Dreams into Realities

An Interview with Neverwake

By George Archibald

Pittsburgh natives Neverwake, have had a very successful year. From playing festivals in the Carolina’s and Texas, to recording with Disturbed’s own Jon Moyer, the also landed an endorsement deals with EMG and Schecter Guitars. It seems they are moving leaps and bounds in the music industry. They have also been preparing their upcoming album with finishing touches and promotional photography. On the wake of their soon to be released EP, I had a chance to talk with the band consisting of Johnny Dicarlo(vocals/guitar), Justin Sanford (guitar/vocals), Marcus Giannamore (drums) and George Scott (bass), to learn more about this emerging rock metal group.

GA: How did Neverwake begin? Who helped form the band?

Justin: NeverWake was originally formed by Johnny Dicarlo and James (original co-guitarist), back in their high school days about seven years ago. They needed a drummer for the studio, so they asked Marcus Giannamore to play on their demo. Once they finished the demo, they wanted to start playing out so they kept Marcus on-board, and asked George Scott to play bass. After about five years together as NeverWake, James left the band, and Justin Sanford was brought in to fill the open position.

GA: What got you guys into playing music?

Justin: My dad was always a huge music fan being a DJ, so I was brought up around the rock and metal that my dad was into. That’s how Zakk Wylde became my favorite guitarist well before I ever picked up a guitar. Blues greats Stevie Ray Vaughn and Kenny Wayne Shepard are also amongst my favs/biggest influences. I did take lessons for a bit from Nick Catanese (formerly of Black Label Society), where I learned/picked up on some scale stuff and some of his ideas of lead guitar, BUT I’m mostly self-taught.

Johnny: My father has been a musician for 30+ years, so it started in the family for me. He’s a keyboardist, so I started out the same. He learned by ear and didn’t know how to read music, so I did the same. By the time I tried to take lessons, I always ended up remembering the song instead of reading it.  I didn’t actually start pursuing music until I picked up my father’s acoustic guitar randomly at probably age 10. At that time, I was listening to hard rock like Godsmack and Disturbed, there was no room for piano in that type of music. I figured I’d try something new. So I wrote a song about monsters. It was terrible lol, but it was a “song,” and I guess that’s all that mattered. I wrote a couple more and recorded them on a cassette, on my dad’s boom box. My parents saw what I was doing, and bought me a small 32 track Boss recording system for my birthday. From that point on it kind of clicked like writing music was something I was really into.

Marcus: I took lessons for piano and other instruments starting from age 8, but most of my drumming is self-taught. Everyone in my family played an instrument so I was interested from an early age.

George: I started playing guitar when I was 10 years old. Shortly after that I started taking lessons, but ended up leaving lessons and teaching myself. It wasn’t until the end of high school when I decided to pick up a bass with NeverWake.

GA: (Justin) How did you get involved in Neverwake?

Justin: I joined a band who had been on hiatus for a while due to being short a few members who’d left. We planned a big come back show. We had Neverwake join the bill because they kicked ass. I met the guys the night of the show. A few years later, I was no longer in that band and Neverwake had lost their other guitarist. George initially reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in jamming with them. I sat down with them, and told them where I was at in life, and what I wanted in a band. We seemed to be on common grounds, so we went ahead with me learning the material, and even doing a handful of shows. Then they finally (lol) asked me to officially join the band.

GA: I seen you played some big festivals in Texas and Carolina, what are some of your fondest memories of these shows?

Justin: For me, the entire experience. Being involved in such big festivals was amazing. Getting a taste of what it’s like to be at that level was a dream come true for me.

Johnny: Definitely playing at Carolina Rebellion. It was 11am and we had a mosh pit going as soon as the gate opened. It was so amazing. After the show was over, we went and took selfies with the crowd, and it just felt right like “this is where I want to be”.

Marcus: Playing in front of crowds the likes of what we saw at SXSW, and especially Carolina Rebellion, was an experience I’ll never forget. It’s definitely something that I want to experience many more times. It’s surreal to play to thousands of people.

George: The whole experience was amazing to be honest. We got a taste of what it was like to be on tour in a way. Driving all night, seeing places we’ve never seen, and then walking out onto a stage bigger than most people’s houses was breathtaking. I guess the best memory would have to be the fact that it was a huge year for us, and we all went out there and killed it for a crowd that barely knew us, and went absolutely nuts.

GA: Are you planning on expanding your participation in festivals in the future?

Justin: Yes, absolutely.

Johnny: Without a doubt. We are trying to expand upon this after the release of our new EP!!

George: That goes without saying. We plan on getting onto every show we possibly can when this EP releases.

GA: You recorded your upcoming EP with Disturbed’s own Jon Moyer, how did you hook up with him, and where did you record at?

Justin: We met John 3 years ago at Millennium Music Conference. Our manager Dino had kept in touch w/ him as we’d discussed working together at some point. Finally, the time was right for us to work together on this EP. We recorded at Innovation Studios in Steubenville Oh, with Mike Ofca as engineer and co-producer.

GA: I know Justin has been a long time user of EMG pickups and Schecter guitars, how did you guys get enrolled with those companies?

Justin: EMG was simple. I emailed them though their general contact US email asking for contact info for an artist rep. The response I got was from the rep himself asking for MP3’s of music, and links to our sites. A few days later it was a done deal. For Schecter, through a mutual friend I got to hang on the bus with Butcher Babies. When they were at Mr. Smalls Theater with Gwar. I was chatting with their bassist Jason (Schecter user/endorser) about how we both loved Schecter. He asked if we (NW) were endorsed with them. When I replied “No, but we’d love to be”, he gave me the name and info for his rep. We got in touch with him and like EMG sent him all the music/sites, and that was that. I had already previously been endorsed with Splawn Amplification so getting that partnership renewed/extended over to NW was easy. Our endorsement with DR Strings took place pretty much just like EMGs.

