SplatterTribe: Id like to start out by asking you to introduce yourself and your fellow musicians that make up 5Mans ranks.

Damian:   Splattertribe nation, what's up? My name is Damian M. and I'm 5MANs' vocalist. The other original member is our guitarist Mike V.  Along the way we've picked up Nick R. on bass and Jason K. on drums.  5MAN started playing shows as a 3 piece in 2003. The original sound was, let's say, simply formatted grunge meets hard rock with a touch of punk. Our sound was shaped more by our lack of ability than our vision. We never wanted to be a band that played 50% (or any percent for that matter) cover tunes so we just wrote original music from day one. I think all of the time spent writing for US and the fact that all of our members came from different musical tastes (nu-metal, classic rock, indie grunge, etc.)  really helped us evolve into our own sound without trying to emulate one or two bands that ALL of us liked. The sound is still changing...that's a good thing.

 

 
SplatterTribe: Looks to me like in June, you all won Dropfest 2008 , and opened for Shinedown and Saliva, what is Dropfest and how was the experience?

Damian:  Dropfest is an annual tricked out car show in Kaukauna that lasts from one summer weekend. It's huge and people come from all over with the basic premise, 'If your car can't pop-a-wheelie or spit fireballs it's just not that special.'  Actually, they have a bunch of different car classifications and people just come out to see what's hot.  The opening Friday night is when they have their big concert.  It started out as always having rap acts but switched over to rock a couple of years ago when they brought in Buckcherry. We won a local battle of the bands and got the chance to open the show and play on a MASSIVE sound system.  If they can make it boom outdoors in the middle of a large race track you know they're pushing some watts! It's always cool playing with and meeting national bands. You might be suprised..they are almost always really down to earth and accessible. Good times.

 

SplatterTribe: Busy month of June it seems, you guys played a Benefit Show for the completion of Manitowoc Skate Park. What drew you to take time out of your schedule to help these kids out?

Damian:  We've played a bunch of shows with some of the bands from that area. Some are still around and some aren't but the shows were always a lot of fun.  Manitowoc is a small town but they've got a nice little music scene there and it revolves around the skate community. They've got a sweet outdoor skate park that really needed some financial help to stay afloat. It was a no-brainer. We had to support the cats that support that local music scene.
 

 

SplatterTribe: I'm really digging the heavy groove you lace into the music, anything that isn't able to be labeled is good, how do you guys go about putting it all together, is it a shared effort or do you split the responsibilities?

Damian:  Someone comes up with a song idea and everyone else messes it up until we we're all happy

with it. Everyone has had a hand in coming up with the core of a particular song and we've all had a chance throw our own flavor crystals on it.  The different early musical influences of our members really makes the sound what it is. We've gotten into a nice writing groove as of late.  It's been about one year since our drummer Jason joined and the fray and he's brought a new element to the sound. Shook things up a bit and infused some new ideas. We've got about 8 songs written towards our next album so we're looking forward to getting that project underway.

 

SplatterTribe: Barack Obama : Man Of Change or The Final Nail In Western Civilization?

Damian:  He's stepping into a world of hurt but we're optimistic that he'll be able to work on both sides of the fence to get things done. It's about time (and has been for a LONG time) that government started saying, "Fuck partisanship, let's start planning for the future of this country in a way that will benefit everyone." Maybe that's a bit of a romantic approach to the dirty and complicated world of politics, but it makes a lot more sense than another four years of one party trying to block everything the other party tries to do. And a quick thought..how can the broad range of people in the hugely diverse nation of ours be fully represented by just two political parties? I think a huge step to opening up our collective brain trust would be to infuse some of the third party candidates into the house and senate where our nation is shaped and to let those voices be heard when the nation, and the world, have their eyes and ears locked on our presidential races. Give people a chance to vote their conscience and have it actually mean something in the long run.  Sorry, just venting. 
 

SplatterTribe: 10 words or less, describe the Wisconsin music scene.
 

