Dangermaker A few words with the chaps from Dangermaker. They are: Adam Burnett (sings and plays guitar, keys on recordings, and some harmonica and saxophone). Carlos Rodrigues (plays the drums and percussion, and sing backups live). Peter Ruecktenwald (bass). Leicester Bangs: Tell us a little about yourself, and your band (if applicable). Carlos: I'm a massive football fan and wanted to make it as a footballer when I was a kid, but when I got into drumming things really changed for me. I'm still passionate about the game though, but nothing beats performing live in front of a crowd. Dangermaker is an edgy, Alt Rock/Indie band that incorporates a range of influences - from 60 & 70's artists like the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, The Clash and David Bowie, to more modern artists like Muse, Spoon, Blur, and Hard-Fi... Adam: I keep little books of thoughts and ideas, tapes of melodies and song ideas, ramblings. I call myself drunk and leave singing voicemails. I don’t know why, I just do. I keep a lot bottled up and it just comes out that way. I kept journals all through childhood and then threw them all away later when I read back, they pissed me off. I was a quiet but angry kid, spent a lot of time alone or with my brother, latchkey kids I guess. I used to fantasize about being an explorer, a pirate, a traveler. Once I got lost in Honolulu as a kid by myself, wandered around for hours, convinced I’d never see anyone I knew again. I was kind of let down when they found me. Used to ride the bus all over Los Angeles with friends for no real reason. We would sleep on the beach and buy booze for winos. We nicked stuff for kicks. We would start driving and end up in Mexico. We were bored... So anyway later, I traveled around for a while and got interested in writing and music again, came back home and stories and songs were pouring out of me. I took that as a sign I should do something with it. I was inspired to write fiction for a while, I bullshitted my way into jobs as a journalist writing news articles, and then I started putting some personal stories and feelings to music I had written and haven’t stopped... Peter: Graduated from Berklee College of Music, spontaneously sold my car, bought a bicycle and rode from Philipsburg, NJ to San Francisco, CA May 14th - July 4th 2007. Was a motorcycle courier for a year - crashed on 101 right before my license was suspended. LB: How did you start out making music? Peter: The other bandmate was better at guitar... Adam: Well, I’ve played one instrument or another since I was seven. I was classically trained on violin as a kid in school, which was an accident because I really wanted to play trombone but they only had one and said my arms weren’t long enough. I think they’re pretty long. Actually I just wanted to get out of class. Turned out to be a good thing later though, as I got into Rock and Pop I could pick up guitar and bass pretty easily. When I was 12 or so I told my father I wanted to play guitar, no more violin, so he saved up some money, drove me down to a pawn shop in L.A. somewhere and we bought a cheap Fender knockoff for $100 or so... After I left college I realized I had made a mistake. The things I was passionate about and good at were not really encouraged so I had not pursued them. Music and art are hobbies where I come from, not professions. I eventually disagreed and put myself through night school for graphic arts and I started seriously writing and recording music with a bunch of cheap instruments and a four-track cassette recorder in a makeshift home studio that was in reality nothing but my closet. Then I got laid off from my job and couldn’t find another steady one for a while, so I did odd jobs and lived off unemployment for a few months and worked out as many song ideas as I could in the interim. Desperate times. I used some of those demos to put bands together and write songs, which is kind of how Dangermaker was born. I’ve learned some tricks since then, got some better gear, but when I think about it I’m basically still doing the same thing... Carlos: I sometimes had a tendency to tap on the tables at school when I was about 9 or 10, and my teachers would say, "Carlos, this is not the time for drum lessons!" I initially tried playing drums when I was 11, but wasn't very confident or outgoing, so I lost interest. I eventually picked up the sticks again at the age of 17. I had various drum instructors throughout my childhood, but my main influence was a teacher named Phil Flack. He taught me a lot. He took me to a new level and made me realize I had potential to really make something out of playing drums. One day during a lesson with Phil, he asked me "How does it feel to be better than the average drummer?" I knew then I wanted to go on and become a serious musician. I got serious about drums around the time my older brother Mark was having success with his band the Crayons. My first real gig was a one-off performance playing a duet with Mark who sang and played keys. After being in and out of a few groups in the Hastings area, the first band that I had a long stint with was a university band in Medway. I played with them for 4 years and later became the new drummer for the Crayons, before beginning my musical adventures in the US. LB: Who did you grow up listening to and how do they influence what you’re doing now? Carlos: I grew up listening to a lot of artists, playing to their records on my drum set at home. I think it's important to try new things and challenge yourself, and playing to records is one of the best ways of accomplishing that. The songwriting diversity of Damon Albarn