Weedeater

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Every time you see them it’s a show that goes deep, that pushes something into you, the most crushing groove. They sound like no other band, like no style, it strikes in an almost familiar way, but is that just nostalgia from one’s first love in music, when it was a new experience? Dixie Dave bangs on the bass and roars the vocals with his burly growl, Shep smoothly produces the smooth, the fuzz, the burn of the low tuned guitar. Keko cuts like a killer into those drums; sounds of a ritual, powerhouse of the slam. What was the beginning of all of this? Dixie tells us all: “Keko and Shep were in a band called Shake, I was in After Forever. We played a bunch of shows together around here; house parties and stuff, that was a lot of fun. We also practiced in the same ‘practice shanty’, and so I started jammin’ with these guys, and so Weedeater began.”

“We didn’t have a name there, and then there was the whole Stephen King thing…” What is that? Well, the word weed-eater is first mentioned in The Gunslinger of the Dark Tower books. In this strange world (is it future? is it past?), the depressed remaining souls of a desert world drink their minds away, and eat this devil-grass that creates empty, glaring eyes, and the hell of dreams beyond any man’s control, and eventually a writhing death of madness. “…or else my dog ate my weed, I can’t remember, one of the two.” Hmmm, the mystery may never end…
The original sound of their first jams was “very aggressive, and heavy, and loud, but it was also probably faster then it is now. And that’s okay. Faster is okay, just like slower is okay…”, according to Dixie. “What inspired you to play music when you were younger?”, I asked them. “Oh ,man…” this seemed deep for Dixie, “…I listened to a lot of heavy metal like Sabbath and stuff, but before that I listened to all kinds of stuff. I guess what at the time when we were kids we called ‘hardcore’ music. Black Flag, Minor Threat, even the Misfits and such. Germs, Accused, stuff like that.” Shep had an interesting look at inspiration for songwriting: “School, and my hatred of it. And working, and my hatred of that as well. I can’t draw or anything, so I figured, hey, maybe I can play guitar and just sit on my ass all day! No, for me it’s a lot of stuff, I like a lot of the old music; lot of country, lot of folk, lot of heavy; kinda like it all.” For the old bands, the boys mentioned Skynyrd (of course) brothers of both Doobie and Allman lineage, more of that folk style. As for new bands it’s Mastodon, High on Fire, Bongzilla, Disengage, Jumbo’s KillCrane, mostly anyone that Weedeater jams or tours around with.” Speakin’ of tourin, what’s the skinny on that? Click on Tours!

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