The stage for disaster is set.
Three of the touring bands have cancelled and the crowd at Ace’s
Basement is obviously there to see their favorite local band.
After the local act’s last song, it’s true; half the crowd
clears out and the other half mingles around aimlessly from the
bar to the pool tables.
Meanwhile, the members of Salem quietly set up their equipment and
tune their guitars.
Vocalist Adam D’Zurilla quietly grabs the microphone and introduces
the band. “Why don’t you guys get up here and make us
feel like we drove seven hours for something.”
Surprisingly, the remaining crowd moves up and Salem launches into
a moving powerhouse of space-rock intros that gave way to a music
that is very much all their own.
Rising up from the ashes of Gainesville, Florida’s renowned
hardcore act As Friends Rust, Salem, originally slated to be a side
project, took on a more serious tone when As Friends Rust broke
up last year.
“I joined As Friends Rust last march, and we toured under the
name As Friends Rust for a while, but it was kind of apparent that
we wanted to play different kinds of music,” D’Zurilla
said. “With so many people coming in and out of that band,
we just weren’t happy with what was going down.”
Since their conception, Salem has strayed away from the breakneck
aggressiveness of As Friends Rust as well as the tongue-in-cheek
cynicism that found its way into As Friends Rust’s music. Instead,
Salem’s music finds them creating a healthy medium between
dark riffs set at an uplifting speed. The mood of the music is essentially
fast paced and nervous, as if they don’t have enough time to
fully convey the ideas in their head to the audience. This particular
style makes for the perfect backdrop for D’Zurilla’s vocals,
a mix between the vulnerable crooning of the Smiths and the dramatic
wailing of HIM.
Not too bad, considering this is D’Zurilla’s first time
as a front man.
“I had never sang for a band before,” D’Zurilla said.
“I moved to Gainesville to play bass. I knew As Friends Rust
was looking for a singer and I liked some of their old stuff and
a lot of their new stuff and I wanted to put my own twist on it.”
Still, singing to an audience presented its challenges.
“Playing an instrument, you have a shield, something to hide
you more from the people,” D’Zurilla said. “I’m
pretty insecure about myself so it was kind of weird being up in
front.”
From watching a live performance, you could never guess. D’Zurilla
paces manically on the stage staring the audience members dead in
the eye, and coming unhinged as he loses himself in the songs.
“I think dealing with an insecurity like being shy in front
of people for me naturally was to open myself up,” D’Zurilla
said. “You don’t go streaking through campus in your underwear,
you go naked.”
The other members of Salem have also met challenges in their music,
namely the writing process,
“It’s been completely different from any other band I’ve
ever been in,” bassist Thomas Rankine said. “We all sit
down and really work on a song as a whole, so if there’s something
from the very beginning that someone’s not 100 percent into
we’d scratch it.”
With a fresh approach to their writing, a long stretch on the road
which included select dates at this summer’s Warped Tour and
some time spent into the recording studio, Salem is poised to release
their first EP, titled “Love it or Leave Me,” on October
28.
“There’s nothing worse than playing music you don’t
like, especially in front of people” D’Zurilla said. “People
can tell if you don’t like what you’re doing.”
Given the amazing performance and the congratulations of newly-won
fans, there’s no question as to whether or not they’re
doing what they love. |
by Kevin DeLury
Senior Staff Writer |
