A Night at the Triple Rock with Deretla

Shortly after 5:00, Deretla’s members—vocalist Brandon, drummer Chris, guitarists Nick and Kevin, and bassist Matt—squeeze into my booth at the Triple Rock Social Club’s bar. Doors are open for Root of All Evil’s 25th anniversary show, celebrating the late Earl Root’s contributions to Minneapolis’s metal scene and spotlighting Nancy Root’s fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Let it be said that metal fans apparently do give a damn.

“There’s a lot of junk metal, bands that give other metal bands a bad name,” Nick laments. “I’m looking to crush music by being positive and playing—not playing with just my fingers but also with my heart and brain. I want people to see the best so they can get something back from it. I don’t think you can get to that level if you’re just bickering about who’s doing this or who’s doing that.”

Brandon: “I don’t think we’re trying to promote a message or cause.”

Chris: “Maybe kicking ass.”

Nick: “It’s not about blood, guts, and death; it’s about life and the struggles we all go through. We’re trying to break the image of metal: that it’s all rough and tough. I don’t like the negative image. I think our vocals are more thought-provoking about the universe. Brandon writes a lot of stuff about aliens, but I think he does it in a pretty clever way.”

When the subject of aliens comes up, the band smiles. Brandon answers, “I’ve always just been into the idea of aliens. I find it entertaining and very interesting, the possibility. I do have a belief that there is another form of life in the universe. I watch a lot of documentaries. That’s pretty much all I do when I’m not wasting away on Facebook. I think the sound of our music reflects it.”

Shrugging off the thrash-metal label plastered on Deretla, Nick offers, “We’d like to be known as ‘space metal.’”

Brandon: “We’re kind of like an old-school thrash band with death metal vocals.”

Chris: “Fast guitar, fast drums.”

Brandon: “Chugging riffs.”

Collectively drawing on Megadeth and Death influences, Deretla preserves the characteristic sound of metal, a true homage to the genre despite the band’s avoidance of cliché lyrical themes. Though the members were drawn to metal at different points in their lives, they similarly extol the virtues of the genre.

Chris: “I like that metal is aggressive. I liked that it was loud and fast, melodic, and kick-ass.”

Brandon: “I’m a late bloomer with metal. I was into old-school gangsta rap. Pantera got my ear into metal. Heard a band called Hypocrisy, dark medieval sounding music.”

Kevin: “I heard Ozzy Osbourne for the first time, and I wanted to play like Randy Rhodes.”

Matt: “I eased into it as well.”

Brandon: “I would definitely throw in the idea that you have to look at metal with an open mind. At the end of the day, it would probably one of the more melodic forms of music out there.”

Chris: “With some of the most humble people.”

Brandon: “It’s melodies, it’s rhythm. Metal is a very broad topic to explain to somebody. People don’t realize how open-minded metal people are.”

Indeed, metal alone does not provide the inspiration for these five musicians. All give credit to classical composers and performers. Nick cites violin players Karen Briggs, Samuel Yervinyan, Ann Marie Calhoun, and Peter Lee Johnson. Matt is a classically trained pianist. Brandon grew up playing trumpet. Expanding into other genres of music, Kevin gives it up for outlaw country and guitar god Yngwie Malmsteen. And, perhaps facetiously, Chris name-drops Yanni: “Yanni does it for me, entrenches my soul in happiness.”

Even Lady Gaga receives props. “Some of the artists that move me the most [in their performances] are pop singers,” Nick confesses. “They put a lot of juicy performances out there. Lady Gaga just throws down on the piano. The purity that comes along with it is something that can’t be matched.”

On the subject of live performance, both Brandon and Nick recognize Chuck Schuldiner of Death as someone they hope to emulate. The band, together since 2010 though originally formed in 2004, agrees that strengthening the live show is now a primary focus.

Matt: “As the years have gone by, it’s gone from trying to get through the show to trying to do something with the show.”

Chris: “I’ve always thought of it as an Olympic sport in a way.”

Brandon: “It’s how we present ourselves live that needs the most work. We want to look more organized and more professional.”

Nick: “I watched videos of some of our old shows and was like, ‘I’m just not being entertained right now.’ We need to step it up. When the camera’s on, it’s go-time. After a couple songs, I’ll be a little more loosened up. A rush comes over my body, and I’m like, ‘Nick, this what you were meant to do. You were born for this shit. Give it, right now.’ I’d like to see us move around a little more and, certain parts, jam out with each other, coming together on guitar harmonies.”

Kevin: “We need a children’s choir.”



