Musical Notes - The Hammer of the Gods

Hammer of the Gods - Performing at steelworkers' local 1005 picnic

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of tribute bands out there, some are quite good, while some are not.

For me, and for a lot of people, the music of Led Zeppelin is sacred. If a tribute band cannot do Zeppelin well, the band will probably get Boo'd off the stage.  With Led Zeppelin, firstly there is the music to contend with and then there's the vocals; who could compete with Robert Plant's distinctive vocal abilities?  No one.  I personally

know two bands that do Zeppelin's music, the first features a guy who has over 32yrs experience singing with a 4 octave vocal range, in other words, a PRO;  the other band performs the Zep music as a recital, and all the members are professionals with years of experience. But I’ve discovered a Hamilton based band called "The Hammer of the Gods"

The Hammer of the Gods consists of Jakub Zapotoczny on bass guitar and keyboards, Caleb Moroz on drums, Dylan Mathews on guitar and Colleen O'Donoghue on vocals.  That's right folks a woman on vocals in a Zeppelin band.  The music is solid  and quite faithful in capturing the Zeppelin sound. Then there's the vocals. Colleen obviously doesn't sound like Robert Plant but can she wail.  She has a great voice and the moves down pat, but most importantly Attitude, Savvy, Chutzpah and even exudes the Zeppelin "swagger" at times.  I had a chance to speak with Dylan Mathews:

Q:  What role has the city of Hamilton played in your musical career?

Dylan:  "As a real working musician, this is where it started...it's(Hamilton) that supported me and kicked my ass...lived in B.C.  and asked an amazing musician, who just blew me away...where did you learn to do that?  "Mohawk College", he said...the only school in Canada that will give you that opportunity....music is not always about knowing how to read it, for me it mostly comes from here(hand over his heart),...and that's the main thing....I met everybody here, these people in my band, this amazing band...there is alot of great people in Hamilton, and it's cool 'cause there's not a lot of ego's either with them....you see somebody that's good, That Good! and their just the most down to earth, and that's really cool, and that's where  I think Hamilton is really cool that way....lot's of great venue's to play, and the support is there....it's a kinda like a hidden gem in the rough."

Q:   Why Zeppelin, what made you think you had the guts to Tributize...LOL...Led Zeppelin?

Dylan:   "I would have loved to have done it ages ago, but it's just the people, like to find the people that can pull it off.....We're talkin' super groups....where you got a bad ass guitar player,      a wailin' singer...a drummer that just beats the crap outta those things, and then you got a smart educated guy playing bass and piano...to pull it off, you need the right people   and at the right time...meetin' up and everybody is kinda in the same head space....and it's A - we all love it(Zep's music), and that was the main thing when the group started out...and  it was like "hey, we can do this"...we're not gonna be exactly the same as them....it's the same music and sung the same notes and everything....it's the heart of it, as long as it's got the heart and you’re up there and caring....we're doing it because we love it and because we can....and there's no really any other Zep tributes in Hamilton either....that's where we get the balls, 'cause we love it and we know the right people to do it."

  

Q:   What are your goals for the future of this tribute band?

Dylan:   "to play the best music that we can....we really wanna get out and tour....and gigging more"

The Hammer of the Gods will be playing at the Corktown in Hamilton on September 16th, 2011.  

To contact the band and hear their music,  follow the links below. 

http://www.facebook.com/canadianhammerofthegods 

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2FTheHammerOfTheGodss&h=UAQBDJGqY

 e-mail -  thehammerofthegods@live.ca

 http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2FTheHammerOfTheGodss&h=iAQCCZ9PM

Angelo Noto Campanella for

The Hamiltonian