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Northeast
Performer Magazine November
2006 Issue By Michael
Marotta It all starts with the oft-mispronounced name. In short, Asystole is a medical state of no cardiac electrical activity in the heart, causing it to stop beating. It’s something every person will eventually go through, marking a passage from a living state to death. Incidentally, the name spawned the official birth of the band. One day in the summer of 2004, singer JJ Long was toying around with a flatline-based logo, in the midst of a time when the band would run through several ill-fitting names on a daily basis. Touching on the profession of guitarist Art Gordon’s mother, a licensed repertory therapist, Asystole (pronounced a-SIS’to-le) was bandied about. The name instantly stuck. “Yes, thanks to Art’s mother we’re called Asystole,” laughs bassist Tim Munroe over beers at the Model Café in Allston, not far from one of the band’s original practice spaces. The guys have spread out across eastern Massachusetts a bit since forming in 2004, with singer Long living in Melrose, Munroe residing in Cambridge and Gordon and drummer Greg Gillis sporting Brockton addresses. But for their intense live show, the synergy and chemistry on stage belie their distant living situations, almost leading one to believe the four grew up together in a dark, padded room where nothing but the likes of Killswitch Engage and Sevendust blared from eight-foot tall speakers. Though a steady diet of metal growing up helped shaped and inspire Asystole, it’s a mixture of several genres that gives the band its sound today. Long’s vocal range can shift from prolonged croons to angry rapid-fire screams to low-riding growls over the length of one bridge. While his voice aids Asystole’s delivery, it’s the pure thrash of Gordon’s shredding and the front-and-center Munroe-Gillis rhythm section that unites the four musicians. The result is a fist-to-the-face arsenal that incorporates various levels of metal. On last year’s self-released eponymous debut, there’s nary a moment to catch your breath. On “Embrace,” Long holds a long harmonic note while, just underneath, the rest of the band goes absolutely batshit with an epic no-holds-barred grind that’ll likely keep the band far from mainstream pop radio. But where some opportunities close, others open. The band’s vitriolic sound may not be a fit for the FM dial, but it is for Jagermeister, the party drink of many a metal band, such as Slayer and Pantera. Though not officially sponsored, the band is in talks with the oxblood-like liquor company to join forces. A few months ago, a Jager street team representative caught an Asystole live show and loved what she heard. Fast-forward a few months and a few hundred calls and emails, and Asystole is under heavy consideration for a partnership with the German herb liquor, which will make the drink a part of its live experience. “Metal and alcohol...” quips Gordon, not needing to finish his sentence. The band isn’t worried about aligning with a corporate sponsor if it helps get the Asystole name out into the public. A potential sponsorship down the line would include national tours, discounts on equipment and inclusion on Jager compilation albums. That last bit is most appealing — it equals exposure. Previous Jager tours have featured headlines like Hatebreed and Shadows Fall, with a litany of unsigned underground acts playing to get noticed. “It’s about getting our name out there,” says Munroe. “We could have a chance to get on national tours. It’s promoted by merchandise, flyers...The sponsored list [of current bands] is all the same genre. Jager’s into the bands that drink their liquor.” Right now, the band distributes Jager gear at shows and then emails back dozens of pictures of themselves with fans decked out in Jager merchandise or drinking the product. The band doesn’t mind the party-like vibe, or the attention it creates. “People see Jagermeister on the [merch] table and check us out,” Long notes. “They say ‘You must be good if Jager’s with you.’“ After recently self-funding a tour down the east coast by cashing in their tax returns, any promo boost the band receives is welcome. Ultimately, they simply want the word to spread as widely as possible. “People pay to see a show,” Munroe says. “I want everyone who sees us to say ‘I saw this band last night, jumping around and throwing guitars, and it was insane.’“ Then they can start worrying about the pronunciation. |
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Melrose
Weekly News Friday,
May 5, 2006 By Liz Jennings MELROSE - Asystole (assist'-o-lee) is the medical term for cardiac arrest during which the heart stops beating and there is no electrical activity remaining. It is also the name that musicians Greg Gillis, Art Gordon, Tim Munroe, and Melrose native J.J. Long gave to their heavy metal band. The meaning that Asystole is intended to capture is the passing from life to death. J.J. Long sat down with the Melrose Weekly News to talk about the band's self-titled debut album, their recent tour and their music. Long is the band's lead singer while Gillis plays drums, Gordon guitar, and Munroe bass. Asystole released their first album back in November and began their tour as the opening act for the band Stoic on March 24 in Long Island. They have toured through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Virginia and South Carolina to name a few. Long says that the band was a little unsure of how the tour would go being their first time on the road; part of the adventure they hoped would be to find out if this was meant for them. Not only was it a positive experience but Long exclaimed confidently, "I know we can do anything now!" In their travels Long and the rest of the band experienced a taste of what it is like to play music professionally. They played to crowds from all walks of life, were able to meet a number of other bands on their tour and sold their CD and promoted their music. "I will do anything to get to that level," Long said passionately when talking about playing music for a living. The band practices out of Taunton's Band Stand Live studios which sounded like a pretty impressive studio. In addition to temperature controlled rooms, reasonable rent, tight security and internet access the space has its own venue, pool tables and lounge areas for breaks, two music stores (in case you break a guitar string), interview rooms, a recording studio and it offers an extensive metal community. Long calls their sound "melodic heavy metal," and their influences are Killswitch Engage, Sevendust, Mudvayne, Shadow's Fall, Tool, Deftones and Nonpoint. The music making process is a group effort starting with a basic riff, next creating a beat to play over that, then tweaking and finally adding vocals. "The melody must grab you or the words don't mean a thing," Long said. The lyrics he comes up with he bases on real experiences and aims to create material that people can relate to. "Everything and anything influences me, like real life. …I write figuratively and literally," said Long. "Ambrosia," for example, (track 2 on their album) is about following your dreams even when they are being smacked down. "Embraced" (track 5) is about heroes letting you down: "People let you down," said Long "but then you in turn become a hero to someone else," he explained. Asystole is currently promoting their CD. They are looking forward to getting back on the road, says Long, and launching another tour. The band's ultimate goal is to get back in the studio and eventually be signed by an indie record label. "I want to survive off music, and make this our livelihoods. We want to get signed to an Indie record label and have someone believe in us the way that we do. I'd want to do something that means something to me. I have to enjoy it first for other people to enjoy it. It's a tough, cruel world but I can't see myself doing anything else. I can't see us failing. I know we've got what it takes," concluded Long. For more information visit www.asystoleband.com, www.myspace.com/asystoleband, and www.myspace.com/asystoleflatliners if you are interested in helping promote the band. |