Class dismissed! A small fraction of the Bang Camaro army.
So instead, Bennett and Necochea invited every rock singer they knew to come to the studio and help record Bang Camaro's first, self-titled record. They were stunned when 20 guys showed up‹and even more stunned when it worked. "We thought, 'We can¹t get 20 singers in a room together'," Bennett remembers. "This is gonna fall apart within minutes. But it's just turned into this weird gang mentality; it's been amazing."
Now Bang Camaro is packing clubs across the country with a live show that's already becoming the stuff of legend. Think Skid Row meets Queen meets the Polyphonic Spree, with a three-guitar attack and a "choir" of anywhere from 12 to 20 dudes belting out original songs. A featured track on the hit video game "Rock Band" hasn¹t hurt the band¹s profile either.
From Boston, Bennett and Necochea talked about life at the helm of what is quite literally the world¹s biggest metal band.
Do any of the guys in the group actually drive Camaros?
Alex Necochea: Actually, late last year, a number of the guys got together and they gave me a black ¹89 Camaro T-Top that still doesn¹t run and sits in the driveway. So ... none of us actually drive a Camaro, but we do own one.
You not only have a song featured in "Rock Band," one of you also worked on the game, right?
Bryn Bennett: Yeah, that's me. I'm a part-time programmer at ["Rock Band" creator Harmonix]. I also did the moves for the rock guitar player in the [game], so whenever you see the guy with the guitar headbanging and stuff, that's me. It was terrifying. I had to stand in this huge room with about 20 people looking at me, and then they would boom some music at the proper tempo and just say, "All right, rock!" [Laughs]
A lot of people are treating this like it¹s a big joke, but rehearsing 20 guys to sing lead vocals in unison can¹t be easy.
AN: No, not at all. ... All of us work really hard to make what we do onstage look really easy. We go so far as to schedule separate rehearsals between the band proper‹the instrumentalists‹so we can get all the music together, and then we have other choir-driven rehearsals where we run through all of our songs, working out two- and three-part harmonies.
It¹s not just a big shout-along.
AN: Yeah, that¹s been a common misconception. It¹s not just a bunch of
drunks just screaming along. These guys in our band, they¹re highly trained
vocalists.
Do you sometimes play venues where everybody doesn¹t fit onstage?
BB: We actually haven't run into that yet, and we¹ve played some small clubs. We just get really close. Then a bunch of us end up with black eyes because we get hit with guitars and mic stands. [Laughs] But we¹ve made it work every time.
Because you can¹t always take 20 singers on the road, in some cities you're offering fans a chance to be part of the choir, right?
BB: Yeah, definitely.
I think I¹m gonna put together an audition video. Do you have any tips for me?
BB: Yeah, just don't be embarrassed and be on key.
AN: And don¹t wear spandex.
Andy Hermann is a Metromix producer.
ahermann@metromix.com