Deretla takes the stage around 7:15. The first song, “New Face of God,” features a soaring solo from Kevin. “Time Child” offers an immediate throbbing beat with the full band. On “Dark Rift,” a song about “an event that may or may not happen on the 21st of December this year,” ethereal guitar opens into full band with rich bass guitar courtesy Matt. Both Kevin and Nick shine with smooth, well-rehearsed guitar solos. Earlier, Nick told me, “I’m actually into different, other styles of music now, and that’s translated over into metal. I’ll play a lot of jazz or rock or blues on guitar, and over time that’s the way my brain wants to process all the notes and intervals, and the way I think about guitar has changed. I use formulas from other styles of music to make my metal happen.”

An old favorite, “Empty Skull” showcases well-timed starts and stops and tempo changes with a killer drum ending. “Celestial Arrival” is marked by a reminiscently militaristic drum opening and aggressive, quick-spit lyrics evoking Brandon’s hip-hop influence and side project (TicToc). After knocking over a second glass of water, Brandon quips, “No water shall survive.” The band’s latest song—also about aliens—courses with a smooth breakdown into Deretla’s unique brand of space metal, then rips into a thrash riff and great beat switch-ups. The audience enthusiastically approves. On their instrumental track, titled “Instru-Metal,” Kevin kicks off and is joined in perfect harmony by Nick. Matt complements with flawlessly-timed bass fills. Another intricate solo from Kevin reveals his Malmsteen influence, and the song winds to a close. At the final song, “Old Kingdom,” Nick has made full use of his half of the stage as promised, while Chris makes full use of his drum set.

It’s a glorious thing to witness after hearing the band describe the pathology of a song. What began as a recording of Nick’s guitar riffs and Chris’s drumming, given to each member of the band to work out his parts and solos privately, becomes a full-term gift from the stage to metal maniacs. Yes, the band still appears slightly wooden on the platform, excepting Brandon’s signature knee-bent stance and circular head-swaying and Nick’s attempt to add more movement and energy to the show. But stage presence and putting on a show is just recently coming to the forefront of Deretla’s collective mind. With such well-rehearsed songs, the band can now afford the luxury of hashing out the entertainment aspect of performance. Then again, the music itself may be entertainment enough for local metal-heads.



Though the guys of Deretla clearly articulate their desire to keep the band’s focus purely on playing good music and playing it well, their dedication imbues a deeper yearning for something more than just being in a band.

Brandon: “The brutal truth of it is we’re financially strapped. If you look at it as a business, the business is not supporting itself; it’s being supported by its owners.”

Nick: “We’re so far into this band. This band has caused people to lose their jobs, lose their relationships with women. We’re so far into it that we can’t give up now.”

Why would these good-looking, smart, witty men sacrifice their love lives and financial security for a project that has yet to return their investments?

Nick: “Music is like art. We all need a place to escape. I want to create that for someone, maybe inspire them to do something with their own life.”

Brandon: “I want to leave something for the scene. It’s not a message I promote on stage, but I try to help out our scene as much as I can. Unfortunately, in Minnesota, there’s not much of a metal scene. There’s no organization within the scene. Tonight we’re celebrating 25 years of the Root of All Evil, but we’re also celebrating this guy Earl Root who was a big part of our metal scene. There’s another man named Don Decker. They’re both really big parts of developing organization within the scene. Now what we don’t have, since they’ve passed, is anybody that really does that, and it’s kind of like a free-for-all. Metal attitude tends to bring things where we have a bunch of people who want to do what they want to do. So we’ve got a million shows going on all at once, never really looking at the big picture. It’s not anybody’s fault; it’s just there’s not anybody to point that out in a way that people respect and understand. I’m trying to do my part for the next generation of metal.”

Chris: “I’d like to see miniature Deretla flags for everybody.”

Matt: “I think when it comes to that, it’s something that time will tell.”

Chris: “Support your local metal scene.”

Brandon: “Local music needs more people to support it. It’s a huge part of music. I know there’s a lot of music-lovers out there. Without support, it doesn’t go anywhere. We, unfortunately, don’t have many friends; we’re really relying on these supporters to help us get where we need to go. Support for the local scene is really important. I think it’s an overlooked factor. Minnesota has a shortage of that. I’d like to make shows free; you don’t have to pay a cover. I want people to come out for a good show. I want to promote a good time—come out and have a good time for free. Let’s find a place where metal people can come together, watch good music, support the scene. I’d like to see that happen, and I’d like to be a part of making that happen. I’d like to be a contributor.”

Chris: “Well-spoken, Brandon.”