It’s not always an easy thing to ideally combine the classic rock of the ‘70s and the ‘80s to the 21st century vibes. There is one band, though, who dares to face that challenge, and since 2007, when they formed, Downtread, the Minneapolis-based group appears to have achieved that successfully.
Brett Petrusek (Vocals/Guitar), Eric Domagall (Drums), Marc Paradise (Guitar) and Robert Berg (Bass) they like to rock… hard! With raging reviews over the years for their first two albums, they now release their 3rd one titled, The War Behind The Wolf. I won’t say much, just that they have at least one song about a werewolf!
Here we speak with Brett Petrusek about their new album and everything we need to know about the amazing Downtread.
Who are Downtread? Introduce us the band in your own words…
We are a bombastic Minneapolis-based hard rock band; we swing for the fences with titanic riffs and aggressive drumming. We just do what comes naturally to us and don’t get caught up with chasing musical trends. Downtread strikes a nice balance of modern and classic. Some say we keep the flames of rock burning bright… it must be the guitar solos. The guitars are usually drop tuned (Low C), the drums are on stun, and the vocals are gritty. We strive to write well-crafted, concise songs that maintain a strong sense of melody and deliver memorable choruses. We try to keep it dangerous and a bit off the rails.
Your new album is called The War Behind The Wolf. What kind of songs does it include?
The ten tracks featured on the upcoming album offer unbridled fury alongside a universally offered tale of redemption. Downtread’s lyrics approach disparate themes that include today’s culture of violence, imploding relationships and, in one instance, a song about a werewolf!
Where do you find the inspiration for the songs you write?
The music almost always comes first with Downtread. Sometimes I’ll come up with a riff and show it the rest of the band, sometimes Eric and I will bang out an arrangement, and sometimes the whole band just slugs it out together on the spot, and we wind up with a great track. The current state of world culture and politics are, well, beyond disturbing, so it’s easy to become entrenched with constant barrage of media reporting. Good or bad, the majority of the War Behind the Wolf is a response to the violent and controversial cultural climates of the world around us. It’s hard for me to escape it sometimes, so I decided to use the energy as a point of inspiration.
Tell us a few things about your brand new video clip for the song, “World Is Breaking”.
It’s a down and dirty DIY video we put toghter on our own with recent live footage. We liked the feel of the track and went with it. The song is about losing someone or something you love and your whole world breaking down, all delivered with a typical Downtread sneer in the gutter while twisting the knife a bit.
Downtread-World is Breaking
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Over the last few years, you shared the stage with names such as Judas Priest, Whitesnake, and Saliva, among others. How is it working with great bands like the above?
It’s been a lot of fun, but for the most part, everyone is pretty busy getting ready for their shows, so the interaction is fairly minimal. But, one of the highlights I remember is when we opened for Whitesnake, Marc and I had a chance to chat with Doug Aldrich quite a bit before the show about our rigs, his rigs and guitar gear in general. He was super friendly and what an amazing guitarist! Another one, was last year when we were on a festival show and opened for Trapt and Halestorm. We had a chance to hang with both bands a bit, post show, same deal, down to earth, super cool folks; both those bands kill live, of course. And once with Lynch Mob. It’s kind of cool to have the opportunity to open for your childhood hero (and Marc’s too). I’ve known George Lynch for some time and, as many may know (or not know), he played a couple of guest solos on our first album, so finally being able to rock a show and support Lynch Mob was just plain really great. Lynch did not have a guitar tech that night, so I volunteered to get things rolling for him; I set up and checked his rig for the night at sound check. I remember walking out of the green room carrying his famed ESP Tiger and his Les Paul – one of my mates shouted, “Kodak moment!!” Another story that comes to mind is when I met Joel Kosche, an amazing guitarist singer/songwriter at a NAMM show. He was the guitarist for Collective Soul at the time, and we got along pretty quickly. Joel was kind enough to arrange the string section for, “I Told You”, a track on our second album, Stand your Ground, that ultimately lead to us opening for Collective Soul in Rochester, Minnesota. It was an outdoor show, and the attendance was 22,000+ (lucky for us!). All the guys in that band were super chill and cool. Marc had a chance to meet and open for his hero, Warren DiMartini, and just like me with George, Marc wound up teching for Warren a couple of times, and Warren even used Marc’s Deizel VH4 for a couple of shows. And of course, opening for Judas Priest. We never met them, but damn, just being able to say we did makes me sleep better at night. We are very fortunate to have had the chance.
