A Delicate Balance

Though they tour fairly regularly and received positive reviews for their 2008 debut, the five members of Conducting From the Grave know that playing their type of music rarely becomes a lucrative endeavor. To make a living, Abernathy and his bandmates work day jobs and play music at night or take breaks from work to tour.

“I’m like the one unlucky guy who doesn’t have a job that lets him go on tour and still have the job when he comes back," said Abernathy. So we toured for, like, six months at the beginning of this year for the album, and I came home and had no job. So I just said, ‘Damn, we’re leaving on tour in a few more months again so I won’t even try to find one. I did for a while but no one was calling me back, so I started giving guitar lessons. But there’s not a whole lot of money in it.”

Like many musicians looking to make their passion a career, Abernathy lives with his parents to save money while he expands his band’s reputation through touring and label contacts.

As for the other members of the band, drummer Greg Donnelly works for his dad’s feed store in Elk Grove; guitarist Jeff Morgan works at the Grateful Bread downtown; and bassist Steven Lovas works at Guitar Workshop and repairs instruments. Tanuis still lives in Connecticut, working security for shows that come through the area, writing lyrics and flying to Sacramento to practice with the band and record vocals for the albums.

The three members of Dismal Lapse are in the same situation, struggling to find jobs that will allow them to tour extensively and then return to their position upon returning.

Barnum works full time at Earth Family Foods, an organic distributor in Grass Valley. Bassist Jason Brehm is between jobs and guitarist Evan Gravatt has been building a career as an electrician for the past few years.

To further his job prospects, Barnum has been attending the International Culinary Schools at The Art Institute of California in Sacramento. Balancing more than 30 hours of work, class and his developing career as a musician is a trying experience that Barnum seems to shrug off.

“It’s one of those things where you close your eyes and pray for the best,” he said. “I definitely want Dismal Lapse to continue to be a full-time band, but I hit a time in my life where I needed a change, but I will be done with school in about a year and a half and after that we can get back out on the road more. But we can still do three-week tours a few times a year.”

Malevolent is the youngest band of the three; some of the members are only a few years removed from high school. The five of them have jobs that allow them to play fairly consistently.

Curtin teaches guitar at Skip’s Music, while fellow guitarist, Marcose Walton, works at Starbucks. The other three members – vocalist Cruz, bassist Bob Petrie and drummer Greg Chastain – either work part time or live with their parents.

“It’s getting to the point where we are going to have to start quitting our jobs so we can spend as much time as possible on music and taking it to the next level,” said Curtin.

The Local Scene

All three bands have concentrated not only on honing their skills, but on building a following around Sacramento. Curtin, Abernathy and Barnum have varying opinions on the local metal scene and how they relate to other bands and fans.

“I think Sacramento is really tough for bands,” said Barnum. “The fans here are just really picky about what shows they go to. People aren’t willing to pay five bucks to see a local show and these days it seems like you have to be some huge band.”

Curtin’s view on the local scene is more optimistic and collaborative.

“Everybody in the Sacramento scene knows everybody,” he said. “It’s such an incestuous heap. Everybody has played in bands with each other. There is nothing but love. We all have big dreams to eventually make money out of this, but no one thinks, ‘Oh, we’re better than you.’ We’re all doing what we do and helping each other. If one person wins in this place, everyone does.”

The relationship Conducting From the Grave has with other bands runs deeper because of the group's East Coast connection and emphasis on flashy guitar work.

“With us and the style that we play, we are more of a musicians' band,” said Abernathy. “We always seem to be a musical favorite of the bands we play with but not a crowd favorite. Usually other bands we play with watch our set more than the other bands they tour with."

Abernathy mentions a growing trend in modern heavy music: the increasing technical abilities of bands. More metal acts of this generation are pushing the limits of their sound and developing on the foundation built by earlier bands in the genre.