The more you give, the more you get in life. Give yourself, give your talents. It doesn’t have to be monetary. Just give to others and make a difference in their lives and you will get it all back.
Rock & Roll has been extremely popular from the 50’s until the 2000’s. But with the rise of Hip Hop, Pop, and electronic dance music, it has seen mainstream decline. But some observers have cited that Rock & Roll may be on the verge of a comeback. The frustration and turmoil of the past few years align well with the message of angst, protest, and rebellion that rock & roll conveys. In this interview series called “Music Stars Helping Rock & Roll Make A Comeback” we are talking to music artists, music groups, and music producers who are helping Rock & Roll make a comeback.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Kurt Deimer.
Rising rock musician, actor, songwriter, and film producer Kurt Deimer is launching a thrilling new chapter in 2026. He’s got his ambitious second LP, A Grog Is Born, which touches on everything from bruising hard rock to epic balladry, dropping May 8; his standout character The Grog in the new Paul Boyd film Scared to Death (released in theaters in March and coming to streaming platforms May 5); and the expanded universe of videos, songs, and live events that ties all of these wild projects together. A Grog Is Born — featuring the Top 40 Active Rock radio single “In Deep” featuring Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd — was produced by five-time GRAMMY-winning producer Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, Breaking Benjamin), who also produced Deimer’s first official solo debut, And So It Begins… (2025), and features contributions from Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X. A Grog Is Born is a more expansive and cinematic collection that overtly connects Deimer The Singer and Deimer The Horror Star under the Grog moniker. The new 12-track album, available via his own Bald Man Records, finds Deimer taking a major leap as a vocalist and bandleader, stretching out his instrument beyond distinctively low speak-singing into a more robust melodic style. His more confident and colorful delivery, elevated by years on the road — including a run opening for rock giants Buckcherry and Steel Panther as well as tours with Sebastian Bach, Tesla, and Drowning Pool — allowed him to explore an even more impressive range of styles. Deimer flexes his creepiest muscles on the single “Scared to Death,” a haunted-house rocker that also appears in Boyd’s irreverent horror comedy of the same name. “Scared to Death” is where all things Deimer converge. But A Grog Is Born never lingers in one space for too long — it has, as he puts it, plenty of fascinating “twists and turns.” One of its centerpiece moments is a gorgeous reinvention of Queensryche’s 1990 prog-metal anthem “Silent Lucidity,” featuring guest vocals from that band’s Geoff Tate. A Grog Is Born also shows Deimer’s progression as an all-around multi-talent. The music, the movies, the videos — it’s now all intertwined, with much more on the horizon. This is the moment of connectivity, both literally and figuratively, that Deimer has been waiting for.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
First, thank you for doing a story on me, Kurt Deimer. I appreciate it very much.
There’s a lot to my backstory but I’ll try to give you the main bullet points. During my teenage years, I was riddled with panic and anxiety disorder. I self-medicated with drugs. I figured out how to get out of high school with C’s. I worked all the time because I loved to work. It took away a lot of that stress. I formed a band called The Circus Birds once I moved to Cincinnati because I had to leave University of Illinois because of my drug addiction. My family, luckily, was always loving and supportive so I ended up in Cincinnati living with my grandmother, who actually lived to be 106. I was still drinking a lot even though I quit doing substances and realized pretty quickly that playing in a cover band at Sudsy Malone’s in Cincinnati wasn’t going to lead to anything. And I didn’t really know what I was doing, and not to mention the fact that I was frightened to be on stage because of my anxiety and panic. So, I put that down, I met my kids’ mom (I have 3 wonderful sons), got married at 22 years old, and she put the hammer down on me. I ended up graduating from University of Cincinnati on the Dean’s List. Then I got my foot in the door with Chevron Oil, out in California, because my father worked for Gulf and Chevron. I started collecting credit card bills overnight for Chevron, worked my way up into lubes, worked my way into an additive company, running a jobber ship, setting up Chevron McDonald’s in Montana and Washington, and then ended up with an oil jobber in Dayton, Ohio. I had moved my family back by then and had two little ones. Then, I started buying and selling rental property to raise money because nobody ever handed me anything. I saved up $40,000 in a checking account and, in 1999, I started my own oil company, Coolants Plus and then I created the Starfire brand.