Are there any musicians with whom you haven’t collaborated yet, but you would love to?
I can’t speak for the rest of the group but sure! Joe Elliot, Michael Schenker, Paul Chapman, Jerry Cantrell.
How hard is it to find your way into the music business?
It’s tricky, and we are definitely still finding our way. It got easier for us when we realized collectively it is what you make of it: Enjoy the ride, enjoy what you’re doing simply because you love doing it, and that you’re lucky enough to be able to do it with the musicians you do it with. We don’t worry so much about fame and fortune; that’s not the art form. Instead, we are concerned with the music being tight, playing great together, writing great songs, making killer albums, and kicking ass on stage. Make the band good. Do you remember the chills you got as a kid listening to your favorite songs? That’s the form of communication that transcends all language; that’s what hooked us in the first place, and it’s in our blood. In a sense, it’s about contributing, making our band great because it’s what we want and need to do, then we’ll be ready if our day in the sun comes. If we were in it for the money, we would have hung it up a long time ago.
What were the hardships you had to overcome over the years?
The biggest hardship we’ve had over the years is keeping the same band together. Most bands bust it off after one or two albums if they don’t achieve world domination. We’ve been close to walking away but worked through it, and we’ve made it from our first EP to our third album. In doing so, we’ve learned to accept and appreciate each other (the good and bad), it has allowed us to develop as a cohesive unit, a better band, and better dudes overall.
Besides music, what else do you like to do in your everyday life?
Eric is a motorhead. He’s passionate about wrenching and performance, motorcycles, muscle cars, and lately drift cars. He’s good with his hands; he can build anything or figure it out and make it better.
Robert is the band’s sports enthusiast. He’s also into playing tennis with his dad during the warmer months.
Brett: Gear enthusiast! I’m into to chasing guitar sounds, changing pickups, wrenching on guitars, Amps, pedal boards etc. A graduate of the Minneapolis College of art and Design, I’ve illustrated a couple of children’s books, and from time to time, I keep my hands dirty designing product ads for Music Industry manufacturers and also artwork for Downtread. I like to run, to find my own space and clear my head.
Like Brett, Marc is a total gear geek. He’s always looking for way to improve his rig, his tone and is the band go-to guy for anything gear related. He’s obsessed with keeping things tight on the gear front for Downtread. Side note: Marc is not a fan of vegetables and he does not like sushi (We think that’s a little weird!).
Playing music was always your dream? Who were your musical “idols” when you were little kids?
There’s no question that it’s always been the dream; I can answer for the whole band on that note. Here’s list of some of our favorite bands and players/Idols … the earliest influences we cut our teeth on:
Brett: UFO (Schenker and Chapman eras), Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Scorpions. Idols: George Lynch, Michael Schenker, Randy Rhoads, and Steve Clark.
Robert: KISS, UFO (Schenker and Chapman eras), Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen (David Lee Roth era). Idols: Paul Stanley and Michael Schenker.
Marc: Van Halen, Ratt, Dokken, Scorpions. Idols: Eddie Van Halen, Warren DiMartini, Rhandy Rhoads, and George Lynch.
Eric: Nirvana, Black Sabbath and KISS. Idols: His father, John Domigall, who happens to be a bad-ass guitar player. John played in Berlin in the 70’s, Cry of Love, for a brief stint, Herricane Alice, and currently performs with his own power trios: Hoodlum Johnny and Namzigall featuring his son, Eric, on drums when he’s not busy with Downtread.
What are your next plans?
We’ve just played a handful of shows here locally as direct support for The Lynch Mob and also Sebastian Bach. We have just hit the road supporting Saliva for a run of shows in the Midwest this December… a great way for us to wrap up the year before the holidays. Now, we are back out in 2016 playing shows locally here in the Minneapolis area and jumping on any runs that make sense. Stay tuned for more…
Where do you imagine the band to be in, let’s say, 10 years from now?
We’d certainly like a catalog of hit songs, our own private island, a private jet, and to perform at Wimbledon stadium, but we will be happy as long as we can keep making the music we love while growing our fan base and playing great shows. It’s an adventure we embrace.
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by Demetrios Ioannou, RockRevolt Journalist
