The Metal Files

In early 2004 my best friend and I started a Motorhead tribute band in SE Virginia called Capricorn USA.  Capricorn is one of my favorite songs and it’s one of Lemmy’s songs that he wrote about himself.  Always loved it because it sounded a bit unlike standard Motorhead.  The USA got added because there was already a band called Capricorn and even though we were just a tribute band, I didn’t want any issues to arise.  The original lineup consisted of me, Danile (Dizzo), Fast Chris and Filthy Fowler.  We practiced a lot and we were tight when we played live.  It was a pretty well-oiled machine.  I liked playing as a 4 piece because of the full sound we could get live, plus Danile and Chris could split up the solos.  They were both differently styled players and even though they both played solos pretty close to the originals, you could hear the differences in their techniques.  I loved it.  Chris and Folwer lasted for about 9 months before some differences arose and we parted ways.

Right before their departure, we were asked to be a part of an upcoming tribute album being put out by Steve Wensil of the Dead Kings.  None of the bands were allowed to cover Ace of Spades so we kicked around doing Mean Machine or Chase or Bomber.  With those two guys out of the band, I decided that instead of getting a drummer for the recording, I’d just do it.  I’m historically a drummer but hadn’t really played in years because of hand injuries, but I got in the studio and we knocked out Bomber and Chase with me doing everything except guitars, which Danile handled perfectly.  Steve let us use both songs on the CD but we had to do them under two different names, Capricorn USA and Phlemmy & Dizzo, because he didn’t want other bands getting mad for not being allowed to do more than one song.  I think we paid $100 per song to be on the album which was to get us several copies for our own use and to cover copyright and printing costs…although it never got properly printed because of copyright issues.  Bummer.

Danile and I decided to continue on and we found a guy named Juan who quickly became El Guapo.  He showed up to audition with a huge double bass kit that had all the shells filled with foam and triggers on the heads.  Playing-wise, we knew he was our guy but I told him the triggers had to go.  We’re playing Motorhead songs, everything has to be loud.  He didn’t like the idea but I offered to buy the heads and tune the drums and when he came back to start jamming, he knew it was the right decision.  We did some shows within the next year and always had a great response with both versions.  We were even listed on Motorhead’s website as the only USA tribute band, which was pretty sweet.

Danile parted  in early 2005 and that was it until I moved to Texas and reformed with band with Fast Doug Morrison, Jason McWurzel McMaster and Filthy AJ on drums.  We played some fun shows between 2008 and 2011 with some varied lineups because of illnesses, other gigs popping up or whatever.  Stuart “Batlord” Laurence from Agony Column and Ignitor sat in for a few shows on guitar when Doug was dealing with some health issues and Mike Soliz, singer of the mighty Militia, sat in on drums for a show.  The Texas version was a little more loose as we really only rehearsed if we had a show coming up.

Because of being on the Motorhead page, I was contacted by the producer of the forthcoming Lemmy movie and was asked if we’d film the band doing Ace of Spades.  They were going to piece together clips from tribute bands worldwide but ultimately none of the tribute band footage never made into the movie or the DVD release extras.

We basically disbanded in 2011 just because of time restraints and I was just a bit tired of doing it.  On the night of Lem’s death, a bunch of friends gathered at a local bar and drank all of their Jack Daniels.  Through the haze of the whiskey, another good friend, Jason K, said we should do a show at the bar on New Year’s Eve since they didn’t have a band.  He convinced his drummer, Chris, to do it and we did one rehearsal and knocked out 6 songs to a great crowd.

That’s the story of the band so far and click here to download the tribute album.