Apathy hasn't had this much energy for quite some time.
Metal bands Dope and Twisted Method will be joined by Motograter to being the American Apathy tour to Salt Lake City.
For Derrick "Tripp" Tribbetts, this tour is one of the "coolest" things he's been looking forward to since playing Ozzfest earlier this year.
"Ozzfest was our first real tour," Tribbetts said by phone from Fort Myers, Fla., adding that he prefers his nickname "Tripp." "And all the bands on this tour are way cool — I mean, Dope and Motograter are great guys and great bands."
Dope lead singer Edsel Dope, who declined to reveal his real last name, said he's also geared up for the tour.
"Dope is a band, an attitude, an image, a vibe and a lifestyle," he said by phone from Chicago. "And we're going on tour with bands who have a similar approach to their music and lives. So this is going to be a very aggressive concert. And I hope Salt Lake City loves it. The last time we played there, the audience was so full of energy and it was a great experience."
When Tripp joined Twisted Method, which also features drummer Ben Goins, guitarist Andy Howard and bassist Derek DeSantis, the band had some goals — to make the best music it could. And that goal still stands today.
"You have to continue to bring your all into the band or it loses its life," said Tripp, who cited his parents' own amateur bands as his greatest musical influence. "I learned that by watching my parents in their bands. And by watching the other bands at Ozzfest this year, we learned a lot. And that was a great experience for us."
Dope said his band's newfound independence has been a boon to its the motivation of its players — guitarist Virus, bassist Sloane "Mosey" Jentry and drummer Racci Shay.
"Before, when we were in the major label (Epic Records), we were selling more albums," said Dope. "But we didn't know we were. You don't get a lot of money on album sales. We didn't know how many albums we sold because we were on the road so much. We were getting a lot of people at our shows.
"And, now, since we're not on a major label, we know we have to work harder to put out a product and tour more. And it's made us work harder. But to tell you the truth, we have been seeing the same amount of people coming to our shows. So, even though we had the promotional machine behind us on the major label, it didn't really help with ticket sales, because we're doing about the same now. We just have to work harder to get our CDs available."
Tripp said he'd like to see Twisted Method sell more CDs and go on more tours. "I'm also just glad to be in the game. We're about to tour with some great bands who we have admired. And, sure, we'd like to see our tours get bigger. But I'm just happy I'm here doing what I'm doing."
If you go . . .
What: Dope, Twisted Method, Motograter
Where: Club Ritz
When: Wednesday, 6 p.m.
How much: $13
Phone: 467-8499 or 1-800-888-8499
E-mail: scott@desnews.com