Hard Rock Joins With Metal In Disraeli Gears Sound

Who is Disraeli Gears? Jason Peterson, vocals Michael Roche, guitar & vocals Stu Paterson, bass Gary Funk, drums

Michael Roche describes the band's sound as "hard rock verging on metal," and the CD they've had out since the fall is nearly sold out, but the biggest thing on the minds of Disraeli Gears members these days is that they need a new drummer - and fast.

Recently, "Two or three days before we were featured on KISW radio's `Metal Shop,' everything started to happen at once," explained Roche. "Our drummer has been fighting carpal tunnel syndrome for the last eight months, and he's finally decide to go back to work full-time and to school because drumming is just too painful. So after our show on the 24th, he's out!"

Roche says the band wants a drummer who is hard-hitting, has good song sense and is innovative. If Roche hadn't already offered a summation of the Disraeli Gears sound, that could be it.

Citing influences like Led Zeppelin, Sweet, Black Sabbath and Aerosmith, the Gears are bringing back that hard-rock 70s sound that isn't so easy to find in this city.

The band formed in the winter of 1993 with Roche and Peterson as its nucleus, adding members like so many atoms until arriving at their current lineup in March 1994. Unlike many bands, Disraeli Gears wanted to have a recording out before they started playing gigs, to have something to back themselves up and to promote the band. That seven-song tape was released in the fall of 1994 and sold out soon afterward. They were then picked up by local independent label Balony Pony Records.

Bands that are heavily metal-oriented and list influential groups like Van Halen and Ozzie Ozborn wouldn't appear to be what young kids are listening to these days, especially around here.

But, Roche claims the Seattle music scene isn't all grunge and Green Day. "I wouldn't say we're `typical' Seattle," admitted Roche. "But we're along the lines musically of Alice in Chains, or Soundgarden, for example. The heavier stuff. My background is in metal, as a musician, and I definitely have that blues-rock influence."

Roche said the band plays "lots of huge parties, where we see 250 to 300 people, and a lot on the Eastside and in Lynnwood. Seems like we've found our audience."

The members of Disraeli Gears all work together like cogs in a machine, each musician contributing equally to songs from the idea stage to finished tune. Though they didn't choose their name to reflect their egalitarian ideas, it isn't at all that dissimilar from the reality.

"I had a friend from the UK ask me, as a joke, if my friend's bike had `Disraeli gears,' " explained Roche. "I guess in the UK those are special eight-speed gear boxes you can attach to your bike. It's also the name of a 1967 Cream album, but ultimately we didn't choose the name for any meaning. I just like the way it sounds." Where to catch Disraeli Gears: Tonight at 10 p.m. at Captain Cook's Pub, 1414 Alaskan Way; 223-9467. Are you in a local band?If you'd like to be considered for Sound Check, send a cover letter telling us about your band and your upcoming gigs, the name and daytime phone number of your manager or contact person, a tape and a photo to Sound Check, c/o Jan Even, Seattle Times, PO Box 70, Seattle WA 98111.