Squeezed in the middle of the sold out crowd for my favorite band, I knew if one of us were to move we’d all go down like dominoes. The smell of booze reeked throughout the room along with its companion found at any rock concert, marijuana. This didn’t bother me, and, for once, intoxicated and drugged fans provided a lovely scenery. Nothing could ruin my enthusiasm for the night ahead.
Tonight, Citizen would kick off the second date of the “Juturna Ten Year Anniversary Tour” in celebration of the Post-Hardcore/Alternative Rock band Circa Survive’s first album, “Juturna.” The five guys who comprised Citizen (Mat Kerekes, Jake Duhaime, Ryland Oehlers, Eric Hamm and Nick Hamm) were in second grade when this album dropped, and some hadn’t even heard of Circa Survive.
Citizen opened with “Cement,” the first single off their sophomore album, “Everybody Is Going To Heaven.” A steady drum beat and low bass elements accompanied lead vocalist Mat Kerekes, whose hushed words broadcasted a whisper effect: “If I’m, if I’m flawed, then you’re perfect, my only. If I’m, if I’m a liar, then you’re blameless, my only. If I’m, if I’m hanging by a thread, then you’re infinite. If I’m a saint, then you’re heaven, my only.” And with a drum roll on the snare, the song blasted into its chorus. Kerekes bellowed, “Cement for all of our teeth. I’ll give you myself any day.” I wondered what it would be like sitting behind that kit on stage, playing for people who came to hear my music?
I asked Jake Duhaime, Citizen’s drummer. “Honestly, I don’t like playing the drums. They’re expensive. They bring me a lot of grief. I feel like I have to spend twice the amount of energy as everyone around me. It’s stressful,” Jake said. “But, I have a profound love for them all the same. Everything I know is because of drumming in some form or another.” My drum teacher, Wade, gave me the most interesting response about drumming: “I’m a 45-year-old kid, and I hit things for a living. It’s fun!”
As I watched Citizen, the familiar drumbeat to their song “Stain” rose above the din, a heavy kick drumbeat proceeded by an eerie guitar rift. Kerekes delivered harshed vocals, an assortment of strained and painful screams. The song’s hook, similar to Cement’s consistent drumbeat, featured a powerful drum roll from the snare that called attention to the chorus. “Let your garden grow, my eyes still twitch for nothing. Loosen your empty hands, my heart still beats for nothing.”
Jake noted this as his favorite song to play live. “It’s no bullshit,” Jake said. “It’s heavy. It’s aggressive. It’s hypnotic. I feel like I am proving something whenever we are plowing through that song.” I understood Jake’s passion, also being able to play “Stain” on my own kit. “Stain” was different from any other song Citizen had previously released, a powerhouse in their set list when performing.
Jake wasn’t Citizen’s first drummer, so how did he join? “I actually met Nick, Citizen’s guitarist, when they asked my other band, Freedom, to play the ‘Youth’ record release show for them. We had a very pleasant/brief encounter that I guess stuck with him. I didn’t meet the rest [of the band] until right around my first practice,” Jake said. “They seemed like nice guys, and that’s all I really cared about.”
Jake’s been playing the drums for 15 years, and, at the moment, he’s involved in about half-a-dozen projects that range from “casual to serious.”
“You always have to be creating. It shouldn’t be like a job, you want to be doing as much as you can,” Jake said. When I asked Wade how many musical projects he’d been involved with, he said he had been professionally playing since he was 13. Right now, he considered himself a “drum for hire,” playing for any gig that’s in need of a good drummer.
I watched Citizen finish up their set with “The Summer,” an angst-filled song that depicts someone who desperately tries to escape from somebody else’s manipulative ways and painful presence—but can’t. Its second verse sets the scene: “You said you’d stay, and you promised. I finally see you out. Why’d you wait for the summer to chew and spit me out? I sit awake and wait patiently. The same mistakes are waiting to be made. And I felt something that is in me change, when I followed you down.” Rx Bandits took the stage next, bringing an entirely new sound to the room, a groovy sound, compelling everybody to have fun time before the legendary Circa Survive were welcomed to the stage. Circa Survive originated in the suburbs of Doylestown, Pa., the prime band of the post-hardcore/alternative rock scene. Anthony Green, lead vocalist, possessed a unique and high-pitched tenor that sounded like silk run through a blender. I didn’t think he could pull it off live, but I was wrong—he totally blew me away while performing Juturna.
What was Jake’s favorite tour? “I’ve been lucky enough to be part of really special tours. Anytime I make new friends, that’s what’s most important to me,” Jake said. “I can’t pick a favorite. Polar Bear Club, Fireworks, Turnstile, Praise, Modern Baseball, Unified Right, Backtrack, Circa Survive are [just] a very small fraction of incredible people I’ve been able to get close with through music.”
In Lemoyne, a small venue called “The Champ” features alternative rock bands open for all ages. Bands such as Hawthorne Heights, Ice Nine Kills and Hotel Books have played there in the past. I asked Jake about the music scene in Bay City, Mich., his hometown. He explained bands would hit his general area every-so-often, and it was always a blast. “Places like the Magic Stick and Refuge Skate Shop have always been there for me.”
The five guys that comprise of Citizen are “straight edge,” which pertains to somebody who refrains from drinking, drugs and, in some cases, sexual encounters with more than partner, or even eating meat. Aside from Citizen, Jake plays in the straight edge hardcore band, “Freedom,” so I dug a bit deeper into his personal life and asked how this subculture has affected him.
“It means everything to me,” Jake said. “It’s been in my life for so long that I don’t really think of it as an outside influence, it’s just my life. A ‘counter-culture’ idea is what trains you to be comfortable with yourself.”
Did being in Citizen or Freedom personally change you as a person? “I’d like to think that anything I do influences me. You learn a lot doing something truly arcane as being in a touring band. Perhaps a bit corny. But it’s true,” Jake said.
It’d be hard to pick a favorite Citizen track, but I do lean towards “Stain,” “Cicuta,” “Drawn Out” and “Untitled.” When I asked Jake whether he has favorite tracks or any personal ties with his music, I received an interesting answer.
“My favorite tracks jump around depending on what mood I’m in,” Jake said. “More often than not, I find myself magnetized with the closing track of ‘Everybody Is Going To Heaven,’ ‘Ring Of Chain.’ Creating ‘Everybody Is Going To Heaven’ was a liberating and creative experience. I have personal ties with all of them.” He didn’t enjoy Citizen’s older material. According to him, they were 15 when they wrote it, and, much like themselves, it lacked any real identity. His favorite tracks from their first, full-length record, “Youth,” were “Speaking With A Ghost” and “Figure You Out.”
There hasn’t been a single night within the past year I haven’t fallen asleep listening to the thrilling and beautiful sounds that create the album “Youth.” I thought about a proper question to conclude my interview with Jake, so I asked: What’s the best part about playing in Citizen and Freedom?
“The people. That’s why I do it,” Jake said. “You are defined by who you surround yourself with and I couldn’t be more proud of that.”
Patrick Schmitt is a freshman at Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School (CASA).
