'Nation' Building: Huntington band built on love of thrash

Photo: Mike Adkins

Nation (L-R: Jake Wegman, Dana White, Ryan Vickers, Bobby Midkiff, Bryan Patterson) formed out of its member’s friendships and love of thrash metal. The Huntington-based band will help open things up at Byzantine’s CD release show tonight at the V Club.

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch


It wouldn’t be incorrect to describe Dana White’s new band as an exercise in “Nation” building. Except, in lieu of foundational concepts like democracy and liberty, the Huntington-based five-piece band Nation is built on the freedom to express themselves and pursue happiness -- as a thrash metal band.

Gathered at White’s house in Huntington for a Saturday rehearsal, White, guitarists Bryan Patterson and Ryan Vickers, and bassist Bobby Midkiff talked about the big ideas behind the birth of their own particular Nation.

Describing Nation as “way more thrash,” than his previous bands, Holden Caulfield and Heart Holds True/Black Seas, White said Nation, comprised of members of Holden Caulfield, Neutral Agreement and Deckard, formed quite organically through friendships developed over the years.

“I was excited about this band from the get go,” the singer said. “Bryan and I had been wanting to be in a band together for a long time, and we finally pulled it off.”

Nation performs at The V Club Saturday night, helping to open for Charleston metal band Byzantine, as they release their first record in five years.

Borrowing from a Holden Caulfield album title, White said after the popular hardcore band broke up he and X-Box buddy Midkiff agreed they “Can’t Stop Now.”

“When Holden Caulfield broke up, Bobby and I had already been talking about doing Heart Holds True, which had no name at that point. But Heart Holds/True Black Seas, which was basically the same band with a few changes here and there, that band never really got its momentum. And we hated that, because we enjoyed it and it was fun.”

It was entirely coincidental that Midkiff was moving back to West Virginia from Jacksonville, Florida, when Nation was being birthed.

“Well, Dana and I have been best friends for what, like, six or seven years now?” Midkiff asked as if to confirm it with the singer and his bandmates.

“Thirteen? Longer than that,” Patterson, who White said has written the majority of Nation’s songs, added to laughter from the guys.

“Yeah, a long time,” Midkiff said, continuing. “But I was in Florida, and had just moved back, and Dana said he needed a bass player for Nation. So I was like, ‘of course,’ it was like the perfect fit.

The bassist described how Patterson was pulled into orbit over the years.

“When I was in Holden Caulfield we played a lot of shows with Neutral Agreement, and Bryan was in Neutral Agreement. Actually, on the Holden Caulfield record “Can’t Stop Now,” Bryan came in and did some guest guitar work on two songs. Just playing shows with our bands, together over the years we’ve gotten to know each other that way.”

Patterson jumped in at this point to describe the band’s genesis, and their mutual love of thrash.

“Like Bobby hit on earlier; he, Dana and I have been crossing paths for years now. When I was in Neutral Agreement we’d play shows all the time. Dana was always really good about putting us on shows and supporting our band. Really just by playing shows together and hanging out at shows we became pretty good friends and we always tossed around the idea of playing together.

“We’ve always had a love of old school thrash, which is something that’s not around here, or surrounding areas too much,” Patterson added. “So we really liked the idea of going back and doing what got us into music to begin with: Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer, stuff like that.”

“We both love old school thrash, we all do,” Vickers added, describing the mutual interests he shares with Patterson and the rest of the guys. “He grew up with it, and me, I kind of ventured into heavier, heavier music. But we all still maintained that interest in thrash.”

Admitting he was excited for his band to have the opportunity to open for Byzantine and potentially reach new fans, White said when it comes to getting Nation’s music out in the digital age, just like playing out, it’s all about getting your music out there these days.

“As far as giving the music away, stuff like that, it’s hard to sell music these days, especially when you’re not the headlining band,” the singer said. “We just figure, ‘Hey, we’ll just give this away, and hopefully people will listen to it and we hope they like it,’ get to know it that way.”

Patterson said that, financial constraints aside, the band looks forward to recording a full-length follow-up to Nation’s 3-song E.P., released in September 2012, this year if possible.

White, asked about the likelihood of living out his admitted dream of having his band open for Anthrax, said he’s quite literally living the dream in Nation.

“It would be a dream come true to get to play with Anthrax,” White said.

“But at the same time, I’m so stoked to play any show that we can, even if there’s hardly anybody there, we’ll still be pumped to play because we’ll get to hang with each other, we’ll still get to meet a handful of new people, and we’re probably going to play a new venue that we’ve never played or been to.

“Being in a band is a privilege that some people, sadly, take for granted.”

