Hillstomp to bang out beats on pickle buckets
By: Jennifer Siino
Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: Entertainment
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Where: Nick's Night Club
When: 9 p.m. Friday
One man's trash is another man's instrument. At least for Portland, Ore., blues duo Hillstomp.
The unorthodox band will be playing at Nick's Night Club tonight with Aubrey Debauchery and The Puke Boots.
Drummer John Johnson - yes, that's his real name - sets himself apart from other musicians by playing on cardboard boxes, plastic buckets and a Weber grill lid instead of a typical drum set. Singer/guitarist Henry Kammerer completes the dynamic duo and supports Johnson's use of unorthodox instruments.
"In place of a snare drum, there's an overturned pickle bucket on top of a milk crate, and in between that he's got a metal lock box," Kammerer said.
That specific combination of buckets and boxes makes a sound remarkably similar to that of a traditional snare drum, he said.
The most frustrating part of playing on buckets is Johnson has become particularly attached to the sound that a Sun Detergent bucket makes, Kammerer said, and unfortunately the only place to find them is at Wal-Mart.
Being self-proclaimed "tree-huggers" and disinclined to shop at mega stores, they are less than excited to go into Wal-Mart to purchase new drums, but the bucket makes the best sound, he said.
Hillstomp's recent tour is in support of its new album, "After Two But Before Five," which captures the energy and spontaneity of a live performance. The band's press release describes this energy as "music that comes clanging and tumbling out of an assortment of vintage mics, buckets, cans and barbecue lids, drenched in rambunctious slide guitar."
For having such a rambunctious sound, Hillstomp is actually surprisingly clean-cut. Kammerer, who is disarmingly relatable, was wary of sharing specific war stories from the tour trail, but did share a little bit about their experiences.
"We see all sorts of debaucherous things go on and all sorts of rock 'n' roll craziness," he said. "Hillstomp has been described as one of the cleanest bands out there."
Despite being such a charmingly sweet band, they were almost named something relatively dirty.
"John was hot on calling us 'The Whiskey Dicks,'" Kammerer said.
The band decided on Hillstomp by the process of elimination. The more choices the two crossed off the list, the more the name just seemed to fit, Kammerer said.
"I handle the hill and he handles the stomp," he said.
Kammerer and Johnson have been "hillstomping" since 2001, and despite avoiding "all sorts of debaucherous things," the band will be kicking off its first Chico performance with none other than Aubrey Debauchery and The Puke Boots, Kammerer said.
Katie Perry, also known as Kat el Diablo, booking agent for Nick's Night Club, brought the two bands together because they're hard-working self-promoters, she said.
"They are not packaged or restricted to a 'suit's' opinion or bank account like a major label band would be," Perry said. "These bands are true-to-the-heart musicians who work hard and endlessly to make things happen."
Aubrey Debauchery was quick to show excitement about the show with the quirky pair of Oregonians.
"We haven't played with Hillstomp yet, but I've heard such great things that I was stoked when Kat asked us to play," Debauchery said.
Debauchery isn't the only one who has been saying and hearing good things about Hillstomp. The band was invited to play overseas at the Open House Festival in Belfast, Ireland, and the Spitz Festival of Blues in London.
Even though they've been impressing crowds all over the world, one of their favorite places to play is Davis. Cities such as Davis have rallied around Hillstomp and made its shows even more energetic, Kammerer said.
Though it may not have all of the rock 'n' roll craziness that some bands boast, Hillstomp offers an energizing dance band - with buckets.
Jen Siino can be reached at
jsiino@theorion.com
Related links
Hillstomp Web site
Hillstomp's MySpace page
Aubrey Debauchery's MySpace
Nick's Night Club's MySpace
Map of Nick's Night Club
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