Shane Dubose: A musician’s musician
It’s an honor to know Shane Dubose. Not only is he a nice guy, but he’a also a consummate musician — as anyone who’s seen him in one of his many bands over the years will attest.
But that’s not all. Shane is also the head honcho for ProgPowerUSA’s much-talked about and highly anticipated Pre-Party shows. This year, for ProgPower USA VII (September 14th, 2006) at The Vinyl Club (Inside Earthlink Live - upstairs), Shane has put together an event that showcases four exceptional bands: Leatherwolf, Circle II Circle, Theocracy, and Circus Maximus.
I recently spoke to Shane about his bands, his love of music, and the blood, sweat and tears that goes into making the Pre-Party concerts the unabashed successes that they are.
Without further ado, I present for your consideration Shane Dubose…
BM: Hi, this is Bill.
SD: Hi, this is Shane. How you doin’, buddy?
BM: Great! You know what? I haven’t seen you since ProgPower III.
SD: Yeah, it’s been a while. It’s been a while.
BM: What happened to your hair?
SD: Oh, it’s gone, man!
BM: Yeah, I’ve seen pictures of you on MySpace, and I thought, “Man, this isn’t the Shane I remember.” You had hair down to the middle of your back, didn’t you?
SD: I know. I sure did. I cut it off. I wanna say it was later that year.
BM: Really?
SD: I’m pretty sure it was later that year. Yeah. I just got sick of it, you know? And I had it for so many years, and heck, decided to change it out. I’m thinking about growing it back, it’s still a little short, but I just can’t get past that ugly phase you go through, you know what I mean?
BM: Yeah. [laughs]
SD: So I just keep shaving it all off. [laughs]
BM: Well, there are a whole lot of things to ask you about. Let me start with the question that comes to mind when I look at MySpace is this: you’re in Krucible, you’ve got the Mindcrime thing going…so where do you find the time to put together a pre-show party for ProgPower?
SD: It’s crazy. I’ll tell ya, this year will be the first year that I’ve gone back in with this project, gone into ProgPower. Before, I guess to give you kind of a full history, this will be the fifth year that I’ve done the Pre-Party. And the very first one that we did, I originally thought of the idea for doing this for the band I was in at the time, which was Z-Lot-Z. Now, this band I’m in now is sort of a reformation of that band. But that band, I left the band before ProgPower that year, so we didn’t get to play. I played with another band, as a matter of fact, at that time, but I ended up going through some different things. I played in Outworld for a while, I played in Stride for a while, and everything kind of came back full circle this year and I got back involved with this. It’s a lot. You know, things seem to be going pretty smoothly so far. [laughs]
BM: [laughs]
SD: Yeah, last year was a little crazy ’cause the wife was pregnant and the baby was born right before ProgPower, so that was crazy. But this year seems to be going pretty smooth.
BM: Wow. What does it take to do what you do? For all the people who just kind of show up at ProgPower and dig the music and all that, what’s going on behind the scenes? How do you put a Pre-Party show together?
SD: Well, I tell you what, man. The whole thing really was…it’s a win-win, you know? When I first started the thing, I approached Glenn about it, ’cause he had a Pre-Party, but they just had local bands playing, and the bands were not even in the genre that we are there for. They were just kind of the new metal stuff and I thought it was just kind of ho-hum at the party and stuff. So I approached him about it, and he said, “Well, if you want to do it, take it and run.” So I did, and I started it off to where it was gonna be more of a chance for bands that are kind of on the cusp to play for people who can possibly make a difference, you know? That being said, it’s kind of grown a little bit out of that now, into something a lot bigger. It’s kind of taken on a life of it’s own. And it’s really kind of done it all by itself. [laughs] You know, we really haven’t done anything other than provide the bands, you know, and make it happen, and the logistics at the show.
BM: Oh yeah.
SD: You know, it’s just kind of taken on a life of it’s own. The main thing I want to do is make sure that I do keep one band every year, at least, that is unsigned, and at least is still playing the show. This year, we got three signed acts, and then we have Theocracy playing first. So I just want to make sure that we have that one band in the fold. It actually worked. My whole grand scheme actually worked for Stride two years ago. They played the Pre-Party, then they got signed, and the next year they played on the main stage.
BM: Which band is that?
SD: Stride.
BM: Oh yeah, great band!
SD: So it worked for them. You know, I was in the band for a while, and helped them out with a lot of things, and then kind of just went in different directions musically, I think more than anything else. But still continued to help them along the process, and they got on the main stage, played last year, and got a deal with Ken Golden and Sensory. Things worked out great for those guys, and I’m hoping to make that happen more. So, you know.
