Freakshow
by Kendra J. Loring
photos by Lisa Gourley
Freakshow are a band who like to talk. Don’t give them the chance to go off on any given subject, you’ll grow old listening. I guess it’s partially because they’re a young band with a lot of passion – for their music, for their life and for each other (most likely the other reason for their huge amount of verbal spewing is the quantities of controlled substances they consume). We’re talking about a band so young that when they first started playing out, drummer John Reddington and guitarist Troy Sequiera weren’t even allowed to walk around inside the clubs they played.
This is an all-American, fun-for-all party band that evolved from friendship into the “solid” line-up they are today. Freakshow’s live show is, in singer Mike Hamel’s words, an “orgasmic groove fest.” With the phunk feel of the Red Hots and a large touch of the very danceable 311, you just can’t help but move your ass when Freakshow comes on.
OK, so you’re wondering (yeah right!), what’s the longest running argument in Freakshow? It seems Hamel has this self-pity complex about Jay (Reddington, the other singer) being the “real singer” of the band. Anyone who’s seen them live knows that Freakshow would be no freak show without Hamel. So the other members of the band have stated on tape and with a witness present that “if that mutha-fucker says that again, we gonna have to smack him.” Case closed.
Why do they have two singers? Jay explains, “When we had Hamel try out, the band was at a stage where we weren’t doing too well. Everything was fucked up. Then Hamel joined and it all went so fast and came so easy, that we were all like ‘I wish he was in the band from the beginning.'” Mike Charpentier, bassist, agrees, “Yeah, it was so natural.”
We could go on forever, but time is money.
Besides, anything you’d like to learn about Freakshow, you can easily pick up at any gig. Just don’t be surprised at all the different kinds of people who turn up. ‘Cause, man, these guys pull the house down with the likes of House of Pain and they’re as “dope” as The Dead and Phish. You figure it out.