Damian: NEEDS LESS COVER BANDS AND MORE ORIGINAL MUSIC!

 

(Tribe Note: Hello  Wisconsin! ........Had to do that.)

 

SplatterTribe: I read the tag you have on your MySpace page, and I'm impressed, making your own destiny, your own decisions, so I pose the question to you, if this was a perfect world, what would you be doing?
     

Damian:  I'm doing it. The band and my family fulfill what I need personally. I feel the lyrical message of 5MANat least presents that same question to our listeners and I think that it's important to let people know that the answer to the question is actually a tangible goal. If a person can ANSWER that question (and I know they can) then they can achieve it.  Sometimes it might not be a popular decision with your friends and family but if it truly makes you feel whole as a person..DO IT!!!!!!!!

 

SplatterTribe: Tell us what it is that pushes you all to put out metal music with a message in a scene controlled by industry and the greed for money.

Damian:  We all understand that the industry is part of the game but it doesn't have to be the point. If you want to succeed you have to play by the rules or have a plan to reshape the game. With the internet, bands have the capability to make things happen for themselves and the future of the industry is evolving with that

realization. We just have to do OUR thing and let the rest work itself out. That does NOT mean sit around and wait to be signed.. it's just a way make sure we remain 5MAN if at some point the industry wants us to be COMPANY MAN and try to change our vision.     SplatterTribe: This is the question I ask in all my interviews, in the war of rock versus rap, what do you consider yourself? A General, An Officer, or A Private and tell us why.

Damian:  A Private, because we're just taking what we know of rock and rap and infusing it into our style. We don't get to upgrade until we become an influence to other bands or the industry. The Generals like Public Enemy, NWA, Bad Brains, The Ramones, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, the Beatles,  Black Sabbath....they, and others like them, CHANGED and shaped the game into what it is today!

 

SplatterTribe: What is the future for 5Man, have anything lined up that your keeping a secret from us?

Damian:  The next album!  After that we are going to continue to gig and we will be sending our music to anyone who will listen to it. Hopefully get signed so we can get some help getting ourselves out to the country..and beyond.

 

SplatterTribe: Our readers like the dirt so give us that one story, you know, the one story every band has about their "music experience".

Damian:   If you were waiting for this one to be the big payoff you're gonna be disappointed. We're workhorses. We go to work/school, then we rock, then we go home to our families. Don't get me wrong, we have a good time but it's all minor deviance. The biggest kick to our music experience has been the bands that we've been able to play with this past year (since putting out our cd 'FOR THE GLORY OF...'). It's pretty cool when you can meet and play with some of the bands you've grown up on. Just this year we've jammed with The Destro, Straightlinestitch, Taproot, Egypt Central, Dope, Pop Evil, Shinedown, Saliva, Primer 55, Bobaflex, The Autumn Offering, NonPoint and more. For a band that's been grinding it out like us it's pretty sweet to jack into a big sound system and throw down with these guys. 

 

SplatterTribe: And of course, the last question, the one that lets us move on from Grim's ranting ,tell us what you want us to know, rant , rave, yell, the floor is yours and we don't censor.

Damian:  I don't care where you live, I can almost guarantee that there are some local bands near you that are doing some good things. If you're a fan of music just remember that all of the BIG bands you listen to came from someone's local scene..and not just the L.A. or New York scenes. Tap into your local magazines, papers, cruise MySpace, whatever, just find some of these bands, and here's the kicker, GO SEE THEM PLAY! We throw down just as hard as big nationals and in many cases..HARDER! We've got nothing to lose and we're doing this for the love of the game. There's no corporate stick up our as telling us what to say or what to play..it's the raw shit that's provides the basement for the great musical empire. That song that will be stuck in your head a year from now by some new band you'll hear on the radio..well, they're probably playing THAT song THIS weekend in a small bar..and you can hear it before the rest of the world for $5.
    Thanks for kickin' with us here at Splattertribe.tv. If you're interested, come check us out at www.myspace.com/5man and support your local music scene!!!!!! Jason, you're the man!