Chunks of Meat

Band Interviews – Dose

August 27th ‘04

   Hello,

  Since this is my first interview for chunksofmeat.com I thought I’d write a little commentary on who I am and why I am doing these… My name is Mike and I am the guitar player for the local metal band Baine. I have been a musician since the age of 12, taking the stage for the first time with my Dad’s band back in the 80’s. I come from a musical family and music has always been a major part of my life. Enough of that. Lee and I were talking about Chunks stuff one day and both thought that doing some interviews with the Chunks bands would be a cool idea. People could get to know a little bit more about the bands than what you see of them on stage and we all know what Chunks is about – the bands! Well when a radio personality, who I know personally but will go un-named, showed all kinds of interest in being the interviewer and then failed to get back to me in a timely manner, I called Lee up and said “hell, I’ll do them myself.” I just couldn’t sit still on this idea and Lee isn’t the sit and wait type of guy either, so here we are. We are planning on doing one or two of these a month and hope that they will be insightful and enjoyable to Chunks fans and bands.

  To set the back drop for this interview, let me give you a little on the scene. We are in the parking lot of the Creepy Crawl where we are all scheduled to play later in the evening. The parking lot is crawling with the usual business of a metal show. Bands loading and unloading equipment in and out the back door, crowds of metal chicks standing around chit chatting, and the usual game of hacky sack going on across the way. The first thing we did was get into Lee’s car and put in a proof copy of Dose’s new cd “Fragments of Life”. Lee – drums, Rikki – bass, Dewey – vocals, and myself all listen to the first two tracks together, metal fists pumping in appreciation! I have to say that I am very impressed with what they have done on “Fragments”. The guys spent six months working with Paul Moerke, engineer/producer – Chunks of Meat studios, and the time and effort has paid off. The five songs are well written, the musicianship is impeccable, and the production is top notch. You all are in for a tasty metal treat when this thing drops on Sept.10th . So, we let the other three tracks play on (at a lesser volume) and did the interview very casually standing around in the parking lot like the rest of the metal heads present that night. It went like this:      

Q. – Mike - In what year did the Dose form?
A. Dewey: After some thought and some numbers flying around between the guys – ’96.
And Dose is actually 2 bands in one, a heavy, in your face band, and a lighter more melodic band.
   Lee: Yeh, Dewey gets bored with only the heavy stuff. He likes to be multi faceted. But the weird thing is that he is really into the heavier bands.

Q. – Mike - What genre would you put your music into?
A. Dewey: Just heavy rock & roll.
    Rikki: Maybe a little nu-metal – laughs all around.

Q. – Mike – So are you guys metal?
A. Lee: Yeh, but melodic - and heavy - kinda. We don’t want to be pigeon holed into any one thing.
Q. - Mike - What or who are your musical influences?
A. Dewey: Sound Garden, Deftones, Fear Factory, and Tool – can’t forget my man Maynard!
A. Rikki: Suicidal Tendencies, Minor Threat, Dead Kenedy’s, Bad Brains – this list could get long!
A. Lee: Judas Priest.
Weird looks from the other guys followed this answer…
A. Lee: No, really, Priest. They are the first metal band that I can remember hearing and I was hooked on heavy music from then on.

Q. – Mike - What are your goals as a band?
A. Dewey: Be successful.
A. Rikki: Be relevant.
A. Lee: Yeh, and enjoy it as we go along.

Q. – Mike - What has been your favorite or most memorable gig?
A. Dewey: Well, for me it was before Lee joined the band when we opened for Papa Roach and Primer 55.
A. Rikki: Yeh, that was bad ass – 3000+ people at Pop’s.

Q. – Mike - What is your favorite venue in St. Louis to play?
A. Unanimous: Just Bill’s!!! 

Q. – Mike - What do you think about the St. Louis “metal”music scene, past and present?
A. Dewey: It sucks, past and present.
A. Rikki: Yeh, it sucks but it is getting better.
A. Dewey: It’s a joke.
A. Lee: It’s full of greedy promoters and club owners!
A. Rikki: Chunks of Meat is the coolest thing going.
A. Lee: Yeh, Chunks is trying to make a difference.
A. Dewey: Chunks is the difference!

Q. – Mike - Tell me about the recording process with Chunks studios’ / Paul Moerke.
A. Dewey: It was a terrifying experience – laughs all around. Really, it made me quit smoking – everything. Paul was very professional but brutally honest. I’d be doing something and he’d just stop me and say, Dewey come here, we gotta talk.
A. Lee: Paul was very professional though, he knows his shit. It was a big learning experience for us.
A. Rikki: Yeh, Paul got great performances out of all of us and he plays keyboards on the cd and was excellent.

Q. Mike - What is the song “Crackhead Mom” about?
A. Dewey: It’s about my son’s mother and a drug that was so powerful to her that she chose it over her own son! The song really explains why I am a single parent. As all Dose songs it is about a real life experience.
A. Mike: Dewey you’re gonna make me cry.
A. Dewey: Shut the F- up you ass! Laughs all around again.
A. Mike: Seriously, it is my favorite Dose song though.

Q. – Mike - Tell me a little bit more about the new Dose release “Fragments of Life”- why 5 songs, why now, and where did the title come from?
A. Dewey: 5 songs now because we are going to be on a compilation album with sikworld.com and we had a limited time to get ready for it. The title came from me just thinking man, each song is a little fragment of my life set to music.
A. Rikki: yeh man, for real shit!

Q. – Mike - Do you guys consider yourselves a “Chunks” band and what do you think it takes to be a good one?
A. Lee: Most definitely.
A. Rikki: You gotta be supportive of other bands, have a good attitude, and be driven by the music.
A. Lee: Yeh, no rock star attitudes.

Q. – Mike - Give me one rule of mosh-pit etiquette.
A. Rikki: If somebody falls, pick them up. The mosh pit can be a great release, just don’t kill anybody, watch those elbows.
 

  Later, the guys were joined by guitarist Carl, AKA “Crawl”, and blasted a blistering set to the Creepy Crawl which included all 5 songs off of “Fragments of Life”. The guys in Dose are very down to earth. The interview was very easy to do, because it was just like shooting the breeze with my buds over beers. Hell, the guys in Dose are my buds as are all the Chunks of Meat bands. Do not miss the Dose cd release party at Just Bill’s Friday, September 10th. They will be playing for almost two hours and will surely deliver the goods.

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanx,

Mike

Chunks of Meat Local Band Interviews