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PHOTO COURTESY OF BAND

MECHANICAL. The members of Mechanism are, clockwise from upper left: Ryan Renfield, Tony De Lisio, David Layne and Rob Rotermund.

Veteran musicians find musical growth, personal satisfaction

By John Larson

Four veterans of the local heavy-metal scene are finding their love of playing music re-energized in their new group, Mechanism.

The band, which is based on South Hill, consists of Ryan Renfield on guitar and vocals, Tony De Lisio on guitar, Rob Rotermund on drums and David Layne on bass.

The group was formed about a year ago. Renfield and Rotermund were working on a musical project with a bass player that was put on hold when Renfield moved out of the area for a while.

De Lisio first met Renfield 20 years ago. De Lisio moved to San Diego for a while and had just returned in 2007 when he happened to track down Renfield on Myspace. By that point both were living on South Hill. Soon the two old friends were jamming.

Renfield posted a notice seeking a drummer online, which Rotermund responded to. He first met Renfield when both were active in the music scene during the 1990s.

“The whole thing fell together really quick,” De Lisio observed.

Renfield came up with the band’s name, which was picked from a list of 20 possibilities they put together. “I wanted it to convey that the band was tight, a well-oiled machine,” he said.

“It is a broad reaching word,” De Lisio added.

Mechanism has 12 or 13 original songs written and is working on another six. The music generally starts with someone coming up with a riff. “Then everyone puts their flavor on the song,” Renfield said.

De Lisio said they each work on the ideas on their home recording units. “The whole becomes greater than the parts,” he noted.

He and De Lisio write the lyrics.

The group was in a recording studio within three months of forming, coming out with a strong demo CD.

Layne has known the other members for quite some time.

“I am extremely excited,” he said. “I am in a great band with longtime friends. This is a great musical family.”

De Lisio spent several years away from the band scene. From observing the energetic stage presence he exhibits on stage, it is clear he loves to play.

“I came to grips with the fact that music is therapeutic, it has a spiritual value,” he said. He enjoys seeing smiles on the faces in the crowd when Mechanism plays. “I am glad that we can bring some joy or take them away from their problems.”

Rotermund had sold his drums and did not play at all for several years. Enough people who knew him from the music scene asked him when he was going to play again that he eventually bought a drum set. He also gets a kick out of the sheer joy of playing gigs.

“We have been getting a great response at every show,” Rotermund said.

“Playing music is a rush, a high of its own,” Renfield remarked. “This is really paying off at a personal satisfaction level.”

De Lisio is working some sampling and sequencing into their sound to give it a modern edge.

Rotermund is interested in the image the band projects, whether it be the clothes they wear on stage or lights and special effects.

De Lisio joked about having “fembots” appear on stage. “You have to make sure you are attracting interest with your theatrics,” he said.

For more information on the band visit www.myspace.com/mechanismtheband or www.mechanismweb.com.

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