BM: Well, what physically…how do you — let me ask you about the bands. There are four really good bands you’ve got set up.
SD: Right.
BM: How did you pick them? What were your criteria?
SD: Well, kinda hard to say. There are a lot of choices. First of all, I have to like the band, number one. Secondly, a lot of its logistics, because I just can’t afford to have a bunch of international bands like Glenn. It’s not to that stage yet. Just last year was the first year I got an international band. We got Dreamscape back over. And it seemed to really work well last year, bringing a band that played the main stage last year to come back and play the Pre-Party in a bigger, larger capacity, as far as a longer set, and that type of thing. And they loved it. Dreamscape loved it so much, well heck, let’s try it again this year. Circus Maximus was all for it, and I love that band. I mean their new album, The 1st Chapter, what a great album that is.
BM: Yeah, I agree with ya.
SD: And my guitar player is also in Leatherwolf, so that worked out perfect.
BM: Really?
SD: Yeah. Eric Halpern. He also played in Destiny’s End and Helstar. So he’s been around a bit, and so that worked out great for Leatherwolf. And Circus Maximus, I mean Circle II Circle — we’ve got two Circus and Circle bands, and I kind of confuse them. But anyway, that worked out through Glenn, because, I don’t know how in detail I should get, let’s just say thanks to Glenn for the assist on that one. You know? He kind of helped me out with that one, which is great. They kind of, they’ve been one to get back. He’s been wanting them back and it just didn’t quite work out just yet, and this thing came open, and I said well man, I have headlining band material, but if they want in, they want to headline this show, bring ’em on. So we worked it out, you know?
BM: That’s great. When you approach bands for this, are they like, oh yeah, ProgPower, sign me up? Or do you have to convince them at all?
SD: No, there’s no convincing. I had a band turn me down this year, and that was the first time that’s happened, but I think I kind of reached a little on it, you know what I mean? But most of the time –
BM: What band is that?
SD: They played ProgPower before.
BM: Really?
SD: Yeah, yeah. I really wanted to get them. See, logistically it would have worked, ’cause they’re in the states. So I really wanted to get them. I just don’t think the time was right for them, they were going through a bass player change, and just settling in with their singer and that type of thing. They also just turned down the metal fest in Chicago, I believe, if I’m not mistaken. But I think that next year that might be a better possibility. It’s hard to say. But for the most part, Bill, the bands approach me.
BM: Really? That’s a good position to be in.
SD: For the most part. I mean, I have, dude, you wouldn’t believe the amount of CDs and you know, I just get them all the time. And mostly from bands that are on the cusp, so to speak, wanting to play the show. And like I said, it’s kind of grown out. I can kind of pick and choose at this point, you know, who I want. I have a list. It’s sorta like the way Glenn does it, but not exactly. I’ll have a list of, and I have to keep it kind of scaled down because of finances, but I have a list of, you know, my first list and my second list. And then my first list, my alternate list, and then I have my unsigned list. That’s kinda what it turned into. You know, I go for the first first, and the alternate after that, and this year, it was out of like 5 or 6 different bands and this was the way it turned out.
BM: How does it work? Does Glenn like, give you a budget, and say, “Here’s ten grand, Shane”?
SD: No, no, it’s completely self-financed through the show.
BM: Is it really?
SD: This show stands on it’s own from ProgPower. There’s no financial support from Glenn.
BM: Wow, that’s awesome.
SD: Yeah, it’s really worked out great. Like I said, it’s a win-win. Everybody’s already there, you know what I mean? They’re already coming in for the big show. So it’s just a why not? I told him when I started this thing, I was like, man, what an opportunity this is for other bands. And see, we didn’t start off in, you were at the third one, we were at the Riviera that year –
BM: Yep, I remember that.
SD: — And I loved that club, and that was a great place. And that was really even more, I guess, detached from the main show, because it was held at a different location. Now it’s closer to the main show, it’s in the same building. It’s upstairs from the main venue. So this will be our third different venue, actually last year was the first year in the loft, but it works out great. We do kind of share some of the back line with Glenn if needed. I’ll just rent or whatever a day early. For the most part, we have one band on the show that provides the back line for all the other bands. And we do it like that. And so it’s worked out great so far. Last year we did the acoustic set with DC Cooper and with Orphaned Land, and that was just fantastic. The biggest problem with that was logistics in the sound department. It was kind of difficult because DC played third, Orphanland played second, so we went from Outworld playing first a full-on power set, then two acoustic sets, then Dreamscape last with the full-on power set. So the switch over was a little bit different. And kinda challenging. And I had some kind of oddball instruments that we rented, and so that was cool.
