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Photograph by Mabel Suen
CCDS.
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Photograph by Mabel Suen
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Photograph by Mabel Suen
“It used to be called Coca-Cola Death Squad; can't really get away with that,” jokes Cameron Rogers, founding member of what is now called CCDS, a percussion outfit that recently relocated from Buffalo, New York to St. Louis. The band planted a stake in Midwest soil last month with the release of Death Rides The Moonbeams!, a six-song exercise in exhaustive dual drumming.
With the help of musician Amber Kogut, CCDS functions as a tightly wound duo—a percussive turret that seldom stops. Songs are built from two standard rock sets sans any gimmicks or blasé additions. There's not a single djembe or bongo in sight. This more minimal approach feels less like a glorified drum circle and more like a punk drumline.
Prior to CCDS, Rogers cut his teeth in All Of Them Witches, a progressive punk group active from 2011 to 2014. He took a more lyrical approach to the drums, matching dense guitar work with super-active rhythms. When that band slowed, Rogers focused on a solo effort in Coca-Cola Death Squad, a live concept that branched noise with improvisational percussion.
Samples were used to supply a backbone while Rogers wanted the drumset to be the focal point—a command center. His process was to set everything up beforehand and let loose on the drums.
“The solo CCDS project was a way to have something to play with my friends from out of town who were trying to book shows in Buffalo. With Amber, it finally became solid. I feel like the project before was like a filler,” Rogers adds. Kogut brought more than just structure; her inclusion added several layers.
“I just explained to her the idea of just unleashing. To get rid of the beats. You don't have to be the back person, you can be the front person. She fully grasped it right away. It took me a long time to figure that out myself,” he says.
In Buffalo, Rogers worked behind-the-scenes on Buffalo DIY, an online group formed to help what he lovingly refers to as “the lower class of the local music community,” including house venues and other people working on the perimeter of the scene. As an extension of his own work in booking and promoting, he hoped that this network would help bring the more disparate groups together. But Buffalo presents its own share of challenges, as he explains:
“Honestly, when you spend six months out of the year inside due to weather, you start to realize that it's not really a way to live at all. And when you're an experimental musician and you've been plugging away in the city for however many years to no fruition, it starts to drain you,” Rogers says.
While the pair first considered moving to the southwest, specifically Arizona, they felt St. Louis would be a better central place to work out of.
“You start to realize when you're 26, 'I want to tour more, I want to go out into the country. I don't want to just stay in this little bubble.'”
We sat down with both members of CCDS to discuss the process behind its percussive songs and how they operate as a duo.
Your former group, All of Them Witches, focused on varied song structures with a melodic approach to the drum set. How does writing percussion for CCDS differ from working in a guitar-led band?
Cameron Rogers: I would have to say writing for CCDS is a lot more difficult in the sense of control. Being in a band like All of Them Witches was certainly difficult, but I was the lone drummer, thus being able to do what I want when I wanted. With CCDS there's a lot more listening involved. Combining two different rhythms between two drummers while maintaining some sort of coherent and somewhat melodic drum patterns has proven to definitely push me forward as a drummer.
As Amber joined CCDS, the use of samples was toned down considerably. Do you find that playing without the backbone of pre-recorded material is more or less of a challenge?
Rogers: Less of a challenge, absolutely. The pre-recorded music gave me nothing more than a kind of noise for the listener to form some sort of concept around the project (there was and sort of still is an agenda hidden away in CCDS), and fill in the background behind my empty spaces on drums. With Amber, I can write with someone who gives me ideas instead of just filling up space. CCDS' percussion section is complete with Amber as part of it. Plus, now I have to worry much less about messing with drum pads, pedals and cables and focus on what I know best and what is truly the purpose behind CCDS: drums.
This next question is for Amber. Prior to this band, Cameron had experience performing as a duo. Can you contrast your experience in past bands and how you adjusted to the two-piece format?
Kogut: After playing in bands with 5 or more people over the years, transitioning into a duo has been a very pleasant experience. You have a lot less to initially worry about since there's only two people, and it leaves way more space so we can take our dog on tour with us! It's a win/win really.
Another for Amber. How would you compare your role as a percussionist in CCDS to a drummer performing in a more rock-oriented band?
Kogut: This is actually the first time I've ever played drums in a band, as well as performed as part of a duo. It's a constant learning experience for me. The way everything's written and laid out is completely different from anything I've ever done before. It's weird. Yes, I am a percussionist in this band, but at the same time it's much more than that. Not only are you writing a rhythm, but you're also writing a lead. I'm honestly still trying to figure things out. But that's what I like about this project the most, is the amount of thought that goes into it. Whereas I feel with more rock orientated stuff you can only do so much – this project has a lot less boundaries.
When putting together your set list for a live show, how does CCDS decide on the order of songs?
Rogers: We put together the set list largely so that it plays out like a movie soundtrack. A lot of the inspiration behind some of the themes in our music is derived from the movies we love and the way they are written and play out "on the screen."
What, if any, specific drum disciplines do you incorporate when writing a piece?
Rogers: Honestly, we kind of wing it most of the time. The way we write is mostly improvised on the spot until we find something that works.
If you had to name any specific drummer who influences your own individual style, who would it be and why?
Rogers: Vince Rogers (ex-Tera Melos) has been a huge influence on my style of drumming. The way Vince sees the drum set on the album Drugs To The Dear Youth really inspired me to think of the drums in a new way. After that, I met Kid Millions when he came to Buffalo with Man Forever. That project really showed me that drums can be their own voice and stand without a stringed or melodic instrument.
Kogut: I'm personally still trying to figure that out. In the past year, I've mostly focused on writing for CCDS as opposed to learning specific songs or styles of a specific drummer. I'll get around to it eventually.
What is the one thing or technique you wish you could do as a drummer but currently cannot?
Cameron: I wish I could be a much better jazz drummer. There's something in the dexterity, control and speed that I never gave myself enough time to get strong at.
Kogut: If we're being serious right now, there's way too much to list.
Drums are a loud yet acoustic instrument, and they are privy to alterations from space to space. When touring, how do you reconcile the differences between venues and the intended sound of your drums?
Rogers: Actually, we haven't had the privilege of playing a seriously diverse range of venues. The tours have mostly been in basements, art spaces or whatever other usual venues bands in the diy scene would play. We're more than lucky to be embraced by at least most people as and actual band and that's what we want! In reality though, especially when playing in grain elevators, warehouses and places like that... It's near impossible to control what the drums will do.
There are many clips and samples scattered throughout your album Death Rides The Moonbeams! Are there any overarching themes or references present or does each song stand on its own?
Rogers: For some reason it seems like death is a theme, judging by the song titles, imagery and even the name of the album. That definitely comes from the movies. All the B-horror, sci-fi, classic horror films and MST3K are true art to me. They're genres that seem to be lost in big budgets. Death Rides The Moonbeams! was actually splashed across the screen during the trailer for The Wolf Man (1941), thus inspiring the album name.
The overarching theme of death, in a serious tone, is brought together by the subtle references. "A Somnambulist" opens with a clip from deceased author Milton William Cooper lecturing. Cooper wrote Behold A Pale Horse, a book full of information about a lot of terrifying subjects. 322 is a reference to Skull and Bones, and CCDS as a name is a reference to the death squads killing Union leaders in Colombia and Guatemala for Coca-Cola.
CCDS plays Tuesday, May 3 at Foam Coffee & Beer (located at the corner of Cherokee and Jefferson) with Blondi's Salvation (from France). More details here.
