Greenville's free alternative weekly

Quickfuse defends their view from Masada

By Sean Rayford

“The whole thing about metal is that it’s not really supposed to be trendy. There are a lot of different perceptions of what metal is,” says Quickfuse vocalist Wade Parrott. “Some people think metal is Motley Crue and Ratt. And that’s good for whatever it is. But I don’t think that’s what we are.”

Around the time Quickfuse was having their first practices I met Parrott when he stopped by my former place of employment, Sounds Familiar Records. Over the years Parrott would stop by to check out CDs and drop off show flyers.

He was always excited and confident about whatever Quickfuse was doing. In the short five years since I met Parrott the band has somehow managed to release three records and a DVD without any outside help. They’ve kept the working-class attitude that has fueled many a great metal band.

“We did it all independently. We didn’t have anybody’s help. We did it by ourselves. We didn’t have mommy and daddy throwing us money. We’re not a bunch of rich kids,” says Parrott.

Talking to Parrott near the Five Points fountain on a weekday night it becomes obvious that Quickfuse is going to write, record and perform the way they want. And if other people like what they’re doing, then even better. With a shaved head and groomed goatee Parrott looks like your typical metalhead. Then he starts talking about Jimi Hendrix, Tom Waits, Jim Croce and Grand Funk Railroad, all the while sporting a Sleepytime Gorilla Museum shirt.

“I went to a freaking Willie Nelson concert,” says Parrott. And then his cells phone blows up. Ring tone courtesy of Darkest Hour.

Parrott continues on as disturbing pop radio songs destroy the humid night air from a nearby bar. He tells me a story about his father who passed away last year.

“He was really big into Quickfuse. I was playing drums for a jazz fusion band and we made this DVD and I took it to him and played it. He said, ‘I don’t like it.’ It was shit he would like. I really thought he would dig it and he said, ‘it’s not you. Quickfuse is you.”

Parrott doesn’t shy away from talking about how Quickfuse will always reflect who they are as people and musicians. They’ll trudge through the metal scene battling against trends as they come and go. Parrott describes Quickfuse as the zealots of the Columbia metal scene, summed up most specifically in a recently written song titled “Zealot.”

“The song is actually about being the zealots of the metal scene. We do what we like and we do what we believe in. That’s just it,” says Parrott.

“The thing that’s wrong with Columbia is that you are expected to fit into a certain nucleus. Our biggest thing is that we’ve never given a fuck about what’s been popular. We’ve never been a chugga-chugga-chugga band. We’ve always just done what we’ve wanted to do,” he says.

Quickfuse shows won’t be attracting the Hot Topic kids anytime soon. Instead of a club resembling the mall’s eatery you’ll find the shows flowing with blue collar American beer-drinking fans, metal signs raised high and proud.

“Maybe if I got rid of my beer gut and could slip into some girls’ jeans and play some Atreyu riffs we could get signed to an indie record label. But that’s not me. God bless that stuff if that’s you but it’s not me.”

On Friday, June 22 Quickfuse will celebrate the release of their new album Living in the Wake of Tragedy at the New Brookland Tavern. Doors open at 8 p.m.