Under the Influence: Brandon Gaddis of Serrate
The vocalist opens up about crying on stage, stealing a Rage Against the Machine CD, Serrate's upcoming album, and more...
When you think back on your childhood, what music or art were you being exposed to that you can say shaped your tastes as you grew up? Were there any musicians in your family that inspired or encouraged you?
I grew up in an extremely conservative and religious, single parent household. My mom played exclusively 90's country music and gospel. For the longest time that was all I knew. I just remember thinking how lame and boring it all was. Early on I was just searching for anything that was as far away from that as possible. My whole childhood was spent trying to listen to the gnarliest stuff possible without my Mom finding out.
How old were you when you first started to gravitate towards the world of "rock" music or guitar based genres? What were some of the bands that you remember first finding on your own or from your peers?
As a kid, I spent a lot of time in church. There was an older kid there who always wore band shirts. I remember seeing him wearing a Pantera shirt and thinking "Cowboys From Hell definitely seems like it's not gospel". That kid introduced me to so much music. He would sneak me CD's every week in the parking lot after church. I was maybe 10 whenever he let me borrow Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire. I never gave him that CD back. I listened to that album until it wouldn't play anymore. They just sounded so angry to me. When I got a few years older, I spent a lot of time doing the thing where I would read the "thank you" section in album liner notes and seek out all the bands that had names that sounded cool to me. Then finding AFI on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 soundtrack. That was another big one for me.
Do you remember your first show, either local or a bigger act?
There's my actual first show, the one I went to and it wasn't my decision. That was Hootie and the Blowfish. In hindsight, I'm stoked on it. At the time, not so much. The show that I saw that I actually wanted to see was Blink 182 and Green Day when I was in sixth grade. I went with one of my friends from school. I don't think my Mom had any idea. There is no way she would've signed off on that. Being a sheltered little kid, it was the most overwhelming thing I had ever experienced. I loved every second of it. I was hooked on live music after that.
We all have had experiences surrounding shows that have been formative. Is there a show that you can reflect on as being a pivotal moment in your life?
The first time I saw Converge. If I remember correctly, the line up was Codeseven, Between the Buried and Me, Cave In, and Converge. At that point in my life I had already been to so many shows, but Converge just does it better than everyone else. It was one of the first times at a show where a band made me feel like I might be in actual danger. I had to bribe one of my friends with a car to drive me because I didn't have a car yet. The whole drive home I was just in awe. It was that show that made me want to be in a band.
When did you decide to try playing music yourself for the first time? What was your first band or writing experience like?
I was a senior in high school, about to graduate, and I had two friends that also listened to heavy music. Thankfully, they were both very talented musicians. It was a real "I have no musical ability, let me yell into a microphone" [sort of situation]. At that point I was really obsessed with The Locust, and one of the other members of the band had a keyboard. It was god awful for a long time. We played a lot of bad shows for a lot of people who didn't care. It was one of the most fun periods of my life. I was the absolute shyest kid but for some reason when I got a microphone in my hand, I didn't care. I didn't have anxiety. I didn't have fear. For twenty minutes I was a different person.
Is that a feeling you still get when performing? I always feel like being on stage is an out of body experience. How has your emotional and mental experience with performing changed over the years?
I honestly can’t explain it. In my everyday life, I don’t want to be perceived by anyone in any way, but you give me a microphone and put me on a stage with my friends… It's a feeling that I’ve never been able to replicate. My therapist has always had a field day with it. Performing is just such a visceral thing. I’ve always used it as an extreme form of therapy. I’m purging myself of sadness and anger. Maybe that’s why I’ve been doing this for so long. I think I’ve cried during every Serrate set. It’s exhausting.
There's a rumor that Serrate just wrapped up some studio time. What can you tell me about the experience and the material that came out of it?
The rumors are true. We spent four days in VA with Matt Michel (No Man, Majority Rule) at Viva Studio. We recorded ten songs. Matt was great to work with. When we started this band, Majority Rule was one of the bands that we were drawing inspiration from. He's also one of my favorite vocalists ever. It was a huge honor to work with him. At the time of writing this, we have a rough mix that I've listened to maybe 100 times. We've spent that last year or so really finding our sound. Matt, Thomas, and Dave are incredible musicians and they're really responsible for how cool it all turned out. With our demo, I wrote all the songs from a place of deep sadness. This time around, with everything happening in our country and around the world, I had to get pissed. Screamo needs less people of privilege yelling about how sad they are, and more yelling about how the world around us is falling apart and we're just kinda watching it all happen.This isn't a time for any of us to be complacent.
Given that you’ve approached writing the lyrics for Serrate’s upcoming material differently, do you think there was a musical change on the part of your bandmates that reflects that?
All of these songs were written at such different times in our band. One of the songs on the record is the second song we ever wrote. One of the songs we wrote a week or two before going into the studio. That’s two years of our lives. We had this evolution musically and I felt like I needed to evolve lyrically as well. I also had this realization about a month before we were supposed to record, that it would be irresponsible of me to be privileged enough to have this platform and not use it to say something meaningful. I rewrote at least half of the songs at the last minute to make sure I was saying something important.
I’ve noticed that the world of screamo and the sort of pre-social media sound of post-hardcore are having a very strong resurgence in the past couple of years. What do you think it is about that music that has been able to transcend generational barriers and endure now twenty or more years later?
The thing that has always drawn me to screamo is the fact that it’s so raw and emotional. I found screamo at an age where I was so full of angst. I could listen to a Majority Rule record and think “Yeah, they’re pissed like I am.” Then I could listen to a iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook record and think “Damn, I’m not the only one that is this sad”. Those feelings are always gonna exist. Kids are always gonna be experiencing all these difficult feelings, and they’re always gonna be looking for something to make them feel like they aren’t the only ones experiencing those feelings. I just hope that when I’m 50, I’m still seeing young folks wearing Neil Perry bootleg shirts.
The Asheville, NC area underwent a very devastating hurricane in September 2024. Aside from the personal recovery of the residents in the surrounding area, what is your perception of what the rebuilding has been like for local artists and venues? Does the scene there feel like it is flourishing despite the tragedy?
Asheville is without a doubt one of the most resilient places I've ever known. After the hurricane, the way everyone came together was inspiring. The amount of fundraiser shows that popped up in the aftermath was wild. I think venues started hosting shows again as soon as we started getting water and power back. It's gonna take a while for us to get back to where we were seven months ago, but we're already starting to see the upswing. And when it comes to the heavy music scene here, you can't kill that. It'll take more than a hurricane to do that. Especially with all the young folks we have here that are putting everything they have into growing and nurturing what a lot of us a generation before them worked hard to build up.