BM: Well I gotta tell you, the Pre-Party is just as much of a great gig as the main show itself. I mean, to me, I look forward to these bands just as much as any I’ll see the next day.
SD: I really appreciate that, man, I tell ya. For me, it’s really become a blessing. It’s just I got lucky. I’ll be honest with you, man, I just got lucky.
BM: [laughs]
SD: And I don’t take any credit for this, I’m just the beneficiary of this, really. This is all Glenn. This is Glenn’s baby. Even the whole Pre-Party. I mean, it was my idea, but you know, Glenn allows this to happen. We would not have the chance to do this for any other bands at all if it wasn’t for his cooperation with it, you know? And the club, too, for that matter. The Earthlink, they’ve been great.
BM: It’s a good venue. It’s a nice size.
SD: Oh certainly, certainly. And even the loft, you know, it’s not nearly as big as of course the main venue, but it’s still plenty big for what we want to do. It’ll hold about 1000 people, you know, the stage isn’t as big, but heck, I mean we don’t need that. It would be great to have that big stage, but in no way would I push for that, and I don’t want that. I’d rather keep it in a smaller, more up close, up front, personal type thing. I think that’s kind of part of the appeal of it too.
BM: Well yeah. It’s a little more intimate. I can see that.
SD: Yeah, I like that intimacy. I think it works well. I think the bands like it too. Everybody has just been really happy so far. This year I’m hoping everything stays the same. You know, and I’m tellin’ ya, the European bands have just been so gracious, man. Orphanland and Dreamscape was just so awesome last year, and the Circus Maximus guys are just fantastic guys. I mean, just to come over here again, just shows you how much fun they had last year, know what I mean? Because they’re not making a whole bunch of money. [laughs]
BM: [laughs]
SD: We just don’t have that kind of finances to pay these guys a bunch of money. I mean, we’ll cover their expenses and give them a little bit more, as much as we can. And it’s just great that they’re able to come back over here and are so happy about it. Hang on one second, man, my dog’s trying to get to another dog…[sound of barking] Hey, get over here! Get out, go! Come on, go! [Shane returns to phone] Don’t ever buy a bulldog, man.
BM: [laughs] No, I’m a cat person, actually.
SD: Buddy, we are too. We have three cats and this bulldog, and good lord! He’s a mess!
BM: [laughs] This is your fifth year doing this. Has it been five consecutive?
SD: Yes.
BM: Ok, since, wow, since the second one or third one, right?
SD: Um, since the third one, yeah. The third one was the first year.
BM: Oh really.
SD: Yeah, so you were at the first year. I played that one.
BM: Yeah, I remember.
SD: With Halcyon’s Way, so yeah, that was the first year. And gosh, I… You know we had that year was Cea Serin and Magistral and Persephone’s Dream. The second year was Stride and Primary and Category Five. Then the third year we had to go into the downstairs from the venue ’cause the loft wasn’t ready yet. We were gonna do it in the loft, but we did it in the vinyl club the third year, and that was Enertia, Prototype, Magistral once again, and who was the fourth band? Now I’m losing my mind. These guys are gonna kill me. I can’t remember the fourth band. [laughs]
BM: We’ll fill in the blanks later.
SD: Yeah. Yeah, we’ll fill it in. Then last year was when it really got a lot bigger. Prototype was really the first bigger band I guess that I billed. And then from that it just got, you know, the next year, man, it blew up.
BM: How did this guy from Texas hook up with Glenn from Atlanta anyway? How did you connect with him?
SD: The first year, at ProgPower Atlanta, I mean in Chicago, my guitar player played in Destiny’s End, like I was telling you before, and he got us into the show. Working with Destiny’s End. And my band (Z-Lot-Z) was also working with Molten Metal at the time and Molten Metal was a vendor. So we got in through Molten Metal and Eric with Destiny’s End, and we helped work with Molten Metal and the vendor booth and we just got to hanging out and meeting Glenn and that type of thing. And the next year was the first year in Atlanta. The show was of course at the Earthlink, but the Pre-Party was at the Cotton Club, and the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was upstairs, the Cotton Club was downstairs. And the Tabernacle actually the same night, System of a Down was playing.
BM: Oh really.
SD: And we were all downstairs, and the ceiling was bowing, the people were jumping up and down, it was crazy. But that was the night I said hey, we gotta do something here. Let’s do something. And it just worked out like that, you know?
BM: That’s great.
