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Five Pointe O: Joliet's Evil Residents

By Don Sill, Contributor
Friday, May 3, 2002 @ 10:38 AM


An Interview With Five Pointe

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Roadrunner Records latest signing, Five Pointe O, emerged from the not-so-small town of Joliet, Illinois with their distinctive blend of aggressive and melodic metal and won over a legion of loyal fans. It was with hard work, determination and perseverance that helped the 6-piece band gain local notoriety and finally a record deal.

Now, the kids from Joliet (who include Daniel Struble, Sharon Grzelinski, Erick Wood, Sean Pavey, Casey Mejia & Tony Starcevich); are earning their bones nationwide while on the road with Mushroomhead, Lamb of God and Dog Fashion Disco. Their debut “Untitled” has been receiving much kudos from fans and critics alike, and they are savoring every minute of it. I recently spoke with lead vocalist, Daniel Struble, about coming up in the business, earning a buzz and touring with Mushroomhead.

KNAC.COM: You guys all come from a small town in Illinois called Joliet.. What kind of town is Joliet?
DANIEL: It’s a small town. Well, it’s not that small of a town, I think it’s the second biggest city in Illinois. It’s got everything, man... It’s got your upper class and your ghettos, pretty much a little bit of everything. It’s a cool place to live and it’s not far away from Chicago, I mean you can get to Chicago in like 15-20 minutes…

KNAC.COM: What’s the music scene like in Joliet?
DANIEL: Well, in Joliet there really aint’ much of a music scene. We pretty much go to Chicago for that. Like, every show we had was in Chicago, because in Joliet there’s not even a club to play at, there’s nothing out there…

KNAC.COM: Pretty beat huh?
DANIEL: (laughs) Yeah, there’s nothing to do, that’s why we jam out so much… There’s quite a few bands in Joliet who don’t have much to do so they just jam.. A lot of other bands came out of Joliet and base themselves out of Chicago…

KNAC.COM: You guys paid your dues within the local Chicago circuit and earned a loyal fan base?
DANIEL: That all happened pretty much because every single show that would come through Chicago, we would be there outside handing out sampler tapes, fliers, and what-not, just letting people know who we were. When it came time for our show we already had so much stuff out there that our fan base was so much bigger than we actually knew. I mean, the first time we ever did a big show in Chicago it sold out and we didn’t even realize that we had any fan support or anything.

KNAC.COM: So, all those sampler tapes paid off…
DANIEL: It was just from all that promotion and stuff… When any bands ever come up and ask me for advice the most important thing I tell them is to get your name out there… Even if people never heard the music, as long as they recognize your name it’s a good thing…

KNAC.COM: You guys really busted your asses out there, paid your dues and now your signed to Road Runner Records.
DANIEL: Yeah... pretty good… (laughs)

KNAC.COM: Your first tour is with Mushroomhead. How is that going?
DANIEL: It’s been really good. I don’t think we could have asked for a better first tour. It’s really a big tour. Mushroomhead brings out a lot of people so, it’s been really good for us as far as getting our name out there.

KNAC.COM: Now, you’ve been sharing a tour bus with Lamb of God; how’s that been?
DANIEL: Oh, man they’ve been like our mentors, they really took us under their wing and taught us the ropes and we didn’t have to learn too much on our own.

KNAC.COM: Both the Resident Evil soundtrack and your debut (Untitled) dropped in the same month. You guys must have been stoked that everything was coming together like that.
DANIEL: Oh yeah. I think the Resident Evil soundtrack helped us out a lot too, because the first week sales for that were 43,000 or something like that. Now, at least some of the people who bought that album heard our song and went on to buy our album just because of that song. I’m sure that soundtrack was a huge help for us.

KNAC.COM: The single “The Infinity” that’s on Resident Evil is an excellent signature song to introduce new fans to the band with.
DANIEL: That song turned out to be my favorite song on the album because I didn’t have big expectations for it. That was the only song that wasn’t completed when we went into the studio, but then it just turned out so good…

KNAC.COM: Sometimes that happens when you don’t feel the pressure of making a great song you just do anyway.
DANIEL: Yeah, that pretty much what happened…

KNAC.COM: What inspired that tune in the first place?
DANIEL: “The Infinity” was about people that have mindless jobs and live their whole life doing what there told to do but not what they really want to do. Like they’re supposed to have the house with the white picket fence and go to work every day with their brief case and shit, and most people really don’t want to be doing that... I mean, you can do what you gotta do to survive, but do what you want to do at the same time... That’s pretty much what that songs all about.

KNAC.COM: Tell me about the Five Pointe O debut, Untitled.
DANIEL: It’s definitely versatile and something that you’d have to listen to with an open mind and it might take a few listens to fully understand it. So, all those people who are actually willing to listen, I thank them for going into it with an open mind. See, I like music that real versatile like that... I know a lot of people don’t and they just don’t except it. Most people like us, but people that dog us pretty much dogged us for being too versatile. To each his own…

KNAC.COM: Listening to your album, you seem to be really pissed at something… Where does all your angst and aggression stem from?
DANIEL: A lot of my vocals are aggressive, but I wouldn’t say there angry. There’s some anger and depression in there, but most of what I write is positive. People ask me, “Well, if your lyrics are positive, then why are you screaming them?” But, that misses the point. The point is… wanting to be heard. I’m being loud for the sake of being heard, not for being angry at the world.


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