A Seashell in a Sea of Shells

Dredg Fit In By Sticking Out

By Daniel Taylor

Though this year’s Taste of Chaos lineup is definitely a change from last year’s more straightforward cast of heavy hitters, transcendental alt-rockers Dredg are still something of an anomalous addition to the tour. Their most recent disc, Catch Without Arms, is a thinking man’s rock album, with stark, artful arrangements countered by spacey guitars and complex lyrical themes. Though also somewhat baffled by his band’s inclusion, Dredg frontman Gavin Hayes is nevertheless excited about playing to a bit of a different crowd.

How did you guys end up on the Taste of Chaos tour?
To be honest, I don’t really know completely. We have the same booking agent as the Deftones, so I think that was probably the link, since they’re on the tour. We’d toured with them before and it was a great experience, so that was part of the reason why we agreed to it. But, I don’t think we really mesh into the tour so well.

I can kind of see it, though.
It works, but it’s just so many people. These are all, for the most part, arenas and stuff.

Is that daunting at all, to think that you may be playing for 10,000 kids who may or may not really understand what you’re doing, and who may not really fit into what could be considered your core audience?
We’re pretty much up for anything. We’ve done a broad array of different tours; we played with, like, Ozomatli, who are nothing like us, but it worked. I think we have enough diversity within our material that, if necessary, we can mold sets to the style of the tour. Certain songs will work better on certain tours; it’s pretty much a fact. So I think because of the diversity within our material, we’re able to branch out in a lot of different areas and still connect in a certain manner.

Bookmark:

Record Label Interscope Released June 2005

Tracks Ode to the Sun Bug Eyes Catch Without Arms Not That Simple Zebraskin The Tanbark is Hot Lava Sang Real Planting Seeds Spitshine Jamais Vu Hung Over on a Tuesday Matroshka (The Ornament)