A Dirty Dozen with PATCHWORK  – February 2025

According to a recent press release: “Today marks the release of “Skies in Flames,” the explosive new single from Rockford’s own metal mavens, PATCHWORK. Available on all major streaming platforms, this track is the latest offering from their forthcoming album, Scars, set to drop this May. Featuring a searing guitar solo by Michael Gilbert of FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, “Skies in Flames” is a hard-hitting reflection on modern narcissism and its chaotic impact on society and delves into the psyche of individuals consumed by self-centeredness, a theme that resonates deeply in today’s digital age where personal dramas often overshadow collective empathy. The track’s lyrics, penned by Dave Caruana, explore the destructive nature of narcissism through a first-person narrative that oscillates between self-awareness and self-deception. The chorus captures the essence of the song: a world ablaze, yet the protagonist remains in denial of their role in the conflagration.” We get duo Brad Carlson and Dave Caruana to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Dave: I think first, the song structure. Thematically, each song has a musical theme and returns to its roots at some point, except the instrumentals which continually build. Another thing would be some of the rhythms under the solos and leads under the choruses. We try to be very intentional about those notes to support what is on top of them, but we are most proud of some of those passages.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Brad: I always loved music growing up. It was always played in my home, my Dad loved Elvis so that was my first taste of rock n roll. When I heard Metal Health (Quiet Riot) and Pyromania (Def Leppard) being played in my older brother’s room I was drawn in. Then around 12 or 13 I discover thrash metal Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Megadeth’s Peace Sells albums made me want to play electric guitar… changed my life forever.

Dave: My parents got me started at a young age, but they listened to easy listening and disco for the most part. I played piano for two years when I was eight, but I didn’t enjoy playing music until I started playing drums. I would set up my Legos around me in a drum set pattern and grab the two longest pieces as drumsticks, then turn on the radio to the rock station and play along to whatever was on, usually Journey, Boston, Foreigner, what we would call Classic Rock these days (and since the 90’s, really). My mom took me off piano and put me on drum lessons when I turned 10, and I realized the heavier the music was, the more I felt it and the more I wanted to play it. When I was 13, I heard “Battery” by Metallica for the first time and realized that was what I wanted to do with my life.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Brad: As stated above, I think I heard “Sanitarium” and the build up was amazing to me and that was it… diehard Metallica fan and thrash metal Big4 was and still is my preferred listening and influence in writing. Much later I got into the extreme metal genre as well (Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Death).

Dave: For an album, Master of Puppets was the big one for me at the beginning. I was in awe of that album – the drums were powerful, the mix was perfect, Hetfield’s voice just rang out over everything, but far and away it was the guitar sound. Nobody has replicated it since, certainly not Metallica. I loved the rhythm tones some of the other 80’s thrash bands had on specific albums – When the Storm Comes Down by Flotsam and Jetsam, and The New Order by Testament were monstrous – but James Hetfield and Fleming Rasmussen just captured lightning in a bottle on Puppets. Hearing the song “Battery” for the first time at a friend’s house – the guitar tone, the heaviness, the speed of the drums, the solo, the voice – guided my musical taste for the rest of my life. The other two bands that have shaped my musical taste were more progressive. People had really strong opinions in the mid 80’s about Rush. They had changed their sound to incorporate synthesizers, and I heard them for the first time when I saw the music video to “Big Money.” I dug into their back catalog and fell in love with the band. Individually, they are incredibly talented – Neil Peart has always been one of my drumming idols, alongside Dave Lombardo and Charlie Benante – but the music they created was impossible not to love. Power Windows remains my favorite Rush album to this day, without a skippable track, and “Marathon” still brings a tear to my eye even though I have never been a runner. The music is just so powerful. Fates Warning was a band a good friend introduced me to shortly after I got into metal. It was so different than the speed metal I had been burying myself in, but in a very good way. When I learned to play drums, I was taught by a jazz instructor, so we got into odd time signatures and polyrhythms a bit before I quit. I wasn’t very good at it but I loved it, and listening to Fates Warning gave me the best of both worlds. I started listening with No Exit, so Ray Alder was Fates’ voice to me, and John Arch was an acquired taste that I greatly appreciated later, especially the stuff he’s done over the past decade with Arch/Matheos. When Perfect Symmetry was released (another album with unskippable tracks), Mark Zonder immediately became another drumming idol of mine. The songs were expertly crafted, but the drumming is so crisp and meticulous, especially compared to No Exit, that it really made the whole album for me. You can hear the effect they had on my songwriting on Scars; the little adjustments added in after the choruses in “Fallout,” or all of the 6/4 rhythms I wrote in “At The End.”

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Brad: I would love to write a full song with James Hetfield (my idol for sure).

Dave: We’ve done some amazing collaborations on Scars with some of our heroes in thrash. Michael Gilbert from Flotsam and Jetsam, and Bobby Gustafson formerly of Overkill were a couple of my favorite players when I was growing up. Heith Gruner, our vocalist on this album, was someone I always wanted to collaborate with, and I was not disappointed. The one person I would absolutely love and hate to collaborate with would be Devin Townsend. I have very high levels of imposter syndrome, and as kind as he seems, he’s admitted in the past to have a low tolerance for fuckups, so as imperfect a musician that I am this would be both a dream and a nightmare for me.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

Brad: I still try to workout lifting weights and hitting the heavy bag 3 times a week. Sometimes I do not succeed… lol but I try.

