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In Stores Now!! Rich Love – Vocals Kristo Panos – Guitar Andy Kowatch – Bass Adam Figura - Drums Should you harbor any illusions that the members of Sloth, one of the Inland Empire's most important new bands, who regularly play in front of thousands of hometown fans, are as lazy as their name implies, consider their summer of '99. After toiling on a crowded Los Angeles club scene, the quartet—restless and anxious to take their amp-taxing show on the road—came up with one hell of an escape plan. "We decided to join the Warped Tour," recalls guitarist Kristo Panos. There was, however, one small problem: they weren't invited. "That didn't stop us," laughs Panos. "We bought a generator and a shitty old Astro Van, which had holes in the roof. We packed it with equipment—which got wet every time it rained—and followed the tour from town to town. We'd set up in parking lots and perform as people were going in. Over the course of a few weeks, we played for thousands of people." Midway through the tour, main stage artist Ice-T caught Sloth's set and brought them in from the cold. Says Panos, "He asked the festival's organizer, Kevin Lyman," who was already a fan having booked the band in '97 and '98 to play on some of the local L.A. and regional Warped dates, "to let us play the second stage. Kevin agreed to give us a shot and we became part of the show for the rest of the tour. We were grateful for the opportunity and made the most of it." Did Sloth—whose ear-seizing sound is heavy and eclectic and draws on influences ranging from Black Sabbath and Jane's Addiction to Tool and old-world Greek bouzouki music—have a tough time winning over the predominantly punk and ska crowd? "Amazingly enough, we went over really well," adds vocalist Richard Love. "The whole experience was pretty unbelievable." While most young rock bands usually balk at legwork, the blue collar, Claremont, CA-based Sloth-ers—Panos, Love, bassist Andrew Kowatch and drummer Adam Figura—won't hesitate to go the extra mile. For example, over the course of the past few years, the band has sold an impressive 10,000 copies of its first two self-released CDs (22 and Acedia). What's their sales approach? Says Panos, "After a show, we'll strap on backpacks filled with CDs and go into the crowd to sell them ourselves. We usually ask for $10 per disc, but wind up selling them for whatever people can afford. We do the same thing with t-shirts. Our attitude is, why do a show if you can't leave anything behind? They're taking their mission worldwide with hook-filled Hollywood debut Dead Generation, an album of immense scope and primal intensity. Produced by Bob Marlette (Saliva, Black Sabbath) and recorded in Los Angeles, Dead Generation sees Sloth breaking from the gate with words and images designed to provoke both action and reaction. In between amped meditations on mortality ("Broken Crutch") and social erosion ("Media"), the band looks at the state of the nation and wonders how we got so far down a bad road ("Dead Generation"). Faced with a vista of ruin, they search for meaning and find it in "Someday," a song whose melodic subtlety and grace is every bit as heavy as its wall of guitars and dense rhythms. Dead Generation's emotional centerpiece is the slow-burning "You Can't Look Away," in which Love recalls a crippling battle with depression. "Without getting too morbid, I was in a really dark place and extremely self-destructive," he says. "The song is about coping with loneliness and making the conscious decision to climb out of that hole and live." On "Open Your Eyes," Panos adds Eastern flavor to the band's raw meat heft by incorporating a bouzouki into a mix. "I've been playing for years," he says. "It's a great songwriting tool and takes our music to another level. And," he laughs, "My family is stoked to see me exploring my Greek heritage." What will the band never forget about the making of the album? "Passing the Bob Ezrin listening test," muses Figura. "Rumor has it that he's super-opinionated and has been known to walk into a room and walk right back out if he doesn't like what he hears. We were mixing the last and longest song on the album, 'Billygoat,' and he came in to say hi to Bob Marlette. He sat through the whole song and then said, 'That is some of the coolest shit I've heard in years.' We were blown away. Pink Floyd's always been one of our influences and here's the guy who produced The Wall sitting there and focusing on our music—and enjoying it. It was pretty amazing." Sloth emerged in '95, with Panos, Love and Figura recording a handful of demos and sharpening their sound with local gigs.. In '97 the band recorded 22, produced by John Avila (Oingo Boingo). When the disc became a hot commodity on the underground trading post, they submitted it to a nationwide contest sponsored by Guitar Center, Musicians Institute and Disc Makers and proceeded to trounce several thousand competitors. Bassist Kowatch was brought into the group and second CD Acedia—which was completely funded by their contest winnings—was released in 1998. After their aforementioned "parking lot tour," Lyman invited them back for a proper Warped slot in 2001. Since then, the band has become a favorite fixture on the famed traveling road show, where they've shared stages with the likes of Deftones, Bad Religion and Pennywise. They've developed a rabid following throughout the southwest thanks to a dense and diversified guitar-driven sound that's both punishing and pop-savvy (says Panos, "It's classic-influenced rock with a modern feel"). The thousands of hometown fans that regularly show up for a Sloth show have seen them play with bands such as Papa Roach, Disturbed and Alien Ant Farm. And despite signing a major label deal, Panos insists Sloth will abide by an old-fashioned working-class ethic. "We just want to tour," he says. "There's a sense of freedom that comes from being on the road and playing your music for new faces. That feeling of connecting with an audience is an amazing thing. I think a lot of new bands get signed and automatically think they're rock stars. When we got signed, our attitude was, 'Okay, we just got a loan. Now we have the backing to do this the right way.' Sure, we have some pretty lofty goals and have already met a few of them, but we're always setting new ones and I think that drive will keep us going. Our work is just getting started." |
Visit www.slothmusic.com More New Rock |
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