SD: Just being a fan of the music, you know? We were all just fans and that’s how it all just came about. Glenn gets all the props, man. He’s just done a great job with this.
BM: Oh yeah. What is it you like about…well, let me ask you first about the bands. You mentioned a couple of the bands were really great guys. Circus Maximus you said was a great group of guys. Are you surprised at all that a lot of these bands have really cool guys in them, or is that par for the course for these types of bands?
SD: From what I’ve seen so far, it’s par for the course. And now, understand the bands I’ve dealt with on — I mean, I’ve worked the main show too, so I see all sides of a lot it too– but just my personal dealings with the Pre-Party, the bands that come are all very, very gracious. And they’re not the biggest bands, they’re not Stratovarius or Helloween or Angra, you know what I mean? Not saying anything bad about those guys, ’cause I’ve struck up just an incredible friendship and relationship with Felipe from Angra, so you know, you have it everywhere. But every band I’ve dealt with at the Pre-Party has just been incredibly gracious. And it seems that it’s more so from the European bands, ’cause they’re coming so far. So they got to really want to do this show. Financially, it’s not benefiting them. they’re coming to do the show. They’re making fans, of course, and they’re playing for the people. They just want to play. They love the fans, they love the music, and they just wanna play in the states. And this is really, those bands that have one or two albums out, that aren’t the biggest bands, can come over here and play this and not go in the hole, and play for their fans, and have a great weekend with everybody. It’s been great.
BM: What can the fans expect from the pre show this year?
SD: Ooh. [laughs] That’s funny, man, because I go into it so damn stressed out, hoping everything doesn’t fall apart, you know? [laughs]
BM: [laughs]
SD: Last year, we were so worried, because it’s kind of a funny story, the DC Cooper thing really just came together in about a month’s time. They weren’t booked. Avian was booked, and Avian had to pull out of the show last year, so the DC Cooper thing was a must. And they threw that together with people from all over the states, and did the acoustic stuff, and that was great. So it’s very stressful. It’s going to be a fantastic show though. I mean, we’re going to do everything–I learned my lesson from last year. I spread myself personally too thin last year. You know, I was trying to do everything, and I had a crew, but I don’t think everybody was as prepared as we really needed to be for the size the show had become. And I know what it takes ’cause I worked the main stage crew. I know what it takes. This year is going to be different. We’re going to prepare this year. And nothing went wrong, but I think I spread myself personally too thin. So this year that’s going to change. It’s going to be a great show. All the bands are psyched. I’ve talked to all the bands, everybody’s ready to fly with it, all the bands are working really hard, you know, getting ready for it, and hey man, it’s gonna be killer.
BM: Speaking of which, is there somebody from each of these bands you think I ought to talk to that would best represent them?
SD: Let me get back to you on the Circle II Circle one, because I’ve been dealing mostly with their management more than anything. I’ll get back to you.
BM: Ok, shoot me an e-mail or something in the next few weeks if you can. Give me who you think I should talk to and contact info if you can swing that.
SD: Sure, absolutely. Dean would be the one in Leatherwolf. I’ll get his name from Eric. I’ve been dealing with Eric on the Leatherwolf thing. He’s been kind of playing in-between. Mike would be the guy from Circus Maximus, singer. and Matt from Theocracy. I’ll get you all that contact information, certainly.
BM: Great.
SD: I’m kinda walking a fine line, Bill, between the management and the band and the promoter. you know, it’s a fine line, I’m doing the best I can. It’s difficult to explain. I could put my band on that bill anytime I want, you know what I mean? But how would that look, you know what I’m saying?
BM: Well, a little self-promotion’s not too bad.
SD: It’s not, but I don’t want to, that’s a difficult thing. It’s a political thing. And I don’t wanna blow, you know, another band’s chances that’s been trying to get in and is deserving of getting in, just to put my band on the show. Now I can do that, and I ‘d like to do that. I think next year, my band will be ready. We’re going to open for Wasp and Lizzie Borden next month. That will be our first show back doing the original thing. Only three or four of the band members do both the Queensryche and the original band. So we have two members that are different. Actually, the singer and the drummer are different. The drummer actually — a little bit of background info — the drummer for the Queensryche tribute just wrote and published the Queensryche drum book for Scott Rockenfield.
BM: Oh really?
SD: Yeah, he wrote all the sheet music for every Queensryche song in the catalog in that book.
BM: Holy cow.
SD: Yeah, it’s pretty crazy, man. So Queensryche’s coming here in September, Rock will hook us all up with passes and tickets. Scott Rockenfield is just a great guy, man. So that’s pretty cool. Craig just got hooked up with that thing. He’s a great drummer, man, I’ll tell you. [laughs]
BM: [laughs]
SD: I’ve never seen a drummer that could play through the set reading all the sheet music. It’s pretty cool.
