Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Thursday, April 06, 2006
West Salem band rocks to state finals
It could have been a bad omen for Zetus Deamos, a West Salem quartet closing out the evening’s performances at last Friday’s second annual Launchpad competition at La Crosse Logan High School.
Dennis Graham, who organized the six regional Launchpad competitions, got up to introduce the band and slightly mispronounced the group’s moniker. It’s supposed to sound like “zeetus deemoes,” but even people more familiar with the band sometimes have a hard time with it.
Then when Graham went to introduce the band, he started reading the names off the program and was quickly informed that the program had completely wrong names for the band members.
The band, however, was unshaken by the introduction, launching into a stomping version of “Lady in a Black Dress,” the first of three original songs the band played. Guitarist/lead singer Erik Williams, guitarist Mike Ganrude, bassist Jake Barbieur and drummer Zac Barbieur displayed strong dynamics (and stamina) on the next song, a seven-minute power ballad called “Every Now and Then,” before ripping into their closing party anthem, “Smashed.”
After a 15-minute session with the panel of four judges, the results came back with Zetus Deamos and RUNE, an instrumental trio from Lakeland High School, named the top two of the six bands, qualifying them for the state finals June 17 in Madison.
Judging the contest at Logan were drummer Terry Nirva, who has played on 16 original CDs, including Bill Miller’s Grammy-winning “Cedar Dream Songs”; Steve Harm, a music industry veteran who in 1991 started La Crosse’s Warehouse, one of the country’s longest-running alcohol-free rock concert venues; Annie McLoone, a singer/songwriter who recorded a solo album on RCA and has had songs recorded by major artists including Dolly Parton and Mick Fleetwood; and Tom Noncrieff, a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, engineer and music producer who is leader of the band, Surf Nation, and partners with McLoone in Winona-based McLooney Tunes Productions.
Impressing those judges was just the start of a great weekend for the band. The next night they opened for a Virginia-based band, River City High, at the Warehouse and got some high praise from the headliner.
“The main band really liked us,” said Williams. “It’s cool to hear stuff from bands that are signed.”
The Launchpad competition also featured a performance by Holmen High School sophomores Nodyne (Tyler Burrows, Will Haskin, Joe Smerud and Bryan Zannotti), who played three original hard rockers, “The Unheard,” “Solitude” and closing with a crowd favorite, “Jesus Knievel.”
Just David, a band with members who go to La Crosse Central and Aquinas high schools, also played at Logan, along with bands from North Crawford, Mauston and Reedsburg high schools.
Zetus Deamos formed last August after Williams and the Barbieur brothers hooked up with Ganrude, thanks to Valley View Ford, where Ganrude’s father and Williams’ mother work.
Every member of the band is in a different grade. Williams is a senior, Jake Barbieur is a junior, Ganrude’s a sophomore and Zac Barbieur is an eighth-grader.
Despite the age differences, Williams said there is good chemistry in the band and they are united in a common mission: “We’re trying to bring back the good rock and roll.”
Both Williams and Ganrude take guitar leads, but Ganrude demonstrated an instrumental dexterity beyond his years, even before the band started playing. As a warm-up, Ganrude played the intro to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” moving members of some of the other bands that had already played to chant along: “THUNDER.” He learned to play, he said, by listening to Eddie Van Halen and incorporated some of Van Halen’s fretboard wizardry into the band’s original songs.
Williams doesn’t seem to mind when people compare his low, growly vocal style to Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam and Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, bands whose popularity peaked a decade ago.
Williams was a singer in a band before Zetus Deamos, but decided to pick up guitar playing about two years ago. “I just picked it up and started making noise,” he said.
His interest in rock music started when he was playing hockey and the sound system used to blast hard rock before a game to get the players and crowd pumped up.
He didn’t plan on being the singer in this band, but when he discovered he could sing and play guitar, he became the band’s frontman, which worked out well. Williams, who played offensive line for the West Salem High School Panthers, has a commanding stage presence, exuding the cool confidence of a quarterback.
So far the band is only performing originals and has written eight songs. Williams, who plans to study journalism at UW-Milwaukee, handles the lyrics while the band works out instrumental arrangements collectively.
Zetus Deamos will soon release a four-song CD, recorded at Natural Sound in La Crosse. Their next performance won’t be until late May and in the interim, Williams said, the band plans to concentrate on writing some new material.
The Launchpad competition wasn’t the first contest the band has won. Zetus Deamos — a name whose origins Williams would prefer remained a mystery — came out on top at the Oktoberfest Gong Show.
The Gong Show results were based on audience response, though, and the Launchpad contest was judged by music industry pros. “I think it gives us a lot more credibility,” Williams said.
Contact Randy Erickson at randy.erickson@lee.net or 786-6812
All stories copyright 2006 Coulee News and other attributed sources.