Local band Destroy Babylon out to make its mark on music scene
Published in The Telegraph - By George Pelletier
September 15, 2011
HUDSON – With a conscious, rock-steady nod to reggae, punk and the iconic U.K. group The Clash, the Hudson-based band Destroy Babylon prepares to release its third full-length CD on their own Music A.D.D. label Sept. 20.
Featuring John Beaudette (bass, vocals), Marc Beaudette (drums, vocals) and Rob Carmichael (vocals, lead and rhythm guitar), the trio were born in Nashua and raised in Hudson; Marc and John graduated from Alvirne High School in 2001, while Rob graduated that same year from Bishop Guertin.
The Beaudettes, who are twins, said they initially went the high school band-geek route.
“Yeah, I was in the drum line,” Marc Beaudette said. “I didn’t actually join marching band until the last two years of high school, but I was in the band all through middle school.”
John Beaudette concurred: “Same deal. I was definitely a band geek all through middle school and then joined the jazz band.”
The brothers said that since eighth grade, they played in different extracurricular bands, and then, in their sophomore year of high school, they started playing with Carmichael and formed the band Decked Out.
And their post-band-geek pedigree is rather impressive: Marc Beaudette went on to earn a bachelor’s in digital media and helps create and design all visual aspects for the band; John Beaudette has a music business degree from the University of Hartford; and Carmichael graduated with a professional music degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Band life now for the trio (a fourth member, a 10-year veteran of the group, abruptly quit the band earlier this year), is a full-time gig – on top of their regular full-time jobs. The band also uses additional musicians on keyboards and back-up vocals when performing live.
“Our goal is to make (music) a full-time thing,” Marc Beaudette said. “When we come home from our regular jobs, we are rehearsing, writing, we are the marketing team – we do everything ourselves. Personally, I put another 30-40 hours a week into the band.
“Every weekend is dedicated to the band, and we gig anywhere between two and six times a month.”
Songwriting is a group effort, John Beaudette said.
“We all contribute in that capacity,” he said. “I book all the shows, which can take place anywhere.”
Recently, the band went on a tour to Colorado and back, and did the same in South Carolina.
“I guess I kind of do the management thing,” John Beaudette said. “It’s a matter of sometimes just pulling things together – when we’re going to be practicing, what the band is going to be doing – every little detail of management.
“But then again, if one band member can help book shows here and there, then it really doesn’t matter who helps out.”
The brothers said getting the band’s name out there isn’t so much a difficult task, but rather a time-consuming one.
“You do have to be ready to put some time into it,” John Beaudette said. “There’s e-mailing and calling, and there’s keeping in touch with all of your contacts. And maybe you played somewhere a couple of years ago, and now there is a whole new booking agent for that venue, so you’ve got to track that new person down.”
There’s also the matter of booking gigs that actually pay.
“There were a couple of years where we were so happy to be playing a gig, we almost didn’t care if we got paid,” Marc Beaudette said. “I mean, we daydreamed about being rock stars, but at first, we really didn’t have any intention of becoming full-time musicians. So, booking shows around that time without any guarantee of payment was easy.
“But you want to start booking shows with better guarantees. That’s when it gets difficult.”
Destroy Babylon has gigs lined up at the Skaskeen Pub in Manchester on Sept. 30, and the band will play the Milford Pumpkinfest on Oct. 8.
Fans can expect to hear cuts from their new CD, “Long Live the Vortex.”
“We pretty much self-produced the new record, which will be released on our own record label, Music A.D.D.,” Marc Beaudette said. “We got onboard with a guy named Craig Welsch. He’s been in the reggae scene for about 15 years, and he recorded and mixed the album.
“Otherwise, it was the three of us band members getting it all together.”
As for the climate of playing live music in New England, John Beaudette said, “There are a lot of opportunities and there is a decent amount of good venues.
It can be tough to ensure payment, and it’s hard to make a living just playing live in this area.
“There are a lot of people who show up for your shows – the crowd is there – but you never really know, because it may be dependent on weather or you never know what else is going on.”
Marc Beaudette added, “You can have one gig and draw 100 people and book another, and there are 20 people there. So, it can be a little hit or miss.”
