What’s in a Name?

The word Dredg might not mean much to you, but whatever you do, don’t mention that to any of the band’s loyal followers. Since their humble Bay Area beginnings in the mid-1990s, Dredg have found themselves inking a major label deal with Interscope, touring Europe and developing an intensely devoted fan base, all of which reflects the band’s hard-working approach. And while Dredg has not necessarily become a household name quite yet, Leitmotif and El Cielo, the band’s two emotionally charged and admirably experimental albums, have struck huge chords with listeners of everything from metal to indie-rock. Now, with Catch Without Arms hitting stores on June 21st, Dredg have made some of their most focused and accessible music yet.
Los Gatos, CA, is not exactly the type of town that is usually accredited with producing aspiring musicians. However, its close proximity to bigger cities like San Jose and San Francisco allowed the four members of Dredg to successfully bond and share ideas as they spent their time together at Los Gatos High School.
“We were all into similar music in high school, especially heavier stuff,” drummer Dino Campanella says. “So that’s how we really first bonded, ‘cause we’d all be going up to the city to check out the same shows.”
This friendship resulted in some increasingly satisfying jam sessions between the foursome, and soon, they decided it was time to get serious and pick a name. However, if you’ve been looking for or expecting some deep, philosophical meaning behind the word Dredg, Campanella would advise you not to hold your breath.
“Honestly, I don’t even remember how we picked the name,” he says laughing. “We came up with it in ’95 or ’96 and it just stuck. Who knows how we were thinking back then.”
In 1998, the band independently released Leitmotif to little more than some local buzz. However, the album’s pairing of metal-tinged heaviness with a hint of much broader influences eventually resonated with listeners, and soon the band found themselves playing shows all over California.
“The Internet was a huge tool for us,” Campanella says. “It just makes it so easy to have someone be able to listen to your stuff online in say Los Angeles, and then all of the sudden you’re able to book shows down there.”
In 2001, Interscope signed the band, re-released Leitmotif and funded the recording of what would become the much more experimental and conceptual follow-up, El Cielo. If Leitmotif merely hinted at elements of funk, jazz and experimentation lying beneath its aggressive surface, then El Cielo put them all right into the spotlight, as the band incorporated some not so heavy instruments like horns, strings and pianos.
“We started off listening to mostly heavy stuff, but then, you know, I guess it’s a sign of maturing, but we started to get into other stuff like Pink Floyd and Radiohead,” Campanella says. Furthermore, Dredg has luckily been able to maintain a rare and trusting relationship with their record label, which has given them the freedom to play around with the ideas found on El Cielo.
“All the horror stories you hear about major labels, we haven’t experienced any of that shit,” Campanella says. “They just trust our vision and aren’t trying to mold us into something we’re not.”
If you could find something to criticize about Dredg’s first two albums, it would probably be that there was almost too much going on. Their creative and experimental impulses were definitely interesting, but the band often lacked a cohesive sound that they could call their own. Catch Without Arms is a deliberate attempt to fix that problem, as the band has congealed all of their strengths into an effective and unique creation which will probably surprise Dredg fans and new listeners alike.
“We were going for a sound that was a little more focused this time around,” Campanella says. “As opposed to the past two albums, we really wanted to concentrate on the feeling of the songs rather than worrying about the smaller details.”
Like the previous two albums, Catch Without Arms is a conceptual song-cycle, this time dealing with the “idea of opposites and contrasts,” Campanella says. However, this time, the combination of Mark Engles’ spacey guitar, Campanella’s solid drumming and Drew Roulette’s non-intrusive yet engaging bass playing comprise the ideal setting for Gavin Hayes’ poetic vocals. The result is a sound that should give the words “emotional rock” some positive connotations for a change.
“All of our records have managed to sound different than the last,” Campanella says. “It’s not a conscious thing we’re trying to do, but it keeps happening and it makes it really exciting.”

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