Dredg is not your typical rock band. Comprised of Gavin Hayes (vocals), Mark Engles (guitar), Drew Roulette (bass), and Dino Campanella (drums), Dredg is a band whose sound defies categorization and labels – a band whose music is as uplifting as it is inspirational.
Truly unique, the San Jose based unit’s sound spans all ends of the musical spectrum, ranging from rock to jazz to ambient to drum and bass. On their Interscope full-length debut, El Cielo, the conceptual outfit brings their eclectic mix of rock and world influences to new heights. A masterpiece of diversity and beauty, El Cielo exposes the true majestic power of music.
Gavin: In May, but because of the Internet people already have it. You know how that works.
Mark: It leaks out. We’re not a big band so it can only do us good. We’re not against sharing music over the internet, but it will be nice to get the final version out in stores so more people can hear it.
G: I think that it is more exciting and more fulfilling to open a package and…
M: …see all the art. Plus, the sound quality is so much better.
G: When you first hear [the album] you have the visual of the cover and the inlay of the actual CD to go along with the music.
Your music is very visual and you guys also incorporate a lot of visuals into your stage show. Do you change the paintings/visual objects that you use on stage often?
M: It depends on what we’ve brought with us and what Drew or Gavin have been working on.
Do you ever let your fans purchase the paintings?
G: Sometimes we’ll sell them to fans or friends.
M: We are making more prints so more people will be able to buy them.
Do you sell them after shows or do you allow fans to purchase them through the your website?
M: It is mainly all through word of mouth. If someone comes up to Drew or Gavin and asks to buy a painting they’ll sell them one. They don’t do it very often though.
Because Dredg is a very artistic and independent band where you guys apprehensive about signing with a major label?
G: No, we weren’t really apprehensive. We really looked into what we were doing when we did it. But we also knew that we wanted to do this for the rest of our lives, so a nice strong backing is helpful.
M: We didn’t jump when the first deal was offered to us.
So you all really thought about it what you were doing. It wasn’t like, “We got an offer. We better take it now because we may never get another.”
G: Interscope understands us, and they know what we are here to do.
Did any compromises have to be made with El Cielo?
M: No. Of course the label people came in with their opinions, but as far as the style, structure, and the writing was concerned we had complete freedom.
El Cielo is more progression and mature than Leitmotif.
M: Leitmotif is three of four years old. We recorded and released Leitmotif ourselves (Interscope re-released the album in 2001). I think the production on the El Cielo is a lot more complete. We’ve all improved as players.
G: The writing has really improved. [El Cielo] is a reflection of the next stage in our career musically, and the album after this one will be different as well. Each album will be its own entity.
You guys worked with three different producers on this album, what did their contributions add to Dredg’s overall sound?
G: Diversity.
Did you intend to work with three different producers of did it just happen that way?
M: It just happened that way.
In the end was it was difficult to have to tie each of their visions together to make the album sound like a cohesive whole?
G: No, not at all.
Would Dredg ever compromise artistic integrity for short-term success?
M: No. Unless I didn’t want to sleep at night, but I like sleeping so I don’t see that happening.
G: We all like sleeping.
What do you gain personally from creating music?
G: It’s a huge, huge release for me because I’m not very good with words. Music helps me to release my feelings. I get off stage or I’ll get done with writing a song and I feel really, really good.
M: It all becomes very personal. Your personal feelings and stuff are put out there for people to spit on or embrace.
Have you ever played in front of an audience that didn’t quite understand what you were doing?
G: Oh yeah, it happens sometimes. We’ve been playing for five years and out of those five years there has been a couple of times where people didn’t care for what we were doing, but that is just the way it is.
How do you turn a situation like that around?
M: Break all the equipment and destroy the stage.
When in doubt break everything.
G: Yeah. It’s actually good for your head. It is humbling. There’s no reason to think that every crowd you play in front of is going to like you. Everyone needs to be humbled once in awhile.
What do you want people to take with them after they experience your live show?
