Jesus Nut
By Chris Murray
Jesus Nut:
The nut which fastened the rotor of a helicopter to its body. If it goes, so do you (regardless of your religious beliefs.)
In its original form, a Burlington based hardcore band, and now maturing into four talented musicians with strong punk ethos.
In 1993 four young kids banded together to tell their peers about the distasteful experiences they had lived through. The lackluster days in suburbia, the painful experiences of love lost and dealing with the pressures and expectations of society. Unfortunately, they were just that: kids. Now, two years later, three of these kids are considered adults, eligible to vote and get drafted. Their message is the same, only now people are beginning to listen.
“It all started as a personal thing,” lead singer and lyricist Aaron Carpenter said. “We just wanted to get out our emotions.” Emotions which were kindled by what many parents believe are ideal child rearing conditions. “I grew up in a real Christian family,” Carpenter, the senior member of the band at 19, said. “I was forced into all these beliefs and ideals, and I never really believed in them. I was surrounded by Mormons and I had these things pushed on me, I had no escape,” he continued. “I lived in the middle of nowhere, in complete suburbia.”
Carpenter hooked up with drummer Mike Gatti and guitarist Rob McConologue. Pat Allard completed the lineup playing bass. “Rob’s been plating with Mike for a long time,” Carpenter said. “They were in a cover band for a while playing all kinds of stuff like Living Color and Black Crowes, definitely not punk rock. You should see our rehearsals,” he said laughing, “we played some Tom Petty, you know, the cool songs. We may even do ‘Summer of 69’ live sometime.”
“When we started,” Carpenter said, “we wanted to be a hardcore band. Nobody would take us seriously, we were new and young. We were nobodies. We were pretty bad,” he admitted openly. “I know my singing sucked pretty bad.”
In the last two years Jesus Nut has steadily honed their style of music, not limiting themselves to hardcore music alone. “Our sound has changed completely,” Carpenter said. “Put songs have gotten more and more difficult, and I've gotten more melodic.”
As McConologue writes the music, Carpenter focuses on the lyrics. “I don’t copy Rob’s notes,” he said. “We work them out.:
With the evolution in sound, Carpenter said, it takes a little longer to get to know the band. “You have to see us a few times,” he said. “You can’t get into us right away… we grow on you.” And growing on people is exactly what Jesus Nut is doing. They usually play once a month at Club 242 Main and “nearly every benefit.” Carpenter said.
If it wasn’t for 242 Main,” Carpenter said, “we wouldn’t have any fans. They let us play here a lot. So we try to help out 242 as much as we can in return.”
And as the crowds at 242 get bigger for Jesus Nut, the irony of their ever increasing popularity is not lost on the members of the band. Carpenter noted that “We’ve been playing a lot of shows and people have said we sucked…and now those people are coming to shows and they like it. We have some really loyal followers. They’re great because when you see them singing along with our songs, you know they’ve seen us a million times. That’s a pretty weird feeling.”
Having members still in high school, never mind college, makes it difficult for Jesus Not to tour. “We kind of consider 242 our club because we like the all-ages audiences… We’ve played Newport and Toast and in Lyndonville, and we play a lot of parties.”
With a new bass player (former Fags bassist Josh Levy has replaced Pat Allard,) a new CD recently recorded at Burlington’s Low Tech Studio, and plans to maintain a heavy gig schedule this summer, things are definitely looking up for Jesus Nut. Keep your eyes on this Jesus Nut… with the right amount of practice and perseverance, they may very well lead the next generation of Burlington alternative music.
Chris Murray is a reporter for the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus