It is one of those albums that cruises along the highway whilst looking to get off the beaten track and go for some fun trailblazing. It’s solid, catchy, melodic, and diverse, with a southern vibe and perfectly hits the spot scoring the band a perfect lap. The team are John Freitas – guitar, lead vocals, Roger Dafoe – lead guitar, Dave Haywood – drums and Brandon Tapper – bass guitar, vocals.
‘Dirty Politician’ is one of my favourite song, I love the whole vibe of this track, John’s vocals, are gritty and the whole song is slick, catchy with a solid vibe that will get you grooving. ‘Border Line’ is a superb song, the musicianship is strong and the John’s voice pulls you in, it has a strong southern feel and groove, but is also melodic. The song gets catchier as it builds up and has a lovely feel to it. I love the way the music changes throughout the song and as the song grows the background vocals kick in the whole ditty is on fire. It’s one of those melodic songs that is all about the song. Fabulous stuff, this is where BigMotorGasoline prove they are a winning team and first class musicians and song writers.
‘BYOT’ gets the spurs kicking up some dust and is a fun southern inspired rocker with John’s husky vocals giving bite to Roger’s fiery guitar work, the whole band sound very tight on this ditty. ‘Lately’ is a catchy guitar edged anthemic rocker with smoky vocals and killer punchy chorus. ‘Rain’ is a catchy melodic ditty with a southern feel and summery guitar with the vocals coming across a little like Bret Michaels, whilst ‘Change Your Mind’ is again catchy but a little rawer and gritty with fab vibe.
‘Peace Of Mind’ is the token southern styled melodic ballad with fab vocals from John coupled with superb lyrics, again another song where I love the way everything builds. ‘Put It On Me’ is a fun energetic song that pulls itself into cruise mode and has a fab groove. ‘Vodka’ changes gear and is a smooth ride, now and again kicking up a little dusty atmosphere, a good feel good groove. ‘I Don’t Care’ has a similar vibe and is a little smoother and melodic with melodic guitars.
When singer and guitarist John Freitas first heard the song ‘Sugar Sugar’ when he was four years old he got hooked on music. Lead guitarist Roger Dafoe started out as a music lover, following AC/DC and he played in a big hair band in the early 90’s. Drummer Dave Haywood has been playing drums since I was ten and he loves to play live, whilst bassist, guitarist, vocalist Brandon Tapper wore out an old 45 copy of Manfred Mann’s ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’, which he played over and over. This was followed by an ACDC Live cassette tape. He received his first guitar at age fifteen and his first bass at twenty five. ‘After that there was no looking back. Found the other band members through family friends and the rest was history,’ smiles Brandon.
Musically John is inspired by Bob Marley and the lyrics on the CD, Fuel to Burn were loosely based on the demise of his marriage, and moving on from that part of his life. For Roger doing this CD was largely a bucket list adventure, “and wanting to see if anybody showed a mutual appreciation in our taste of songs,” he adds. For Dave his favourite drummers include Eric Carr, Jerry Mercer, Rick Allen. “I have always appreciated a drummer with a solid kick drum and snare,” he enthuses. Brandon’s inspirations come from Ozzy Osbourne and anything from Randy Rhoads. “We all brought our own musical influences and styles to this band and you can hear them come through in Fuel to Burn. We also all share three commonalities e.g. love horsepower, music and the adrenaline produced from both things,” he tells me.
Outside of music John enjoys fast cars and riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Roger is also into old cars, and Harley Davidson motorcycles. Dave is totally a car guy and loves racing and hot rods and Brandon enjoys cold mixed drinks combined with good company. ‘And of course rumbling down the road on a bike or classic car,” he smiles.
BigMotorGasoline are just four honest musicians that play what they feel with no set direction other than producing and playing music they enjoy. “This kind of music is just not heard on the radio anymore, and hopefully we re-introducing listeners to guitar oriented rock music that should be back on the airwaves,” explains Roger. “We are a working man’s rock band. We don’t expect to become famous; we just want to see how far we can take this band, while still having fun doing it. Bucket list comes to mind. For me, this group of guys are the most talented rockers I’ve played with. It seems to come together for us almost effortlessly. Can’t wait to see what comes next,” champions Dave. The band are basement dwellers, meaning all of their rehearsals and musical ideas come from John’s basement. “We seem to be a dying breed but we plan to change that with our music. Let’s get back to where it all started! What makes us unique is our musical influences and the styles that each one of us brings. With that mix we feel there may be something special happening,” explains Brandon.
The CD took two years to complete, and for the bands first effort, the results are superb. The album describes broken romance, party drinkin’, a twist on country with BYOT, and should appeal to a broad range of listeners,” says Roger. “The tunes were written almost exclusively by John and Roger. Brandon and I added the back beat, and it all seemed to fit together nicely. Can’t wait to record our new tunes, they are extremely fun to play,” smiles Dave. “It’s straight forward hard rock blended with country/southern flavours,” says Brandon. “There’s no shortage of gritty crunching guitars, heavy straight at you beats, fat bass lines and raspy vocals,” he adds.
The album was recorded at Slyfi Chapel in Trenton, Ontario, Engineer by Brent Brodug and was produced by BigMotorGasoline. It was mixed and mastered by Bernard Lehman in Val d’Mont, Quebec. “It took way too long to get finished,” says Dave, “pretty good sound for what we spent on it,” he adds. “It took about a year and a half from when we began recording to the time we had the album in our hands. A lengthy yet rewarding process that involved many people. Recorded it in Trenton, Ontario with Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy awards) nominated Brent Bodrug , mixed and mastered in Quebec by Bernie Lehamn, artwork and cd logo by Tabitha Leonard, and the final package was put together in Toronto,” explains Brandon.
During his hair band days, Roger held a party on stage for their guitarist, Tim, and presented him with a Barbie doll and did a thrash version of ‘Happy Birthday’. Dave once travelled for six hours to an out of town two night gig. “I got shut down by the bar owner in the second set of the first night, our rock & roll, wasn’t what he considered rock. He thought rock & roll was Buddy Holly and Elvis, not AC/DC and Metallica. Long drive home at two in the morning with the band hauler running on fumes and no gas stations open,” he smiles. The band headlined a Hallowe’en gig in a nearby bar. “During our act a very friendly woman repeatedly flashed us as her uncomfortable husband stood beside her. We weren’t sure if it was more disrespectful to watch it all happen or to look away, so we erred on the side of caution and watched,” smiles Brandon.
The guys are looking forward to their next record, which they tell me will be a better louder product. “We are also looking forward to playing our music in front of people who want to hear it,“ says John with Roger acknowledging with enthusiasm ”Just wanting to get our music to the people and getting feedback on our tunes,” he adds. “We hope to continue to get radio and internet airplay, and hopefully pick up some opening act gigs for some big name group,” says Dave. “As our music styles continue to progress and mesh together there’s already a level of excitement to put together another BMG album. In the meantime, more gigs, more music, more fun and hopefully more opportunities like being in a rock and metal magazine,” concludes Brandon.
