Dogbane
(U.S.)
Dogbane’s album
“Residual Alcatrazz” goes back and forth between traditional heavy metal and
doom metal. In any case, it is “big riff” metal, so that the guitar work sounds
it like comes from a secret riff vault that Tony Iommi put away in a hidden
corner of North Carolina, where Dogbane found it, opened it and hit the jackpot!
Dogbane basically has a bit of everything for people who like different
moods in their heavy metal. However, this is key: variety within the field of
straight traditional heavy metal. For Dogbane, the metal trends/genres/styles
that came after 1982 are essentially of no interest to them. Thus, no thrash/
death/black/grind, no emo/core/screamo/breakdowns, no poppy melodies and no
funny-looking haircuts, no rapping, no synchronized jumping and things like
that, basically.
Dogbane= heavy metal of doom. The band’s guitarist Mitchell Allred elucidates
their take on metal.
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To start off,
please clarify something on Metal Archives. Your other guitarist David
Ellenburg died this year 2012, but he did play on your album “Residual
Alcatraz”? Did David play and hear the album completed before he died?
MA:
Yes, David did play on the album.
In addition David was a major contributor to our song writing process,
as well as a founding member of the band.
We both split the solo duties on the recording and worked together in
laying down all the harmonies. The man was a friend and a pleasure to work
with. Dogbane meant the world to
him. David did see the release of “Residual Alcatraz” and we played several
dates in support of the album before he passed. He was very proud of the album and excited about our
future. We all miss him terribly,
but carry on in his memory.
Are you looking
for a second guitar player?
We are currently working with Warren Deatherage
from the band “Steelwolf” who is a former band mate of our vocalist Jeff
Neal. Warren has also contributed
to our cover of the Kiss song “Charisma” which will appear on Rock and Roll All
Nite: A Milleniun Tribute to Kiss; due out on Versailles Records shortly after
the first of the year.
Tell us about the
North Carolina world of metal that you guys come from. Does it have a bunch of
dudes into heavy and doom stuff? Metal Archives says that your vocalist Jeff
Neal is in Steelwolf, a band active since 1984(!)? So, Dogbane is a bunch of
total classic doomheads? I suppose you were into Trouble and Candlemass back in
the day?
Here in North Carolina at least in our particular
area Dogbane stick out like a sore thumb.
I think that is a good thing though. Most bands here seem to have a hardcore slant to them and
vocalists that you can’t understand.
We are certainly coming from a more traditional standpoint. Call us “old school” if you will, but a
band needs melody, good song writing, and a vocalist that makes some kind of
sense. There are some better-known
doom oriented/slanted bands in the state, but they are certainly less
traditional than Dogbane.
In regards to Jeff and
“Steelwolf,” he did provide vocals in an early demo of theirs and was a member,
but he is no longer in the band.
All members of Dogbane have been involved in the scene for many years
with various other bands. Speaking strictly for myself, “classic doom head”
describes me perfectly. I’m still
into Trouble and Candlemass. I
think “Psalms of the Dead” was one of the best releases of 2012.
“Residual
Alcatraz” begins with two up tempo, rocking, big-riff songs, “Ride the Serpent”
and “Born to Die.” So, how are you getting that classic guitar sound, the
bigness of it, of the Iommi School and fountain of inspiration, to sound so
good and organic? Are your recording techniques different? Is it the methods?
There is no doubt that the “Iommi” influence is
present. If one plays heavy metal
guitar, how could it not be?
Dogbane gets the classic guitar sound the very same way other bands have
gotten it before us; Gibsons and Marshalls. As a band we do feel most new recordings sound too
mechanical and sterile, and we have made a conscious decision to seek a more
organic sound.
One will never discover
pro-tooling, triggers etc. on a Dogbane album… that just isn’t us. A big portion of the credit must go to
our engineer Kevin Davis, who just so happens to be our bass player. He makes
sure we keep that big warm sound we all want. I’m not sure if our recording
techniques/methods are any different from anyone else’s, perhaps it is the
recording equipment: it’s all vintage.
