by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
The French Quarter soldiers on with a bastion of new heavy metal and cutting-edge alt-rock bands. Last Friday I dropped by the FQ to check out two bands–Effed and Awesome You. Effed is a band of experienced musicians–older than most players in this league. The band was formed by Dan D’mantra and, after going through the usual revolving door of players, he found a core group consisting of Dan on lead vocals, Brad Magee on bass and vocals, Shaun Salisbury on guitar, Jason M. on guitar, and Chris Willard on drums.
Dan’s roots go back to 1997 when he was a DJ at a dance club. It was during that time that Dan made friends with Shaun and they spent many nights writing songs together. Dan was brewing up something new–rap over funky rhythms with real songs in the mix. The two core members came up with the name Effed and started to look for band members, going through a legion of sidemen. Finally, Dan found the players he was looking for and the band came together as a viable entity.
The group has been playing out seriously for a year, sticking to all original material that crosses over into funk, reggae, and hip-hop. Effed adds much needed musical integrity to the rap scene. In fact, the band’s approach is fiercely original with Dan out front acting out the material with flamboyant stage dynamics. Dan’s rapping is rhythmic and his words are about real feelings regarding love, breakups, and his busy life. Oh yes, there is nothing like a break-up to get the creative juices flowing.
“We went through at least 12 guitar players until we found the guys we were looking for. It’s been a struggle to find musicians willing to put in the time to rehearse as an original band. But my persistence has paid off with a tight band of guys who get along and have the same goals,” Dan said at the gig.
Indeed, Dan’s words are familiar to me. I’ve heard it all before. Original bands are the hardest to form and hold together. The bands that treat the group like a business and have a master plan stand more of a chance of at least making a play for the big time amongst the innumerable other bands trying to do the same thing.
Effed has made the right moves to move up to bigger venues. Carving out an original sound in a genre with so many posers and imitators, they have distilled their influences into a trademark sound that separates them from the pack. The group rocked with funky rhythms featuring grabber hooks and skillfully melded hardcore rap into the mix. Log onto the Effed website to learn more about this up-and-coming group at www.effednation.com
The young lads of Awesome You began their band adventure in the summer of 2004 with Toby on guitar and vocals, Topher on drums and vocals, and Jacob Zust on bass and vocals. In 2005, the group broke up for complex reasons. Then in 2006 they decided to reunite and start fresh when Ryan Moore rejoined the band on lead vocals. The foursome recorded an 11 track CD titled All That You Have, and were touring Central and Northern Florida to support the recording when Ryan suddenly left the band. Now a trio, AY continues to tour and record original material.
AY’s performance at FQ was enthusiastic and sincere. The group is going for the punk sound and attitude, with fast rhythms and angst-addled lyrics. The group is trying to carve out an original sound but has not broken free of their influences yet. In other words, the band is still derivative but shows signs of shedding the restraints of all that has gone before. Still, I liked their bold and daring stage show, with Toby’s wild stage antics. This band just needs more experience to mature into an original band worthy of notice. My advice is to keep on gigging and hanging on to the same players for as long as possible. Every time a band loses or adds a player, it complicates their sound and tightness. Awesome You can be accessed on www.myspace.com/awesomeyou
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