114 – Angela Lese: Drumming for The Dead Deads, Cultivating a Strong Fan Base, From “Regular Job” to Touring Musician

Angie Lese always wanted to be a drummer since she could remember. Growing up in Fort Wayne Indiana, she took to music early and studied flute throughout high school. It wasn’t until her college years that Angie decided to follow her drumming passion, bought a kit and taught herself how to play. After graduating and starting a career in meteorology, Angie moved to Louisville Kentucky and heavily pursued music.

She played for a Sony recording artist, several cover bands, and was a session drummer as well. Her main band, CatFight (original pop/punk rock), received a strong local and regional following along with the support from Little Heart Records of Louisville, KY. In 2013 they released a self titles EP – CatFight. While that was taking off, Angie was offered a promotion in her meteorology career that prompted a move to Nashville Tennessee in 2012.

After immersing herself in the Nashville music scene, Angie joined forces with artist Leticia Wolf, fellow Catfight member Erica Sellers, and two other musicians to form The Dead Deads, a heavy, hard rock/pop band. Having just formed in late 2013, The Dead Deads have garnered quite a bit of attention from Page Hamilton of Helmet/David Bowie, Chuck Garric of Alice Cooper, Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick to Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. As a result of The Dead Deads’ quick rise, Angie and her band have been on several national tours with acts like Halestorm, P.O.D., Bush, Chevelle along with the Motorboat and the Shiprocked cruises. They have recorded two full-length albums, “Rainbeau” (2014) and “For Your Obliteration” (2016), produced by Page Hamilton.

In this podcast, Angela talks about:

Current news with the Dead Deads

Pros and cons of playing in an all girl band

Recording and writing for the new Dead Deads record

Transitioning from “regular jobs” to touring in a band

Cultivating a strong fan base

The benefits of an online presence

The challenges of an all girl band

Having hobbies and distractions in life to keep your headspace healthy

Angela endorses TAMA drums, Sabian cymbals, Evans heads, Promark drumsticks, and Humes and Berg cases.