BM: Well Queensryche is actually going to be in Michigan, the timing is poor for this, ’cause they’re going to be here in Michigan the day I return from ProgPower.
SD: They’re going to be here the 26th, so we got lucky by a week, you know?
BM: Oh man. If I fly out of Detroit I may be able to do it, or if I fly back into Grand Rapids and drive to Detroit.
SD: There you go. Have you heard the new album?
BM: Oh yeah. You know I actually like it. It seems to be stronger than anything they’ve done in ten years.
SD: It’s the strongest thing since Promised Land.
BM: Oh yeah, I agree with that.
SD: But did Da Vinci ever recreate the Mona Lisa, you know what I mean?
BM: [laughs] No. I think they took a huge risk even calling it Mindcrime II.
SD: BIG risk. Big risk. And they’re going to get a lot of criticism. But you know, I enjoy the album. I don’t dislike it by any means. You just, man, you have to really, really outdo yourself if you’re gonna come close on a follow-up to Mindcrime, man.
BM: That’s actually one of my favorite albums of all time. I’ve never heard an album that completely blew me away from the first track or two.
SD: Oh, it’s simply, throughout all the years playing and listening and all this stuff, I was doing the Queensryche tribute before I left Z-Lot-Z, so I’ve been doing it for four or five years, back before ProgPower three, and prior to that. So we did it and then I just got back in right after ProgPower again, and all the albums that you listen to, all the Sabbath albums with Dio, the Dream Theater, all that stuff — there’s still one album you go back to and that’s Operation Mindcrime, you know?
BM: Yeah. I do.
SD: That’s THE album. It’s just like the album that set the standard, you know? There were some before that, but then nothing came close.
BM: No. And I was waiting with baited breath, as soon as they released all the remastered CDs, I was there, man. I just loaded up.
SD: Oh absolutely. Glenn and I talked about bringing Mindcrime to ProgPower, to the Pre-Party. And we thought about doing it this year or last year, but I don’t know how that would have come off. I know they do that in Europe, they bring a tribute band for the Pre-Party. So it may work out, actually, really well, but I don’t know. I’m a little bit hesitant to do that. [laughs] You know, we’ve got a good lineup though. Chris Salinas formerly of Power Romans, now with Zero Hour is singing. He was actually in the original band, too. When he got the Zero Hour gig, he had to leave, and everything took him there.
BM: I was going to ask you about…I’ll jump right into talking about your bands now because you brought it up. I was going to anyway. Let me talk about the Mindcrime thing for a minute. How close — I haven’t’ heard your tribute band — but how can you match Geoff Tate? How does this guy even get close to that?
SD: Man, have you ever heard Chris Salinas sing?
BM: No, I haven’t actually.
SD: Ok, you’d have to hear him sing. He’s Geoff Tate.
BM: How Geoff Tate used to be, perhaps?
SD: Yeah. Absolutely. Hang on…Ok, sorry. I’m talking too loud, I’m going to wake the baby up. Yeah, he’s just, we do everything from the EP up to Promised Land. But he’s just perfect. He’s perfect. Everything from the tone to the high notes to the low notes. Everything. He’s just ideal. And previously we had a different singer, which was the singer from? at the time, and he sounded more like a totally more modern Tate. But he sang the old Tate great, but Chris is just a dead ringer, man. Dead ringer.
BM: Well that’s great, because I miss those high notes. I miss “Queen of the Ryche” or “Take Hold of the Flame.” I miss that stratospheric sort of –
SD: Yeah, those are the two standards of our set. [laughs]
BM: Oh man.
SD: Two songs, and then we, I can run a song list. We do mainly Empire, and off Empire, “Best I Can” and “Jet City Woman” off Empire. We pretty much know all the songs on Mindcrime, but we don’t always play them all, it depends on how long the set is. We plan on doing, before too long, a full-on Mindcrime show.
BM: That would be great!
SD: You know, front to back type thing like they did on the last tour.
BM: I actually saw them back in the day, like 1989, ’90, do that entire thing.
SD: Me too, me too. Was Suicidal Tendencies opening?
BM: No, actually. I don’t remember who was. I know it was a headline show, but I don’t remember who was opening.
SD: Well you know, I wanna say that the video for Operation Livecrime was recorded in Michigan.
BM: It was, no, actually Wisconsin. I think it was Madison.
