Dead Inside x Cookie Crasher

For our latest strain release, Cookie Crasher, we partnered with our friends at Dead Inside, Chicago's official "Dead Night" Party hosted by DJ's Sorry Charlie and Phat Fill. The duo has celebrated the musical storytelling of The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, and Dead-adjacent projects through live wax since 2020 with blistering set lists pulled from Dead Inside's one-of-a- kind vinyl vault. 

Below, Dead Inside tells T&T about the long strange trip they took with our latest hybrid, Cookie Crasher.   

1. Tell us about the experience of making this playlist  

There's nothing quite like getting baked and curating a Grateful Dead playlist. The Grateful Dead and cannabis go together like peanut butter and jelly - we were thrilled to give this Cookie Crasher experiment a go and see where it took us. In the spirit of "Tales & Travels," we went the route of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bob Weir's solo masterpiece ACE, which was originally released May 1st, 1972. Bobby is the ultimate cowboy, has traveled the world once over, and is an expert at spinning a yarn. We've reassembled the classic ACE tracklist with Grateful Dead and Dead & Co live selections and sandwiched the playlist with two live "bookend" jams from his current outfit, Bobby & The Wolf Bros. The result is the perfect sonic journey for a Cookie Crasher hybrid cannabis experience - some peaks and valleys, but mostly smooth Bobby-forward rhythm guitars and vocals from the 1970's to 2022. Happy 50th Birthday to ACE!  

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2. Are there any Dead songs that came to mind immediately with Cookie Crasher?  

Cookie Crasher immediately got us thinking about "Sugar Magnolia" for obvious confectionary reasons, but personally we felt the biggest connection to the strain being Bob's solo tune "Walk in the Sunshine". Ironically, this is the only non-live song we've ever showcased live or otherwise until now, but it's criminally underrated. In this case we found a connection with the song highlighting the bright, carefree, and upbeat effects of the strain so well. We would take a walk in the sunshine any day after some Cookie Crasher (and plan on it).   

3. Cookie Crasher is all about stoned productivity - what's your go-to productive sesh activity? 

Probably meeting on Sunday afternoons to package up Dead Inside merch to our followers and supporters. We're a very local DIY act and brand - all t-shirts, sweatshirts, koozies, and sticker packs get sent out by hand by the both of us. Of course we spin Dead wax or throw in an old "lot tape" when we're doodling on envelopes and printing out labels. Cookie Crasher inspired some productive brainstorming for future Dead Inside setlists, while helping us complete the task at hand.  

4. What's your current favorite Dead album (or performance/show)? 

An IMPOSSIBLE question to answer always. I can say that DJ Sorry Charlie holds the 4/25/77 Passaic, NJ vinyl box set near and dear. The Scarlet > Fire from that show @ The Capitol Theatre is untouchable. DJ Phat Fill is blown away by the new Europe '72 Box Set showcasing the complete recordings from Lyceum Theatre. The production and mastering of that box set is next level. Dead Inside is lucky to own that one.  

5. What are you most looking forward to this year? 

We're most excited for a consistent year of monthly "Dead Nights" at our favorite clubs in Chicago. We're going to be focusing less on festivals and playing dates outside of Chicagoland. We are instead placing a priority on playing the venues we love and the Dead-leaning venues we've yet to play. We've also got some BIG news to share for the final run of Dead & Co shows at Wrigley this Summer, so stay tuned! 

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