American Plague brings its infection back home

The American Plague

The American Plague

Having been a Knoxville staple for nine years, The American Plague has been scarce in terms of live sets in the past few months. Opening for national acts at its last few outings resulted in brief sets for the band well-known for its high-energy output. With a little help from some unlikely places, The American Plague prepares to once again headline shows, playing unabbreviated sets upon the release of its new EP “Kiss of Death.”

The American Plague found an unlikely fan in 10 Years’ Ryan “Tater” Johnson, who produced “Kiss of Death” as well as The Plague’s previous release “Heart Attack” in his home studio. While surprised at Johnson’s interest given the difference in styles and the huge success of Johnson’s own band, The Plague is more than pleased with the results of the relationship, so much so that the admittedly “bullheaded” trio allowed, even encouraged, Johnson to join them on stage as a fourth member during its shared tour with 10 Years.

“It’s interesting to me that a lot of the bands I thought we’d go well with wouldn’t have anything to do with us,” says Plague guitarist/vocalist James Alexander. “Then out of left field comes 10 Years who is doing very well and is very established. It was great for them to step in and help us out. (Johnson) plays kind of like a hired guy in the sense that he doesn’t try to step up and assert himself, he just wants to fill in cracks and take pressure off so I can focus a little more on the singing.”

“I can see what he was saying initially when he suggested adding a guitar,” adds bassist Dave Dammit of having Johnson on stage. “It was like stereo guitar. It was awesome. When he came around and said he wanted to work with us, we were playing some big shows around town and picking up some new fans, but he saw a bigger potential for us to reach 10 Years fans and people we had only started to reach. He helped in a lot of aspects beyond producing, like getting us shows and taking us out on tour.”

So after nearly a decade as a trio, is The American Plague looking to add a permanent fourth member? Not really. Though happy with the assistance of Johnson’s guitar supplements at occasional shows, the band did give the idea some consideration, but still values the identity of creating a full sound on the strength of its original three member core.

“We’ve considered it,” Alexander says. “We’ve had one or two people try out. My whole theory is that any song you’ve got, you should be able to do it acoustic. If it came down to it, I think the three guys in the band should be able to pull off anything. We’re not doing ‘The White Album’ or anything. We want to do something we can translate and pull off. I think that until we get to the point that we can’t do it, we’ll stay a three-piece. We’re kind of hard to work with. It’s much easier working with just two other people than it would be to work with three.”

Despite being set in its ways in some respects, The American Plague added a sonic experiment or two on its upcoming release. The band, who in the past has cold shouldered any track over three and a half minutes in length, included an epic finale to “Kiss of Death.”

“I think there are a few songs on there that trail off of ‘Heart Attack,’ ” says Dammit. “Then there are a couple of songs that do go off, specifically a song called ‘Dawn (Nuclear Pulse).’ It’s acoustic guitar and vocals that builds and builds in a ‘Stairway to Heaven’ fashion until it crescendos to this big, climactic ending. We experimented with different stuff, so it’s not so much this big wall of guitar, bass and drums in three and a half minutes, but it still has that American Plague rock element to it.”

With the EP release, The Plague will seize the opportunity to play the longer set lists it is accustomed to, allowing the group to dig deeper into its catalog, beyond its most-recognized crowd pleasers.

“I realized that in a year we hadn’t done a set over 35 minutes, just because we were always opening,” says Alexander. “You get so spoiled with it, because you don’t have to go through the motions of pacing yourself. You can just go out there and go crazy, and surely you can keep that up for at least 30 minutes. It’s kind of cool to try and get back into doing a longer set and play some of the songs we haven’t been able to revisit in a while.”

Saturday night The American Plague performs and unveils its new release at Pilot Light. Joining them on the bill are Luminoth and Chucky the Brave. Doors open at 9 p.m., and admission is $5. The first 30 fans in the door will receive a complimentary copy of “Kiss of Death.”

n STRAIGHT TO THE MOON: The Funhouse presents Moon Taxi with The New Mastersounds and DJ Logic tonight at Barley’s Taproom. The show is slated to start at 10 p.m.

n SHAM-WOW!: Cutthroat Shamrock plays Preservation Pub tonight at 10 p.m.

special to knoxville.com

The American Plague’s Dave Dammit, from left, James Alexander and Todd Bryant are content to remain a trio, though having the extra layer of 10 Years guitarist Ryan “Tater” Johnson was an “awesome” experience.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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