Before I officially began recording and identifying myself as Dead Poets Society, I was producing and promoting concerts in the scenic Columbia River Gorge, which is located between Oregon and Washington. Roughly, every couple months in 1998 I would scrape together enough money to rent our local armory. I’d provide our sound system, create the posters, and write the promotional copy for the press releases. In short, I would do all of the work behind the scenes that is necessary to make a concert flourish. Most of these concerts were performed by and for young adults, who had few, if any, outlets to hear and experience live performances.
There were so many bands who wanted to perform at these shows that I had to make the rounds to various rehearsal spaces to check out each band’s set list, and try to gauge their performance skill. In the end, three to five bands would get a chance to perform in front of an audience, with all expenses paid. One of these bands was HOTBOXED.
At the time that I met them, the lineup was comprised of Ryan Mann on vocals, Dustin Williams on bass guitar, Joe Aguirre on lead/rhythm guitar, and Jason Lincoln on drums. I was told the group had formed spontaneously one day during lunch break at the local high school. Informal jam sessions performing mostly Rage Against the Machine and Korn covers led the band to more serious rehearsals at Jason Lincoln’s parents house. There, they began the arduous task of learning to write and perform their original songs.
Ryan Mann (airborne) and Joseph Aguirre on guitar.
One of the first songs they created was the disenfranchised teenage anthem, “Mohawk”. The title was chosen for its double meaning that made use of their high school mascot , The Indians, while also throwing a nod to the punk and hard rock music that they, and their newly acquired fan base enjoyed. The song quickly became a fan favorite at concerts. Eventually the band put out their own four song EP, which strangely enough did not feature the song. I was fortunate to receive an MP3 copy of the song that had been recorded during the session that recorded the EP had been made. For years it was a fixture in my Winamp playlist.
In late 2001 Ryan Mann had been kind enough to put down a scathing vocal track for our song “Synners”, which appeared on our second album, Deprogramming. He was intrigued by our eclectic sound, particularly the electronic, and industrial elements, and we both wondered if it would be possible to merge our sounds together. In the meantime, we were working with both Ryan and Sara (his wife to be) on a music video idea for Synners, so we put the musical collaboration on hold.
Eventually, one night in 2003 after all the video work and touring had been completed for Deprogramming, I sat down by candlelight, fueled by a Caramel Mocha espresso and imagination, and cut together this remix that explores the sonic compostional differences between our two bands.
The remix was debuted by Hotboxed to the public on an August evening in 2003 at a packed Civic Auditorium before the opening band went on. I was tickled by the favorable response it received.
That summer in 2003 Hotboxed would realize a dream of theirs and play an opening set for Korn at the Portland, Oregon stop on Korn’s tour.
I hope you enjoy this remix!
Wa
Dead Poets Society
