For nearly a decade, there has been a Colorado band braving the countless waves of ups and downs in the local music scene, gaining audiences’ appreciation and making people take note of their infectious style. They have seen bands, trends and popular styles come and go, yet have still remained true to themselves and their music throughout the process. This band is Ransom.

Based out of Aurora, Ransom (myspace.com/ransommetal) is made up of the dual guitar attack of Patrick Dire and Matt Diaz, bassist Mark Perez, drummer Keith Morrison, and the vocalist tandem of David Young and Nick Poole. What makes them so unique and clearly sets them apart from other bands with a fronting duo is the intensely different styles between the two vocalists.

David’s vocals focus on the singing and screaming elements of the band, whereas Nick perfectly infuses a hip hop aspect with rapping vocals. Though some less musically mindful people would be quick to label them as rap-rock, their music forces you take notice of the vast differences that exist between Ransom and the much more simplistic subgenre of rap-rock. Mark is quick to make it clear that their grooves, rhythms and riffs are more complex, and not as cheesy.

"It’s hard to explain our style," David says. "We try to take elements from everywhere and tie them together. Our music has really evolved over the past three years into a melodic, powerful sound. We used to call it whiskey metal. But now I’d say it’s more like progressive metal that you can shake your ass to, with flows over the top of it,"

Adding into that, Keith says, "It’s like if Pantera met NWA, you kinda get Ransom."

Originating as a three-piece, the band actually chose the name Ransom because of the Mel Gibson movie, which was the big film out at the time of the band’s initial inception.

"We had a list with a lot of names. But we figured hey, Mel Gibson makes money, so why not?" Patrick says jokingly. "It’s kinda sad, but yeah, that’s where it came from. I wanted to name the band Deviation, but they hated it."

It’s hard to nail down where exactly the members of Ransom get their inspiration from, as each of them have some similar tastes in music, but a wide variety of different styles at the same time. If you were to ask them individually, you would get mixed bag of answers, including classical, jazz, funk, blues, hip hop, big band and all different forms of metal.

"Years ago, when we started, we all liked the same stuff," Mark says. "It was all pretty much the flavor of the month. But since then, we’ve all branched off in different directions."

Since their first official performance as a full band in 2001, Ransom has made a point of every member having an equal say in the musical process, with Matt saying each of them writes their own part.

"I’ll come up with some riffs, then give a recording to everyone and say, ’Have fun,’" Patrick says. "With a lot of groups, they seem to have an image to represent or uphold. With us, when something unexpected comes out, it’s great."

"Luckily, everything comes together," David says. "Patrick comes in with the main riff and the rest of the guys come in with their own stamp on it. Then vocals come in and fill in the gaps."

There is a sense of being casual amongst the members of Ransom, not letting their success and popularity, or the years and shows logged as a band, go to their heads. This helps set them apart from the masses, and forms the kind of band they are today.

"We have a non-seriousness to us," Mark says. "We’re regular guys. There’s no stage get-up. We come to a show, get on stage in regular clothes, and have fun."

In full agreement, Keith adds, "Some of our favorite shows have been keggers where we’re surrounded on all sides by people while we’re playing. That’s the essence of Ransom."

But, even though they have this calm to them, they do take their music and themselves as musicians seriously.

"We’re the kind of metal that makes you jump through the roof," David says. "We create music with a fresh take. We’re not afraid to fuse genres, and we’re not afraid to break through genres."

This kind of attitude towards being a band has had a large hand in making Ransom as popular as they are. At any one of their shows, you will find the venue crawling with their fan base, coming out in full force to support them. By the end of their performance, a whole new set of people have been sucked into their ever-growing following. But their outlook on music isn’t the only thing that keeps people coming back to see them.

"It’s aggressive, but it’s melodic. It’s metal, but it has hip hop elements," David explains. "We can reach across those boundaries and appeal to people that not all bands can. Our demographic seems to be from ages 14 to 50. But you can’t let having a following go to your head; it’s all about staying humble."

Being in Denver radio station 106.7 KBPI’s annual Best Band in Denver contest for several years has also aided in the spreading of Ransom’s music to new audiences.

