|
Got it covered
>>
Locals salute the bands that inspired
them at Omages Locos
by JOHNSON CUMMINS
nThere is nothing worse than seeing a cover band sleepwalking through
the current hit parade. More times than not we get tired has-beens going
through the motions on the latest Sum 41 atrocity, followed by some
sort of Collective Soul or Tragically Hip abomination. Fortunately,
there are any number of local rockers eager to show that a cover band
can be a good thing—it just depends on who you’re covering.
To that end, Foufounes Électriques is once again putting on their
successful cover-band soirée Omages Locos, with nine local bands
from the heavy end of the spectrum saluting the bands they love. Where
else are you going to see a tribute to hardcore heroes Minor Threat
or black-metal godfathers Venom? The Mirror roundtabled some of Montreal’s
heavy hitters and asked them why they chose the bands they did.
Michel Langevin
(Voivod): The Sex Pistols
“I’ve loved The Sex Pistols since I was a teenager and Never
Mind the Bollocks is the record I can still listen to all the time.
It’s still really relevant today. Snake [Voivod singer who just
recently re-joined the band] is going to be out of town so we’re
getting Xavier from Caféine for that night because we thought
he has the right attitude to sing the Pistols. What a lot of people
don’t realize is that Voivod always felt closer to the Pistols
than to, say, Slayer.”
Uncle Costa
(Vulgar Deli): Venom
“I mean, c’mon, what do you think we were going to do, Red
Hot Chili Peppers? Venom was my childhood dream band. I had pictures
of [Venom singer] Cronos on my bedroom wall. My dad would waltz in and
scream how he didn’t want the devil in his house and rip them to
shreds. They are the godfathers of it all, everybody owes it all to
them and Slayer. Now I got to try to memorize all the lyrics, they’re
pure cheese.”
Marco Calliari
(Anonymus): Metallica/Slayer
“Along with Iron Maiden, Metallica and Slayer were the first bands
that we heard that made us want to start a band. When we were approached
for this tribute night the decision of what we were going to do was
automatic. I still listen to Slayer a lot today but unfortunately Metallica
just aren’t as good as they used to be.”
Pat Gauthier
(Raid): Red Hot Chili Peppers
“The Peppers really seemed to put fun in the music instead of being
money-motivated. I hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers in our own music,
especially in our bass player, who is a big fan of Flea. The way that
they mixed funk and hardcore into their own music has really influenced
us.”
Chantal Arroyo
(Overbass): Minor Threat/Bad Brains
“The funny thing is that Overbass just played with a Minor Threat
tribute band this weekend in Lac St-Jean. I like Minor Threat because
of the energy with the attitude. I’ve been a huge fan of Bad Brains
for years—our common band within Overbass would be something like
Faith No More but that’s a lot of work and we’re in the studio
right now so we wanted to do something more realistic. We have a different
twist because we don’t have any guitars and it’s female vocals.
The way Bad Brains could mix in reggae and hardcore in together is similar
to how we work with Overbass.”
Blacky Lalonde
(Collectivo): Latino classics
“This is really a new influence for me. A lot of the band members
have roots in this music but I am just getting into Latino music now.
Our Latino music is not really traditional because we like to approach
it with our metal roots intact. We will be doing stuff like Mano Negra
and los Fabulosos Cadillacs, which are definitely influences of ours.
I just love the colours that come out of a lot percussion and brass
and when you hear those beats and rhythms, it’s hard not to move
to them.”
Dan Hetu (Bodybag):
Led Zeppelin
“There are about nine people in the band so we picked Led Zeppelin
because it was our most common band growing up. We play the songs a
lot heavier and brutal, because we hope to show people the link between
Zeppelin and a lot of the stoner rock that is happening now. Along with
Sabbath and Deep Purple, Zeppelin are the real roots of heavy music.”
n
At Foufounes
Électriques on Sunday, Dec. 30, 7pm, $8 in advance, $12 at the
door
| 