|
|
The Return of SILVERSPORK
By Randy Chandler
My first encounter with Silverspork occurred a few years back,
during an "open mic" night at Wiseguys. The band I was with at the time
had been hosting the event, and that particular evening had seen a handful
of up-and-coming new bands, along with the usual assortment of oddballs who
come out of the woodwork whenever the words 'open mic' are uttered.
But nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to witness. In
fact, I hadn't even been paying attention to the ongoing carnival of freaks
on the stage - but all that changed when Silverspork appeared.
Showcasing a short set of their own material, the original line-up (Bryan
Gretzinger, vocals; Carl Abila, guitars; Dan Kay, bass; Scott Dankers,
drums) proceeded to lay waste to all around them with music that was both
heavy and melodic and completely original. Gretzinger's performance was
electrifying, a whirling dervish with a powerful voice that was pleasantly
devoid of the death-metal cookie monster-isms so prevalent in today's heavy
music. The band laid down Huge Grooves. Punctured by Abila's staccato
riffing, when they had finished their set all in attendance (myself
included) were completely blown away. Pete Crawford just happened to
witness the group that night, and a week later Silverspork had a weekly gig
at Wiseguys.
Into every band's life must enter change, and Dankers was the first to
leave the group. He was replaced by former Internal Hate Generator skinsman
Mario Salcedo, who brought a solidity to the lineup that was previously
lacking. With Salcedo on board, the band entered Whitehead Studios in
Saginaw to record their debut CD. The resulting effort was released in
early 2000 and was well received locally. They continued to perform and
promote their eponymous debut, but another huge change was around the
corner.
A trip to Arizona opened Gretzinger's eyes to a wider range of
possibilities. "Compared to here," he told me shortly after his initial
return, "it's backwards. Out there are very few cover bars. The clubs there
want you to play originals, and people out there actually go out to see
original bands more than they do the cover bands." A move to Phoenix was
planned. The band left last summer.
Carl and Dan arrived first, staying at Carl's Aunt's home until they could
secure employment, shelter, and rehearsal space. Bryan and Mario followed
soon after.
"When we got out there we picked out this little 12' x 12' practice room
and rehearsed every day," said Abila. "We didn't really write any new
material; we mainly concentrated on being as tight as possible."
"We wanted to go out and kill," smiles Salcedo.
The band hooked-up with Lorrie Dukett of Extreme Entertainment, a local
promoter who took them under her wing. "We did somewhere between 12 - 20
shows out there, and most of them were really cool," says Gretzinger. "It
was starting to pick up."
But then tragedy struck. A death in Abila's immediate family brought him
home, and the rest of the group followed suit. "It felt like, 'Time to come
home," says Abila. "I really need to be with my family right now."
"But it's not like we're not playing, " interjects Salcedo. Indeed, the
band will appear at The Watering Trough on Saturday, Sept. 22nd with
special guests 40 Flee and Roosterfish.
"It's a good lineup," says Gretzinger. "It should be a really good show.
Our last gig in Saginaw was packed, so hopefully our 'homecoming' show will
be just as cool. "
More dates are up and coming that have yet to be announced.
Silverspork recently endured another big change with the departure of
bassist Daniel Kay. "Everything is cool between him and the band," assures
Abila. "It just got to the point where we were approaching the band from
two different angles. We're all still friends and we wish him well."
Kay is succeeded by Ryan Phillips, formerly of Killing the Kind/State of
Outrage, whose band, as luck would have it, disbanded at the same time as
Kay's exit from Silverspork. "BrentFigg didn't want to do it anymore. He
figured we'd gone as far as we could go with what we were doing," says
Phillips. "He wanted to write in a different style, more a 'solo' thing.
Chris (Bartnikowski, KTK's drummer) and I tried moving on with a different
guy, and we did a couple shows, and it just wasn't there. So when the
opportunity came for me to get wilt Silverspork, I jumped at it."
"It's definitely a lot tighter now," confirms Salcedo. "It really made a
difference."
While the band has not as yet written and new material with Phillips, they
did recently enter Matt Palmer's studio in Bay City to record three songs
that were written just after the release of the first CD. Plans for the
finished project seem to be unclear, but the group feels they should have
something new to give their fans.
"We did the State of Outrage disc (Partnership for a Free America, 2001)
there," says Phillips of Palmer's facility. "That went well and I liked
working with Matt, so I suggested it to the guys." The session went
smoothly, albeit uneventfully; no wacky studio anecdotes this time around.
There was this one scream in one of our songs, and I must have done it a
hundred times that day," observes Gretzinger.
"We rehearse every day and I'm never hoarse. I was hoarse that day."
|
|
