Strike a match and light it, already!

Four local teens combine talents for combustible brew called Fuze

April 08, 2008|By ERICA SYVERSON / Pulse Correspondent

Late last August, a group of guys from the general Williamsport area joined together to make some music. Jeans-and-T-shirt-clad high schoolers Justin Parks, Dylan Deneen, Josh Appenzellar, and Garret Cook eventually came to be the "straight up rock 'n' roll" band known as Fuze.

In the basement of Fairplay home of one of the band members, the band recently let Pulse writers sit in on one of their practices and pop a few questions to see what kind of sparks fly when someone lights this Fuze.

After the difficult search for a good lead singer, Dylan Deneen signed on around the beginning of the new year, bringing rough, husky vocals to the party, and a knack for writing.

Deneen, a junior from McConnellsburg, Pa., says writing just comes easily for him. "If something is bothering you, write it down and it's gone. It's a good way to express yourself." The other members help in the writing process as well, sometimes writing music for lyrics, or vice versa.

When the Pulse team came to visit during their second practice with Deneen as the singer, Fuze played covers of Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell." With two of their own songs already written and another in the making, covers are ideal for Fuze to play at venues like the Eagles Club in Hagerstown.

They "try to make it sound as close as possible to the original," said bassist Josh Appenzellar, a junior at Washington County Technical High School. They also do a good cover of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times."

Fuze's inspirations come from bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Godsmack and Pantera.

All members have been playing their instruments seriously for about two years, though Garret Cook, a sophomore at Williamsport High School, said he got his first drum kit fairly young. "I had a mini one, like two feet tall," he said.

"We practice every day," said Justin Parks, lead guitarist for the band and a freshman at Williamsport High. "At least, I do."

He sticks mainly to electric guitar, the songs Fuze plays being full of heavy, thumping bass lines and prominent, distorted guitar licks.

Justin's dad and Josh's dad had played together in another band "back in the day," which initially supplied Fuze with needed equipment. Josh said they "had a lot (of equipment), but bought more to make (the music) sound better." And, of course, the better the sound, the more listeners you get.

Check them out on MySpace and see if you can make it out to one of their shows. (You can even book them for a private party - they've done birthdays!)

Fuze can put on a show that rocks enough to make you want to grow your hair out, just so you can whip it around and head-bang until your neck begs for mercy. In fact, Josh, Justin and Garret might join you - they've all got hair past their shoulders.

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