Vendetta takes it out on the gas range

This week, Abby Person had the lovely opportunity to save Arts and the rest of the planet (we'll never know) by interviewing the cute and witty band Vendetta. Juniors Joe Veselak, Ryan Ragland and first-years Leandro Oliveira and David Meddow make up this rock band that hopes to rock into Oberlin's spotlight and beyond in the near future.

AP: So, who are you?

Joe: We're called Vendetta and we have something to prove. We're a band on a mission.

David: We've been wronged.

AP: How did you get together?

Joe: Ryan and I used to be roommates looking to get a band together, but we had a hard time finding a drummer. This year David and Leandro came to Oberlin. I went to high school with David in LA, and he was roommates with Leandro. They were looking for people to form a band too. One day we all figured out that we were all looking for a band. We were like the Brady Bunch of bands.

Leandro: I didn't know it would require me to get up at 7:30 a.m. in the freezing cold.

Joe: We have very different backgrounds in music. I played in a band in high school and so did David. (He played in a very successful band that was so popular they could have filled the Colluseum, sort of.)

David: We were in a lot of the same circuit.

Leandro: I'm from Rio, and I've got a band down there. Our bass down there broke his arm so we didn't play many gigs.

Ryan: I hate basists.

Leandro: It was a progressive rock band, then I met David who is the soul side of it.

David: Now my main man is Albert King.

Ryan: I was mainly punk and alternative, but I've always had a special love for blues.

Joe: We have tremendous experience playing live, just from our backgrounds.

AP: Would you describe your music as angry?

David: Some of it is angry and some is beautifully exhaulted. Half of the instrumentals are about girls.

Leandro: Wait. One instrumental is about a cat. The rest are about girls. That's more than half.

AP: So does being in a band help you get women? I heard you played at a Ministry party.

Joe: Did [the party] live up to expectations? I don't know. Joe has no comment about the everybody-gets-laid part.

AP: What are your vendettas?

David: It's a name.

Leandro: Because David here has watched too many gangster movies.

Joe: We were in line to get closet space inWilder.

David: It was freezing.

Joe: And we had to pick a name before we got to the door, so we picked Vendetta.

AP: Joe, what is your connection to Gilby Clark?

Joe: Oh boy. My first two guitar lessons - well, my first teacher was Gilby Clark. You can make a chart: he was my mom's co-worker's husband's friend. At that time he was just a struggling drunk. After my first two lessons, he auditioned with Slash and joined G and R.

Leandro: That explains a lot.

AP: Lead guitar (Leandro). I hear you're amazing. How much do you practice?

Leandro: Let's put it like this: whenever I'm not studying which happens very little since I'm an art major, I'm practicing.

AP: Do you have a future?

Leandro: Hopefully.

AP: Would you please ask yourselves a question?

Ryan: Do we ever all plan to wear the same outfits to a gig? The band that wore those bio-containment suits was pretty cool.

Joe: I always wear leather pants.

AP: Isn't that like two layers of skin?

Joe: It's like skin and a half.

AP: Is that it?

Ryan: For now.

Joe: Beware. You never know when someone has a vendetta.

Ryan: Want to know who we have a vendetta against? (points to Joe)

David: And producers.

Vendetta will play today in Philips at 10 p.m., Saturday on WOBC on the 4:20 show, and again May 1 in North Quad at 7 p.m.