Then, back in 2017, we started getting my oil brands in movies, like the first Sonic and a few others. There was a movie with John Travolta and Shania Twain called Trading Paint and I told them I would put my oil brand in it if I could do a cameo. Just present the check to the winner of the dirt track race, because it’s about dirt track racing. They were Game of Thrones people, like Toby Sebastian, who played the son of John Travolta in the movie, and some other folks from Game of Thrones, which was hot at the time. So, I went down and the next thing I know, I’m getting offered a speaking role to be the track announcer to interview Toby after he wins the race. I say, “Hell yeah, sign me up!” I signed up for SAG, became a SAG actor, and then I’m planning a scene out with John Travolta at 2 in the morning. Shania Twain, him, Michael Matson (God rest his soul), everybody is just there staring at me and I just loved it. There was a big crowd of people. Loved it; it didn’t faze me at all. A couple of months later, I got offered a role to be killed by Michael Myers in the 2018 Halloween, and I decided I like this movie thing, so I started going to Alabama and taking on other roles to hone my skills because I never went to acting school or anything in my life. While I was there working with Kevin Wayne, who I actually star in a new movie “Hellbilly Hollow” with, coming out this fall (we’re a horror duo Bull & Tickles), I met a singer-songwriter by the name of Ben Trexel, based out of Birmingham. He had some cool songs, but he was a generic singer, kind of like a wedding singer. I said, “I have a unique voice but I haven’t sung in a long time. But let’s see what we can do.” We liked the vibe on those and we kept writing. We put a demo together. I kept singing the way I do, which was mostly talking then because I had to retrain my voice how to sing. We took the demo to David Bendeth up in New Jersey, he tweaked it a little but it still wasn’t great. I decided to move to L.A. to give it a shot, open up a studio in Woodland Hills, and my manager at the time said, “let’s have this demo reworked by a bigger mixer or put some other eyes on it.” We put together a list, I think it was Chris Lord-Alge and a couple others that I can’t remember their names, but Chris returned the call and said he’d love to hear it. My manager met with him, he said he would do it. We had dinner a month later, we became best friends, and Chris took me under his wing and has mentored me and brought me back to life. He taught me how to sing again and believes in everything we’re doing. I mean, we’ve only just begun — that was a short 5 years ago and here we are today. Through Chris, I met Phil X, who has written a lot of songs with me and plays guitar on a lot of my songs. He’s helped get the collabs with Geoff Tate on “Burn Together” and now our big single “Silent Lucidity,” which we’re bringing it back. It’s a song everyone knows all over the world and if they don’t, they’re going to know it now. That’s it in a nutshell. I’ve got four movies coming out — the first one Scared To Death with Lin Shaye and Bill Moseley was just released in March. I star alongside them as the horror icon named The Grog. Hellbilly Hollow, as I alluded to earlier, is coming out this fall to theaters and streaming. That’s my own franchise. I also have a movie coming out called Pandemic Sex Party, produced by Andy Gould, who also produced Hellbilly Hollow, where I kill all the degenerates in the world and I’m a new masked character, The Rancher, so get ready for that. Move aside Michael and Jason! And I’ve got a drama called Relapse, that brings attention to fentanyl addiction. I have friends that have lost beautiful young children in their early 20s to that drastic thing called fentanyl, so we’re bringing attention to that. It’s a great drama — I play the dad of the girl who is relapsing. She’s an up-and-coming pop star. And here we are today, my second album, A Grog Is Born, is coming out in a few weeks. It follows my first album, And So It Begins…, which came out last year, and my EP, Work Hard, Rock Hard, that I released in 2021.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I just shared that with you in my backstory, but I always loved music. Always loved spreading peace, love and kindness to people. Always loved working hard. And now I get to write and work hard. I figured out my anxiety and panic back in ’97; it changed my whole life. And now all I want to do is go around the world, spread peace, love, my style of music, my style of movie, my style of acting. My other companies run themselves and they help others in that way. I just want to continue to live and do the right thing for people and for our fans and always take the high road because the more you give, the more you get in life.