"It was like each year we came away from the contest with more fans than we went into it with," Mark says. "It’s one of the best parts of the competition, so many new people get to hear your music and see you perform."

As with all of their performances, they get a buzz and emotion that otherwise couldn’t be achieved. And it’s something that they say they wish all people could have the privilege of feeling.

"It’s a feeling of power," Patrick says. "Even though it seems like there’s a million bands out there, so very few people get to experience it. Not everybody gets the chance to perform in front of hundreds of people."

"Being in the font, Nick and I get to work the crowd," David says. "People see you jumping around on stage, and it’s like you get to let your dark side out. I have people from work come to see our shows, and they’re like, ’I didn’t know you had that inside you.’ The feeling on stage is beyond anything else, it makes the hairs on your body stand up. It’s almost like being a kid on Christmas morning, waiting to see what Santa brought you, or going to an amusement park at that age. This is our big roller coaster ride, our over-rush, even without fame. I mean, it would be cool to be able to pay the bills with our music, but it still makes me feel like the luckiest man alive because I get to do this and enjoy it every time I go out there."

For over two years, Ransom has been working towards the recording and release of their new album, entitled Against The Grain. The process, which began in May 2007, wasn’t originally intended to take as long as it did. The goal was to go into the studio and have a quick recording period for not much money. But, as with everything else in life, things don’t always go as they were planned.

"We ran out of money several times. It taught us a lesson, that things aren’t always done that way," Patrick says. "It also forced us to grow as a band, it pushed us. We even had a point where we scrapped all of the vocals."

Their recent studio experience for the album, which was recorded at Rudy’s Studio in Denver, proves that it doesn’t matter how long a band has been together, there’s always room for growth and musical maturing. Scrapping the vocal recordings was almost a direct result of this, along with the desire to put out the highest quality product possible by not making a rush job of it.

"We matured a lot during the process, and after about a year, we got so much better musically," David adds. "The vocals got redone, and it taught us patience. I think that was the best thing for us. I’m excited we came out on the good end of it, and I’m stoked to put out some new styles."

The culmination of the past two years comes when Ransom releases their new album Against The Grain with a juggernaut of a show at the Gothic Theatre on Nov. 28. Sharing the stage with them on their proud night will be other Colorado heavy hitters, including Nemesys, Crusher Bound Cadillac and Audioflux. However, something is also happening to make this release party a momentous occasion.

"We’ve got so many factions of the music industry involved in the show," David says. "We have Whisper Fiercely and Bands 4 Bands both working on promoting the show. It’s not often you have multiple promoters working together on a concert."

The members of Ransom are happy with how the music scene has grown in Colorado. In their existence, they have seen popularity and attendance for local music go up and down repeatedly, and they notice the upturn it has been on in the past couple of years.

"All we saw was the metal scene, but we knew when other genres had bands make it," David says. "The more bands that make it, the better. It shows that music doesn’t just come from the west coast, there’s gold here in the Rockies. I believe this city can make some noise. It also helps that the bands are getting more support from the promoters than before."

In full agreement with David’s statements, Patrick says, "Years ago, bands were working hard, and they were getting raped by the promoters. Now, the promoters are working hard for the bands."

They have also witnessed a change within the bands themselves compared to when they were starting out.

When Ransom first hit the scene, they were surprised to see how many bands wouldn’t help each other out. They say there were shows where they would go the entire night without so much as even hearing from the musicians in the other bands they were playing with.

"Now that we’re the ’seasoned vets,’ that’s something we’ve made a conscious effort to do, you know, talk to the other bands," David says. "We talk to bands about our experiences, try to help them out, and bands do the same to us. It’s so much better than it was before."

As for those in the music community, and music fans across the country in general, that haven’t had the honor of seeing Ransom live before, they have one message: simply give their music a try and risk getting hooked.

"With how much music gets thrown at people, it can become a bit overwhelming," Mark says. "The cool thing about Ransom is we reach across multiple genres, we have something for everyone. Give it a try. You just might like it."

Ransom CD Release Party

When:		Saturday, November 28, 2009, 8:00 pm
Where:		The Gothic Theatre 3263 S. Broadway Englewood, CO, 80113

Bands Performing: Ransom, Nemesys, Crusher Bound Cadillac, Audioflux