Dallas Toler Wade

Narcotic Wasteland

NARCOTC WASTELAND is a death metal band formed in North Carolina by lead guitarist and vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade, after spending nearly nineteen years with NILE. Much of the bands songs are based on emotional issues plaguing today's society such as drug and alcohol abuse . Their second album "Delirium Tremens" on Megaforce records is scheduled for release early 2023. Metal Temple writer Fred Bonanno had the privilege to see the band live last weekend, and they are a high energy, unrelenting, riveting, and deafening band. The chemistry between the dual guitar players, Dallas and Edwin Rhone is impeccable. He sat down with Dallas (once his hearing came back) to ask a few questions.

By Fred Bonanno

• October 19, 2022

NARCOTIC WASTELAND's Dallas Toler-Wade: "Our lyrics are mostly about things we observe in day-to-day life. Human behavior is a well spring of all things bad quite often. There are lots of Wastelands out there..." interview

Dallas, first, let me say thank you very much for taking time out of your very busy touring schedule to answer some of my questions, NARCOTIC WASTELAND is currently on tour with musical legends ACCEPT, so, how's the tour going, and how are you doing?

DTW: Thanks, the tour is going very well! We are all doing great it has been an exciting year for the band as we have been very active on the live front. It feels great to get back out there and get tight.

Looks like most of the band members play several different instruments, how does this help with creating your music, your band's sound?

D.T.W:. It really is! It is inspiring to get to work with great musicians. It really adds to the whole picture.

I've always been intrigued by the vocal growling of death/thrash metal singers, it seems like such a strain on your throat, how do you train your voice to sing like that? Is that something you could teach a novice like me to do?

D.T.W:. I started singing at an early age. Back in the day in my first band I only had a crappy combo amp to sing through and I could never hear it in rehearsals!!! So I sang as loud as I could for many years. At first I was actually singing. My first band used to cover the song Battle Angels from Sanctuary to give you an idea. As I started writing heavier I kind of let the singing go. No training though. I think if you are musically inclined you can do it. It does take conditioning though and your throat is going to hurt. But after a while it stops hurting and you can really lay into it!!!

Looks like growing up in Fayetteville, NC, which is a military town along with a population of street drug issues, how did that affect you personally, and is that the premise to the band's name?

D.T.W: In the beginning for sure. We were lucky though because our little group of friends really dug metal music and playing instruments. I feel it saved us from getting into really hard stuff early on. But for the most part our lyrics are mostly about things we observe in day-to-day life. Human behavior is a well spring of all things bad quite often. There are lots of Wastelands out there. Music is a positive way to deal with the frustration from such observation

You were in NILE for almost nineteen years, was it a tough decision to leave and pursue NAROCTIC WASTELAND?

D.T.W: Not at all. I was already doing Narcotic Wasteland so when I made the decision to leave Nile it was only because I wanted to leave. I had some plans for NW, and it was to maybe do some things when Nile was not busy. Then I left. So now I concentrate all of my energy on this. And I love to see both bands doing well after all of these years!!!!

Do you remain in contact with any members of NILE?

D.T.W: I have not talked to any of them in a while, but we all have been very busy!!!!

I know death/thrash metal has a strong following, but, and please don't hate me for asking this, have you ever considered going down a more generic road, with like AOR appeal?

D.T.W: LOL I don't even know what the hell an AOR is. Generic? Why? But to answer the question absolutely not. We do what we do for better or worse. I'm just trying to go for the gut when I write. I like creating a place the listener can go to. All the other stuff is not important in the least to me.

What's more gratifying for you, writing/creating a "kick ass" album or performing live?

D.T.W: I really love playing live and being in the studio. It really is the yen and the yang. I love the contrast of creation and actually performing live. There is always new stuff to learn from it all. I always try to improve on both aspects. The answer is practice, practice, practice!!!! Something I also enjoy very much.

Who are some of your musical influences?

D.T.W: In the beginning lots of rock artists. Anything from Uriah Heep to ZZ Top and everything in between. As I migrated my attention more to playing guitar I was getting more into metal. Metal Church, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica. All the usual suspects. The list is long I also got pretty heavy into punk and crossover. D.R.I was another game changer for me.

With myself being a songwriter "wanna be", I find your lyrics extremely dark, edgy, and very thought provoking, where do your song writing idea's come from?

D.T.W: I mostly write about things I observe or have read about. I think people can relate to it. I like the messages to be really straight forward. To me I think it adds to the in-your-face aspect of the band. I'm addressing all the bad stuff that goes on with addiction and making statements about what I see, there are a lot of people that have said we're an anti-party band, but that's not true at all. I don't give a shit what people do with themselves. If they can handle that, that's fine. I'm really interested in talking about addiction and some of the toxic human behavior that comes along with it.

After a NARCOTIC WASTELAND concert, would you like the fans to say "wow, what a great band" or "damn, they sure write some heavy shit"

D.T.W: We have been getting a lot of great responses!!! I am so thankful for the opportunity to get out and play these songs. Seeing familiar and new faces at the shows is a great feeling.

The band released two full length albums, one in 2014 and 2017, but went almost 5 years before releasing the two latest singles, what's next for NARCOTIC WASTELAND and where can the albums be purchased or downloaded?

D.T.W: We have released two singles so far this year. One called Morality And The Wasp released earlier this year, and just recently we released another song called The Best Times Have Passed. Both are getting stellar responses!!! We have another single ready to release soon, and a full album releasing the first half of 2023. The albums are on all of the streaming services. Or If you want the CD you can go to Narcoticwasteland.com. Or you can pick a CD up at a show

Dallas, thank you again for humoring me and letting us get to know a little bit more about you and your band, I look forward to seeing you this Friday in St. Charles, IL. with ACCEPT

D.T.W: Thanks a lot!

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