Dead Pioneers should be the soundtrack to your discontent this summer as the country celebrates its milestone birthday with nary a mention of the genocides that occurred to “Make America Great Again”. The band, led by artist Gregg Deal, are on the rise with their brand of acerbic, rage-filled punk, including a run of shows opening for Pearl Jam. Tracks poke holes in stereotypes of Native Americans and critique the capitalist hellscape, with a streak of vicious humor at the expense of the appropriators and the oppressors. “Why is that dreamcatcher tattooed on you? Are you a nightmare?” goes one punchline from “Dreamcatcher”, an inspired takedown of cultural appropriation.
Sonically, you can hear greats like Dead Kennedys (not the inspiration for the band name, though, by the way), Suicidal Tendencies, and Minutemen, with the rebellious heart of Public Enemy. The lead single from their newest, Wagon Burner, is “Nazi Teeth”, a rager with guest vocals from Stephanie Byrne of Cheap Perfume. “Nazis, fascists, and incel scum, go back to where you came from,” snarls Deal. It’s a powerful opening salvo, and the rest of the tracks build on the promise of their previous releases. Sleaford Mods show up for “The Worst Among Us”, and “Never Alone” is an upbeat ode to punk rock’s ability to save lives that features the Interrupters. In the late 1980s, hip-hop was the real world’s CNN. In 2026, it’s easy to hear Dead Pioneers carrying the torch with these songs.
Deal, who is perhaps best known for a popular TED talk, didn’t set out to front a punk rock band, even though he has roots in that scene. He has won widespread acclaim as a visual and spoken word artist. The project started as a performance art piece consisting of a series of vignettes in which Deal tells stories about his upbringing, with musical segues between the pieces. “Bad Indian” was a breakout, a bracing takedown of Native stereotypes.
“The music is all tied to art and spoken word. I wanted to create something with more theater attached, not just five guys looking for relevance through the art of the music,” Deal says. “I’m just out there calling the moment what it is. Music should be emotionally, socially, politically validating on some level. Being able to perform that is validating to me,” he says.
Dead Pioneers wound up taking on a larger part of Deal’s creative life than originally intended. “Back in 2021, I got a grant to secure instruments for the project. I started with the Music District, then connected with Josh Rivera and Shane Zweygardt, who played guitar and drums, respectively. I was doing a residency in Florida mentoring visual and performance artists, and I met Lee Tesch of the band Algiers. I told him about the project and shared a piece with him. Soon after that, we got in a room, set up some mics, and completed the first iteration of “Bad Indian”, Deal explains.
That collaboration turned into a collection of eight songs and a recording appointment at the legendary Blasting Room in Colorado, but COVID wreaked havoc on their plans. “We were about to record, but Josh had a loss in his family, and then Lee had to leave, but sent in tracks and connected us with a friend in the scene, Abe Brennan, who completed the bass tracking. We had everything in hand, and then it was ‘Now what?’, he recalls.
“What now?” is that Dead Pioneers’ popularity exploded. Deal released the self-titled album on Bandcamp in September 2023, and it took off, generating over 500,000 streams on Spotify. That’s when Deal decided to give being in a band a serious effort. By May 2024, Dead Pioneers were signed to Hassle Records and working on their follow-up. Last year’s PO$T AMERICAN proved they were no fluke, with songs like “The Caucasity” and “White Whine” leaning into Deal’s spoken word roots and “Working Class Warfare” and “My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal” delivering catchy riffs and powerful messages with a streak of bitter humour. Dead Pioneers toured in Europe with Propagandhi and Iron Roses.
Then, Dead Pioneers were hand-selected by Eddie Vedder to open for Pearl Jam on four dates. “We are really appreciative of Pearl Jam. Their hardcore fans are an interesting group, in that they take the selection of the opener seriously. Most of them come to the show with an open mind, ready to give the opener a chance because they were selected by the band,” Deal explains. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. “In Atlanta, a guy was screaming at us and flipping us off. I just said to him, ‘I see your special finger. Is that your IQ?’ He was shouting about voting for Trump, but everyone around him in the audience started laughing at him. He embarrassed his date so much that she broke up with him on the spot at the show,” Deal laughs.
Luckily, the occasional vocal naysayer was an anomaly. “We sang ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ with the band, and I could see all 19,000 people celebrating us, cheering us on. Pearl Jam fans are mostly so gracious,” he says.
To make a great opportunity even more meaningful, Deal was happy to discover firsthand that one of the biggest groups on the planet lives up to their everyperson personas. “We did a cover of [Minutemen’s] ‘The Punchline,’ and it was surreal to find out that Ed [Vedder] was talking to Mike Watt about it. Jeff Ament’s favorite band is SSD. We are in the business of building relationships with our listeners. We are all together in this camp of special people that have saved,” he says.
