INVERTER – LIVE – THE CELLAR ON TREADWELL – HAMDEN
INVERTER at THE CELLAR ON TREADWELL, HAMDEN CT 2/3/24
By Kat Gullage
A mere two weeks after my inaugural visit to this venue, a basement bar that showcases up and comers, I found myself back again. The club was about forty percent full, plenty of room for every fan to find a decent viewing spot (there are two support columns, it’s is a cellar). Grabbed a round of drinks at the spacious bar & met up with my trusty sidekick, the talented and amazing Holly of Holly Roy Photography.
I specifically attended this show because Boston based Inverter opened for Living Colour, one of my all time favorite bands, the week prior. I HAD to know how that came about. Next I listened to some Inverter tunes before the gig, including “400 Beats Per Minute” off of 2023’s Sonic Vandalism, which features the iconic Corey Glover (Living Colour frontman) on vocals. Not even that could prepare me from the gruffness of Inverter’s singer, Derek “Deek” Diedricksen’s sound which relies heavily on the growling side.
Holly introduced me to some of the band members prior to their performance. First up was lead guitarist Bill Bracken who I immediately began to refer to as Release the Bracken. He wore a black button down oxford shirt with a super skinny tie. I asked if he found the tie next to his Members Only jacket but he said it was brand new. It did suit him. I asked how they got Corey to record a track with them. Bill said basically “one of the guys knows a guy that knows Corey”. He explained that Corey was approached, insisted on listening to the material prior to committing, heard it, and was into it.
I asked how it was opening for Living Colour, how did their fans react to Inverter’s sound? Bill described a bit of an older crowd that just sat there with their mouths a bit agape. “But they acted the same for Living Colour”. The guitarist raved at their level of musicianship and how cool they were.
We were next to the Inverter swag table, hawking the usual array of shirts, cd’s, stickers, etc. But off to the side was a showcase of art pieces and a coupla cans of spray paint, I told Bill I loved art and he said the artist was the singer! Release the Bracken was welcoming, nice enough to laugh at my puns and not be put off by my barrage of questions.
Holly and I, aka Double Trouble, set out to explore a bit and found a gender neutral bathroom upstairs where someone wrote “Eat Cum Diet” on the sink. We figured out where the entry to the patio is (on the right side of the stage, turn right at the exit door). When we ventured outside we ran into Jimmy Evangelista, Inverter’s bass player. I peppered him with my Living Colour questions and he concurred with Release the Bracken, they were all around awesome.
I rattled off my favorite bass players: dUg Pinnick of King’s X, Doug Wimbish of Living Colour (when I mentioned he has more pedals and tech than NASA, Jimmy said Vernon does too) and Tony Franklin (aka Fretless Monster) of The Firm and Blue Murder. Jimmy wasn’t too familiar with Tony,
I told him he was touring with Lou Gramm All Stars. Jimmy asked, with a puzzled look on his face “Isn’t he dead?” I said definitely not and burst out into snippets of Foreigner tunes. “You’re as cold as ice”, “Urgent, urgent, emergency”, “Juke Box Hero” and “Dirty White Boy”. Jimmy nods, “Sorry I was thinking of Lou Reed.” We had a good laugh. Jimmy is laid back, approachable and kind.
SHOWTIME! Jimmy, Bill “Release The” Bracken, sporting a Peavy generation series, and drummer Jeff Lawn (aka El Jefe), were poised and ready when Deek bounded onto the stage and immediately commanded all the attention in the room. My eyes were instantly drawn to his blazer which was white but covered in the spray paint art being sold on site, a literal technicolor coat. The singer addressed the crowd in his big gravelly voice “Everyone wave to Holly” (shout out to my girl!)! “I Said. Everyone!!!” “We’re pissed cuz we were on 84!” “Move. Up!” He motions to the crowd to approach the stage and a quick twenty-five or so comply.
