Epidemic Remedy
Band:
Epidemic Remedy
Members: Sam Pauley, bass; Martin Rossiter, vocals and lyrics; Cameron Rossiter, drums
Who we talked to: Martin Rossiter
How did you guys meet/how long have you been performing together? Well, (in late 2005) . . . a bunch of friends just got together and jammed around. We just went from there, really. We played kind of more of a punk style. We knew each other from a couple different things like . . . youth events. My brother's the drummer so (we kind of have to) know each other. Then, we had our first show in 2006 . . . at the Ichthus Coffeehouse. . . here in York. We went under the name Common Sense. We made matching T-shirts and all this stuff. I'd say now that I look back on it, we were pretty immature, I guess. We didn't have a lot of variation or anything, but it was fun, and it was a pretty good show.
Have you and Cameron always been in bands growing up? Yeah. I'm only 16. (Cameron is) turning 14, but he's amazing for how young he is. He started playing drums when he was 10. He took a couple lessons from an older friend of ours, and he just went from there. I started playing guitar when I was 12. I went to, like, this summer camp and I brought my guitar and all these kids were just showing me all this stuff. I kind of taught myself from there.
When did you decide to come up with a different name? After that first show, our bass player started doing some other activities, and he got really busy. So, it was just me and my brother from then on. We decided we wanted to get a little harder. So, we had a whole bunch . . . of names. We had Epidemic, and then we had The Remedy. We were like, "Why not Epidemic Remedy?" It sounded good, and it had a good meaning behind it. Our first show (as Epidemic Remedy) was at the JCC Battle of the Bands in 2008.
Where else have you played in the area? We played so far at coffeehouses. Some churches and youth groups sometimes invite us to play for their youth rallies and such.
Describe your sound/style. We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We knew that we liked the harder stuff. When you think about harder music, it usually relates to screaming vocals. We like that. We just weren't the best at that. We have, like, a style where it's, like, rock and metal kind of mixed. It's more upbeat, but it has a lot of singing and just rare screaming parts just to give it, like, some aggressiveness.
Who are your influences? A big influence (is) the metal band August Burns Red. They're, like, really hard, though. We're not even, like, close to being that hard.
What is your goal? Book some more shows and get bigger in the area . . . especially since summer's coming up. Usually work and school (are) kind of the obstacles, really. We have . . . an eight-song EP. It's called "Never Too Late." A lot of people have supported us by buying that. We thank them for that because that's how we keep going. So far, we're just, like, local. We know some bands (like Elyon's Fire and Homesick). We play a lot together. Everybody comes out and enjoys it because of the variety. We keep updated on who's playing where and everything, so it's cool.
Do you have plans to make a full-length album? We want to strive to make a full album eventually. We made (the EP) ourselves, so maybe (we'll) save up some money and go to a studio to get (our album) professionally recorded. When I write lyrics, I usually want to have something encouraging and positive that when people listen to it it's not like they walk away depressed or sad, but they feel like they can go on with life . . . with, like, a purpose. We are a Christian band. We don't, like, shove it in people's faces or down their throat or anything. A lot of harder music is kind of negative, but we want to be a light in the darkness.
- ERIN McCRACKEN, FLIPSIDE STAFF
If you go
See Epidemic Remedy plays at Ichthus Coffeehouse from 7 to 11 p.m. the second Saturday of each month at Immanuel Evangelical Free Church, 1140 Witmer Road in Springettsbury Township.
For details about the band, visit www.myspace.com/epidemicremedy. Listen to the interview at www.flipsidepa.com.