It would be easy to let these wins go to his head, but Deal is clear-eyed and appreciative, focused on making a living through art, which is not an easy path. “I am not interested in notoriety. The goal is to make good art that has integrity and provides for my family. People like to confuse commerce with capitalism. My art is the only thing I have total control over and I’m good at. I have to monetize it to live. It started as practicality. Even when we decide to tour for Wagon Burner, it has to make good financial sense,” he says.
Hopefully, Wagon Burner continues to grow the Dead Pioneers fanbase. “This record feels like a level up. The first two are mostly just me, but this one was more collaborative. The other guys in the band enrich and amplify me. It was a collaboration. Lee has a style you can hear on “The Worst Among Us” and “Animals”. Abe is very punk rock, and you can hear that in ‘Circle Jerk the Wagons’. It is overtly political, which seems to be the call of the moment,” he explains. W. Kamau Bell turns up as well, as does Deal’s son, Sage, on “Animals that Roam the Earth”.
“On that track, the chorus is in Pyute, which is really empowering. Native people feel, or are obligated to, endure outside perspectives and stereotypes. I wanted it to end with a catharsis and something the audience can participate in,” he explains. “This record has less finger-pointing than tracks like ‘Bad Indian’. I want to engage people who are not Native, but are navigating their own identities and feelings. There is a solidarity in songs like ‘LFG’ and ‘Never Alone’. This is a record of peaks and valleys,” he says.
Wagon Burner has a stacked group of guests. Cheap Perfume guests on “Nazi Teeth”. “We love them. Stephanie Byrne is one of my favorite people. The Interruptors became friends when they helped raise money for a mural I created in Colorado Springs to raise awareness and pay tribute to missing indigenous relatives. They’re also my son Sage’s favorite band. Every time they are here, we hang out,” Deal explains.
“Sleaford Mods feels like luck of the draw,” he shares. “The song was done, so we could extend it if they wanted to be on the track. Jason wanted to be on it, and I love what he came up with. When Lee [Tesch] and I first met, and we talked about Henry Rollins, Minutemen, Suicidal Tendencies…he is the one who got me into Sleaford Mods. They helped us define our sound, and now we get to share space with them,” he says. The guest spots from Fletcher Dragge and W. Kamau Bell came about through friendship and an appearance on the latter’s television show.
As a young person, Deal did not find a community in punk rock in his hometown. “I grew up in Utah, and that pioneer heritage is important to them. We lived in Park City, making just enough to be broke around rich white people. I am a child of the 1980s, so hip-hop’s political commentary was really important. I was also drawn to skating and snowboarding, and the punk songs in the videos made me connect with that music. My first show was Public Enemy and Anthrax. Imagine seeing that in Salt Lake City,” he laughs.
From there, he found hardcore and straight edge, which was popular among the Mormon youth nearby. Deal then discovered Revelation Records and bands like Judge, Youth of Today, Shelter, and Inside Out. “Our scene got really violent, so the cops had labeled straight edge a gang. It was all these clean-cut kids doing terrible things. I backed off, and that instilled a need to explore. I got into the Clash, Descendents, and Washington, DC punk, eventually finding my way to Fugazi. There was a lot of music around me growing up. My dad was a hippie who liked the Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. My mom was into Prince and David Bowie,” he explained.
“Utah’s scene was more racially motivated. I never got into the studs and spikes. I was more on the blue-collar side of things, with band tees and Dickies. There was one Black kid; most of the Mexican kids were in English as a second language programs at school, and so they were kind of sequestered. Racially speaking, it was incredibly difficult. The scene was friendly, but not full of friends. I was going to shows in spite of not being part of the scene. I never felt like I belonged in that space, but it was mine to have, even though I didn’t feel welcome. I found more community in other scenes once I got out more. There was a stronger sense of community in DC when I was hanging out with people from Marginal Man. I felt accepted by that scene and the one in Denver,” he says.
However, things are changing with newer bands and fans. “The scene is not like it was. My oldest is 20, and we went to see Circle Jerks when he was about 15. There are some young people, but there are also biker dudes. We had to circle around them to keep them safe. When we saw Idles, it was so different. There was more community and duty toward each other in that crowd,” Deal says.
Dead Pioneers’ album title is a provocation. Wagon burner is a racial slur, but Deal is appropriating it as a metaphor for disruption. “Our roots are in punk, but we have some post-punk-sounding songs that push the needle forward—moving forward of the narrative of Native people. We have power and authority as the original stewards of this land, and we have to remember how we got here. We need to teach about slavery and the ills of colonialism so people understand why we are where we are today, as well as where we should go,” he explains.
Still, Deal finds it essential to include some humor in the message. “The Caucasity” was inspired by a real event. The stereotype of Native people is stoic, but most people talk a lot when you get to know them. Natives are really funny. It’s dry; they will hurt your feelings. The sarcasm is part of my work that makes it accessible. Makes the subject approachable. It’s an important aspect of all of my work,” he says.