In a recent exclusive interview with Nick Strommen on bass, from the Frisco Bay thrash groove group HAMMERSHOT, I was able to learn even more about this fantastic band that I have been listening to for almost a year now.
There have been troubles and trying times, as Nick stated. “We’ve had some lineup changes over the years. The band started in Adam (Mason, guitar)’s garage in 2009. I (Nick, bassist) came aboard in 2010 joining Adam and Eric (Clarkson, both guitar/vox) and Josh (Dringenburg, drums). Josh was replaced by Kris (Betchart) later that year who was then replaced by our current drummer Anthony (Abeyta) in 2011. We played our first shows that year and tasted a little success in 2012. The most dramatic change came in 2013 when Eric was let go and Stu (Modifies) was brought in to be front man. This is the current lineup and the way the band was destined to be.”
Strommen went on to state “2012 really got us going with a second place overall finish in a local battle of the bands final. We won a little bit of cash, but got our name out there in the Bay Area metal community. We played a few more shows that year and started making a little more money (still not enough to cover our costs, but that’s not why we do this).”
In addition he added “In 2013 our progress stalled a bit. We had put out our EP, but the opportunities seemed to be drying up. We had to let Eric go and that turned out to be the catalyst we needed. Stu came aboard and brought in a whole new energy and dynamic. He is a professional body piercer and sideshow performer so that became his major contribution to the show. With each of us able to focus on our specialty we all got better as a group.”
“One of the best early moments with Stu was when we opened for the Show Devils sideshow act with the Enigma (the dude with the jigsaw puzzle tattoo over most if his body). He showered Stu with sparks by grinding an axe and that has been part of the show ever since.”
“With Stu aboard (and only one guitar) we started writing again and had enough new material to record a full length album last year. It’s due out around the end of this month. Our shows have been getting better and the crowd response has been awesome. We like to think that we’ve stolen quite a few of the shows that we’ve played in the last year of so.”
Nick asked me “Have you ever seen a human suspension? It’s f**king sick – I mean it’s gross and awesome! Stu is crazy enough to get suspended and he even did it during a live performance at our video shoot a few months back. That video will be out after the album drops.” And Yes I have Nick, but that’s as far as I’ll go with that here…
The new HAMMERSHOT video is to be released this Thursday, April 9, and will be called Knuckle Dragger and you can view it right here as soon as I get my grubby little hands on it…