SD: Ah, that’s right. But that tour, that was the Empire tour. But they did all of Operation Mindcrime front to back. And that was the second time I saw them. I saw them actually open for Dokken back on Rage for Order. But that tour, talk about opening my eyes. I was living in Louisiana at the time, I grew up there. And I was in New Orleans, at Lakefront Arena, and it was just amazing. But Chris is a dead ringer. And we really take pride in the musicianship too. We pretty much hit the nail on the head on every song. It’s pretty much as close as you’ll get. We’ve had people tell us it’s better than Queensryche now.
BM: Yeah. I don’t doubt that. So you can pull off the Eddie Jackson stuff without a hitch?
SD: Oh, no! Eddie’s a great bass player, it’s really no problem playing his stuff, and I really enjoy it. And we really take pride a lot in our vocal harmonies, too. Myself and the keyboard player both sing all the backups. And it’s as close as it’s gonna get. [laughs] We have a keyboard player that was in the original band, so he was an actual member of Mindcrime too. So it’s not like the typical aspect of a tribute band, like if you see a KISS tribute band? You know? Because we have a keyboard player that’s on stage. So we’re a six piece. But we need that for samples and all the different keyboard parts, you know, the “Silent Lucidity” and “Someone Else” with the piano pieces and all that type stuff. We need those keys, it’s very important. So he’s a full-fledged member of the band and I need him, because he sings really well. So we pull off those harmonies pretty well, I think. But we should be, you know, we’ve been doing a lot more shows lately, man. Things are seeming to pick up. We’ve caught some eyes over on the West Coast too. We’re working on some shows in Vegas and LA before too long.
BM: How about Michigan, dude?
SD: I’d love to, man. Set something up, we’ll do it!
BM: Well, I know Tammy Z. from Rock the Madhouse, Michigan.
SD: Yeah, I know Tammy too. I didn’t realize she was up there.
BM: Oh yeah. She and I have been talking lately about sort of combining forces and working to promote bands in the area.
SD: Let us know. We’d be totally down for it, man.
BM: Cool
SD: We’d love to do something like that, you know? And I can get you some bands from down here, I mean, both Stride and Outworld are down here in Houston. I can work on getting you some stuff like that if you guys are interested.
BM: I’ll keep that in mind, next time I talk with her, actually. Her hitch is, as Rock the Madhouse Michigan, she’s supposed to be promoting Michigan bands. Which is why I’ve been talking with her about going beyond that and bringing in some outside Michigan bands.
SD: Yeah, I’m sure it would be tough. I mean, you’ve got a lot of great bands in Chicago and that’s not too far.
BM: Oh yeah, yeah.
SD: A lot of great bands over there, man.
BM: What is it about Queensryche, before I ask you about Krucible, what is it about Queensryche that you wanted to have a tribute band?
SD: It was actually, we had always covered Queensryche songs. I moved to Houston in 93, and joined Z-Lot-Z and we’d always covered “Eyes of a Stranger,” and we did a couple Maidens, but “Eyes of a Stranger” always stuck, you know what I mean? And one of our booking agents down in Louisiana said, man, you guys need to try this. Do a Queensryche tribute, you could make good money. You know, you’d pack the places out. So we tried it, and you know what, he was right, man. We did, and we played, we were all over Louisiana, all over Texas, you know, did a bunch of shows, and it stuck. It stayed, you know. And we continued to do it. After I left the band, they continued to do it with another bass player. Then that whole thing kind of fell apart, and then I came back into the fold along with a different guitar player and a different drummer and put it back together. And it really hasn’t missed a beat, man. It’s going great. It really wasn’t our choice, really. He said, man you gotta try this, and we did, and it worked, you know? [laughs]
BM: That’s great.
SD: We have a blast doing it.
BM: Tell me about Krucible. How did that come about? What kind of music is that? It’s an originals band, right?
SD: Yep. Oh absolutely. Z-Lot-Z was the band prior to this and some of the material from Z-Lot-Z we’ve kept, and we’ve kind of reincarnated it a little bit. A lot of the songs we’re doing right now are songs that I had a real big part in writing, if not written all of them, back before I left the band. So Eric thought, when the thing kind of fell apart, he’s like, look man, these are your songs. It wouldn’t be right to ask anybody else, why don’t you come back. And I thought about it and I said yeah sure, why not, I’m not doing anything. So I came back in and got back together with Eric. We had some lineup issues at first, ’cause Chris, like I said, was our vocalist and it’s logistically difficult because he’s in San Antonio and we’re in Houston, so it was hard to write. And then he got the Zero Hour gig, and said he just wouldn’t have any time for it. So we got a local singer, whose name is Josh Killian. He’s working out great so far. But he’s an up and comer, this kid, man. I’ll tell ya, he’s working out great so far, and I think vocally, the band’s style has kind of changed, ’cause he’s more attuned to the Halford side of metal, I think.
