INTERVIEW: Child Bite is ready for its Madison Square Garden moment
Photo: Child Bite is gearing up to be the opening act for Pantera and Lamb of God. Photo courtesy of Trevor Naud / Provided by Earsplit PR with permission.
Child Bite, the punk-metal band from Detroit, is gearing up for some of the most important concerts in its long history. The group, fronted by vocalist Shawn Knight, will open for Pantera and Lamb of God on a string of dates beginning Wednesday, Feb. 14, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Other gigs on the tour are scheduled for Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and, last but not least, Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For Knight and the band — consisting of Sean Clancy on bass, Jeremy Waun on guitar and Jeff Porter on drums — this golden opportunity came thanks to Pantera’s Phil Anselmo, who has been bringing out groups from his Housecore Records. Other band with this unique chance: Snafu and Nest.
“It’s really Phil doing what Phil does,” Knight said in a recent phone interview. “We’ve been on his label, Housecore, for about 10 years now, and for whatever reason the weird stuff that we do clicks with his weird brain. And he’s into it, and it’s unique enough that it works for him and his tastes and whatnot. He’s been super supportive of our band. All this Pantera stuff, he’s been taking out bands from his label and using his platform as an opportunity to get some of the bands that he believes in, the smaller underground bands, out there in front of an audience. It’s very cool. But I say it’s Phil doing Phil because he was doing that stuff way back, like in the earlier days.”
With only 25 minutes of stage time, the musicians in Child Bite are hoping to offer a set that has maximum impact before thousands of people who may not know their tunes. Knight is looking at this opening slot as an awesome opportunity to spread the message of what the band has been doing for the past two decades.
“Obviously we don’t want to go up there and do anything other than the absolute best version of ourselves that we can do and take full advantage of that full 25 minutes that we have,” he said. “We’ve been a band for close to 18 years now, so we’ve got a lot of songs to choose from. And so it’s a matter of, oh shoot, how do we pick what’s best? We have to get real real with it. Is that the best song for this opportunity, for this situation? And does it flow with the others? Really, we go all through the stuff and whittle it down. Obviously, the length of time is an aspect. Maybe try to represent different vibes of the band. We have some super short fast ones. We’ve got longer sludgier ones. Try to give it a sampler platter.”
Child Bite’s sound is something of an enigma. They have been called metal. They have been called punk. Press notes indicate they are art punk and noise metallers at the same time.
“A lot of our influences or bands that would be maybe comparable to us are not necessarily household names,” Knight admitted. “If you’re talking to somebody that knows about Faith No More, Dead Kennedys, Melvins, things of that nature, then that helps give them a little bit of a frame of reference. If I’m going through the border to Canada, and they ask, ‘Oh, what’s your band sound like,’ I usually just say, ‘Oh, it’s kind of like punk and metal.’ At least that gives them an idea that it’s sort of intense, aggressive, high-energy kind of stuff whether or not it really falls into any of those categories nicely. … We just happen to have such eclectic tastes that it never feels right when we focus on one thing. Every song, to some degree or another, has to be a bit of a blend, and that’s for better or worse. That’s us staying true to our guns and doing what feels right to us. Whoever connects to it, that’s cool, that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s OK, too. We’re doing it for ourselves, and if someone else likes it, that’s cool, too.”
Child Bite, which has produced songs like “The Scoops Are Coming,” “Gash Eyes” and “Radio Hit,” do have an identity and connection to the great city of Detroit, a musical haven for so many artists over the years. The band still calls the metropolitan area home and find influences within its cultural scene.
“I’m in Detroit,” Knight said. “I’m in a southwest area called Mexicantown, so I’ve just been putting on some pounds with the tacos since I moved here. And everybody is kind of scattered throughout, either in the city or the suburbs and the perimeter. We’ve always been in the Detroit area. We love it here. Most people from Detroit are pretty happy about being in Detroit or the surrounding area. It’s got a lot of character. It has a lot of heart. We’ve got tons of great venues. It’s got everything you’d want in a really cool midwest city, and just being in the middle of things as a band is pretty advantageous. We’re four hours to Chicago, four hours to Toronto, two-and-a-half to Cleveland. We can get to New York in a day. I think it’s maybe 12 hours or something like that. It’s not a bad place to be.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Child Bite will open for Pantera and Lamb of God on select dates starting Wednesday, Feb. 14, in Lincoln, Nebraska. They finish their section of the tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Feb. 22. Click here for more information.