Are you able to share a story with us about what first attracted you to Rock & Roll in particular?
Just growing up really. My release would be to go to big arena shows. I lived in Houston for six years. I saw Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhoades, AC/DC’s For Those About To Rock Tour, the Scorpions, the April Wine from Canada, Nazareth. I saw Iron Maiden before Bruce, UFO, Rush, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, I love Cheap Trick. The list goes on. I would go see all these bands at The Summit or Sam Houston Coliseum and I’d just be in awe and I’d be, “Hell, if I can do that one day, shit! But I can’t because I’m scared of life. I’m anxious. I don’t think I can stand in front of all of these people and do it.” But I loved it. It was embedded in me. Music was a release and an escape for me. I like all different styles but that’s how it all began. My first concert was a Jackson Browne show and my second one was Charlie Daniels Band (“The Devil Went Down To Georgia”). And then I just couldn’t stop going to concerts and that’s why I love Rock & Roll. I love AC/DC because they did it their way and Kurt Deimer is doing it his way.
Can you tell us the most interesting or most funny story that happened to you since you began your Rock & Roll career?
I don’t know, I’ve done a lot of things. I laugh all the time, just building the crew and band that I have now, all the pain we went through and all the laughs we have on the road. But, probably the funniest thing, and I don’t think anybody knows this from my band, is I was doing a show up in Calgary (I think it was) with Sebastian Bach and my driver at the time was out back with me and the night before, Sebastian and I took everybody from our bands for a steak dinner and had a lot of red wine. We did a show in this little bar and as I’m getting ready to walk in, under my 5-minute clock, I just got sick, all over outside, right in front of my bus driver. I wiped it off and I go, “Okay, let’s go!” and went inside and rocked it out. Nobody even knew. So, I’ve had stuff like that happen. I thought I sharted in my pants during a show once, haha! I’ve fallen out of the bus, I’ve passed out in the front seat of the bus like I was the driver. Those are some I’ll share with you. The main thing is, Kurt Deimer is fun. The band has fun and we all love being together.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
I would tell them to get ready because if you can’t take the punches and fall down and not cry and not get back up, you’re never going to make it. You’ve got to work hard. You don’t set how many hours you’re going to work. Don’t go, “I’m going to be done in 8 hours” because it takes 18 hours. It takes 24 hours. It’s 24/7. And you gotta work, you’ve gotta have drive, you have to want to win. You have to listen to everybody say I can’t, can’t, can’t. “You can’t do that.” “You can’t do that.” And you have to have the wherewithal to say, “Well, yes, I can and now I will so I can prove you wrong and shove it up your ass.” You’ve got to have the strength and courage to filter out all the negativity, all the criticism, and everybody telling you that you can’t and just work, work, work, work. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to make it.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Besides what I’ve alluded to earlier about Chris Lord-Alge taking me under his wing for the music side, I wouldn’t be where I am today without him, I also wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing on the movie side if it wasn’t for God looking down and giving me that chance that one night in Alabama at the Talladega dirt track. I wouldn’t even be doing music. And that night I did that. I got paid because it was a SAG speaking role and now here I am in movies. I knew what I was going to be getting, so on the way back home, I had to get back to work, my driver was driving me in the middle of the night and I saw a story about this girl over in Europe who passed away from chewing on her hair and got an infection in her stomach and her family was really poor. So, I went to their GoFundMe and paid off her funeral expenses for her family, knowing I was getting that acting money and I didn’t need it. And that’s where I always say, the more you give, the more you get. That was a major sign and a major epiphany from up above. And, most importantly, my mom and dad. They always had my back, no matter what. They always supported me through my bad times, good times, my addictions. They never turned their backs on me. My dad’s my hero. He always believed in me. I wouldn’t have the companies I do and all that without him. But the best thing is I helped my parents later in life. I wasn’t handed anything. I’ve earned every penny. I owe nobody nothing. I used to borrow money from my dad when I was broke, it was stupid, and I paid every dime back and then some. Before my dad passed, he said, “You’ve been a great son. You went above and beyond in taking care of us. More than I ever thought would happen. But I always believed” and he did. You gotta have parents that believe in you and my dad certainly did. He’s my hero.