M: I’d like someone to go home and want to make something. No matter what it is. I want to make them want to write something or create something. All my favorite shows have made me want to go home and pick up my guitar or pick up a pen or whatever. I want to offer our fans some type of inspiration.
G: I want to make them think.
What was the best advice you have ever received?
M: Keep playing.
G: Keep trying.
Basically, just stick with it.
M: A lot of times you just end up in this little bubble and you don’t realize how long it takes to achieve that dream. You can look at other bands and not realize much work it is because you just kind of see them do their thing. You don’t realize that there are going to be a lot of crappy moments before you get to where you want to be. A lot of people don’t realize that.
G: Some other good advice is that you shouldn’t listen to other people’s opinions and don’t listen to any other advice.
In a way that is true because if you took everybody’s opinion into consideration you’d be changing your sound every week.
G: Yeah.
Dredg has been together for about ten years, is that correct?
G: Close to it. We’ve been really serious for about six though. At first we were just messing around, but we’ve been playing for a while now.
How has Dredg’s sound change since the early days?
G: We were heavier.
M: We were more one-dimensional. Gavin’s vocals have improved and improved since then.
G: I originally played guitar with Mark. We had a different singer, and we played cover songs, most of which were metal. Then I just started screaming or whatever because our singer left. I just screamed everything because it was the easiest thing to do. (Laughs). It is the easiest thing to do when you are first starting out. Plus, we were into the really heavy music back then.
M: Which I still like every once and a while.
G: Yeah, I still love it but I enjoyed it much more as a teen.
Do you remember when the defining moment was when Dredg’s sound became what it is now?
M: When we started writing for Leitmotif is when we finally became what we are today.
G: Having the ability to record and listen back to what we had written was a big turning point because we knew what worked and what didn’t and what we wanted to change. Our first recording was a big help.
Did you record all of El Cielo at George Lucas’ studio?
G: No, just part of it.
From what I hear, the surrounding area is beautiful. Did the scenery contribute to the mood of the album?
G: Yeah. It was beautiful.
M: Just the drive to the studio each day was amazing. We would walk into the studio with a really good state of mind.
G: We would drive across the Golden Gate bridge everyday, make a left off the 101, and go through the greenest, plushest grass you could imagine. And, the lake is just beautiful.
M: You can’t be in a bad mood after that drive.
How do you feel about releasing such an artistic album in the current musical market?
M: I think that if you look at what’s on the charts and base anything that you do by what is on the charts you’ve already lost. There is no way we are going to look at anyone else and try to catch up. It is like the old saying, “Once you see the band wagon you’re already fucked.” So we’re just going to do what we do and if people like it that’s amazing and if they don’t then oh well. We’re just going to keep doing what we like because I don’t think we started this band in the first place to do what people like. We just do it because we enjoy playing the music.
While growing up which bands impressed you with what they were doing?
G: I was impressed with Sepultura when they released Chaos A.D.
M: Yeah, the progression they exhibited on that album was great.
G: And their progression as a band as well.
M: They started as a death metal band then they slowly turned into something that was cultural.
G: I started to like them about the time they released Beneath the Remains and Arise. Actually, Arise is what really turned me on to them and then I went back and listened to Beneath the Remains. But the transition from Arise to Chaos A.D. was amazing.
M: We are nowhere near as heavy as they are. But I admire the analogy of how they progressed as a band. They just became their own thing. No band out there sounded like them.
G: No one even sounded like them.
Were you bummed out when Max left?
M: Of course.
D: Yeah, whatever. I got over it and then I turned to Pink Floyd.
Are you Soulfly fans?
M: They’re good. I’m just not into that style of music anymore. If I want to listen to that style of music then I listen to old Sepultura. It’s more of the same. Kyuss was a big influence on me when I was younger, especially the guitar work.
How did one of your songs end up on a radio station in Boston when you were still an unsigned band?