and Blur had me fixated on the group. I found all 4 members to be very talented with their instruments, but what I loved the most was the fact they could bring out catchy hits while reinventing themselves with each album. Their live act was simply exhilarating. Being at the front of a crowd during a song like "Popscene" was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I remember seeing them in Brighton in '99 during their 10-year anniversary tour and Damon dove off the stage. As some fans were holding him up he sang out the chorus of "There's No Other Way" in front of my face. I wonder if he remembers me. Ha ha! Also, I think Muse’s "Showbiz" album was a saving grace for Indie kids like me. 2000 was a tough year for bands trying to breakthrough in the UK, Dance, R&B and other club music was more popular. Britpop had long been dead and there weren't any such bands breaking through. We had the likes of Steps and Hearsay dominating the media! A lot of the bands that I had enjoyed listening to during the 90's, like The Wannadies and The Supernaturals, rarely played in the small clubs of Camden Town. One day I was watching Top of the Pops to see Muse's re-release of their single "Muscle Museum" and their live performance was played in-between 2 unmemorable manufactured artists who were dubbed “typical”. When Muse came on I was transcended, taken to another world. When I saw Matt Bellamy had dyed blue hair, I later went out to get my hair dyed the same color, but mine came out orange! Adam: As a kid it was a lot of Beatles, Elvis, 70’s and 80’s Rock, Pop and Hip-Hop, and classical. Sounds like I’m 90 years old. I used to sing to The Beatles and Elvis, The Police, jump around my room to 80’s stuff, scratch Run DMC records. My parents listened to a lot of Jazz and Blues and standards, which I hated then but have grown to appreciate the exposure to now. When I picked up guitar I got way into Garage Rock, Punk and Metal. A friend gave me a tape of Bad Religion’s "Suffer" which I played to death. The video for "Rock the Casbah" did something to me, probably the first time I really saw punk rock. Since then I’ve branched out a lot more into Dance, Electronica, Flamenco, Reggae, Folk, Funk, etc, etc, but always seem to come back to the edgy Alternative Rock and Dance music I listen to and aspire to write myself... Peter: No one. I approached the bass in a self-indulgent manner treating it like a guitar. LB: Tell us about your latest release. Adam: The songs on the EP are really the beginnings of Dangermaker. Previously I had been playing solo, with a band sometimes, but just me writing. Something was missing. I kind of went back to the drawing board and fleshed out a bunch of new ideas and demos, some of which my bands before hadn’t liked, including what turned into our song "Need". I found Carlos, Wesley (first bassist), and now Pete, and with their help wrote some grittier, edgier sounding Rock songs than I had before. The songs on the EP are really the beginning of Dangermaker. The EP was recorded in the S.F. Bay Area at PopSmear Studios with Scott Llamas who's worked with some great Bay Area bands like Panda (Dizzy Baloon), The Action Design (M from Tsunami Bomb), Tragedy Andy, Scene of Action, and others. He really helped us get the sound we were after... Carlos: Our debut release is self-titled Dangermaker. It's a 5-track record that I'm very proud of. I feel we were able to produce a record that brings out the sound we want, and I'm excited to be playing it in front of people. My favorite tracks are "Need" and "All for You"... Peter: Best orgasm in a while, but I do not feel comfortable sharing more details. LB: Do you get out and play your music live, and if so, what can an audience expect at one of your shows? Carlos: They can expect to see a tight, musical unit that loves to entertain with catchy alt. rock songs... Adam: One out of every ten or twenty bands I see live are truly good and memorable, I want us to be that one. Every time we play live I want to blow you away, give you more than you expect from a little unsigned band. I want to make you sweat, make you dance, make you uncomfortable a little, and make you remember it the next day. LB: What aspects of playing and recording music do you most enjoy? Carlos: When we play live, there's nothing more rewarding than a positive response from the crowd. As for the recording aspect, I most enjoy the end result - seeing all of our hard work in the studio come to fruition... Peter: Collaborating and arranging... Adam: I enjoy playing with people who understand me and what I’m trying to go for with the songs I write. To me the most interesting artists have an air of desperation, whether we’re talking about music, art, writing, it’s universal. So put that together with a band that plays really tight, where every instrument plays an essential part in a song, doesn’t wank off, and plays off of each other. There’s nothing better. I enjoy recording when all of that translates on a recorded track, when things start to take on a life of their own, and when it’s finally done. LB: Where can people find (and buy) your music? Peter: If you’d like an actual CD, get it directly from us at www.dangermaker.com. You can listen and download at these sites: iTunes - itunes.apple.com CD Baby - www.cdbaby.com/cd/dangermaker Amazon - www.amazon.com Napster - www.napster.com Lala - www.lala.com/#artist/Dangermaker Shockhound - www.shockhound.com Amie Street - www.amiestreet.com/music/dangermaker Limewire - www.store.limewire.com Myspace – www.myspace.com/dangermaker Facebook – www.facebook.com/dangermaker Twitter – www.twitter.com/dangermaker