Ten Questions With A Cool Person: Mike Danese (Elitist)

When I first stumble across Elitist,  I was pleasantly surprised by the great combination of tasty riffage, sensual melodies and chest hair growth spurting breakdowns! How could I resist? 

Eager to know more, I sent the dudes a mail and heard back from their bassist, Mike Danese. He was kind enough to give me some history on the band and other random, but awesome info about himself and the band.

Read up good! 

Slappin' da bass!

C: I heard one of your tracks off "Caves" and the next week Elitist was everywhere, give us a little breakdown of (no pun intended) how  Elitist came about.

MD: Like most bands, we used to be different bands that we're all good friends who played locally around the LA metal/hardcore scene. Eventually our bands broke up and we all went our separate ways but remained friends. Julian was in The Fortune TellerThe Human Abstract. Their singer left and they had trouble filling his spot so they called it a day. Julian decided to test the waters with more progressive metal and he wrote the early version of  "Principles" and showed our singer Jake and he instantly was like, "dude lets a band together and do this for real!".  I was in New York going to school and my buddy showed me early Elitist with Sean and Robert playing some orchestral shred that was heavily inspired by recordings and I was instantly blown away. I talked to Julian a lot and he asked me if I could play bass and I was happy to oblige. Sean was asked to play guitar and Rob was recruited to play drums. I moved back to Cali and got down to business. (Thats the abridged story lol.)

C: What is your musical background? Did you and the guys study music? Your riffs are pretty insane but massively tasty.

MD: Thanks man! We all have actually. Julian and Sean have been classically trained by A.J. Minette from The Human Abstract. Robert was a student at Musicians Institute in Hollywood and I know basic music theory. Even our singer Jake can play mean guitar!

C: Nice! What is your view on the whole "Djent" thing?

MD: Honestly, we all have different opinions on the Djent subject. I think people naturally want to label genres mostly so they can convey to others what it sounds like. I think it's a new era in the metal scene and Djent is definitely taking heavy music into all kinds of new and groovy directions. Regardless how people feel about the term "Djent", the name stuck! Julian and Sean call it "Da Bow Bow".

C: "Da Bow Bow" makes sense. What else do you do?

MD: I work part time and hang out with good friends. I always have to be doing something musically. I write and play Acid Jazz and fusion stuff with other musician friends. One of my buddies is an engineer/keyboardist and he's got a Moog Voyager that can take you to outer space and back! I pretty much just try to do whatever makes me happy!

C: Your life sounds awesome! Tequila or bong?

MD: BOTH!!!

C: Where is one place in the world you have to go?

MD: New Zealand. Hands down!

C: Have you ever set foot in Africa?

MD: No I haven't, but I would love to go as soon as I can.

C: Pizza or burgers?

MD: Burger with avocado and bacon.

C: What got you into playing bass?

MD: I'v been playing guitar for almost 10 years and I started playing bass about half of that, but not as serious. I always noticed that bassists were hard to find so I just decided to focus on learning bass. My favorite band is The Mars Volta and their bassist, Juan Alderete, was a huge inspiration for me. I just learnt how to play my favourite Volta songs. I listen to a lot of Jazz (Miles, Coltrane, Chick Corea, Herbie, ect.) those are all big influences as far as technique and thinking in bass clef. Bass has always been something that felt natural and comfortable for me. I just groove. Bass is good vibes, bass is sex! nothing beats going to a show and feeling the bass in your chest, shaking your whole body. I think thats what got me into bass the most is the body and atmosphere. Ya dig?

C: I dig! What Elitist show will you never forget?

MD: Our first show was a lot of fun. I was nervous to see the crowd reaction, but they were amazing. Tons of energy and passion. We're still a relatively new act so we have a ton of shows and memories ahead of us. Speaking of which, our full length album will be out late 2011 and we're releasing a new single in the next 2 months entitled "Spectre". Keep checking up, spread the news, and stay tuned!

So there it is! An awesome dude from an awesome band! I will keep you lovely people posted on the advances of these guys. Remember: Elitist.