Dining Dead, a Seattle-born music project, was formed after Emma Belmont and Sammy Skidmore, both Seattle natives, reconnected years after meeting at summer camp. Bonding over their shared love of guitar, The Shins (they would see the band together at Bumbershoot in 2008) and The Pixies, they were fast friends in 7th grade. Fast forward years later and the two began writing songs at Emma’s home, joined by future drummer Bogie Pieper. The project’s sound expanded from singer/songwriter to full-blown band with the addition of Shannon Barberry (bass), Bogie Pieper (drums), and Kennedy Webb (violin, synth, and backup vocals).
Their unique style blends poetic lyrics, ethereal vocals, funky rhythms, narrative and melodic guitar solos, and an orchestral sensibility shaped by Kennedy’s classical violin training. With this lineup, Dining Dead breaks traditional song structure and incorporates swing and funk-influenced grooves with classical leaning composition and pop song feel.
Dining Dead’s lyrics range from poignant to nonsensical, with vocal and instrumental motifs adding detail, intricacy, and dimension to their songs. Guitar and violin riffs, operatic doubled vocals and fuzz pedal use converge on their sophomore album. Emma Belmont’s distinctive unfolding and story-telling guitar solos often take center stage as the band’s second signature voice.
Dining Dead’s sound draws from Seattle’s music scene and the folk-country influences of Kennedy and Shannon’s Mississippi and Tennessee roots. The complex, syncopated rhythms brought forth by Bogie imbue Sammy’s songwriting (shaped by artists like Neko Case, Patti Smith, Kim Gordon, and Kate Bush) with more interest. These influences and elements converge to create a meaningfully diverse catalog of songs.
Dining Dead’s sophomore album Is This a House? blends traditional pop structures with experimental, meandering forms. Rejecting the patriarchal "beginning, climax, ending" narrative, the band challenges conventions in several tracks. In Goddammit, the lyric “even hell has community guidelines” highlights the absurdity of the human experience and the ways in which we police ourselves and others.
Hands/Body combines dark lyrics with a bouncy beat, breaking typical song structure in an unexpected way at the tail end of the song. Dining Dead aims to merge the playful and cerebral, mixing catchy hooks with deep themes.
Emerging from Seattle’s DIY music scene, Dining Dead made their debut at celebrated local venues like Stone Way Café and Café Racer, and continue to perform in DIY spaces, at house shows, and on established stages. They have played Belltown Bloom, Capitol Hill Block Party, The Crocodile, The Tractor Tavern, and more. They have graced the stage with local legends Black Ends, and Zookraught and have opened for notable touring acts such as Everyone Asked About You and The Red Pears.
Following a 2024 West Coast tour, they’re gearing up to release their sophomore album Is This a House? on April 11th, 2025. They will be hitting the road again for an East Coast tour in May 2025 and they can’t wait to see what the future brings with the release of Is This a House?
Artist Info
Dining Dead is:
Sammy Skidmore – lead vocals, guitar
Emma Belmont – lead guitar
Bogie Pieper – drums, percussion
Shannon Barberry – bass
Kennedy Webb – keys, synth, violin, backing voals
Genre: Ethereal Rock / Art Rock / Post-Punk
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Influences: Neko Case, Big Thief, The Shadows, Robert Johnson, Nick Drake, motown and funk
Sounds like: The Pixies, Mazzy Star, Bauhaus, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Fiona Apple
Popular songs: Wavelength, Burn Your Dinner, Angel of Logic, Heaven from the Ceiling, Against the Wall, Evaporate, Hands/Body
Website: http://www.diningdead.com
Bandcamp: https://wearediningdead.bandcamp.com
Phone: 206.427.5331
Email: wearediningdead@gmail.com
Press
Local with Louise LIVE with Dining Dead
“Dining Dead ROCKS!!! Thanks so much to Kennedy, Shannon, Sammy & Emma of Dining Dead (missed you Bogie) for coming into the studio to talk about their upcoming album, songwriting process, desire to tour in Europe, and the friendship that makes it happen.”
“Dining Dead are so freakin busy. It feels like I see them on bills everywhere, sandwiched in between acts of all sounds and styles. It shows that they, and their music, work well in a lot of contexts. They also aren’t afraid to stretch the boundaries of their sound, if “Wavelength” is any indication.
This song slays, y’all. It’s openly ambitious in a way that I don’t think we’ve heard yet from this band. The tempo changes come frequently, and the strings(!) that slowly emerge behind Sammy Skidmore’s quavering vocals are a surprising but very welcome touch. “Wavelength” isn’t terribly long, but it still feels like an epic — though I haven’t heard the full record yet, I can imagine it functioning like a centerpiece or a closing number.”
“This Seattle band’s debut full-length is a promising set ranging from moody, folk-tinged rock reminiscent of Mazzy Star to crunchy, hook-filled indie-rock.”
“Skidmore tells the melancholy story of desire and wanting, punctuated with echo-y octave slides and twisty riffs on guitar, reminiscent of a guitar technique called a hammer-on more typically used in acoustic playing.
There’s also plenty of Seattle sounds on Stranger Wages, which Skidmore named after a mix-up with Social Security department called “Stranger Wages” forced her to wait more than six months for her unemployment money during the pandemic. Though the mishap gave her more time to write, tracks on the EP like “Gatekeeper” are saturated with the sort of aloof vocals and intense, building guitar you’d hear from MTV-unplugged Nirvana.”
“My impression of Dining Dead, when I heard their first record Medium Rare back in 2021, was that they went out to bars a lot and made for a good modern version of Pavement. Not exactly like Pavement, mind, but a certain casual looseness persisted in their playing that, in my mind, linked them to the rougher older indie rock bands of that era - plus, of course, the dynamic adroitness of Sammy Skidmore’s voice soaring over country- and surf-rock licks. But even in its most raucous moments something felt a little restrained in the material, and the band’s newest single, “Heaven from the Ceiling,” does a lot to push my initial impression to the side.
It’s not evident at first, starting with Bogie Pieper’s ghost note snare hits and Shannon Barberry’s bass leading with a traceable melody. Even when Skidmore’s voice enters, everything’s still at ground level. It’s when the mirage of guitar enters the right channel that the song lifts off the floor, oscillating from a propulsive pre-chorus to a chorus that shoots into the stratosphere. Twinkling arpeggios, backing harmonies, and a supportive scream at its tail end form a firework-like climax that lets the song glide into its distortion-laden aftermath. By its end, it’s hard to remember where the band began, making “Heaven from the Ceiling” an itinerant gem that foretells exciting times for the band.”
“There are a lot of unique production elements to their album (see the intro of the track ‘Hotwire’). This album would sound amazing live (especially at a beach concert.) The poetry and lyricism of this record are immaculate and definitely gives a nod to the punk poets of the 1970s.”
