Enter the Downtown Fredericksburg nightlife scene, where local bands vie for power and glory. Vinyl Epitaph is certainly one of the scene’s most promising bands, debuting their first EP on Saturday, March 27^th at Fatty J’s. It was a packed house, a night full of energy, excitement, and some good-old-fashioned heavy rock.

The bitter night chill of Downtown’s sepia-tinged, cigarette-butt-littered streets forced the nightlife’s thrill-seekers to find a refuge and an attraction. Fatty J’s was the refuge, Vinyl Epitaph the attraction.

A band only a year old (in their current form), Vinyl Epitaph has plenty of shows under its belt, playing some Downtown establishments such as Hard Times and Spirits, and in the process developing quite a formidable reputation.

Customized street-posters, homemade, cover the walls of the corridors that lead into Fatty J’s main lounge, where the guys are setting up for the gig. Up the stairs and through the sentinels checking IDs, preventing minors from enjoying the show, the view reveals Vinyl Epitaph, knee-deep in wires leading to the fortified depths of their ominous amps.

DJ Skruff is equally ensconced in arcane musical technology, apparatus whose sole purpose is to make you get down, rock out, lose yourself in sonic ecstasy. Opening up for the band and lacing his tracks throughout the night as the band momentarily paused, Scruff starts out by playing Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow,” remixed with a faster, harder, electronic beat. The crowd loves it, but none more than Nick Stephens, lead singer for Vinyl Epitaph. A deep Pearl Jam junky, Nick sips on his beer, totally elated as DJ Scruff unexpectedly scratches through one of his favorite songs. Throughout the night, the charismatic DJ proves himself to be a total crowd pleaser. He plays remixed versions of classic 80s pop and metal songs to incredible reception. Some highlights were Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer,” Cindy Lauper’s “Manic Monday,” and Scandal’s “The Warrior” (personal favorite).

The band starts, and all are psyched. Chicks in skimpy outfits dance incessantly to Epitaph’s rockout tunes. Dudes flail their legs around as they dance with themselves, crashing into people. It’s madness. Eclecticism is not just imbued into the sonic DNA of Vinyl Epitaph, but also evident in the phenotypic, physical, visual manifestations that rock out in the flesh during their live shows.

Nick Stephens. Lead singer. His shoulder-length hair covers his eyes down to his nose as he screams into the mic. His super-charged growling vocals balance out the melodic sections of his lyrics. He takes us on a journey, a bittersweet sonic legend through space-time. The dude pours his heart out on stage. A true frontman; with one hand he preaches peace and with the other, the religion of ass-kicking rock.

Matt Wade. The drummer. Violently, and powerfully demolishes his drum set. His customized drum sticks on the verge of splintering at every thunderous beat. A total powerhouse drummer, his energy radiates from the stage. Through the driving, upbeat “Severed Head,” to the much faster-paced “Mohawk Blues,” to the uncontrollable “Crapshoot Rapture,” Matt’s demonic skill is clearly evident.

Mike Enzweiller. Guitarist. His flesh is a graphic novel. The normally-put-back dreads are unleashed during the second, heavier half of the show. The dreads flail about as he strums his guitar, unwittingly dispersing Matt’s shockwaves. Mike’s experimental alien solos totally chill you to the core, transporting you into a totally different place.

Hugh. Strong and steady, he thumps away, keeping the baseline. Unwavering, unfaltering. Hugh. What a fucking badass. These guys are on the edge.

The Oxygen Guide is a soundtrack to a road trip across America. Good old rock. People danced. It was loud. Our ears were still ringing two days after. They are local. They are Fredericksburg. This is their city. They are from here, they play here. They know rock, and they play it heavy. A definite attraction.

Vinyl Epitaph is saloon honky-tonk rock in a spaghetti western space opera. The EP an LSD spirit quest into inner space, into the soul of America, into the soul of rock. A cosmic journey of mythological proportions. Gritty cowboy rock, set in a cyberpunk dystopic near future. Runnin’. Vintage time capsule of a musical era eons long past, and light years away.

Vinyl Epitaph is a mix of everything rock. The more I listen to them, the more I love them. These dudes are killer. This band has a future in the annals of rock godhood. It’s strange how down to earth they are as well. Watching them live and listening to the songs they’ve created was truly surreal. Legendary.

Christian Hutt of Magazine 33 sat down with Nick and Matt, the vocalist and drummer of Vinyl Epitaph, a heavy rock band from Fredericksburg after an amazing performance celebrating the release of their debut EP, The Oxygen Guide, at Fatty J’s.

33: So Nick, what does the name your band, Vinyl Epitaph, mean?

Nick: That’s the first question?

33: Yea man, it’s a big one, but we just have to know. It’s just a really cool name, you know.

Nick: Well, first of all, it means different things to different people, you know. The origin of the name has a long story, but basically when I think of Vinyl Epitaph, our epitaph is our music, passing it down, have it inculcated and spread out amongst our listeners.

33: Like your legacy?

Nick: One could say that. I wouldn’t necessarily say my legacy, you know. But yea, where it came from is another story for another time.

