Drapes forge musical ties across genres

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 12:41 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- While old school music fans can remember when metal fans and punk fans hated each other, often coming to fisticuffs over their musical and fashion difference, Escondido band the Drapes manages to fuse the two styles and keep the peace at their shows.

Willie Psycho, lead singer and founding member of the Drapes (playing Saturday night at the Jumping Turtle in San Marcos), said while it may seem that punk and metal are too different to co-exist, in his mind, it's a perfectly organic melding.

"I grew up on a lot of punk and a lot of metal, and those are mainly my influences, so it comes out in the music," he said by phone last week. "I listen to a lot of rap, too. I've never listened to just one thing. The other guys in the band, they have pretty much the same influences as far as the crossover types of music."

Pyscho identified himself only by his stage name, declining to give his real name or those of his bandmates. Jon E Doom and Randy Hicks on guitar, Donk on bass and Tony Lumbo on drums round out the Drapes' lineup.

"My stage name kind of reflects my personality, and everybody wants to use their stage names. That's what they go by. Stage names are a lot more catchy than real names."

While Psycho helped found the Drapes about five years ago, and the band has four albums out, the current lineup has been together only about three months, he said, and just returned from a tour with metal pioneers the Mentors.

The Jumping Turtle show is something of a treat for local fans, as Psycho said the band doesn't play locally much anymore, ascribing that to the "no man is a hero in his own hometown" theory.

And he said fans who haven't heard the band in a while are likely to be pleased by what they hear Saturday.

"The sound now is a lot better than when we first formed. When we first formed, everything was punk rock ---- nothing else but punk. Now, we still play punk, but we mix a lot of rock and a lot of groove into it. We're definitely a lot more dynamic now."

Psycho attributed the better sound to better songwriting. While before, he wrote much of the band's music, today, he said, it's a much more collaborative effort.

"We all work on it together. If someone shows up and has a song finished, we'll all work on it and add a part to it. Other times, we'll just start jamming and see what comes out of it."

The band is working on a new CD and hopes to have it finished by February, when it heads out on tour again.

Born in New Orleans, Psycho arrived in the San Diego area at age 7 after his parents divorced and his father relocated.

He first grew interested in music when an older brother brought him a new record one day: "I have an older brother, and it's weird because he's totally into R&B, and one day he came home with a Kiss record ---- and that was the first time I'd ever heard anything like that. When we moved to San Diego, all my friends were into punk and heavy metal, and that's just what I listened to.

"The first record I ever bought was 'Shout at the Devil' (by Motley Crue), and once I heard that, it was all over. Once I heard that, I was like that's what I want to do."

When the band isn't touring, Psycho makes his living as a concert promoter, booking venues all around Southern California. And when it comes to booking, his tastes are even more eclectic than the band's. Reggae, hip-hop, punk and metal exist side-by-side at his shows.

"People that we play with, we get along with everybody. We'll play with just about every band. It's not really about a particular genre with us, it's about the music, about entertaining people.

"We get along with everyone ---- or we try to, anyway."

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