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Exciting would be my movie Scared To Death that just came out in theaters and now it’ll be on streaming platforms in May. My second album, which is a definite escalation and a departure from my first album where I talk-sing a lot. Now you’re getting to see my range and everything. We saved some really killer tunes for the second album. We’re actually already halfway through the third album. So, I’m excited about A Grog Is Born coming out May 8th, which features the single “Silent Lucidity,” a collab I did with Geoff Tate, which is amazing. I’m also excited that “In Deep,” my single collab with Josh Todd of Buckcherry, has been in the Top 50 at the Active Rock MediaBase chart since November 2025 and is still there. That’s exciting for me and the guys and everybody in the Kurt Deimer camp! I’ve got my next movie coming out that I star in as Bull, this crazy psycho from the South, along with my brother Tickles. We’re a horror duo. It’s called Hellbilly Hollow. I’m stoked about that. I’ve got my movie produced by Andy Gould called Pandemic Sex Party, who also produced Hellbelly Hollow, where I play The Rancher, the next big killer like Michael and Jason. That’s going to trip everyone out. I’ve got my drama Relapse coming out, which I alluded to earlier. Radio has also been great to us lately. We’re growing like crazy at iHeart and other stations around the world. We’re putting a tour together right now. We’re definitely going to be all over the U.S. this year. We’re going to be going to Canada. I can’t wait to go to Europe, South America. We just need people to keep spreading the word and spreading the love and making others familiar with Kurt Deimer and our brand of rock. Another thing I’m really stoked about is I quit drinking beer 3 or 4 years ago, because it was basically killing me by the day because I drank so much of it. I was like a human brewery. So now I have my own vodka coming out because I only drink vodka, ice, and regular water. It’s Kurt Deimer Ultra Premium Vodka but we call it Deims, so when you go to the bar or you go to the liquor store (it’ll be everywhere), you’ll say, “I want a shot of Deims” and that’s Kurt Deimer’s Ultra Premium Vodka. It’s got the rock n roll look to it. It’s going to go all over the world and I can’t wait to introduce that to everybody. That is coming out in May as well. I’m stoked about all of that and continuing to build our fanbase and being out there playing for all of you. Spread the word and tell us where you want to come and we’ll be there!
Are you able to summarize the message of Rock & Roll in a sentence? Why do you think that message is more relevant now than it’s been in a while?
To me, the message of rock & roll means work hard, get your shit done, do what you need to do to survive, do what you need to help other people in the world. And what better phrase to use than when you want to do all that and work hard and just be good to other people and all come together as one than say, “let’s rock and roll”? Let’s go get it! The energy that rock & roll has in the music form supports that. Let’s rock and roll. Let’s rock this out. Let’s get it done. That’s what it means to me.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1. Own Your Own Intellectual Property
Regarding the movies, I wish they had told me that everybody and their brother, if they know that you have a little money, is going to want you to invest in their project. I’ve had quite a few offers (producing offers, acting role offers) but you really have to be careful. I really like, like in the oil business I apply it to movies and music, owning my own company because in today’s world of streaming, it’s really better if you own your own IP, your own company, and help control your own destiny.
2. Find a Management Team That Truly Believes in You
I wish people told me that managers are really just there to pay their bills, because I had to go through that. I’m not going to go into any detail or names or anything, but I got screwed pretty bad many times by everybody saying you have to have a music manager. By the way, I have a great one now. Regime is awesome! They believe in me and they came to get me (and Chris Lord-Alge). I didn’t have to call them and beg them to be my manager, I just proved to them I was management worthy. They’ve been amazing. But I wish I would have learned all of that before.