33: How about you Matt, what does the name mean to you?

Matt: Well, I think, in the literal sense, “Vinyl,” as in a record, and “Epitaph,” as in quite literally what is on your gravestone. I think the connotation could mean, like, bringing rock back to life. That’s what it means to me. Keeping it fundamental, just keeping it rock. No synths, no crazy bullshit, just an acoustic drum set, a bass, guitar, and a singer, ready to take on the world ( grandiose, yet comedic, emphasis on “world”).

33: I mean, you guys are definitely a heavy rock band here. Matt, dude, you’re and incredible, energetic drummer. There comes a point in the set where you get so worked up that you just take it off, you take your shirt off and your power just exerts out there. Where does that energy come from, what are you guys fighting for?

Matt: It’s awesome actually. Like, the truest energy comes to you, to the point where you have no control over it, and there’s probably like nine out of ten times where I’ll start rocking out and I’m 15 seconds in and I realize that, “Oh shit! I’m acting like a retard!” But it doesn’t even matter, it’s just what moves me. Music moves me. Rocking out with these guys, it’s pretty cool.

33: Do you, as Nick said, want to push your energy into other people, kind of, like, change them, cause amazing events and inspire your listeners?

Matt: I think if you have a group of people that are kinda feeling you, who are feeling the music, at least they’re paying attention, they witness your energy, they feed off of it, and so, when we get pumped up, the audience gets pumped up, then we get more pumped up, it’s back and forth. It’s awesome. Probably the truest form of expression.

33: Nick, your power, when you do your vocals, do you feel that you really have to top Matt’s unruly drumming?

Nick: That’s a really good question, because, the way I see it is that most of the time I really feed off of Matt. I don’t want to speak for him, but I think he feels the same way. Sometimes I’ll catch him in a frenzy, and I’ll have to move to the other side of the stage so he doesn’t kill me. (Matt laughs.) The other half of me thinks, “Well, ok, I’m going to amp it up,” especially if he gets amped up with what I’m doing. It becomes a very symbiotic relationship. You know, when a few guys start rocking it out together, after a while, you can’t help but to develop close bonds. But yea, sometimes Matt gets really pumped up…

Matt: (Laughing) Beyond my control, beyond my control…

Nick: …I know, I know. Matt really upped the ante when we came together about a year ago, after being apart for a while. Matt really revitalized this entire band. He was like the steroids we needed, what really helped start this journey we’ve been on recently.

33: This is your first released CD right?

Nick: Yeah.

33: And you said you’ve been together for a year?

Nick: About a year now. Not too bad for a band doing it by themselves. No outside help, we do everything ourselves, fund everything ourselves, you know, even our electronic press kit, all that kind of stuff, you know. MySpace, all ourselves. Minimum Wage Recordings in Richmond. We recorded there. Self-funded.

33: What were some of the biggest struggles in writing and recording the songs?

Matt: Honestly, I would say one of my biggest struggles, it might sound lame, but just funding this whole thing, you know what I mean. Being in a rock band, before you actually feel in your own mind like you should be getting paid for it, this is more like therapy for us. If I couldn’t come here, on Tuesdays and Sundays and rock out and release with these guys, I might be the guy that pulls the fire alarm in a building and waits on the rooftop as people come out and picks them in the back of the head (laughs, jokingly.)

33: You can definitely notice that brewing intensity and energy in your drumming.

Matt: You gotta have an outlet. You gotta have an outlet or you’ll turn into Timothy McVeigh, and I’m really not trying to do that.

33: So what is the name of the album?

Nick: The EP is called The Oxygen Guide.

33: I wonder if what Matt just said, about the release of bottled up energy, is tied somehow to the name of the album and just what it’s about overall?

Nick: I’m glad you brought that up because Matt was actually the one that came up with the title.

Matt: It has a lot to do with, in the literal sense, how you breath, it’s The Oxygen Guide. How you breath in different situations. How you cope. How you carry yourself and just push through.

Nick: How you release yourself too. A lot of the lyrics in the album, all the songs on the EP, have a common theme. They all have to deal with getting away from something. Escaping from something. Grasping for air.

33: So what inspired Vinyl Epitaph? What kind of sounds out there do you guys dig?

Nick: As far as what, other bands, other artists?

33: Yea, like what really energized your style?

Nick: It really runs the gamut. I can’t really speak for the band, I mean we all like similar artists, but if you were to take a look at the artists that we look up to and aspire to be like, you would notice an eclectic taste in our part, totally. Hip hop, rock and heavier, more metal bands, too, have been a huge inspiration in terms of the sound and the whole songwriting process. We all come from different places, separate corners of the Earth, and we have our own taste in different bands, and it’s just unique the way we have been able to conglomerate all our tastes. For example, I don’t think anything in my Top 10 would be anything like that of any other member in the band. There might be some similarities in between, but that’s what makes us great.

33: So Matt, what do you dig, as far as drumming goes, what kind of sounds just really pump you up?

