CRUSHER Magazine: punk/metal/hardcore/industrial: Feature: Dragpipe

    I’ve been working on getting the illusive Monte pinned down for this interrogation.  He’s been laid up with some nasty thing that had him bedridden and on antibiotics for about a week.  And when I call him at 7pm, he’s still in bed. (Oh how nice it is to have musician’s hours.). Monte is one sixth of the mayhem that is known as Dragpipe. He’s been in and out of bands for as long as I’ve known him. And that’s a long while—at least since ’88 or so. He’s one of the crew of old schoolers that’s still doing it. Part of the legendary group M.O.D. that was fronted by Billy Milano. Monte, or John Monte as he was known in those days has definitely done a lot in the scene.
     “ After M.O.D. I did Mind Funk for a little while,” he relates. “Then I did another band, but I did a lot of jumping around. I was livin’ in a bunch of different places. I just wanted to travel for a little while. I lived down in Texas. I lived out in California. Then I came back and I hung out with my boys and all the people that I grew up with in New York and New Jersey. We’ve all been friends through the years. We’ve all been in and out of bands before with each other. And one day we were all hanging out. We were all just chillin’ and we were just jammin’ out, and like, ‘fuck, let’s put a band together’, and we just started playin’. We all grew up together.  We’ve kind of known each other for a long time, been in and out of bands with each other before, and then, it just like, clicked and we wound up putting Dragpipe together.”
     And what a unit they put together. Originally hailing from Union City, New Jersey, the sextet with not one, but three ultra-heavy guitar players—Jai Diablo (lead vocals), Pete Barrera (drums), Ritchie Garcia (guitar), Gino Depinto (guitar), Monte (guitar), and Geno (bass)—have already been touring the US for months in support of the album. Most recently, they wrapped up an appearance on the “Locobazooka!” tour with Filter, Sevendust, Nonpoint, Mushroomhead, and Earshot.
     Their debut album on the Interscope label, Music For The Last Day Of Your Life, blends a potent mix of metal, punk, and hardcore elements with a mountain of noise and effects. To get the right angle and to capture their raw energy, Dragpipe enlisted producer Dave Sardy (Slayer, Nine Inch Nails) to work behind the boards. But before they joined up with him, the band spent some time in pre-production with two of their biggest fans--ex- Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted (who was originally on tap to produce the album, but was ultimately unable to do it because of timing conflicts with his project at the time, Echobrain.) But Sardy was the man with the cred to take their aggressive three-guitar wall of distorted crunch, their driving urgency and the punkish vocal delivery of Diablo and mold it into a unified assault on the eardrums.
In the spirit of predecessors as vastly differing as Bad Brains and Jane’s Addiction, Dragpipe makes their own version of what should be popular culture by tweaking that elusive spot deep in the cerebral cortex that triggers something akin to St. Vitus’s Dance.
     Their live shows are a virtual assault. Front man Jai Diablo is known for his psychotic antics both on and off stage, stirring crowds into an uproar and leaving a mess for the bands that are unfortunate enough to follow. After destroying the New Jersey scene, their reputation spread rapidly throughout New York City, with armies of chaotic youth packing the local clubs to get a glimpse of the new anti-heroes.
     “ We just kept doing the circle…playing New York, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey,” Monte says with a laugh. “And a friend of ours, he worked up at K-Rock and got our tape to Interscope and shit.”
     Now that the disc is available for public consumption, the boys will be setting themselves up for a little more exposure via the touring circuit.      They’ll be doing the festivals, more than likely, but which ones? The metal circuit or the more punk oriented circuit?
     “ It’s fuckin’ cold out right now, and I don’t feel like going out anyway,” says Monte of the touring schedule. “I’d rather go out somewhere where it’s fuckin’ warm and shit. But I’d totally be into doing, you know, OZZfest and then go and do the Vans Warped tour.”
     But until the summer comes and he finds out what tour they will be on, he's back in New Jersey, living in his rehearsal studio and doing what musicians do best (and I don’t mean picking up chicks, although I here he’s pretty much the mack daddy pimp in that department these days).
     “ Now we’re just workin’ on new shit for our head,” he says, “just getting ready for after we go on tour this summer, to have some songs to throw around and shit, you know? We’re just trying to focus on that right now. Just writing and trying to stay warm--it’s fucking freezing out here.”