3. Create High-Quality Merchandise People Actually Want to Wear
Merch matters. For my first tour, one of my managers, who screwed me over real bad, just made some little t-shirts that just had my logo right over the left pocket. You gotta make killer merch that looks good, that people want to wear. That’s part of your brand, your lifestyle, the way you live. Otherwise, you’re not going to sell it. That’s just the fact of the matter. That’s the way it is.
4. Do Not Be Afraid to Do Things Your Own Way
There are a lot of people who will say you gotta put out a single or you got to put out an EP. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. Everybody’s got an opinion. Well, you know what, AC/DC did it the way they did it, Van Halen did it the way they did it, I’m going to do it the way I do it. I like to put out double albums. I like to drop singles. Back when I was going to see all these shows, I loved being able to open up the album, see the lyrics, maybe get a little gift in the album, and just really embrace the whole process of the art, which is why it’s coming back so strong now. So, I wish I would have done that from the get-go and not drop an EP, do this, do that. Why drop an EP and then nothing comes out for 3 years? So, I didn’t like that advice.
5. Trust Your Gut and Embrace Failure
Everybody trying to tell me how to do things because of their experience (“this is the way you do it” and “this is the way you do this”). I just sit back and watch and observe and learn. I quickly learned that I can get 10 different opinions on one subject but if I go with my gut, I go with my heart, I go with taking the high road, I go with hard work, and the more you give, the more you get (just the way I live life with principles and being a good person), I’m going to make the right call. Is it always going to be the right call? No. But, you can’t be successful without failing. You gotta fail way more than you succeed.
Those are the five biggest things and just stay true to who you are. This business will do all it can to take that away from you but don’t let it get you. Just keep fighting. That same thing goes for movies. Go with the ones that you know you can make an impact on, that you can create this memorable character in, and go with your gut. You’re the artist. In my case, I go with what I feel and what I know you guys out there, the fans and the people, will like or not like and all I can do is put it out there. If I touch half of you in the world, I am doing a great job.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Well, that would be easy. First thing, fellow human beings, can we all use common sense? And when we do use common sense and make good decisions based on principles that are about being good and kind and peaceful and loving to one another, we can all make a difference in the world. But I think that’s lost and that’s what I would do. I’d say common sense. How can we treat each other, our fellow human beings, with peace, love and kindness. That would change the world immediately and there is not enough of that.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Yeah, it’s from my dad. As I mentioned, my dad is my hero. My dad always told me, and I apply it every day in my life still because I get screwed over all the f*ckin time, two things: 1. Always take the high road. Never lower yourself to the person who is messing with you. Take the high road and do what’s right. 2. The more you give, the more you get in life. Give yourself, give your talents. It doesn’t have to be monetary. Just give to others and make a difference in their lives and you will get it all back. So those would be my two things that I learned from my father.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have breakfast with Michael Jordan. If it wasn’t my father, who passed away so I can’t have breakfast with him. But Michael Jordan, from the Chicago Bulls, grew up in a humble family. Got cut from his basketball team in eighth grade. He just became a worldwide icon because he was so competitive. He cared about what he did and the impact it made on so many people. Though I don’t know him personally and what his values are, he is very competitive like I am. He is very low key. He is not in the spotlight all the time. He is not looking for attention. And every time he got on the court, he just took care of business and did it his way and put on a show, just the way I do whether I am in a movie or on stage. So, it would be Michael Jordan.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Google Kurt Deimer. Go to Spotify, go to Apple Music, go to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, YouTube — all @ Kurt Deimer. Go to our website www.kurtdeimer.com and sign up for the email list at the bottom of the front page. You will be kept up to date on everything including tours, merch, and all my movies. I have a lot going on. I appreciate everyone and thank you!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Music Stars Helping Rock & Roll Make A Comeback: Kurt Deimer Of Bald Man Records was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.