Scavenger-Interview

Jenn Cohen | August 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

Interview and Photos by Kira Pearson

Scavenger is one of the hottest up-and-coming bands to hit Denver. They just released their first self-titled album, which is sure to make heads turn. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them perform twice, and was able to steal the lead singer and guitarist, Chris Wells, away for a short interview at their latest show at the Marquis Theater.

CMB: Tell us a little about the amazing men who make up Scavenger.

CW: I’m from Anaheim, California, but have been in Denver for most my life. [I] started playing guitar in ’95 and wrote my first song when I was 15. Roy, our drummer, is from Long Beach, California, and has been in Denver since 2009. He started playing drums in ’95, and hooked up with Scavenger in 2010. Paul, the bassist, is a Denver native. He started out mostly playing guitar, and later took up playing bass for Scavenger in 2009.

CMB: How did you guys meet and form Scavenger?

CW: I met Paul back in 2006 through a friend of a friend. We spent most of our time causing trouble, being vandals and jamming on guitars. A few years after that, I was in a band that needed a bass player, so I talked Paul into picking up a bass. He started out playing on this 2×15” cabinet we had lying around. It was vintage, but not in a good way. It was from the ‘60s and it sounded like it had wet towels over the speakers (obviously it was blown). Over time, his rig has become a monster and I think it’s safe to say he has taken a liking to the bass.

A few years later, after no luck with that band, I happened to walk past the drum room in Guitar Center, and heard some of the sickest drumming I’ve ever heard coming from one of the kits. I knew I had to get whoever was throwing the beats down to come jam with us. So I walked in to see who the f**k was ripping, and there was Roy at a demo kit with people gathered around watching and s**t. I walked up and right off the bat asked if he was looking for a band to be in. The whole thing was kinda funny, really. I gave him a demo of some songs we had recorded. He came over about a week later for the first session, and threw down, just ripped! We sounded better than we ever had before with a whole new sound that had mad energy. Since then we’ve all basically become family.

CMB: So what’s the meaning behind the name Scavenger?

CW: At that point we were recording our first record, and had this batch of like five new songs; one of them was called “Scavenger.” That song stood out to me [as] the most innovative and different sounding songs that we had ever written. We really didn’t want to drop this record with a name that didn’t represent what we were doing. We all thought Scavenger sounded right for different reasons. I like it because, to me, it represents the inspiration we get out of every different type of music we like that shows up in our music, and for that, I guess we are scavengers. I can’t speak for the rest of the band on this, but I think it also works because when I was really broke I would eat out of the trash . . .

CMB: What genre(s) would you say you fit best?

CW: We’ve been called a lot of things: hard rock, metal, space metal, stoner rock, pop rock . . . I just call it rock. It is what it is, you know? It’s derived from all kinds of music, and our inspirations are ever changing. There are metal roots in our tunes as much as there’s punk and alternative, but I’d also like to think there’s a funk, reggae, shoe gaze, jazz, swing, rock a billy, psycho billy, floydian, avant-garde, blues, grunge . . .

CMB: Tell us about the first album you just released.

CW: It took us two years to make. A good friend of ours, named Will, helped us track it on pro tools down in our basement. We sent it to Artisans Label in Orange County where Barrett Slagel mixed it, and then sent it to Capitol Records to get mastered. All in all, it turned out sounding legit, and the time it took to make it happen was well worth the wait. All of the songs on it have mean hooks, whether it’s heavy and driving like the slamming riffs that lead into the sonic-wave like chorus melodies on “Cloud 9” or slow-and-groove oriented like “Target Set,” with beats that are complimented by a huge bass line and distorted, yet dream like, guitars. This record touches on a lot of different moods and that’s what we wanted.

Scavenger is always playing in and around Denver. Check out their self titled record SCAVENGER and their up coming shows. You won’t be disappointed!

Online: facebook.com/Scavenger.Band