D: A friend of ours from L.A. ended up going to college in Boston. He had a late night radio show and he just played our song and it got a lot of request and did really well. At the time we were at #2 and I think Limp Bizkit was #1.
Los Gatos is a pretty small place. What is the music scene like?
M: It has a small music community. The music scene out there isn’t very competitive. It is more like a community. No one fights for the top. We’ve always heard stories that in L.A. there is a lot of competition between the bands.
You can see why. You’re here at the Roxy and there’s at least five more clubs within walking distance.
G: Los Gatos is part of everything – San Francisco, Sacramento…it’s all like one thing. We grew up with a lot of great music. It’s different up there. It’s not competitive. It is more about helping each other as bands. For instance, Leisure is originally from Sacramento and we’ve played shows with them before. We’re friends with them and now we are playing a show with them at The Roxy.
M: They’re down here now doing their own thing.
G: They’ve been down here for a while now just doing their own stuff.
Did you guys hook them up with this show or was it just coincidence that they ended up on the same bill?
M: We have mutual management, but they do their own thing. They are fine by themselves, but it’s nice to be able to play shows with friends when you can.
How often did you guys play shows before you signed with Interscope?
M: We played about a year and a half straight before we got signed. We were working our asses off. We toured the whole West Coast. Before that we were all in college, so we only played in the summer and the holidays before we decided to commit to this 100%.
Did you finish College?
M: No.
What were your majors?
M: I was a science dork.
G: I studied art. I wanted to get into special effects but it didn’t happen. I wanted to make video games and stuff like that. Maybe I’ll go back when I’m 60.
What would you have done if music didn’t pan out?
M: I wanted to be some sort of field scientist - like a geologist. A Doctor title would be nice, but I’m too lazy for that. Eight years of school doesn’t sound fun.
Eight years of school is a long time. What are some of your hobbies?
M: I love film. I love to see movies. I love to watch other bands. I like going to see underground bands or any band that might create an inspiration. I love hiking and nature stuff too.
D: I like art, sports, anything that is different than what we do is always fun. I enjoy just going to a baseball game and hanging out with friends.
When you guys on tour and you have a day off in between shows do you go out and see what the city has to offer?
M: Yes.
G: Either that or we just sleep.
M: It depends on where we are. If we’re in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I’m sorry to the people that live in Tulsa if they happen to read this, I wouldn’t really try to look around. But, when we were in Germany we took any chance that we had to see the city. We got out there and walked and experienced everything. We don’t always have chances like that because we are always playing shows.
G: When we’re in an exciting place like New York we have to get out as much as possible.
New York is a happening place, especially late at night. In L.A. everything shuts down at 2 a.m.
M: Yeah, that’s so shitty.
In New York no one leaves their house until midnight.
M: Plus, you can walk everywhere in Manhattan or hop on the subway. Here it is like, “Give us a car so we can drive twenty minutes just to go see someone.” It’s pathetic.
Do you have any favorite hangouts in Los Angeles?
M: I like any place along the coast. Hollywood is always fun, but I wouldn’t say that it is my favorite place.
G: Artesia.
Artesia? Okay...what is out there?
G: I’m just kidding. I once had a friend that lived out there. I like the coast. The beaches are nice and so is the architecture.
Will there be any surprises on stage tonight?
M: We’re bringing a donkey.
Will it bear any resemblance to the donkey shows in Mexico?
M: (Laughs). Naw, we’ll probably play some songs that people haven’t heard in a long time.
So are you enjoying the lifestyle of a signed band?
M: It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun.
Is it more work than you expected?
M: I think we knew what we were getting into. We knew enough people that were signed when we were growing up and they warned us. When you make friends with people who are a step ahead of you they warn you. They will come off a tour and they’ll say, “It’s fun but it is not what it looks like.” You turn on MTV and they show the tour bus and all that other crap and make it look glamorous but it’s not.
Is there anything else that you would like to say?
M: This message goes to anyone who listens to us: Thank you for your ears.
For more on Dredg visit: www.dredg.com
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