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Eugene
*V* ■
« Thursday, October 14, 8 pm
Giancarlo Guerrero, Conductor
Jorja Fleezanis, Violin
Berg’s ethereal Violin Concerto, written to the memory
of an angel. The magnificent, big-boned sounds of
Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 — Music to sweep you awayl
'
Project Support Nils a Jewel Hult Endowment
\ -
Student Tickets just $!0
Hult Center 682.5000
EMU Box Office
Order online www.eugenesymphony.org
Local band's ripe sound
defies 'metal' stereotypes
In the Name of God
mixes a classical edge
with fast-paced brutality
BY RYAN MURPHEY
PULSE REPORTER
The crowd gathers at the front of the
stage as Russ Mortenson, vocalist and
bassist for the Eugene metal band In
the Name of God, steps up to the mi
crophone to timidly mutter a greeting
to the audience.
After his barely audible address,
Mortenson undergoes a drastic trans
formation from the man who just
seconds before appeared shy and un
comfortable to a belligerent madman
screaming ferociously into the micro
phone. At first the sound is over
whelming, but as you get a chance to
let the music sink in, you start to pick
up on the classical inspiration behind
the leads of guitarists Geoff Miller
and A.J. Chordas.
You feel the drumming of Wes
“Bean” Robertson pounding in your
chest with mechanical precision,
and you realize that this is not ugly,
not beautiful, not noisy, not coher
ent. It is not any one of these things;
it is all of them.
Metal is often written off as “noise”
or even “meathead music,” but just try
to find a meathead that could write a
three-part guitar lead or arrange a song
like In The Name of God’s, “Cancer.”
For many, metal is as creative and in
telligent as any music out there, and
the people who make it take their
work very seriously. In the Name of
God is one such band.
Tired of the increasingly homoge
nized metal scene in America,
ITNOG’s founders Miller and Fergu
son got together early in 2003 to form
a band that was more than just pow
er chords and bad vocals. Ferguson is
a second-year music student major
ing in classical composition with
about 14 years of informal experience
-———-•*. .. ii— . .i-smmmmi
Courtesy
In the Name of God plays dark and apocalyptic music at Eugene venue WOW Hall
on the guitar. Miller, who was a
drummer before 1TNOG, took notes
from Ferguson and quickly caught up
enough to co-write music and play
on stage. Their song-writing blends
elements of classical composition
with the brutality, speed and neo
classical elements of bands like Slay
er, At The Gates and Bach.
They began play
ing with Hoy
Seavers, a drummer
who currently plays
for the band Satin
Fury, until Seavers
announced that he
was more interested
in playing music that
was a combination of Mr. Bungle and
The Bloodhound Gang. After parting
ways with Seavers, Ferguson and
Miller began to look for a new drum
mer and hold auditions for a bassist.
They found out that another local
metal band, Off With Their Heads,
had recently broken up and they start
ed calling the former bassist, Morten
son, who turned out to be a perfect fit.
After Mortenson became involved in
the band, the highly coveted Wes
“Bean” Robertson, also from Off With
Their Heads, agreed to join.
“It’s like when stupid Christians say
God never shuts a door without open
ing a window, except we don’t really
believe in God,” Miller said.
The band takes their name from a
song by their favorite band, Slayer,
but Miller said they also chose the
name for the irony associated with it,
specifically the atrocities that have
been carried out “in the name of
God” throughout history. He also
likes the fact that one of the first
questions people ask them when
IN THE NAME OF GOD
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Who: Mani-Fest 2004
Where: WOW Hall
Price: $5
they hear the name is if
they are a Christian
band. If the lyrics were
easier to understand,
inquirers would proba
bly understand why
that question makes
the band chuckle.
“My lyrics are very
dark and apocalyptic,” Mortenson
said. “My brain always comes up
with crazy scenarios of stuff like
zombies rising from graves and de
vouring humanity one bite at a time.
Kinda like how the world would be if
I was in charge. ”
For now, the farthest away from
Eugene that ITNOG has performed
is Portland, but it seems to be the
unanimous commitment of the band
to become career musicians. By next
summer, the band hopes to have
completed a West Coast tour and all
of them would like to be touring
consistently in the next five years.
ryanmurphey@dailyemerald.com
Celebrities encourage voter
registration, endorse candidates
Students say celebrity opinions shouldn't sway the
opinions of other voters in the presidential elections
BY AMY LICHTY
PULSE REPORTER
Celebrity endorsements are nothing
new. Catherine Zeta-Jones invites us to
“come to T-Mobile.” Sarah Jessica
Parker reveals the secret to her gor
geous blonde hair: Gamier. Jessica
Simpson uses her ditziness to sell buf
falo wing pizza for Pizza Hut, and
Justin Timberlake’s “I’m lovin’ it”
gives people cravings for chicken
nuggets and french fries.
It’s not a coincidence that famous
stars sell products; advertisers learned
long ago that merchandise sells better
if someone we recognize and perhaps
even admire tells us how great the
product is. But how far can that sort of
influence go? Could a famous celebrity
sway votes on an issue as important as
the presidency?
With stars such as Brad Pitt,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert DeNiro and
Jack Black outspokenly giving support
to presidential hopeful John Kerry, it
seems that Kerry would win this elec
tion if the endorsements were any in
dication. Not that George W. Bush
doesn’t have his share of celebrity
fans, including Arnold Schwartzeneg
ger, Simpson, Mel Gibson, Ben Stein
and the Patriots’ quarterback Tom
Brady. But does the star power of Hol
lywood’s elite convert into votes?
“It’s not clear that celebrity endorse
ments will help a candidate or not,”
political science Professor Joseph
Lowndes said. “Although I’m sure it
doesn’t hurt. They can help raise mon
ey for their candidate, but I don’t think
voters connect their favorite actors or
musicians to how they will stand on
the issues.”
Sophomore pre-journalism major
Brittney Lively agreed.
“I think the issues are more impor
tant than what a celebrity thinks. Vot
ers should vote for what they believe
in instead of following what others are
doing, although some do (follow).”
And although she is a registered
Republican, Lively admits she does
not yet know who she will vote for
this November.
“Obviously, my opinion is my opin
ion, and I’m not going to change it,
even if celebrities tell me to,” junior
business major Marie Elbert said. “It
really shouldn’t influence anybody’s
vote, but it’s cool to think that Brad Pitt
is voting for the same person I am. ’’
“Celebrity endorsements help be
cause a lot of people are celebrity-ob
sessed,” said journalism major Linda
Gampert, who, like Elbert, is a strong
Kerry supporter. “It should definitely
help the candidate, but it shouldn’t
change people’s opinions.”
“It can’t hurt,” College Democrats
member Chris Halverson said. “Every
vote counts, and celebrities getting out
there keeps the issue alive. ”
Other celebrities are just using
their star power to get people to the
voting booths. Celebrities such as P.
Diddy, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaai,
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and
Christina Aguilera appeared on
“Oprah” in September to urge people
to register to vote.
The Gyllenhaals went around the
campus of UCLA and registered hun
dreds of people to vote. Diaz and Ag
uliera did the same in other places
and Barrymore made a documentary
to find out why people weren’t get
ting out to vote. P. Diddy attended
both the Democratic and Republican
National Conventions and has even
made voting a fashion statement by
appearing at events sporting a “Vote
or Die” T-shirt. Other designers such
as DKNY are following suit and mak
ing “Rock the Vote” shirts to remind
everyone that voting is important.
amylichty@ daily emerald, com