BM: Really?
SD: Yeah. But –
BM: There’s nothing wrong with that.
SD: No, but there’s nothing, absolutely not. But we wanted to make sure that he can broaden that, you know? Because we didn’t want to be stereotyped or anything. He’s got the Halford scream down just perfect. I mean, just PERFECT. I mean, it’s just pristine, you know?
BM: Can he do “The Green Manalishi” gig?
SD: Oh, he can do everything. As a matter of fact, we’re trying to throw a quick cover together for the show, and we’re trying to go through — ’cause I don’t want to just do any cover, me, personally. You know, I don’t wanna just go out and play a Maiden or a Priest or whatever just for the sake of throwing one together to play it. I wanna do the right cover, you know what I mean?
BM: Sure.
SD: I personally wanna do Painkiller, but there are no keyboards in it, you know? So we have to find something with keyboards. I want to do an Everygrey or a Symphony X, but we don’t have time to put that together. Because some of the other guys in the band are still learning some of the songs, to get really tight. The drummer and the singer, and there’s some stuff yet to be written. So everybody else is ready, we’re just kind of tightening the screws right now for the show.
BM: [laughs]
SD: The show is — It was tough for us. They asked us if Mindcrime wanted to do it. And we really didn’t want to go in and do the tribute opening, playing a 30-minute set for Wasp and Lizzie Borden in our hometown. So we asked, we’re like, well look, let’s just do our first original show doing that, you know, back in the fold. So the guy was like, great. We’re great friends with the club and the agent. So he said, yeah, let’s do it. We’re just trying to throw everything together. We’ve been rehearsing a couple, three nights every week for about two months straight. So we’re getting there. But musically, you know, like I said, the songs that are right now, that we have? We have a lot more songs that are almost ready, but not quite. The newer direction we’re going is more Evergreyish, darker, heavier, some tuned down stuff. With the vocals like a mixture between Russell Allen and Halford. You know, that’s kinda what we’re wanting. We’re trying to broaden Josh’s vocal horizons a little bit. We don’t want to take the energy and the uniqueness out of him, but we don’t wanna, like I said, be pigeonholed into the Halford thing. But he’s very open, he’s very versatile, and he’s working very hard. We had some of them, like three or four of the songs, the vocals were already written for and the melodies were too, by Chris Salinas. So we asked Chris if he wouldn’t mind if we still use them, and he said, sure, no problem. So Josh is coming in and he’s singing those songs, and also like four more that we’ve written and that he’s come in. We’ve rehashed some old stuff, we’ve got two brand new ones, so it’s working out. I want to be able to get it to the point, now that we have all the members in, now we can start working. And then this show popped up, so we gotta get ready for the show. So I’m kinda bummed about that, but it’s still a good opportunity.
BM: Oh yeah. I know you’ve gotta go, let me ask you one more thing. What is it about this music that appeals to you anyway? You know, Prog Metal, Prog Power, Prog Rock, whatever you wanna call it. What is it that just flips your switch about this kind of music?
SD: Well, it’s the energy, number one, and the technicality and musicianship. To quote my good buddy Lucho from Magistral, “Anybody can run around the track, but not everybody can be an athlete,” you know what I mean?
BM: Uh huh.
SD: That’s probably the best analogy I can put it at. You know, I look at–there’s a lot of musicians here in Houston that are just masters of their trade. And I’ve seen these guys, I’ve played with these guys, and they’ve driven me. You know, I wasn’t always like that. Music — I’ve always loved Queensryche and we’ve always played live and Maiden and that type of thing. When Prog started coming in was when I really started getting heavy into that genre, that vein, I really liked the stuff that’s a little bit more modern. I love the Evergrey sound. It’s something about that mixes the Prog Metal, the Power Metal and the modern sound all into one, into this big, juicy, fat production, and it’s just great. And the keyboards add so much to it. That’s something that I think is coming back. And we have always had keyboards, always. We never went without keyboards. And what adds such a good mood to a lot of this stuff in my opinion, is piano, and atmospheric keys. And a lot of bands, a lot of people lose sight of that, and that adds a whole other dimension to it.
BM: Well, you know what it is. I think it’s the juxtaposition. It’s like King Crimson and the violin, you know?
SD: Exactly.
BM: It’s the quiet and the loud, the heavy and the light, you know?
