1. . So “Who” is in Shatter, where are you from?

On Vocals is Eric Gill, Guitar is played by Igor Dimitrienko, on Drums is John Thompson, and Spencer Starrett plays Bass. Eric and Spencer are from the southside of Des Moines, John is from Ottumwa and Igor
originated in Russia.

2. How did it start and Why the Name?

SHATTER came from the ashes
of PsychoSaga, John went out to find new guys that fit more of a rock and roll sound, than the metal sound PsychoSaga had.
He found Igor at Mr. Movies in Clive right after PsychoSaga's last show opening for Megadeth.

John knew Eric years back when he formed PsychoSaga, but lost touch with him. When SHATTER lost it's original singer, John found Eric again. John used to council Spencer at a Drug Rehab and when the band lost it's bassist, John contacted Spencer to fill in some shows. He did so well, the band decided to keep him. The band name came from John shattering his left leg while in PsychoSaga and having to
re-learn how to play drums with that leg.

3. What other bands have you all played in and are their other people who have been in Shatter

Everyone has played in minor bands over the years, but nothing of any substance. John played a lot of shows for the band he formed, PsychoSaga, but other than that, most of the bands barely played shows. Previous singers in SHATTER were Hoby Gatson and Shawn Graham, previous bassists were Boomer Wilson and Andy Wightman and when the band was a five piece, the previous guitarists
were Blake Rutledge and
Broseph Chasington. John has always been the drummer and Igor has always been the lead guitarist

4. Recently you have been in the studio with Brain Wheat of Tesla, how did this come about?

John was looking at different studios around the midwest and talked to a lot of different people. There were some suggestions
that the band work with
someone that had a similar style and J Street Recorders came up. When John contacted them, they said they wanted to take a look
at what the band has done in the past and if we'd fit. Brian arranged to meet us at the TESLA show at Val Air on October 27th to see if we'd mesh together. It seems we did and worked out plans to start recording for February.

5. How was recording at Brain's J Street Studio , was Brian the producer and engineer ?

Brian did everything. He wanted to be the one that did it all, so nothing got screwed up. He produced, engineered, and mixed the album. We enjoyed working with him and being in Sacramento. It was hard at times, working with a click track, changing tempos a lot and also learning some new techniques with guitars and bass.

6. Was the creative process ( the writing )  pretty much done or did things change when you went to lay stuff down ?

All of the songs were planned ahead of time, but Brian wanted us to make a few changes to make some of the songs a little more radio friendly or just flow better. A few songs didn't change at all, while a couple made some very big changes.

 7. How has the experience changed how you look at the recording process ? "Weapons of Chioce" in the Studio can differ from live ..did they ( What is your live set up - how did it differ from the recording set up )

We know now that we love playing live even more than we did before recording. None of us really liked being in the studio playing to a wall. We would rather play in front of fans or playing with the other guys in a jamming session. We knew it was a mandatory thing so we adjusted our views to make it work, but we definitely prefer playing live over tracking songs. Although it was nice to play with top of the line equiptment.

8. How is the marketing - distribution game playing out ? Name of the CD (why) ?

The CD will be called, Timeless, we've had that name for a while. We wanted to make songs that didn't sound dated and just play songs that we'd enjoy playing no matter what is going on in the times. As far as distributing, currently we aren't sure how that is going to work out yet, as we are still in the mastering stage and still talking to people about that, but we know we plan to get plenty of CDs and make sure we pimp them out to any and everyone we can.

9. What was the best part and the Worst ( like when you wait for someone..conflicts..ect) part of the recording experience ?

The best part of recording was when we were finished. John likes to mix, so he enjoyed that part. Igor enjoyed being able to play around with solos and guitar effects. Spencer liked trying new basses and techniques. Eric enjoyed being able to sing out of one of the best condensor mic's around.
 
Beer Week was the worst part of recording. Sacramento had it's first annual Beer Week during our third week of recording and Brian had to take a couple of days off to play shows in Michigan and Chicago, so we had the studio to ourselves for a little while during Beer Week. There are parts of that week some of us can't remember (or don't want to).
 
As far as conflicts or problems, we had very few internal issues, since we all lived together for a couple of months before going to Cali. We had already learned how to work with each other. We had more problems with learning how Brian works and going from a local, inexperienced band from Iowa to working with a guy that has sold 20 million records. We had to learn the expectations and professionalism it takes on a daily basis

10. What where some of the things you take as lessons form the recording process ...direct dry tracks minipulated in workstations .. mic'e amps ..analog verse digital lessons ..ect ?