“I agree with Dana,” Patterson said. “I’ve loved thrash metal for as long as I can remember. Going through my entire life and just now being able to be in a thrash band, it means the world to me to play the music I love, and play the music that influenced me.

“It’s icing on the cake that people come to watch it and people enjoy it.”


IF YOU GO
Byzantine CD Release show w/Nation, DeadFaceDown, Among The Dead
WHERE: The V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington (304) 781-0680
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 23
TIME: doors at 8 p.m., show at 10 p.m.
COST: $12 advance, $15 day of show
INFO: www.vclublive.com

Black Seas: Dana White & friends can't stop now

Black Seas (L-R: Dana White, Bobby Midkiff, Dwayne Hinkle, Cody Gore) looks to follow up on the success of Holden Caulfield, and represent Huntington


Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

“Oh, hey I just walked in the garage and realized my PA was still on from last night’s practice,” Dana White noted, talking on the cell phone about his new band, Black Seas.

White answered questions on his day off. But it’s been a rare day off over the past few months for White, the ex-Holden Caulfield and current Black Seas singer, as he is now the proud parent of a baby boy.

So, White doesn’t have all the time in the world to dedicate to rehearsing, touring and shows. But White says his wife, Brooke, who played bass in the original incarnation of Black Seas, Heart Holds True, is super cool when it comes to him being in a band these days.

“Brooke has always been real supportive of me. She’s wanted to see every band I’ve ever been in succeed. But it does change things a little,” he said of parenthood. “I have to think about ‘How are we going to do this when we go out of town? ‘Is Brooke going to be okay with watching Christian?’

“We actually had a show the day after Christian was born,” White said. “Normally I wouldn’t have agreed to that; the show was supposed to happen before, but he came early.

“It was a house show and it was like five minutes from the hospital, and I kept telling everyone, ‘Call me when the band before us starts playing,’ and lucky enough for me Brooke and the baby were asleep, so my sister and me get in the car and rush to the show.”

It’s just one example of how White has to manage his time and his daily life now as a parent.

Few, if any, West Virginia bands over the past decade have been able to develop and sustain the loyal fan base the way Huntington’s Holden Caulfield did, both in-state and all over the country. After eight years, though, the members of Holden Caulfield went their separate ways.

But White and his good friend Bobby Midkiff, who played guitar in Holden Caulfield, weren’t ready to stop. Now, White leads Black Seas with Midkiff and ex-Most Ill members, bassist Cody Gore and drummer Dwayne Hinkle.

Black Seas plays Shamrock’s Irish Pub in Huntington this Saturday, August 14.

White said Black Seas, together in its current formation for a few months and influenced heavily by Mastodon, is working hard to get its name out, be it at a bar, or some dude’s house.

The band has begun working on a concept record titled “Destined to Never Feel at Home” about White’s own hometown of Huntington.

Lyrically, from Holden Caulfield to Black Seas, White said writing about his life and hometown is what it’s all about, the good and bad.

“This EP is about living around this area all my life. And it’s time to do a little more, and see a little more, but this is still home. It’s about watching the decline of our town. On the surface, if you drove through here ten years ago, and you drive through here now, it looks like things are getting better.

“But then, you start comparing the crime rate between just five years ago and now, and it’s dramatically worse. And it’s because of the influx of drug dealers from certain cities, mostly Detroit, it’s no secret, everyone in this town knows it.

“It just kind of like goes into; there’s this problem, we need to fix it, and we have to fight for our home. But it comes back to it’s mostly our fault because we didn’t do anything about it before. ‘Oh my gosh!’ And it kind of just ends there.”

You can hear one example of how important Huntington is to White and Black Seas on their song “Long Live The Jewel City,” on the Black Seas MySpace page.

Black Seas enlisted engineer and co-producer Ethan Howard from Black Bird Studios in Nashville, who has worked with Kings Of Leon and Rush, to work on the new album.

White said he knows that Black Seas is not Holden Caulfield, but regardless, he’s still awed that the fans are still there.

“We’re doing it for the love of the music and making friends. I don’t necessarily want to be as big as Coldplay, but if I could play music for a living, my gosh, I’d love that.”

And, ever the fortune cookie aficionado, White described what one made for Black Seas might say.

“Things might get horrible, but you can’t stop trying.”


If you go:
WHAT: Waking Lions, The Fearful Jonah, Black Seas, Towers of Veritas

WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14

WHERE: Shamrock's Irish Pub, 2050 3rd Ave., Huntington 304-523-5825

HOW MUCH: $5

ONLINE: www.myspace.com/black_seas and www.myspace.com/luckypub

--- photo: Chris Moore/Obsolete Images