SD: Absolutely. Beauty and the beast. You know, it’s the whole — you’re absolutely right, hit the nail on the head, man. And I mean, it adds such a different element to the music, and it makes it enjoyable for a lot more different people. You know, then you have your die-hards who can come in and listen to the shred section that’s in 6/8, and just be blown away, and then you can go right to a piano piece with a beautiful vocal melody over it. You know, it’s just there’s things you can do with this style of music you can’t really get away with anywhere else.
BM: Yep.
SD: You know what I mean?
BM: Oh yeah.
SD: So that’s what’s so appealing about it, I guess. The energy level is just through the roof and the passion that all the bands and the musicians have for the music, it’s just, that’s where it is. It’s definitely a part of my life.
BM: What do you think of the latest Evergrey album?
SD: My opinion, I like it a lot, but the production’s not nearly as good as I was hoping. I think what they did, matter of fact I’m pretty sure this is what they did, I’m 99.9% sure, they just got to a point to where they didn’t need to be a part of producing their own albums anymore. They could hire another producer to come in. And they did that, and I think it hurt them a little bit. Because I think them being involved in the production of their album, they knew exactly the way the wanted it to sound. And I think they lost a little bit of that with the new album. But it’s still good, I love the music. I think a lot of people are hammering it, but I don’t agree with that. I think this band has to evolve, man. It’s not like they’re selling out. They’re not pulling a Metallica, they’re not pulling a Queensryche, you know?
BM: It’s not like you want to hear an Evergrey tribute band out of them, you want them to move forward a little bit.
SD: Exactly, they have to. What else are they gonna do? They still keep their unique sound there. They’re not losing any of that. But there’s just certain things that are gonna change. It’s just progression, man. I mean, that’s what Progressive music IS.
BM: [laughs]
SD: You know, people are so just –[sighs]
BM: Well that’s — when I used to talk to Robert Fripp about King Crimson stuff, he would tell me, progressive rock actually died in 1973, and everything since then has been not progressive at all. It’s just sort of a neo-prog thing.
SD: It is. It’s versions of Prog.
BM: Yeah, it really is.
SD: Prog, Power, or Metal, or whatever you want to call it, are classical, Prog, or whatever. It’s difficult. You can play a band into the Prog element, and there’s a fine line. Everygrey crosses those genres I think.
BM: I agree. I guess this question goes without asking, really, but are you looking forward to seeing them at ProgPower this year?
SD: I’m stoked! I am so excited! They’re my favorite band right now. And they have been probably since ProgPower I. And I think it goes beyond just — they’re just all great guys. We’ve become good friends. Matter of fact, I was thinking about when things kind of settle into place a little bit, for the Pre-Party, I was going to approach Glenn and see if he wouldn’t mind if I talked to the Evergrey guys and their management about coming to Houston and doing some shows around here, around ProgPower. But I want to give Glenn that heads up first. If he’s against it, I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to take away from the show, you know? But I have the means to do it while they’re here, might as well. If they want to do some more shows, look, let’s do some shows. We can go up to Dallas and go to San Antonio, we can go to Corpus, we can play here, we can do a show in Louisiana, we could do five, six dates and book it with them and Outworld and us and Krucible, and have great shows.
BM: You live in Houston, is it?
SD: Yeah, uh huh.
BM: Are you familiar with a band called Legs Diamond?
SD: I do remember them, yes.
BM: They were one of my favorite bands, and they’re actually still around. I think they used to play your area quite a bit.
SD: I think, when Legs Diamond was bigger, it was before my time in Houston. I moved to Houston in ’93 from Louisiana.
BM: They were kind of –
SD: Late ’80s?
BM: Yeah, I saw them in ’77 warming up for Rush.
SD: Oh wow!
BM: In fact, at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo.
SD: Wow, that’s great.
BM: Well Shane, I’ll let you go, I know you’re a busy man. I do appreciate your time. It’s a great to talk to you.
SD: My pleasure, anything I can do, man. Let’s keep in touch. Anything you need, we’ll make it happen for the show. Whatever you need.
BM: Do you have a photograph of yourself, a jpeg you could email to me?
SD: Sure. I sure can, absolutely. I’ll get that over to you, along with the contact information.
BM: Cool. Have a good evening, Shane. It’s good to talk to you. See you this fall.
SD: You too, Bill. Best to your family, man.
BM: Ok, same to you! Bye.
SD: Bye bye.
Want to know more about Shane Dubose and his current bands? Want to see him play, perhaps even in your town? It may be possible. Just let your fingers do the walking to these sites:
http://www.myspace.com/qrtribute
http://www.krucibleband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/krucible