	DRAGPIPE by Christine Natanael	LINKS: dragpipe.com interscope.com
	It’s a freezing cold day in NYC, the wind whips in your face and stings like needles--not a day for anyone with any sense to be out and about. Seeing as it’s subzero out, both I, and my interview victim, have decided to reach out and touch each other via telephone.
I’ve been working on getting the illusive Monte pinned down for this interrogation. He’s been laid up with some nasty thing that had him bedridden and on antibiotics for about a week. And when I call him at 7pm, he’s still in bed. (Oh how nice it is to have musician’s hours.). Monte is one sixth of the mayhem that is known as Dragpipe. He’s been in and out of bands for as long as I’ve known him. And that’s a long while—at least since ’88 or so. He’s one of the crew of old schoolers that’s still doing it. Part of the legendary group M.O.D. that was fronted by Billy Milano. Monte, or John Monte as he was known in those days has definitely done a lot in the scene. “ After M.O.D. I did Mind Funk for a little while,” he relates. “Then I did another band, but I did a lot of jumping around. I was livin’ in a bunch of different places. I just wanted to travel for a little while. I lived down in Texas. I lived out in California. Then I came back and I hung out with my boys and all the people that I grew up with in New York and New Jersey. We’ve all been friends through the years. We’ve all been in and out of bands before with each other. And one day we were all hanging out. We were all just chillin’ and we were just jammin’ out, and like, ‘fuck, let’s put a band together’, and we just started playin’. We all grew up together. We’ve kind of known each other for a long time, been in and out of bands with each other before, and then, it just like, clicked and we wound up putting Dragpipe together.” And what a unit they put together. Originally hailing from Union City, New Jersey, the sextet with not one, but three ultra-heavy guitar players—Jai Diablo (lead vocals), Pete Barrera (drums), Ritchie Garcia (guitar), Gino Depinto (guitar), Monte (guitar), and Geno (bass)—have already been touring the US for months in support of the album. Most recently, they wrapped up an appearance on the “Locobazooka!” tour with Filter, Sevendust, Nonpoint, Mushroomhead, and Earshot. Their debut album on the Interscope label, Music For The Last Day Of Your Life, blends a potent mix of metal, punk, and hardcore elements with a mountain of noise and effects. To get the right angle and to capture their raw energy, Dragpipe enlisted producer Dave Sardy (Slayer, Nine Inch Nails) to work behind the boards. But before they joined up with him, the band spent some time in pre-production with two of their biggest fans--ex- Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted (who was originally on tap to produce the album, but was ultimately unable to do it because of timing conflicts with his project at the time, Echobrain.) But Sardy was the man with the cred to take their aggressive three-guitar wall of distorted crunch, their driving urgency and the punkish vocal delivery of Diablo and mold it into a unified assault on the eardrums. In the spirit of predecessors as vastly differing as Bad Brains and Jane’s Addiction, Dragpipe makes their own version of what should be popular culture by tweaking that elusive spot deep in the cerebral cortex that triggers something akin to St. Vitus’s Dance. Their live shows are a virtual assault. Front man Jai Diablo is known for his psychotic antics both on and off stage, stirring crowds into an uproar and leaving a mess for the bands that are unfortunate enough to follow. After destroying the New Jersey scene, their reputation spread rapidly throughout New York City, with armies of chaotic youth packing the local clubs to get a glimpse of the new anti-heroes. “ We just kept doing the circle…playing New York, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey, New York, New Jersey,” Monte says with a laugh. “And a friend of ours, he worked up at K-Rock and got our tape to Interscope and shit.” Now that the disc is available for public consumption, the boys will be setting themselves up for a little more exposure via the touring circuit. They’ll be doing the festivals, more than likely, but which ones? The metal circuit or the more punk oriented circuit? “ It’s fuckin’ cold out right now, and I don’t feel like going out anyway,” says Monte of the touring schedule. “I’d rather go out somewhere where it’s fuckin’ warm and shit. But I’d totally be into doing, you know, OZZfest and then go and do the Vans Warped tour.” But until the summer comes and he finds out what tour they will be on, he's back in New Jersey, living in his rehearsal studio and doing what musicians do best (and I don’t mean picking up chicks, although I here he’s pretty much the mack daddy pimp in that department these days). “ Now we’re just workin’ on new shit for our head,” he says, “just getting ready for after we go on tour this summer, to have some songs to throw around and shit, you know? We’re just trying to focus on that right now. Just writing and trying to stay warm--it’s fucking freezing out here.”