Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Sister bands, two distinct sounds

Pat Downes may not be one of the most recognizable names or faces in the music industry.

But he continues to bank on the fact that the music his primary group covers will always draw a crowd.

Downes, the lead singer of "Badfish, A Tribute to Sublime" brings his crew to House of Blues for a Saturday show in which his sister band, "Scotty Don't," will also play. To some, the set-up of the two bands is somewhat confusing.

There are separate groups, each with a distinct flavor. First, there is Badfish, the group that covers Sublime, the group whose lead singer, Bradley Nowells, died in 1996. Then there's Scotty Don't, the project that spins the group's original music.

Downes took time earlier this week to talk with The Sun News in advance of the two bands' semi-annual show in Myrtle Beach.

How did you guys decide to go 100 percent Sublime?

The music wasn't being played. They have a huge fan base, people who love the music - us included. And nobody was tapping that market, per se. Nobody was performing the songs and putting the shows out. We did it, and it was well-received. We tried it in another market. It kept going, and before you know it, it spirals out. Years go by, and you're doing it night after night. It's still a great experience every time.

On one hand, you're playing as a cover band of a popular group; on the other, you've got your own group (Scotty Don't) with original music. Do you ever feel a little schizophrenic?

I guess schizophrenic would be a way to put it. I never thought of it that way. But there definitely are two different mindsets. You get two different crowd reactions. You're playing two different styles. ... They both have their own identity going on. It's fun. It's kind of like Halloween. You get to dress up and be something different, but you always have the joy of going back to being yourself. We get to go out and play all these Sublime songs and try to recreate the whole Sublime experience. But then in the same night, we're kind of showcasing what we've got and what we built from the ground up.

How do you separate the inspirations between the two bands?

[Covering Sublime] kind of gets your playing chops up as far as hearing something and replicating it. That's sort of one faction in being a musician: being able to hear something and making it come to life. With Scotty Don't, it's more like being an artist and taking an empty canvas and making it something new. Everybody grows up listening to little different pieces of music that they like and that really catches their fancy. We all grew up listening to Sublime. I like different kinds of music than maybe our drummer will. It all kind of comes together in its own way and makes itself unique from Sublime by default.

Have you had the opportunity to meet the living members of Sublime? What type of reaction did you get from them?

We met (former Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh) about a year ago. He had his original project out in Reno (Nev.), the Del Mars. They came to Vegas. ... He hopped up and did a couple Sublime songs with us. The crowd was all crazy. It was really a fun experience.

At what point did you know you could pull off former Sublime lead singer Bradley Nowells' infamous voice? Was it something you had to work toward? Do you do any other impressions?

I jammed to it with random musician friends in high school and stuff, singing the tunes. It's kind of like being an impressionist. I'll go do karaoke and sing something else and sound like somebody else. It's kind of like making a carbon copy. It's a fun thing to do. I'll try to do impressions of people we meet on the road, little things like that, for comical purposes.

Has anyone ever given you grief from idolizing someone who died of a heroine overdose? How did you deal with the thought that some may not feel it was appropriate?Not so much. It's obviously a tragic and horrible mistake to be caught up in that whole mess. But there's definitely been a fair share of musicians that that's happened to. You'll see a Jimmy Hendrix cover band or something like that. There's just some artists [who've had] unfortunate things happen to them. And, you know, it's just par for the course, I guess.

What's your favorite aspect of your shows/visits here?

You definitely have a consistently energetic crowd there. Sometimes you go back places, and it's kind of hit or miss.

You don't know what you're going to have in store for you. But every time there, there's always, basically, a really positive vibe you get off the crowd.

And the location's pretty sweet, right next to the alligator exhibit [Alligator Adventure].