Before Have a Nice Life became one of the great cult bands of its era, Dan Barrett was a theatre kid from Glastonbury, Connecticut, who found his way into the state’s hardcore scene as the vocalist of In Pieces. The band released three albums between 2000 and 2005, and somewhere along the way he ended up meeting Jamey Jasta’s dad, a story that says a lot about how small and interconnected the Connecticut scene was.
While In Pieces was still active, Dan and Tim Macuga started Have a Nice Life in Middletown. The songs that became Deathconsciousness were written in the aftermath of his father’s death, and in 2003 he founded Enemies List Home Recordings just to get the record out. It arrived in 2008 to almost no attention, then spread through message boards until it became a cult classic.
For years the band barely existed live. After a few early shows, including an Alcest support slot in 2010, they disappeared for seven years before returning in 2017 with a full band, which led to Sea of Worry, a full Deathconsciousness set at Roadburn, and this year’s Nothing Will Ever Go Wrong tour.
In this conversation, Dan talks about the stage instincts he brought into hardcore, his time with In Pieces and Have a Nice Life at the same time, the aliases that let him say different things, and what it’s like to hear strangers sing back songs written entirely alone.
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