www.montereycountynow.com OCTOBER 17-23, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 39 MUSIC “Head banging.” That’s how lead singer Jacob Gonzales-Butorac describes The Dead Cassettes. Ask him to expand on that and he refines the definition: “A very rock and roll big wall of sound.” Founded in 2022 by two brothers, Jacob and Matthew GonzalesButorac, who takes on synth and piano, along with Alex Bezdjian (lead guitar), Kito Rayburn-Garcia (bass) and Adam Renteria (drums), the band quickly gained a following. Jacob’s lyricism and powerful, soulful vocals are layered over tracks that are recorded using a MIDI sample of micro engineered audio clips as the band builds up the sound using a synthesizer and keyboards. “The technicality of the rhythm has a good groove, similar to jazz instrumentalists and is so much fun to write music for,” he explains. The songs are often on difficult topics such as suicide or addiction, but made approachable over the hard-driving melodic beats. For example, “Red Wine Serenade” is an emotional track written in first-person dialogue about coping with the loss of a dear friend who died by suicide years before. The band had been on hiatus for eight months. Now they feel reinspired. They are writing songs that are about more than just themselves, and recorded their first album, Ballads. The post-hiatus era of The Dead Cassettes is influenced by more modern music. “A lot of songs are taking shape in a way that is very upbeat, with sounds out of New Wave, like the Smiths,” says Jacob. “You might even get up and move your butt a little more.” The brothers share a rare connection. “Matty and I have similar influences. We just read each other’s minds,” says Jacob, who gives credit to his younger brother, the recording engineer, as being the backbone of the group. The other three members fit right into the brothers’ groove. “There’s no ego,” Jacob points out, adding that he comes to the band with the skeleton of a song and they create the polished product. “Everything about The Dead Cassettes is gorgeous collaboration.” They’ve added two Salinas acts to join them on Oct. 19: Henry Banks, whose ska/indie music is upbeat and eclectic; and Xylem, brothers who perform progressive rock. The Dead Cassettes 9pm Saturday, Oct. 19. Live @ Heirloom Pizza Co., 344 Main St., Salinas. $20. 998-8824, heirloompizzapie.com. Big Bang The Dead Cassettes produce high-energy, stadium-ready shows and return with a twist. By Tonia Eaton Jacob (lead vocals and guitar) and Matthew Gonzales-Butorac (synth and piano) of The Dead Cassettes want to inspire more artists from Salinas to create original songs. Become a member of our family... fooddis&cobuenvters age cwo mi np le i mp eernvtias ri ty f odr i se cvoeunnttss & concerts andmsoorem!uch
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