Far from trivial

Choosy moms choose Trivium

By Sherie Dyer

Trivium play at the Better End with the Marvels and Vampire Lezbos, Saturday, November 4.

TRIVIUM: Stefen Samuels, Lou Richards, and Neill Gemmel. Missing is bassist Jason Marshall.

A year and a half ago the Basement’s open-mic nights were catering to loud rock, creating a somewhat safe and encouraging atmosphere for beginners. An ideal time and place for Trivium’s first show. Unfortunately, the evening was split between Full Powered Halo (a below- average cover band) and a very nervous Trivium. It’s been less than two years since that night, and, at least for Trivium, a lot has changed.

Trivium is a traditional four piece: Stefen Samuels on drums, Jason Marshall on bass, Lou Richards on guitar, and Neill Gemmel plays guitar and sings. All members come from the northern flannel regions of Maine, excluding Samuels, who hails from the all-too-touristy Kennebunkport. Both Samuels and Marshall went to USM for their bachelor’s degree in music performance, concentration in jazz. Samuels studied under Gary Chaffe, the former head of the percussion department at Berkley College of Music. Marshall, who incidentally never finished school, went on to play in Petting Zoo for a spell, as well as a few comical cover bands and jazz combos.

Richards, meanwhile, got his start in Bangor, about 10 years ago, playing in a band called Backskatter with current members of Twitchboy, Broken Clown, and Colostomy. Many of the musicians now populating Portland, in fact, were originally from “up north.” (Add members of Cerberus Shoal and Twisted Roots to the list.) That’s when the Penny Post was alive and well, and when Jason Stewart of Twitchboy had long curly hair. When Mark Belanger of Broken Clown received his first leather jacket from his mother.

Throughout this nostalgic time, even though Gemmel had no band to speak of, he was being haunted by a barrage of melodies and ideas trapped inside his head. When all the members of the future Trivium gravitated to Portland between the years of ’95 and ’97, it was only a matter of time before that fateful night at the Basement.

Trivium have played with a variety of acts in a variety of genres since then, but they’ve had the consistent support of Broken Clown and Twitchboy. In fact, Broken Clown have set up shows simply for the purpose of Trivium having the opportunity to open. They have played with 6gig, Colostomy, Planeside, the Polly Plush Cats, Deadbelly, and Heidi.

Trivium’s sound bounces back and forth between extreme melody and textbook rock. It’s not always possible to describe their overall sound, even for the members themselves. Gemmel, who writes all the lyrics and a majority of the melodies, could only come up with “intelligent porn rock.” Fully knowing how silly and vague that term was, he laughed and waited for someone else to try. Richards contribution was just as useful: “Nothing could be accurate.”

Fact of the matter is, Trivium rock — without the headache of monotony, or heavy metal hang-ups. Their lyrics are written cryptically and well. The harmonies motivate you to listen to the lyrics, and the musicianship of each player is outstanding. Samuels offers up a polished, professional technique that forces its way from rock tempos to jazz. His educational background is overwhelmingly apparent in everything he does. Marshall is one of the only bass players adequate enough to keep up with Samuels. He’s also creative enough to add an intricacy to the material in some of the most tasteful ways. His tones are warm and smooth. (Who knew a few years back he was playing AC/DC songs in a wedding band?)

Richards is the enigma of the band. His demeanor is calm, while his stage presence is intense. Gemmel swears that Richards doesn’t even use his hands to play his guitar anymore: “He can play with his mind; we have a picture to prove it.” He may not need his hands, but he certainly keeps them busy. Richards plays fast individual notes every chance he gets between the chord-heavy breakdowns of the choruses. I have attended several shows and seen just how blurry his fingers can become. Years and years of practice and determination can be the only things responsible for his talent.

Gemmel has taken on the huge task of playing frontman to these demigods. Trivium is his first band. He even named it. The moniker stems from Roman times, “a school of higher learning.” Gemmel can sing — and often does — however, the occasional scream escapes. When this occurs it’s almost entertaining to see just how many shades of red he can turn. To date, he hasn’t lost consciousness. The melodies he has written are as catchy as the lyrics.

Marshall has begun to sing harmonies with Gemmel. The two have become a natural working unit that can complete most vocal parts for a song while riding in the back of Samuels’s truck on the way home. The overall happening is unique, making Trivium a necessary experience to properly understand Portland’s local rock scene.

Sherie Dyer can be reached at sheriedyer@netscape.net.