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DOWNSEED In the Studio By Randy Chandler When asked to describe the sonic difference between his last band and his latest project, Downseed vocalist Matt McConnell is emphatic on one point, "In Project 420, there was a lot o screaming for the sake of screaming, because that was basically 'the trend'. With the new band, I'm still screaming, but it's totally for a reason. There is no way I could express the angst and emotion in our songs without tearing my throat up." Indeed, a song like Waiting for Nothing perfectly underscores that statement. "I wrote that with (guitarist) Nate Wilson at his beach house up north, but really I've been working on it my whole life. All the angst and frustration in my life up to this point went into that song. Its one of our more melodic songs, which is probably why it seems to go over well live," notes McConnell. The group's repertoire also includes the blistering Taken. "That song is about a girl - I know, every band has a song about a girl - its about a girl who's very ruthless and controlling, who's all about taking what she wants and getting her own way. It's the first song we wrote as a band." Originally formed by McDonnell and Wilson as a side project, Downseed officially came into its own with the demise of Project 420, one of the more popular local proponents of the Nu-Metal sound. The group released on full-on CD, Cyanide and Old Friends, in 2000 and recorded a follow-up in 2001 with Matt Dalton at 37 Studios before disbanding late last year. "It got to the point where we just didn't want to play together anymore," observes McConnell. "There were some differences that weren't worth working out." The timing was perfect: "When I first wanted to put this together, I had a 'dream line-up' - people I respected and admired who were into the style of music I wanted to do. Somehow, all of them were available - not only available, but really into it. Everything snowballed from there." That 'dream line-up' consists of co-lead vocalist James Farrand and his bass-playing brother Jeff, formerly of Summer's Dead (which also included former Project 420 axeman Tim Brueck), guitarist Wilson from the much-maligned but very popular Itch (who in 2000 released the Shattered Perceptions disc which, despite its ass-like production values, had the most world-class packaging of anything issued in the tri-cities thus far. This band also featured guitarist Mario Mosqueda (currently doing time in Torment). Ex-P420 skinsman Dan Cribbins and guitarist Josh Judd round out the team. Sessions for the group's soon-to-be-released debut CD took place at MPA Studios in Canton, Michigan, over the course of autumn 2001. "It's a killer facility," enthuses McConnell. "The mixing console is about ten feel long and looks like it has about a thousand channels. The sound was incredible." But recording at such a high-tech place is not cheap. Considering that Creed and Slipknot were signed on the merit of demos that cost $6,000 and $30,000 respectively, how much does a potentially star-making demo CD run a band these days? "I'd rather not divulge that figure," says Matt Stoicly, "Let's just say it was enough." McConnell is equally tight-lipped about rampant rumors that a certain major label is picking up a sizable chunk of Downseed's studio tab. "There is some label interest, but that's all I'm saying right now. Anything I say either way could jinx the whole thing, and this is way too important to all of us." For now, it is enough that the members of Downseed have found each other and are working together to put a millennial stamp on the Nu-Metal tradition. They are six guys that enjoy writing and laying together, who put on an incendiary live performance and who, by all accounts, have an absolutely riveting debut CD in the can that will soon be unleashed upon the world.
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