Dead Freedom Channels Survival and Soul on 'NOMAD'

For Dead Freedom, music isn’t just art, it’s survival. The country-rock-blues artist with a folk-metal twist has lived enough lives for three people, carrying the scars of depression, PTSD, ADHD, anxiety, and a troubled past. But rather than letting it all swallow him, he’s turned it into fuel, building a career on honesty, grit, and a refusal to quit. His new album, NOMAD, is the clearest reflection of that fight yet, an unflinching, acoustic-driven collection written to confront demons, document survival, and share light with those still searching for it.

Dead Freedom’s journey is as unconventional as it is inspiring. After hitting rock bottom, he converted his Honda CR-V into a camper van and embraced life as a nomad, healing through the road and the music he carried with him. That mission, turning scars into stories, led him from busking in the streets to supporting acts like Toploader, John Newman, Puddle of Mudd, and Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Mike Estes. Now, with three albums and an EP already under his belt, NOMAD represents both the rawest and most personal work of his catalog.

Recorded live and acoustic, the album thrives on its lack of polish. Each track plays like a diary entry cracked open, the stories behind them often as gripping as the music itself. On “Dopamine,” Dead Freedom lays bare the daily battle of depression and ADHD, searching for sparks of light in a heavy fog. “Bad Blood” reflects on growing up misdiagnosed and misunderstood in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when kids with ADHD were written off as “problem children.” With “Heroin Rose,” he chronicles a toxic, lightning-bolt romance that burned fast and left scars, while “The Request” takes a sly, tongue-in-cheek jab at overplayed crowd demands like “Wonderwall.”

But the heart of NOMAD beats loudest in its deeply personal moments. “Paige’s Song” is written for his daughter, who bravely opened up to him about her own struggles with self-worth at twelve years old. “Led Me To You,” “Better Part of Me,” and “Days Gone” weave together chapters of toxic relationships, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and the eventual discovery of a love worth surviving for, even if that love came too late. “What Did I Do Wrong” cuts to the core of childhood abuse and the lifelong echoes of being made to feel unwanted, while “My Wretched Shoes” reflects the burnout of working 90-hour weeks as a chef, realizing life had to be about more than clocking in and breaking down.

Elsewhere, Dead Freedom taps into the bigger world. “The Eve of War,” written on February 24, 2023, confronts the tragedy of global conflict and its toll on innocence. “Light of the Dawn,” the closer, feels like a hymn, absolute devotion to someone caught in their own storm, paired with the reminder that strength ultimately lies within. It’s also the track Dead Freedom hopes will find a home in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, a show that shares his mix of grit and hope.

“I honestly write these songs as therapy for myself,” Dead Freedom shares. “I’m not looking to please everyone, just to give a voice to those who need it in a dark place where they feel alone, to know that they aren’t. We’re all human, we all struggle, and it’s alright to need help sometimes. We can heal, it just takes time, and a change of perspective to want to continue.”

NOMAD is more than an album. It’s a document of resilience, a soundtrack for anyone who’s been pushed to the edge but found a reason to keep going. Dead Freedom doesn’t romanticize struggle; he names it, sings it, and turns it into proof that even in the darkest chapters, music can still light the way forward.

NOMAD feels like it was ripped straight from your own diary; raw, vulnerable, and unfiltered. What moment made you realize this collection of songs had to come together as an album instead of just staying as personal stories?

Originally, it was meant to be three, six-track EPs called: Heathen, Nomad, and Origins! I'd already put out the Heathen EP in the originally planned format, but I had these (Originally 13) tracks, which were going to make up the other two EPs but I'd already been playing these songs at gigs, and the production just felt like it fit so well together and told more of a story, you know? And then in very short succession just before I was due to announce the release I wrote the last three songs "Moth To Your Flame", "Hoodoo Queen" and "The Light of The Dawn" and it sealed the deal for me it was like yeah this is an entire project this needs to be an album because like you say it kind of had that straight from the diary feel!!

Tracks like “Bad Blood” and “Dopamine” tackle mental health in brutally honest ways. Was it difficult to put those struggles into words, knowing how close to home they hit?

In all honesty, the tracks kind of beat themselves out of me, like the real struggle was coming to terms with what I was feeling, what I'd been burying for so long! Writing them kind of helped free that up and gave me a way to reflect on those issues in a healthier way! 

You’ve lived as a full-time nomad, converted your CRV into a camper, and taken your music everywhere from the streets to stadiums. How did that lifestyle shape the sound and spirit of NOMAD?

I think at the point that I started recording I'd been on the road for a couple of months at that point and I was already feeling much healthier and happier in myself like there was such a positive impact on my state of mind and my attitude, like before I struck out on the road I'd have put it off and put it off and hidden away more it's where I was, I was in this dark pit that living on the road saved me from! So when I turned up to record with Tom, we found the sound that I get live on stage and were just like, yeah, this is the one, and we smashed out a sixteen-track album in two days! When i was stuck in the house I'd have never dreamed that I'd accomplish that!

And it's because of that change that these bigger opportunities have presented themselves, just through sort of fighting my demons, being true to myself, and saying I ain't giving in and plowing into the work headlong, that's been the real game changer, I think!

“Paige’s Song” is one of the most personal tracks on the record, written for your daughter. What was it like turning such an emotional moment into music, and did writing it change your perspective as both a father and an artist?

Yeah, as a father, you never expect not to notice your kid going through something like what she was going through! So when that happened, I was first and foremost proud as hell of her, like it takes so much guts to open up like that!! But it also gave me the push I needed to sort of pull myself up and realize that things have been tough, sure, but I needed to stop letting old wounds take my focus because it was clouding the ability to look after those who needed me! So it kind of gave me this new perspective to start fighting my demons more! Diving deeper but in a healthier way, a sort of thing that impacted my relationships with others, especially my daughter! But also how I open up as an artist and talk about things on stage! 

Looking back at everything you’ve survived—PTSD, depression, toxic relationships, burnout. What’s the one message you want people to carry with them after listening to NOMAD from start to finish?

Id say the one message that I'd want people to take from it is, that we all have these moments in our lives where we feel cut off alone, where we struggle and get stuck in our battles with the dark, because Life is hard man, it really is but through writing this album, putting the struggle out there, performing it live I came to realise that these struggles are more common than we think!! And though it's okay to feel stuck and not okay, better days will come; it's hard work, but you can do it. You can make something beautiful, whether it's art, music, film, stories, or even more importantly, just a sense of belonging within your own life. You are capable even when you think you're not! And when you think you're all alone and no one understands, that's the best time to call out for help, so in short, despite all my ramblings!!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! YOU CAN DO THIS!"