GA: So What gear do you all use?

Justin: I use a Splawn Nitro head and Splawn Hybrid 4×12 w/ Celestion Vin30’s and G12T75’s in an “X”. Dunlop, Boss, ISP and MXR pedals. Various Schecter Tempest models (6strings) 2 w/ EMG 81/60, 1 w/ EMG 57/66. Schecter Garza sig. PT7, and A7 Avenger (7strings) both w/ EMG 81-7/60-7.

Johnny: My first “serious” guitar of my career was a Schecter C1+ with passive pickups. I love that guitar, and didn’t want to change. When Justin joined the band we noticed he was a little bit of a gearhead. It rubbed off on me big time, and I started to explore other options. So now I have a Schecter Blackjack ATX Solo II, Schecter V-1 FR Bloodsplatter with EMG 81/89, Schecter JL7 FR with EMG 57/66 and I turned the C1+ into active with an 81/60 combo. I’ve been moving around with amps, but at the time I’m using an Eleven Rack powered by a Bugera 333xl infinium and a Splawn 4×12 with Vintage 30’s and G12T75s in an X pattern.

Marcus: I use a Mapex Horizon birch 6-piece kit, with a Mapex MPX Hammered Steel snare. All Evans drumheads (EC2 Frosted for the toms, Heavyweight on top/hazy300 on the bottom for the snare, EMAD 2 for the bass drum), a Tama Speed Cobra double bass pedal. As for cymbals, I have a 17″ Sabian HHX Evolution crash, a 16″ Zildjian A custom medium crash, a 14″ Zildjian A custom fast crash, a 19″ Sabian Holy China, a 20″ Zildjian A custom medium ride, a 10″ Sabian AAX Air splash, a 10″ Zildjian zil-bel, and finally 14″ Sabian B8 hi-hats.

George: I use an Ampeg SVT-7 pro head, Ampeg Cabinets. My go to basses of course are Schecters. I use a Schecter Stilleto Studio and a Schecter Stilleto Custom live. I use the same EMG pickup setup in all of my basses which is a EMG 40J and EMG 40P combo. As far as effects, I don’t use a lot but I will run a Sans Amp Multi Effect processor live.

GA: What were your favorite parts about the recording process?

Justin: For me, I loved the entire process. This was my 1st time really recording in an actual studio setting. I think maybe because it was all so fresh to me I dug every bit of it.

Johnny: This was the 4th time we were in the studio. I love how everyone comes together. It’s an all-around understood concept of “Let’s buckle down and kick this thing in the ass.” Everyone does their part, and does it great. I love seeing everyone’s personal ideas, and influences that get added to the song on the fly too. It gives the music a unique feel. My ultimate favorite part of the studio, is when we are listening to a finished song for the first time, and our engineer Mike Ofca turns around and gives me that look like “Holy shit this is brutal.”

Marcus: I love being able to hear the songs come to life as we all work through our parts. It’s fun to see how much a song can evolve. From its very raw state in a demo, to the finished product after everyone of the band members, up through the engineer and producer has put their feelings and talent into it.

George: My favorite part of the studio hands down is the first listen. It’s amazing to hear what the finished product sounds like after it was only an “idea” a few weeks earlier. I feel like this being our third major release, we all really got into it this time, and took care of business.

GA: Were there any difficulties in the recording process?

Johnny: The only real difficulty we had this time around was change. This was the first time we worked with an outside producer. We weren’t used to having someone step in, and give their opinions on our music. John came in, and had stuff to say, and he had ideas. At first it was like “Woah, woah, woah, now wait”, after some deep thought we loosened up, and I’m so happy we did. It takes a bit of training to step outside of yourself, and see things from a different perspective. John really taught us that. Thanks brother!

Marcus: Not really. We had a lot of early mornings and late nights, but it was totally worth all of the extra hours!

GA: Your managers are parents correct, how do you feel this may be different from working with an outsider for management?

Justin: While all our parents are very supportive and close to the band, none of them are our managers. We are managed by Dino of Atomic Cowboy Productions. With that being said, we’re always open to input from our families, but Dino runs the show!

Johnny: Our manager, Dino Giovannone takes care of us and we couldn’t be happier. He’s been a musician for 30+ years and has toured around the US along with my father. So he’s got all areas covered of the music business. Plus, he’s one of the most charismatic people I’ve ever met and that’s a great thing to have. That being said I always look to my parents for advice and support, and they are 1000% always there. My father gives me guidance when I’m stuck whether it may be music or business related. He’s been doing this for a long time and there’s no better place for advice. He’s an amazing singer, and I learn all of my methods from him. My mother is an essential utility player. She provides great perspective from different angles where the band can’t see. She helps with our accounting and merch. She’s also a huge driving force! She kicks me in the ass from time to time to get me going!

GA: What’s next for Neverwake?

Johnny: We will be releasing this new EP along with a music video in August/September. After that we are looking to get out in front of a lot of people where we can. We are working to get booking and festivals so we’ll have you updated when that comes around!

Sounds very promising for this band the future that lies ahead for them. Be sure to check up on Neverwake through their Facebook page, as their calendar continues to grow with the anticipation of their soon to be released EP. Thank you guys for this interview, I wish you all well with the new album and future touring.

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George Archibald

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