist who takes the perception of the hard rock musician — tattooed, angry, intimidating — and flips it on its head.
Meet Kurt Deimer. While he certainly looks the part of the Harley-riding metalhead, he’s not sticking to the preconceived script of pissed-off diatribes. Instead, he’s bringing a message of positivity and self-motivation with his new track “Dance,” available to adult club DJs via StripJointsMusic.
ExoticDancer.com had the chance to speak with Deimer about his latest song, his tours opening for bands like Tesla, Yngwie Malmsteen, Drowning Pool and Geoff Tate, working with the legendary producer Chris Lord-Alge and Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X, and why clubs should give “Dance” a spin.
ED: In describing your new song “Dance” you say, “We all have to teach ourselves to dance through the good and bad in life. Enjoy life. Embrace life, escape negativity before it consumes us.” How difficult is it to put forth such a positive outlook and energy at a time when things are so incredibly divisive in this country?
DEIMER: To me, it’s really not that difficult to do, because I’ve always had a very neutral, common-sense brain. The way the world is right now doesn’t scare me at all, so I’m trying to convey that to people, to not be scared. Let’s all realize we’re going to have ups and downs in life, and embrace that. And dance through the good and the bad. That’s the message that I wanted to get across to everybody through the song.
ED: Much of your music, it seems, has a similar outlook: Positivity, bringing people together, etc. Where does that mindset come from?
DEIMER: It probably comes from my dad. He was a big giving person, always treated people with respect and dignity, always took the high road. My grandfather was a motivational speaker who toured the US with my grandmother, giving motivational speeches about positive thinking. They were both big Norman Vincent Peale listeners as well, and I’ve listened to all his stuff. I’ve studied positive thinking for a long time, and it’s very nice to be able to get it out of my brain to share it with others instead of just keeping it inside of me.
“I’ve studied positive thinking for a long time, and it’s very nice to be able to get it out of my brain to share it with others instead of just keeping it inside of me.”
– Kurt Deimer
ED: Chris Lord-Alge’s credits include a who’s who of the top recording artists in the world, as well as Grammy Awards as a mixing engineer (mainly for his work with Green Day). Through Lord-Alge, you met Phil X, a very talented singer/songwriter/guitarist who writes/records his own solo material, as well as the gig in Bon Jovi. How did you begin working with these two, and what were your experiences like?
DEIMER: Well, Phil, and I met back during 2020 when COVID came out. I had just gotten back into music at the beginning of 2019, and I had taken my demo CD out to California and rented a little studio out there to try to see if I could make it. The person I was working with at the time introduced me to Chris Lord Algae right as COVID hit, and things slowed down. Chris decided to remix my demos and give me a chance. He kind of took me under his wing, so it was a great window of opportunity for him to give me a chance and for me to be lucky enough to have him decide he wanted to work with me.
Ben Trechsel — who wrote a lot of my original material with me that I took out to LA — wanted to do a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar,” and I really wasn’t digging it or feeling the vibe. But Chris Lord Algae dug the vibe and had an idea. I was doing more talking as I was training my voice, and he said, ‘I’m gonna put this guy on guitar here to play the solo in it, and just let me show you what I can do with you as an artist.’
I heard the solo, which was one take, and was blown away. Later, he told me it was Phil X. Phil and I met to shoot the music video for “Have a Cigar,” which you can see on YouTube. That’s the first video we ever shot, as well as the first song that we really ever put out. We’ve played it at every show we’ve ever done. And then when it was time to go out on tour, Phil and I got together and we talked. He writes such intricate, exceptional guitar solos that are very difficult to play, so I asked Phil if he’d go out on tour with me, we worked it out and he came on the Geoff Tate (former frontman of Queensryche, now a solo artist—Ed.) tour, Yngwie Malmsteen tour, the Drowning Pool tour and several Tesla dates. Now that he’s very busy with Bon Jovi and whatnot, we decided to go our separate ways, but he definitely left his mark on my brand and on the music. We wrote some killer tunes together. “Dance” is one of them that is our single that’s out now.
Chris and I, however, became really good friends. I pretty much have learned how to become a frontman in a rock band at his mix LA studio over the last four years. We go to concerts together in different places in America. He wants me to go over to Europe with them. We’re just friends, first and foremost. And it’s nice to have somebody like that in your corner, especially when you’re just starting out.
“I heard the solo, which was one take, and was blown away. Later, he told me it was Phil X.”
– Kurt Deimer
ED: How did you get the part in “Halloween (2018),” and what valuable connections did that experience help you to make?
DEIMER: I own an oil brand called Starfire and I had gone down in 2017 to do a cameo in a John Travolta movie with Shania Twain called “Trading Paint.” They ended up casting me in the movie and having me join SAG, and I got a speaking role as the track announcer at the very end of the movie, in a scene with Toby Sebastian from “Game of Thrones” and John Travolta just standing there smiling and talking to me and teaching me what he wants me to do. It was just very surreal. And then my guy who got me the placement with Starfire in that movie told me about “Halloween,” and I said, “Well, I would do it but I would want a speaking role.” So they offered for me to the Teller role, gave me a line and I ended up getting killed by Michael Myers. But that’s how that all came about. It was a few months after I got discovered on the Training Paint film.
ED: You’ve toured with Tesla, Yngwie Malmsteen and others. What have been some of your favorite touring experiences, and what are your current plans for live shows and touring?
DEIMER: Well, we’re going to keep touring. And then we’re going to keep touring, because the more we tour, the more fans we make every night. My band has evolved into a really strong, aggressive rock band. When people hear us, we blow them away. We’ve got a bunch of Tesla dates coming up. I’ve got some more Geoff Tate stuff coming. We’re also working on getting into festivals and bike rallies and just all kinds of stuff throughout 2024. We’re going to getting our name out there. We also have our debut double album coming out, “And So It Begins,” which is the work that Chris and Phil and I have been working on over the last few years. And I’ve got my movie I did with Lynn Shea from Insidious and Bill Mosley from the Rob Zombie franchise and Texas Chainsaw and all that, called “Scared to Death,” coming out. Following that is my other movie, “Hillbilly Holler.” I star in both of those movies now, and right alongside some of the best in the business. There’s a lot on my plate, but I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t working, and we’re just going to keep pushing until we’re playing in an arena near you.
ED: Your song “Dance” will be promoted to almost 2,000 adult nightclub DJs across the US through StripJointsMusic. If a club DJ is reading this story, why should he give “Dance” a spin and why might it work well in the adult club environment?
DEIMER: Well, I would give “Dance” a chance, number one, because it’s a song for dancing. It’s also a song with a positive message, and you never know what your customers are going through. Why not give them something to rock out to while they’re watching their favorite dancer? Maybe it will help somebody out, as well. So, it’s a positive message, a great tune to dance to and, if you watch the music video, you can see I’ve got this great model in the video dancing to it. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work just as well in the strip club.
