Many acts stunned and delighted the Trunk 7 audience back in July, but one up-and-coming band had people talking even after the music festival ended. A band called New Damage, composed of Zach Smith, Ethan Smith, Joe Young, Leo Cox, opened for the third annual Trunk 7, performing their first original song.
During an interview, the four young band mates joked around plenty, but their ideas and enjoyment of music was clear. The name New Damage comes from a song by Soundgarden, but they also like Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses. Their collective definition of what they were up to as a band was a combination of “rock, blues, metal, really anything from the 70’s to late 90’s.” All four credited their families with influencing their love of music.
This foursome has only been together for 6-7 months. Joe joining the Smith brothers after bonding over music, and a music teacher introduced Leo into the mix. They enjoy playing together, despite not getting to meet up very often to practice.
“It’s easy to make times to practice on our own,” Zack said, “it just becomes routine. As a band, there’s no schedule, and since none of us have a driver’s license, it’s harder. If there’s a show we try to meet at least once a week the month before.”
Upon discussing what makes their band stand out, Joe had this to say: “It’s true there are no other young bands out here like us. I think we will stand out because it’s something we really care about. It’s our passion. We aren’t immune to criticism, we understand it, and we can self-reflect to be better.”
Even though they are relatively young both as individuals and as a band, they have agreements and big plans for the future. “If we do get paid each of us gets and equal share,” Leo said. “You need to show up and know what you’re doing, don’t suck, and no drugs. We want to write enough for an album or just an EP. We’ve got more original songs in the works. Our goal is to have no covers by next Trunk 7 in 2018. We want to get a bigger following, and more gigs, hopefully reaching a larger audience.”
The band members have high goals. “In five years, our ages would be from 18-21,” said Ethan. “So I hope we would be going to Quebec, play some bars and clubs. Hopefully we’ll have some good bookings and will be getting our name out there. And in ten years, ideally, we can hope for a cross-country tour opening for someone else.”