I notice that you
seem to care very little about image, gimmicks and other such marketing
clichés. Does this come from having been around the block and observing the
folly of aspiring musicians selling their souls to the devil just to “make it”?
Do you figure, whatever happens, that you are ok having day jobs and playing
music for fun, to be a cult band?
I think it just
comes from being real. Dogbane is made up of a group of guys who are in their
early to mid-forties. If we show up in skinny jeans and dyed hair the jig is
up. We are not into being something we are not. We play the type of music we
grew up listening to, the type of music we love. I think it is very obvious
that we are not hipsters jumping on the retro metal bandwagon. We come from an
honest place and I think it shows. I also feel this honesty resonates with
people.
We are too old to care
about trends or what is hot at the moment. We feel like we don’t have anything to prove to anyone and
even if no one was listening to us we would still be rehearsing on Sunday
afternoons because music is what we do.
Honestly, every musician wants their band to do well, and in that sense
we are no different from anyone else.
What separates Dogbane from other bands is that we see things for what
they are and we have no illusions of grandeur. We travelled those paths a long time ago.
What is the
importance of age and wisdom in the world of the music business? Do you think
that it is not a coincidence that it is young people, with their hopes and
illusions of “making it” that get victimized by the veterans/sharks in the
business, and their promises of “you can go far if you stick with me, kid”?
Have you gone through some of these experiences?
One of the few
things that get better with age is one’s bullshit detector. It will be in your band’s best interest
to hone and use this tool. The fact of the matter is that there will always be
those out there who want to take advantage of you if they feel there is a
dollar to be made and you’re dumb enough to let them. If what you are being told sounds too good to be true,
chances are it is. The best way to
combat this problem is to be involved with as much of your product as
possible. Dogbane produces almost
everything in-house, our recordings, merchandise, along with our product design
and layout. You will have to step
outside in terms of distribution, public relations, mastering, and some
advertising, but the more you can handle yourself, the better off you will
be. The good news is that through
new technology you can control a lot more than in years past. We have tried to avoid those bad kinds
of experiences at all possible cost.
“Burning in the
Light” melted the earwax in my ears! That heavy guitar sounds really good at
the slow pace and Jeff singing like an evil monk channeling the spirit of Ozzy
and Messiah Marcolin! You decided to include only one really long song on this
album, and this one is it. Who is the person growling in the background?
I’m pleased you
like the track. It was a conscious
effort to include an extremely long doomed out song on the album. Some have criticized “Burning in the
Light” for being too long and monotonous.
I personally thought it hit the mark, but there is no doubt it tests the
listener’s endurance. David and I
did the background vocals.
“Fire and
Brimstone” has some cowbell? No? Is it a tambourine? Am I hearing things that
aren’t there? Maybe! “I have a disease and the only cure is more cowbell”!! The
song “How the Mighty Have Fallen” does have cowbell, right? You decided to bust
out with it at the very end of the album!!
What you are
hearing on “Fire and Brimstone” is our drummer Jerry playing a Puerto Rican
instrument called a guiro. It is a
scrubbing instrument that sounds a little similar to a washboard. The tambourine sound is Jerry tapping
on a one gallon glass carboy that I make homemade wine in. There is indeed some cowbell on “How
The Mighty Have Fallen.” You can’t
make a real album without a little cowbell, right?
Tell us how the
heavy metal and doom metal heads can get in touch with you and get a copy of
the album.
For more
information, go to www.dogbaneband.com. We have a complete line of merchandise
for those interested, and you can listen to several tracks off of the
album. While you are there, follow
the links to our Facebook, MySpace, and ReverbNation pages along with our
label’s website Heaven and Hell Records.
You can also follow us on Twitter.
There are no plans for touring at present. THE END.
