ONE TON PROJECT
About One Ton Project:
Away from the bright lights and bloated tourist traps of The Strip, tucked into
a soundproofed corner of the Las Vegas Valley, lies a small collective of
seasoned and serious musicians known as One Ton Project.
Stepping into “OTP Studio,” one gets an immediate sense of how dedicated these
guys are to their craft. Almost comically squeezed in amongst a myriad of
unorthodox instruments not typically associated with rock music, they finish
rehearsing “John the Clown,” a new song they’ve written for their upcoming full
length debut CD. One Ton Project’s first official release. “I think we need more African
percussion instruments in here” chides guitarist and founding member, Brandon
Desmond, standing awkwardly between a full size set of marimba and two large
djembe drums. “I almost whacked my guitar on the vibraphones,” referring to an
ancient looking metallic xylophone behind him. “Well quit rocking and moving
around so much,” remarks lead vocalist, Travis Mercer, annoyed, “it’s just
rehearsal.”
The quintet seems uncomfortable at first practicing in this tight environment,
but the deeper into rehearsal they get, the more a sense that they wouldn’t have
it any other way begins to emerge.
“Three vocals, three guitars, heavy bass, and virtuous drums, crazy time
signatures” says drummer and multi-instrumentalist, Daniel Fuller, looking me in
the eye. “That’s how we roll, but we can’t just do it the regular way! It
seems like everyone in Vegas does the routine rock, metal or punk thing, we’re
inspired by music that goes in strange directions and has different instruments
coming at you.” He’s speaking, of course, of One Ton Project’s unique
progressive rock-influenced style. “This town needs something different, they
just don’t know it yet.”
After practice, guitarist Joe Munoz and bassist Adam Sage begin flipping through
an impressive collection of vintage vinyl. “I’m putting King Crimson on,” says
Munoz, pulling out an old copy of “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic.” “Nah, let’s keep
it mellow,” Sage asserts, handing Joe a beat-up Miles Davis record, “Birth of
the Cool.”
Warm, vintage jazz filling the background, Sage laments: “We’ve played most
of the major venues here in town – and don’t get me wrong, those were great,
fun shows – but the stage crews look at us like we’re on crack because we’ve got too
many singers, too many guitars, and our drummer has some extra percussion he uses.”
He looks over at Daniel, then back to me, “They don’t care what we sound like,
you know? They aren’t listening. It’s like; we’re expected to dumb our shit
down so they don’t have to work as hard, when we’ve been working our asses off
to give our small but loyal fan base the best show we can.”
Travis interjects; “We’re subhuman to them. Just another local band.”
Fuller says, doing damage control, “Look, we just want to be us. This is what
we love. We’ve been doing this for 8 years now and we are basically a family
here. Not only do we share good times making this music, but we also share the
fact that what we do isn’t what everybody else does. It’s ours and there’s
nothing like it, you know?” Nodding, Brandon adds, “And I think we just wanna
be respected for that.”
“Tomorrow at seven?” asks Daniel, directed at everyone. Heads nod, affirmative
mumbles trickle out. “Get here early though, we’re grilling burgers,”
Brandon adds, smiling wide, “oh and take those damn djembes with you.”
Travis Mercer – Guitar, vocals
Brandon Desmond – Guitar, vocals
Joe Munoz – Guitars
Adam Sage – Bass
Daniel Fuller – Drums, vocals
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