Dave: I’m a geek. I play video games, code, and write music. I love hanging out with my kids, none of whom are actual kids anymore, and my wife. I have a very small circle of friends, almost all of whom go back as far as high school with me (including Brad), and those are the only people I spend time with.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Brad: Patchwork is sort of a hybrid of the Big4 along with Flotsam and Jetsam, Iron Maiden, Pantera and also some progressive influence. I once heard another local musician say we write the same Iron Maiden riff over an over, which is completely false… it just showed he clearly was NOT paying attention.

Dave: I always describe it as 80’s speed / thrash metal in the vein of the Bay Area and New York / New Jersey bands that started it all. The Big Four, Testament, Exodus, Flotsam and Jetsam, Overkill, those were the bands that inspired us the most and it’s what we’ve always played. The bands we’ve been compared to in some way have all been bands I’ve loved – Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel, Judas Priest, they’re all great and I’m honored we’re even considered to be similar to any of those bands.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Brad: I usually am the one to discuss having a glass of good bourbon and always having a shot if we go see another touring band, or if we are talking and hanging in my home “SCARS” studio. As far as the acoustic… that is quite the inside joke with my drummer and myself because everyone seems to go from heavy to wanting to do some unplugged shit. That is NOT what we are about… we are not hating those that do, but we need Heavy.

Dave: It has been just me and Brad for years. Our best friend, fellow songwriter and former Patchwork lead guitarist Mark Sheetz passed away from cancer almost two years ago, and the chemo had devastated him for a year before that. Brad does almost all the guitar work when we get together; I usually only play when it’s just me or if I’m showing him something I came up with. Bourbon has been a thing for us lately, so usually we’ll meet at his place, go into the Scars studio, crack open a bottle and have a few pours while we scratch out some new rhythms or go through promo material. But it’s never, ever acoustic.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Brad: The last time I was starstruck was probably over 30 years ago when I met Metallica and hung backstage for the first time… other than that, I have realized that they are just people like us.

Dave: One thing I’ve learned in my old age is we’re all human, so the last time was a long time ago. It was 1990 and I went with some friends to see Fates Warning and Sanctuary in Madison, Wisconsin. They were co-headlining, and for this show Fates had the closing spot. My friend Scott that introduced me to Fates Warning was (and still is) in a wheelchair, so we were on the edge of the pit while Sanctuary was playing. A rather large woman came flying out of the pit and landed in his lap, breaking a leg rest on his chair. When Fates came on, they experienced a lot of electrical issues, got pissed and left the stage after 45 minutes. We felt a little cheated, so we talked to a bouncer by the stairs to the backstage area to see if we could get someone from Fates to come out and spend a minute talking to Scott and hanging out with us. To my surprise, he let me and another friend go backstage to ask them ourselves. I climbed down the stairs to the basement level and was greeted first by a shattered door that Ray took out in frustration, and then by a very tall man with an absolute mane of blonde hair, holding a beer and talking to a gorgeous blonde woman. At the time I wasn’t the biggest Sanctuary fan, but Warrel Dane was absolutely impossible to miss. He greeted me warmly, handed me a cup, grabbed a pitcher and poured me a beer. We skoaled and it was down the hatch. I asked if he had seen the guys in Fates anywhere, and he pointed me to their manager, so I wandered off in a daze, blown away by what just happened. I never saw him again, but his death affected me all the same just because of the kindness he showed me, a completely random person.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Brad: Best part of being a musician is watching and hearing a riff turn in to a full song. We are very proud of our writing and it is how we (bleed) and release our pain, sadness, anger, etc… My dream job would be to be a successful and financially competent Real Estate Investor.

Dave: The best part of being a musician is creating something from nothing. Even physics doesn’t allow for this. At this stage of my life, my dream job would be anything that allows me complete financial autonomy. So owning my own successful business of some kind.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Dave: Something in-depth about a song. I would love to be asked something specific about a lyric or a musical passage. That would only come from someone who analyzed it and connected with it in some way. That’s really all any musician wants, is to affect at least one other person the way they were affected themselves writing it. The answer would depend on the question, of course. I am not tired of answering any questions. I haven’t done nearly enough interviews to be tired of anything yet. If people show an interest, I’m willing to share.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Brad: When we released our first full length album after we were signed many years ago to an independent label… we slacked and did not have a PR campaign, did not tour and let life make us too busy to properly promote the product that we loved.

Dave: I would have gone back over the drums in more detail on Exit Wounds, our first album. There were several missed triggers that really took away from the feel of some of the songs. It probably only matters to me, and definitely wouldn’t have changed our current situation, but it’s a point of personal pride when you play something a certain way but it doesn’t come across like that on the album.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Brad – Metallica MASTER OF PUPPETS is complete timeless perfection.

Dave – Probably Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera. The Abbott brothers were awesome and knew how to party, and it seems like it would have been a combination of a great time and a lesson from Terry Date in how to produce a metal album. Plus when that album came out, I was a lot younger and in better condition to handle what they would have thrown at me.

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Category: Interviews