Matt: Right now I’m actually really into, thanks to Ryan Barsanti, Them Crooked Vultures. Queens of the Stone Age obviously is one of my top five bands. I love Glassjaw so goddamn much. I love Thrice, pretty much everything Thrice has done. Every Time I Die, obviously. The Big Dirty is probably one of my favorite albums ever. I don’t know man. I love getting together with these guys, every single day is like a music lesson. I’ll hop in Nick’s car and something random will come on Nick’s iPod. Like, “What is this?” And then I’ll be into that band for a week, I’ll know everything about them. You know, I’ll just discover them (laughs). It’s cool, really cool.

33: What would you recommend to drummers out there that really want to make it like what you guys are doing?

Matt: I wouldn’t by any means say that what we’re doing is making it. But, I don’t know man, just keep playing, just do what you feel. Just do what you feel. That’s always what we’ve done. No matter what anybody thinks we are the most humble musicians ever. We don’t ever think that what we’re doing is good enough. Just play and pump people up and feed off of that. Just play man. Do what you feel.

33: How about you Nick, as far as vocalists go, want to shout out to all the guys out there in the Fredericksburg scene?

Nick: I pretty much agree with Matt there on that one. I mean, every person in this band has played with other people before, and you know, what it comes down top is just finding a niche that is just for you. And it’s one thing to keep playing if you’re having fun. That’s great. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to make something of yourself, just keep trying hard. Like I said, we’re a do-it-yourself band. We all carry ourselves, do everything ourselves. That can be a lot of work and sacrifice sometimes, but you’ve just got to stick with it, you know. A year today, or for the most part of a year today, we’ve been together doing this, and we’ve got an EP to show for it. We’ve got some pretty good shows under our belt. Just gotta keep moving on, that’s what I would suggest to anybody else that wants to start a band. You know, just start a band, create music. Just creating and creating, that whole creative process, that’s what’s important.

33: Your songs seem like they’re about your struggle.

Nick: Lyric wise?

33: Yeah.

Nick: Well, I don’t think it’s anything about a struggle. I actually learned a long time ago that every song doesn’t always have to be about something. It doesn’t necessarily have to have a deep, prophetic meaning. It can actually be a part of the moment, just having fun.

Matt: Goes back to do what you feel, man. If you’re living by that, “do what you feel,” you have no choice other than to let your songs depict what in essence is going on in your life.

Nick: Even if it’s just narration, like telling a story, or you really are speaking from something real, it doesn’t have to be brooding or about self-loathing or anything like that. I think one of the refreshing things about Strange Beast is that the chorus to the song is, “Sorrow, is no place to hide.”

Matt: Exactly.

33: Is that one of your favorite songs?

Nick: It is.

Matt: That’s one of my favorites. We tend to close a set with that guy. It’s one of my favorites, just because, it’s right there. If you’re using music as an outlet that’s definitely one of the songs that completely and fully describes using music as an outlet.

Nick: Absolutely.

33: Now I know music is very difficult to put into words, but putting things into words is what we’re doing right now, so how would you describe Strange Beast?

Nick: (Pause. Sighs. Laughs.) Well, a lot of our songs are kinda short and they tend to be on average from 2-3 minutes, and that song in particular is a very fast paced song. But what’s great about a lot of our songs is that the lyrics can sometimes be like, well someone like Neil Young can take those same lyrics and put them into a 5 minute song with a harmonica, and it can be a dull song or an upbeat song. But what we do is condense everything into a kind of fast paced, straightforward rock.

Matt: Basically we don’t want anything, any one facet of the song to take anything away from any other facet of the song. We don’t want the drums to be too intricate to the point of distracting from the lyrics. We don’t want the guitars to be too crazy and drown out the baseline, you know, just things like that, everything must coincide.

33: Balance?

Nick: Yea totally.

Matt: Exactly.

33: You guys each bring so much to the band, it must be tough to balance all your varying energies but you seem to pull it off rather well.

Matt: We all want to be lead singers in our own minds! (laughs).

Nick: And I really want to be a drummer.

Matt: It’s so funny: you want to be a drummer and I want to be a singer.

33: You guys have any final shoutouts?

Nick: I do want to say one thing, we’re very grateful for all the hard work and support our network of friends have given us along the way, from just coming out and watching the shows, to helping us move equipment in and out of our cars. We do it ourselves, we do all our own material. I used to say on the mike, like, “We do our own songs.” It got kind of old after a while, but it was something I really wanted to hammer down. Everything that we’re doing is by ourselves, you know. And this group of guys that I’m blessed to be in a band with, we’re actually working pretty hard at creating and creating, that’s a process in itself. It’s hard sometimes, and you work through these speed bumps every now and then, but you get through them. I would say to anyone else that is trying to start a band to just make sure you work through these things, if it’s something you really want to do, even if it is the mindless good times of playing a song. The inception of a song, you know. You created a song. There we go.

Matt: That being said, progression is a plus. It’s supercool to progress, but if we never went another step from where we’re at right now, I could play in this moment forever, and that would be awesome.

Nick: Let’s just stay here.

Matt: Let’s rock out. Let’s just rock out.

Nick: It’s what it’s all about.

By Contributing Reporter: Christian Hutt