They May Be Young…

As a college graduate, I never thought I’d be afraid, shamefully afraid, of a 16-year-old high schooler. It’s not excusable for someone of my age and with my vast experience, at least on a local level, to be reduced to slinking discreetly down sidewalks, hanging close against the storefronts and throwing wary glances across my periphery, terrified that at the next corner I will suddenly be met with the evil countenance and grisly scream of the soulless, tormented entity that is…Kirk.
So, being too afraid to speak with the angry, growly lead singer of local metal outfit Brain In A Cage, I chose instead to aim my humble queries toward the slightly less evil, but still grisly and soulless bass player…Cor. Actually, despite what visions might cross one’s mind while hearing the contents of their seven-track 2003 debut release, Brain In A Cage frontman Kirk Williams, bassist Cor Vaspra and drummer Nik Burman all seem like easygoing, friendly guys, judging from past interviews and the fact that they are all regular high school students in Chico. But even so, only the unwise would be fooled into thinking they’re just some inexperienced high school band. They have dealt with that image in the past, and their collective drive and musical fury has risen up and rendered that adversary as gutted and lifeless as any maul victim. Those metal kids.
Vaspra answered the phone one Monday after mauling and gutting some high school finals and explained this age / experience dichotomy to the Synthesis, though perhaps not in such gory detail.
“[In the past] people would say, ‘they’re good for their age,’ and that pissed us off,” he said. “Then people got used to us in this town and we became known as Brain In A Cage, not ‘those kids who play metal.’”
And the recognition is well deserved. Keeping the pedal firmly planted on the proverbial metal, and playing shows at venues all over Chico, including Riff Raff and The Brick Works, the band members worked to shove aside any stigma that comes with being young, earning their way into the respected inner circle of Chico’s music scene. Their lyrically intelligent, structurally creative and aurally brutal style of grumbling, screaming metal has awed and frightened many wussy journalist-types with its angry, artistic wrath. They may have even put the capstone on their Chico career when, within days of the three-year anniversary of their first show, they claimed first place at a recent Battle of the Bands in Oroville, winning them a gig in the V.I.P. tent at an upcoming Slayer concert at the Sleeptrain Amphitheater and raising their status from “those kids who play metal” to “those kids who play metal with Slayer.”
And yet, even in the face of mounting recognition, Vaspra and company seem to remain steadfastly focused, almost compulsively self-critical. When asked about the worst show to date, the response was a bit surprising.
“Actually, the battle of the bands, that was the worst show that I can think of so far,” he said. “There’s a whole list of things that happened…” He goes on, citing botched bass solos, guitar straps falling off and a set cut short for lack of time, among other things that, in their eyes, ruined them. “We were like, we’re gonna be lucky if we even make third place, because that fucking sucked,” he said. “Then we got first, so…”
Assuming the Slayer show goes well, they could soon have a lot more to think about than broken strings and botched solos, as the V.I.P. show may open the door for a lot more options, as record industry professionals will be in attendance. But at the same time, Vaspra said there is a slight problem. Despite how much they’d like to forget about it and move on, the band is still in high school and at least temporarily rooted in Chico.
“I’m still thinking, like, what am I gonna do if something big happens and I’m still in school - I mean I never even thought I’d have to think about that until I got out of high school,” Vaspra said. “Then this came along, and we’re all pretty much stuck, we don’t know what to do.”
For now, the band will continue to work on its current list of projects, which include some desperately needed new equipment and possibly a full-length album sometime in the future, depending if the band has new material and whether or not they have the money, he said. And though Chico now gives them a wide berth of respect, Vaspra said in the long run, the age issue will probably tail them a while longer.
“I know with the whole Slayer thing people are going to be like, ‘damn, these guys are young,’ so I know it’s going to come back somewhat,” he said.
But whether or not the band members will be able to drive themselves to their future stadium shows, the caged rage will likely do with the rest of the world what it did in Chico, continuing to prove that age doesn’t really matter when your freakin’ eardrums are bleeding.

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