The internet has been bane and boom for musicians that are attempting to gain wide acceptance of their music. Today's fractured and confusing landscape is littered with the bodies of musicians that have tried to be the next big thing. The modern day musician needs to be a multi-tasking and multi-talented individual that is able to traverse the erratic waves present in today's scene. A band can be the most technologically savvy, but without a great and memorable sound-they will always be lost.
Enter "Dammit!". The band's website describes the group as being a metal/punk band that hails and is based in San Francisco, California. Even the best websites cannot accurately convey what a band is truly about. In that spirit, examiner.com's Oscar Benjamin seen the band perform live and had the opportunity to talk to the gentleman that formed the group. John Gillette is the lead guitarist for Dammit!, but more importantly he formed the group approximately ten years ago. At first glance, Gillette's appearance is that of the classic rock star. He is a tall and gaunt gentleman with long flowing hair and a rather pronounced patch of hair on his chin that is more than just a typical "soul patch".
In the course of the interview, several topics were discussed and the session began with defining who and what is Dammit!. Gillette clarified, "We do veer into death metal and the lead singer, Adam Richardson really loves death metal so we put little splashes of that in our music. We love punk rock, old school and old school metal so we try to play around with those three genres to get a nice, good eclectic mix within that. John Gillette also commented on what has influenced him, "Oh-definitely The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC. I kind of went into Iron Maiden and definitely old school Metallica-I am talking about the first three albums. And also, Grunge. Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. All that era's music kind of reinspired me into giving me ideas when I came around".
A fair amount of bands are never able to accurately recreate the tracks they have layed down in a studio setting. Dammit! does not seem to have this problem. Indeed the quartet comprised of Adam Richardson on vocals, John Gillette on the guitar, DK on drums and an unidentified individual on bass guitar was born to play live. Adam Richardson voice range is wide and lyrically powerful. His style on the stage also conveys a natural and effortlessly projected aura of charisma that will help this band continue on its inevitable road to wider success. John Gillette is an equally impressive figure on the stage as he brilliantly rips through several songs and dazzles those that were in attendance with his musical virtuosity! Dammit! is powerfully loud, yet strangely they are quietly hypnotic at the same time. It is a seemingly contradictory statement, but the answer may lie within elements that Gillette intentionally or unintentionally add to his band's visual and auditory style.
There is a strong element of horror film inspired visual elements that the band incorporates into their performance. They gleefully threw wrapped meat packages(fake) and baby dolls into the enthusiastic hands of the audience. It is this element that John Gillette discussed during the interview. Gillette detailed, "I am also half of Last Doorway Productions with my wife, Reyna Young. My love of horror and music and we kind of blend it all. I score a lot of our films and most of our film projects". It is obvious that John Gillette is very much an active participant of the multi-tasking lifestyle that many find themselves in by either design or accident.
At press time, Dammit! is still in the process of putting the finishing touches on their next release that does not have a date as of yet. Based on the show that this examiner had the chance to view, Dammit! has all the necessary musical chops needed to stand above the very crowded field of those trying to make a name and grab fame for themselves. John Gillette concludes with a unique statement, "Reach out to us and we will reach out to you. I do run a small label called American Dream Records. It is kind of a promotion vehicle for the band, but the idea behind that is kind of the same with the movies. Eventually we might do a music show also and then we will bring bands in and interview them. It all intermingles, we are always trying to cross shows. We bring a lot of bands to our shows. We are looking for shows with other bands. That is what it is really about. The bands don't support each other. It doesn't have to be a competition. We are there for the fans. We are there to put on a good show so people have a lot of fun and that is what we like to do. Bring people aboard or they invite us. It is always cool to cross promote and I like to inspire and help continue that!"
Comments