Rocketsled

by Mike Wilhide

When you see and hear this band for the first time they demand your attention. From the name, Rocketsled, to each individual in the band- - you get sucked in. That's what they want... when they're on stage. Offstage, it's five guys who are like a comedy troupe, that's how they are....

Greg Beadle (drums) is the "glue" in the band. The one that knows what the plan is. A sax player who happens to play the drums very, very well. An all-state jazz composer but he doesn't write for Rocketsled. A music junkie--- eternally in search of the next record store. Matt (guitar) writes the music and is the one most likely to sleep with his instrument. If he's not playing it when you see him he's thinking about it---all the time. Eric Kennison (bass) is a Carvin man all the way. The happy-go-lucky member of Rocketsled with a very easy smile. An artist, he's designed almost all the band's logos and tape covers. The band's resident movie freak, he leans towards the strange and scary stuff. Casey Rea (vocals) is very intelligent--the dark, moody one. He writes lyrics for the band and forces you to examine his choice of words. There's a lot there, so look deep. Oh yeah, he loves Elvis and plays a mean guitar, too. Darryl Rabidoux ( guitar and happy feet) was the last member to join. "Goldfish Boy" is the kick in the ass that makes you take instant notice. He's playing and texture adds layers to Rocketsled that makes their punch all that much harder. Darryl's a naturally funny guy that you just can't get pissed at. Now if he'd just gain a few pounds....

The sound these guys make together--- you just have to hear it (better yet, feel it!) And the thing that gets me is that it comes easy to them. They don't really know how heavy they are. Nobody in the band is a common musical interest. Casey and Greg have the widest variety of tastes. Sure, they listen to Korn and Helmet and say, "man, that's heavy, but they can't hear it as much in themselves.

'71 Nova-- the long awaited CD--is heavy. Heavy like your pet dying, heavy like aliens actually taking over the earth, heavy like being in debt without any hope... understand? You feel it and just want more, like sex. Gimme more.

It all started in Greg's mom's dining room with just Greg and Matt. They found a bass player and recorded some 4-track demos that basically planned at the seed for Rocketsled. They got a van, saved up as much money as they could and took off for the Left Coast. They didn't get very far when the bass player told them he had seven bucks in his ATM account--he then got dropped off on his parents' lawn. 

After that, their pride took over. So, instead of heading back to the 'rents houses they came to Burlington. First, they lived in the van for two more weeks, sneaking in showers wherever they could. An apartment finally opened up. Through all of this they talked to a mutual friend, Eric, and headed back up to Newport to jam a few times before they asked him to join. Eric moved in with the guys in December 93. They rode and jammed and jammed, and jammed some more, before they decide to advertise for a vocalist. They tried out guys from extreme death metal singers all the way to Robert Plant clones without knowing which direction they were heading in.

Then Casey called. Eric played him some rough recordings of tunes the band ( still unnamed at this point) had recorded on a boombox. Casey told Eric that he knew he was the right guy for the job, but Greg wasn't as sure as Casey was. So, Casey got a tape from Eric and wrote lyrics to the loosely structured tunes. It worked and he was in. Greg came up with the name Rocketsled. It stuck, and they haven’t looked back. They got together whenever their four schedules allowed and practice at Resting Lion Studios in Huntington during the week and Newport town hall on the weekends. Out of those practices cane "13th Man", "Rise", and "Darkside", which they felt strongly enough about to make a demo at Resting Lion Studios (January '94)... but who to get the tape to? While trying to figure that out, opportunity knocked. Club Toast was advertising on WIZN for entries in the '94 Battle of the Band's. They dropped off a tape at Toast, and Dennis heard it and called them back within a half hour. He offered them a slot in the battle and their first show with Portland, Maine's Twisted Roots.

More shows came along with Sam Black Church, Stompbox, Tree and local bands Slush and the now defunct Truth and Brutality. Somewhere during that time (around May '94) they went into Eclipse Studios in South Burlington to record a tape with Joe Egan that came out in mid-summer and was self-titled. (They made 500 copies and, with the support of Greg's high school bud Mark Thompson, who co-hosts WERS Nasty Habits on Sunday nights from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.). They got their first taste of airplay in Boston live in the studio. That led to the first show at the rat with Orangutang and 6L6 and then shows in New Hampshire and upstate New York.

Around this time the band started looking more closely at themselves and their music. The direction they were headed in at that point wasn't who they really were or what they were about. They wanted to concentrate more on the sound of the band and not so much on the darker image that they had started with. They wanted to fatten up the sound of the band. 

Greg started to think about another guitar player but was worried about Matt's reaction, but Matt had been thinking along the same lines. At that time, Daryl's band Wrench was having problems. Casey had met Darryl through mutual friends and found that they both loved industrial music. Darryl had been to a few Rocketsled shows and was a big fan. Everyone agreed Darryl was the obvious choice. The band now had what it needed to get where they wanted to go.

And thus, they are Rocketsled. Without changing anything in the way they present themselves you can see that Rocketsled is more at peace with the way they play than ever before. They better like what they do because they're going to be doing it for a long time. This is a band that's going places.

Mike Wikhide is a DJ at WIZN-FM and long time local music supporter. You can often find him banging his head to the harder stuff at Toast.