Damage Inc. Interview | Frontman Chris Knight on Metallica Tribute

Chris Knight Interview, Guitarist and Vocalist as James Hetfield in Metallica Tribute band Damage Inc. Interview October 1, 2012

Damage Inc. Interview

MUSIC LEGENDS: How is the process to recording your Damage Inc. promos?

Damage Inc. – Chris Knight – It was actually fairly simple from a recording standpoint. We laid down the drum tracks with an electronic kit in my living room, and then everything else was recorded in Chris Brightwell’s living room using Studio Devil and ProTools. The recording was done in a couple of weeks. The mixing and mastering, etc took about 2-3 months. It was a lot of fun trying to get things to sound as close to the original song, and still have some of the live “flair” that we do in the show.

MUSIC LEGENDS: What Metallica era means a lot to you?

KNIGHT: I must admit that I was a late-bloomer with Metallica. The first song that I heard that hooked me was Fade to Black on the Ride the Lightning album. I heard this during the Justice-era in my late high school days. I had just learned to play guitar and that song really stuck with me. I was a changed man after that. I went back and got all of the previous albums and tried to teach myself all of my favorite riffs.

My first full album was the “Black” album and that was also the era of my first Metallica concert- so that was pretty important to me too.

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MUSIC LEGENDS: How do you manage your time as a musician?

KNIGHT: It’s a juggling act sometimes. All of our band members work full time jobs during the week, so this isn’t the only thing we have to focus on during any given week. Our show schedules can see us playing sometimes six weekends straight and usually two to three weekends out of most months, so it can take up a lot of free time. I am going back to college to get my degree right now, so you throw that in the mix and it makes for a crazy schedule. I think the music tends to be my sanctuary from it all; almost therapeutic sometimes. I’m also very lucky to have a lot of support at work with my schedule, and an awesome wife (who also plays in a band) so she understands how much time it can involve.

MUSIC LEGENDS: What products is Damage Inc. currently endorsing?

KNIGHT: I was fortunate to get an endorsement with ESP guitars. I’m currently playing the Snakebyte style guitars that James uses. I can’t gush about them enough. These guitars really blow me away- feel, sound, looks; the whole package. I’m also using an ElectroVoice microphone, which really has a dynamic sound that stands out in the mix. Oh, and we have our own custom logo guitar picks designed by the great guys at Pickworld! Those guys can put just about any design on a guitar pick and have incredible customer relations!

MUSIC LEGENDS: Without Social Media could bands today manage to survive?

KNIGHT: I think that they could survive, but it would require a lot more groundwork to get your sound out there. I mean, that’s really the big game-changer with the emergence of Social Media. Instead of standing outside the venues at shows with your demo CD hoping to get as many people to listen and hear the band and the music; or spending hours blasting parking lots and bar tables with flyers – you can hit a few thousand people with both in just a matter of moments. You can let people know about your upcoming shows months in advance, and people that would’ve never had an opportunity to see or discover the band can find out anything they want about the band (like what we had for lunch) on the social media sites.

MUSIC LEGENDS: What’s your vision of the internet for musicians in the future?

KNIGHT: I feel that things are always evolving. MySpace was the “big thing” until Facebook came around. Now you don’t really hear much about it. I think Facebook and Twitter are great for networking, but there could always be something else waiting in the wings to emerge as the next “great idea” –it could be just a matter of time before they’re both irrelevant and now everyone is using “WhatAmIDoingRightNow.com” or something along those lines.

I think there are sites that are starting to come to light specifically for musicians and getting their sound out –ReverbNation comes to mind. I think that it’s all in the exposure for these types of sites, just as with music. Most musicians have probably heard of ReverbNation, but not as many fans. When you can draw the fans into a site and be able to take advantage of those types of benefits that we talked about in the previous question, then you’ll see the next social media engine emerge.

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MUSIC LEGENDS: What could we find interesting in your Music collection today?

KNIGHT: I have fairly eclectic musical tastes. I like anything from old-school rap (Eazy-E, Ice T, Run DMC) to reggae (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Pato Banton, Jimmy Cliff) to rock classics (I’m a HUGE Pink Floyd fan and an even bigger Beatles fan- Rush, U2, Tom Petty, etc) even some classical (Moonlight Sonata, Adagio for Strings). – I’ve kind of been on an 80’s kick lately- Men at Work, Dire Straits, The Cure, The Police), and of course I have a healthy collection of metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, etc).

MUSIC LEGENDS: How is it touring as a Metallica Tribute band?

KNIGHT: It’s surreal. I mean, this has always been a dream of mine to play Metallica to fans. We’ve actually surpassed that dream- (in my dream, it was always small clubs).

We have the same dedicated fan base that Metallica has. These fans will travel from show to show to watch us play. There is a lot of energy at the shows, and you can feel that energy from the fans. We’re fans too, so I get excited seeing the fans go crazy at the shows screaming the lyrics back at us.

One of my favorite things is playing all ages shows and seeing the really young kids there headbanging to the music. If I can inspire anyone in my lifetime to pick up an instrument, or sing, or discover music, then that means a lot to me.

MUSIC LEGENDS: Where do you see Music in 100 years from now?

KNIGHT: Good question. I think that music sort of works in cycles. It seems that one part of the spectrum is working on the next innovative sound, and there are always people who appreciate the purity of the basics. However it winds up, you can rest assured that somebody’s parents will hate it just like ours did.

MUSIC LEGENDS: Any words for musicians starting out?

KNIGHT: Enjoy yourself. Whether you’re singing in the shower, jamming with your best friends, playing a show to 5 people or 25, 000, or getting ready to sign a big record deal- enjoy it. It can be easy to lose that enjoyment when getting into the music business. Stress, arguments, disappointment, can derail the best laid plans sometimes. I think it’s very important to always remember what inspired you to become a musician in the first place. Don’t lose sight of that, and always enjoy it.

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