Before speaking with the two founding members of Camarillo, CA’s Refute – vocalist Nathan and bassist Brandon – I wondered whether they were affected by the horrific wildfires that were ravaging much of the area. While waiting for Brandon to find a phone so we could do a joint interview, Nathan let me in on some scary news. The area around the five-piece’s practice space had actually caught fire and the guys were forced to “evacuate” their equipment just days earlier. Nathan summed up the situation by simply stating, “Yeah, it was pretty nuts.”
Yes, some strange things have happened to these (very) young men who range in age from 16 to 20. They’ve gone through their fair share of memorable onstage moments. Take, for instance, the time they were playing an in-store Tower Records show in Fresno when Nathan swung the mic around and as he went to grab it, it hit him in the face, ultimately causing him to put his tooth THROUGH his upper lip. Says the frontman, “That’s what freaked me out…the fact that I actually heard and felt my tooth hit the microphone through my lip.” But when others would have packed it in, the man kept going. “I just covered my face and kept singing, and by the time I looked over, there was just all this congealed blood on the mic.”
On a similar note, in July Refute played “the seediest place in the world”, according to Nathan, called Rooster Roadhouse (they think). Two songs in and their old guitarist Rick, who, as Brandon claims, “really likes to exaggerate when he rocks out,” was going nuts and just collapses. Their friends thought he’d had a heart attack, and the guys in the band, who continued playing, were just yelling at him to get up. And even though Brandon says Rick was “whimpering on the ground” and the band ended their set right there and then, Nathan chimes in saying that the guitarist “toughed it out; he actually played the rest of the shows with us even though” he busted his knee.
The band’s differing tastes in music can also be deemed strange. It’s not often that five guys with such disparate predilections could work so well together and produce just plain good tunes. To wit, Brandon – who used to be into hip hop and rap “like a retarded kid” – now has a fondness for emo and “more pop-oriented stuff,” while Nathan also likes this style but is into hardcore like Snapcase as well. Stephan, the “prodigy” of a drummer, a “talented little man,” prefers metal. Nathan reiterates, “He’s a total metalhead!” Meanwhile, Andrew the guitarist listens solely to classical music, and the newest member, guitarist Chris, is into melodic hardcore. Says Nathan about the diversity, “Where we live [just outside L.A.], it’s like you just kind of take what you can get and we just happened to find something that really works.”
But it seems these differences in background is a major strength for Refute. Because of the varying styles they bring to the table, their own sound is not easily classified or pigeonholed. When asked to describe their sound, they have some difficulty. After much discussion and deep thought, they come up with some adjectives: energetic, rock, informative - “‘The National Geographic’ of rock ‘n’ roll,” Nathan proudly states – and despite the triteness of the term, emotional. Brandon finally sums all the elements up, spouting out, “Energetic emo-rock.” Sounds good. Actually, it fits their latest CD, the six-song demo ‘a book by its cover’ perfectly, as emotion is definitely a main factor contributing to its intensity and passion. Some songs have harder elements mixed in with the pop-rock like “Kiss Your Wrists” with those frantic screamed vocals towards the end and the standout “Don’t Drug Your Kids”, which happens to feature some sick drumming towards the end, whereas “The Shards” and “Ghosts of Prep School” are more straightforward pop and not so bi-polar.
Refute released an EP prior to ‘a book…’ called ‘Letters from the Train’, which, Nathan admits, “To be honest, all the guys in the band would probably agree it’s kind of a weak release compared to what we just put out.” Still, the record did receive some good reviews. In any event, they feel perhaps they rushed in releasing it because they wanted to have some music out in order for people to get to know them. He continues, “There were really a select few tracks kids were really even interested in.” Brandon says the tracks were extremely diverse, and some were “really poppy.” “Like retardo-pop,” Nathan concludes. In fact, the tracks sounded so dissimilar from each other, that Brandon believes if listened to side-by-side, “the only reason you’d know it was the same band was [because of] the singer.”
Well, with ‘a book…’, people certainly will not have the same problem. Not only do the songs fit together well despite the varying elements included in each – for example, “Having a Heart Was So Last Year” includes some keyboards from Nathan and as aforementioned, “Kiss Your Wrists” and “Don’t Drug Your Kids”, have some melodic hardcore leanings – the record sounds cohesive and coherent. What the band hopes for now is that a label will feel the same way. They’re planning on sending out the disc to “hopefully the right people,” says Brandon, “and see where it goes from there.” They may not be signed yet, but they’re just happy to have recorded the CD and seem content with how it came out. They’re taking it one step at a time and are in no rush. But one thing they are sure of is that when it does come time to signing with a label, it’ll be an indie. Nathan explains they want to do it this way “‘cause every band we look up to has done that you know, has really worked hard, done the grassroots thing…and haven’t really tried to just jump on major bandwagons.”
Refute also hopes they can get the chance to tour more extensively in the future. It’s rather hard to get away from school and everything, but if the chance came up, Nathan is certain the guys would do anything in their power to hit the road. Having gone out on tour as far as San Francisco and Sacramento, the guys mostly play around Ventura County, but are looking for backing from a booking agent who can possibly send them out for a few weeks at first, and then procure them something longer. And about their shows, the guys have no hesitations when proclaiming that Brandon’s dancing is by far the best part of their live performance. Says Nathan, “Brandon’s quite the dancer, I must say…I don’t know if I got anything that can top that.” This dude must really be something else; he’s even known for his outta sight breakdancing. No, but seriously, Refute feel it’s great when the kids sing-along to the songs, which, Nathan says, “Is something you hear about,” adding in a jock-like tone, ‘Uh, yeah I love to connect with the fans!’ But honestly, that is something that’s really cool; if you can write something and that idea can be just as real for some other person that you have no association with except that they like your music, it actually is really neat. You kind of trip out.”
On the same note, Nathan confesses that when they received their first e-mail from a kid who had heard their earliest demo praising the band, “Brandon and I almost pooped ourselves ‘cause it was like I didn’t know [it] was possible that someone could really hear a CD and it could be as amazing for them as like The Postal Service is for me.” And quickly he notes how amazing Stephan is live. The frontman says he’s “even better live sometimes ‘cause he just messes around and has fun and you know, we’re just a crazy bunch of guys.” And the duo’s favorite part about being in a band is the opportunity to meet people. As Brandon reasons, “If you’re shy you don’t talk to people and if you’re in a band and they think you’re something special…” he drags off, continuing in a beckoning tone, “‘Cause I’m really shy, so come talk to me people!” Nathan agrees: “I think it’s an advantage in itself – being in a band ‘cause you meet people and you get to do a lot of fun stuff most people don’t get to – like stick bananas up your ass just like The Damned” (referring to a previous tale Yours Truly told about an infamous encounter with old Captain Sensible, but that’s another story…).
Apparently bandmate Andrew is an old pro at weird tactics, although as Nathan and Brandon disclose, “He does all of his stuff off stage…He’s a wild and crazy guy.” Well, that seems like a nice place to leave the story of Refute, thus far in their burgeoning career, that is. There’s no doubt they’re serious about their music, but it’s great to see they aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves or maintain a (healthy?) sense of humor either.