They open with “Bow To Zod”. The band is decent, experienced. Deek’s guttural vocals make it hard for me to decipher all of the lyrics but I can’t look away from his vibe which is simultaneously fun and imposing. Deek throws in a high kick and whatnot and I’m hooked. Jimmy momentarily jumps down to the audience’s level, the crowd has increased in size by now. The frontman declares “We played the nerdiest song first. Gunna get nerdier. I’m talkin pocket protectors.”
“Stone Cold Shocker” is up next, which along with “Zod” are cuts from Sonic Vandalism. Deek confesses “We’re pizza fanatics. We played in New Hampshire last week and had the worst pizza. It was a flat tire covered in disease. We love it here cuz New Haven has the best fuckin pizza. Pepe’s, Sally’s, Bar and my favorite, Modern.” A slice from Bare Bones (2018), “Surrounded” is served up, before two more from Sonic Vandalism, “Monsters Robots Graffiti”, which really gets the fans excited and “The New America”.
Jimmy crossed his eyes and made a goofy face during the song, but would later smirk and deny it. The mood is infectious at this point. Deek states “We love playing here! It’s a living room vibe with better beer than we had when we were kids.” He calls out a fan at front and center, “Robert you better boogie! That one’s for you since you drove here from Rhode Island! We’re Inverter, like the banner behind me says. Here’s Jimmy’s favorite song to kill to!” Enter “Bulldoze”.
Deek to the front row “Come closer I didn’t kick you yet! You like-a the horror movies? We wrote this one in a toilet five minutes ago.” “Last Summer” off Another Avalanche (2021) kicks in and I could finally decipher most of the lyrics! They add “Shout!” to the set before asking “Who likes satanic devil music? We all do!” as they crank out “Devil Rock”. A lot more people have moved closer to the stage. They give shout outs to all of the bands on the bill, as well as members of other bands in the audience.
he song list ends with “No Savior” where Deek throws in the perfectly understandable “It’s just the way Holly is”. “We have a brand new album. Get it in the back. Shout out to Corey Glover from Living Colour who does some vocals on the LP.” Deek points to a fan. “You! With the Inverter shirt! Thank you!”, points to someone else, “You. Without the Inverter shirt. Fuck You! Security!!” “Wanna hear one more?” They let the fans choose between two songs but “Party ‘Til You’re Dead” is the clear winner. The lyrics are hilarious. And decipherable.
Inverter’s music translates very well live,the fact that the foursome has a long history together comes through, and I found them very entertaining. Check out their website www.InverterBand.com to learn about their interesting inception that includes working at “rock radio powerhouse WBCN”, the band’s signing with Salt Of The Earth Records, and Deek describing their new release, Sonic Vandalism, as “It’s like scotch-taping a firecracker to your dick as you high-dive into a kiddie pool full of gasoline”.
Scroll their facebook page to get a glimpse of one of their diehard fans, Hingeneck. Derek “Deek” Dierdrickson, who was also the host of HGTV’s Tiny House Builders, displays and sells his art at Inverter gigs. He was over the moon thrilled when Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid showed interest in purchasing some at a recent performance. I bought their new CD because I must have everything that Corey Glover has recorded.
I informed Deek that I couldn’t understand, or misinterpreted some of the words he sang. Like, he might want to annunciate “My New America” a little better. Then I told him that Tim Robbins must play him in the movie. He said people say that to his brother a lot. The next day, he sent the “My New America” lyrics to a friend for me. I was touched that he took the time to do that and it really did help.
Lastly, I posted on Twitter (no, not fucking X) how I caught an Inverter show because of my Living Colour addiction. Tagged Vernon. This was his response, and I quote, “Deek really is an exceptional Punk Outsider Street artist. Raw. Visceral. I connected immediately. Also, Inverter is a great band. Legit post CBGB band with great players. Deek is a For Real, Front Man.” You heard THE man rockers and readers. Catch an Inverter gig when they land in your town!
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