We disliked the recording process because we became very accustomed to playing live shows every weekend, working on rehearsals, and not having to track each song. Playing by ourselves to a click track does not mirror the energy we have playing live. We did learn the importance of why you track, why you work with a click track, how much easier it is do that in the long run and how it helps in the mixing process. We learned a lot more about pre-amps and condensors and different recording techniques. Brian was very big about mixing old school ways with the new digital process. He had a lot of vintage equipment, amps, guitars and some old 70s and 80s ways of recording and writing. We really wanted to learn that kind of stuff and it made the trip very worthwhile.

11. Musically what are your main influences? and why them ..
( each guy name 1 or two)

We are very different from each other, but Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, and Metallica are the main cross-over influences between us all. Eric's main two influences are The Who and Incubus. John's main two influences are Motley Crue and TESLA, Igor's main two are Widespread Panic and Slash. Spencer's main two are Sublime and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 12. Have any or all of you taken music lessons ?

Eric is the only one of us that has had any lessons. He had vocal training all the way through school and went to Clarke College on a vocal scholorship.
 
 13. What bands / artist do think get NO or far less credit then they
should ?
Even before we recorded with them, we all believe TESLA didn't get enough credit
for what they have done in the music scene. A few other people that don't get enough credit are Suicidal Tendencies, Alice Cooper, and Bob Seger.

 14. What is the best live gig you have done to date ?

It would have to be either opening for Megadeth in November at The Rave in Milwaukee. Equally as good was our last gig we did before going to California in January at Sudsuckers in Des Moines. We played a nearly five hour show playing covers and a bunch of the originals we were going to record. The house was packed and we had so much fun we almost wish the night didn't end. We were showed a lot of love by the fans.

 
15. What is the worse horror story gig ?

Where do we start?

We've played more than 150 shows in the last two years so there are a few! We had the Rocking the Youth Benefit show were Igor got so zonked out of his mind he had no idea where he was and what he was doing. We had a show in Chicago where we got placed with a bunch of satanic death metal bands and we practically got booed off stage, while the drums fell off the drum riser. Another show in Omaha where instead of getting paid the owner bought and did coke in front of us and forgot that he even had a venue. Then we played at a tatoo place in Ottumwa, where there is no stage, small sound system, and no one there. Another show Igor couldn't make it because he had to work. That show was played outside next to a train station and you couldn't hear the music, but the cops were still called for a noise violation. There was a show in Humboldt were John fought our old bassist, after the bar was giving out free alcohol to everyone. The old bassist got so hammered that he played most of the last set on the floor and knocked over cymbals, mic stands, and hit Eric hard in the head with his bass on stage. We've had shows were guys got stitches, broke bones, and fought with the law. It's been a very wild ride the past couple of years.

 16. Whats is the best and Worse part about being a band in Des Moines ?

The best part is the fans. They are diehard and know what they want.
The worst part is the lack of good venues and scene for pure original rock bands.

 
17. If you could  do a one day Rockfestival with any 7 bands the line up would be ( in order 1st to last)

SHATTER would open the show (so we could watch the rest of the show)
   The Who
   Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth)
   Motley Crue
   Alice Cooper
   Pink Floyd reunion
   Metallica
   Led Zeppelin reunion

 18. The one place we hope play on our first big Tour is ? (Why)

We want to play the Sunset strip in LA badly. We love the old rock scene from there and how live rock n roll is what is was all about.

 19. Local bands - who has caught your ear or eye and why?

Dark Mirror because they always bring it and are very tight. Mindrite has a great sound and do
a very good job around the area. The League has good work ethic and puts on a good show, their frontman has a lot of talent. Only, Seven Hells, Roadshow, Cold Filtered, and Hyndsite are fun bands to watch.

Although they are from Minnesota, we love Blue Felix, amazing creative band.

20. Guilty pleasure ..I know most people wouldn't think I actually kinda like ?

John LOVES Bon Jovi and furry fluffy bunnies. Igor LOVES Porn and self-loving! Eric digs musicals and likes to believe he's the greatest thing to walk the planet, Spencer likes anything with the color Pink and wants to hunt a polar bear with a bow.
 
 21. The best vodka is ?
 
Russian.. duh!

22. What did you forget to bump - promote and who should you thank ?

We have to thank everyone that has supported us over the past couple of years, Chas (John's woman) and Igor's parents for tollerating all of the crazy shit we've done and helping us accomplish some of the stupid ideas we have. Thanks to our boys from Melcher - P, Nick, and crew. Thanks also to Lipps, Josh, Zorro, Lil' John, and all previous bandmates. A big thank you to all of the venues that let us come in and destroy their property, drink all their beer, piss off their customers, and make their ears bleed. A HUGE THANK YOU to John's neighbors for calling the cops over 50 times and Clive for taking us to court and giving us even more motivation to rock louder and harder than ever before.

Visit Shatter on the Web here
 
 Shatter ..Thanks for doing this ...
We Look Forward to the new CD ...ROCK ON !