Rossland’s heavy metal unit Carbon Cast Clone blast out the hard-hitting good times at the Pub

By Ferdy Belland 

“This is my brilliant experiment in exploring cover tunes,” laughs Geoff Ross of Rossland’s powerhouse band Carbon Cast Clone, who take the stage at the Cranbrook Hotel Pub on Friday, February 24 with guests The Brotherhood of Lost Souls and Evan Symons.

“We’re doing very well. We play very well. I have a great bunch of musicians working with me. We’ve gone through four different band members through 2022, so it’s been a bit of a metal struggle, but we have strong solidified sets now and things seem to be settling in a lot better. And we’re looking forward to rocking out in Cranbrook!”

Ross has spent the past 20 years of his musical life writing his own songs in various original bands. “So this new band is me taking the BC/DC route! I formed the band out of honest curiosity to see how well it’d be received…I wanted the novelty of actually having people show up at the concerts! If you write the word ‘METALLICA’ on a gig poster, people notice, and people show up. Everyone in Carbon Clast Clone are long-time musical compatriots who’ve played in former original bands with me, so everything’s friendly and familiar – we’re just playing all kinds of covers now! Go figure.”

Even though Carbon Cast Clone has only been active for little over a year, they’ve still stabbed their way across the B.C. Interior, bringing distorted guitars and smashing drums to the people.

“The gigs themselves have been fun. What’s not fun is showing up to a venue where there’s no PA system, or the so-called ‘promoters’ haven’t done any promotion. A lot of unprofessionalism, but regardless our shows themselves have gone off very well. We put on one hell of a good show! We always get great response to all the music.”

Ross and his bandmates strive to present an interesting cross-section of heavy metal across the genre’s half-century lifespan.

“We’re doing everything, from the early days of Black Sabbath up to 1980s thrash metal, like classic Metallica and Megadeth. We some classic stuff like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. I like specializing in some of the weird avant-garde Lollapalooza stuff from the 1990s. I’m not trying to cover Soundgarden or Alice In Chains all day long, seeing how these days it seems that grunge-rock is the new main repertoire of a lot of active cover bands.

“I’ve always loved heavy metal, and I can sing confidently for a wide variety of stuff. We’re trying to insert more modern songs into our set that aren’t too savage on the ears but still classy; we do some Gojira, we’d like to do more Lamb of God and Slipknot, but it’s really hard to play that stuff in certain venues because the music’s so volatile – and not always appreciated! It’s easy to choose older classic metal tunes since everyone’s familiar with ‘The Trooper’ or ‘Living After Midnight’ or ‘Ace of Spades’ or whatever… it’s trying to find contemporary songs that we enjoy playing and people will enjoy hearing! But metalheads as a whole are usually open to wide ranges of hard-rocking stuff, so in the end it’s better to toss aside the philosophical debate and just strike the power chord. We’ll play a song like ‘Chop Suey’ by System of A Down and everybody instantly loses their shit, since it’s now a timeless piece of music. I struggle to find modern instant classics, but maybe I’m just getting old and crusty!”

But even if it seems that Carbon Cast Clone is doing fine work bringing modern classics back to the bars, Geoff Ross’ creative spark to write his own music just never seems to dwindle away.

“My dissatisfaction from the amount of work we’ve had to invest, versus how our last few shows have gone, has driven me to think that if I’m going to put this much effort into Carbon Cast Clone then we’re going to write more original material – which is beyond ironic, since Carbon Cast Clone was invented in the first place to give us an enjoyable avenue outside of the frustrations of being in an original band! I’ve been in ten previous bands where I can draw already-completed material from, if we’re going that route. And we’re always creating. I have a little micro-studio I work with at home. So we’ll still maintain our identity as a cover band, but despite everything – it’s back to writing our own tunes!

“We’re all family guys now with young kids, so the band is our version of playing darts at the Legion or playing beer-league hockey. It’s just as fun, but way louder! I just want to find a way to make this fun and functional. We’re not destitute, so we’re not into this for the money or anything. If fame was going to happen, it would have happened twenty years ago, maybe – not now. I just want to write good music, I want to see people moving on the dance floor, and I want us to get around British Columbia so we can come back again. That’s the overall angle.

“I guess what I’m saying is this: if I’m going to suffer onstage, then I’ll suffer in my own way. But what a way to go!”

Carbon Cast Clone blast out all your favourite heavy metal tunes on Friday February 24 at the Cranbrook Hotel Pub (719 Baker Street), with special guests The Brotherhood of Lost Souls and Evan Symons. Admission: $10 advance (tickets available at the Pub during regular business hours), $15 at the door. Bring 10 friends, a set of earplugs, and a fun attitude. You won’t be sorry. 

Photos submitted

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