Aaron Rothe has played piano for 15 years. He grew up listening to the Goo Goo Dolls. He loves New Found Glory’s latest album – so much that he was listening to it even during this interview. He’s not exactly what you’d call a fan of heavy music. And yet he happens to play in a metal/post-hardcore band.
Rothe is the keyboardist and vocalist of Drop Dead, Gorgeous, a band that has recently emerged out of Denver, Colorado’s fast-growing scene which includes acts like Fear Before The March Of Flames and Planes Mistaken For Stars. What sets DD,G apart from most of these bands is probably Rothe’s keyboards.
“I really don’t listen to a lot of heavy music, and that’s what balances it out for me: doing the opposite of heavy music,” Rothe explains. “[The piano] brings a more melodic side to it. There’s more melodic, poppier stuff going on in the background.” He adds that in Denver, heavy bands are the norm, but melodic hardcore acts are a rarity.
“We all have different music that we listen to, that we all bring into the band,” Rothe says. “We” includes lead vocalist Danny Stills, Kyle and Dan on guitars, and Jake on bass. Original drummer Danny Cooper was recently replaced with the drummer of Inked In Blood, Judah, after Cooper left the band earlier this fall to finish high school. All the other band members have already completed their high school degrees, although Jake is the only one who has attended college, before dropping out to go on tour.
“We’re all doing music full-time right now,” Rothe says.
“School is great,” he laughs. “I mean, if I had the chance, I’d definitely be in college right now. But it’s important to really follow your dreams and do what you want to do, do what makes you happy. And if that’s college, it’s awesome, but there are other ways around it.”
Drop Dead, Gorgeous’ ascension to the big league has been extremely rapid. They signed onto Rise Records after the label discovered them through MySpace and Purevolume. They released a first EP, Be Mine, Valentine, in Jan. 2006, followed by a full-length debut, In Vogue, in May. Last month, the band was approached by Suretone Records, and plans are already in the works for their next release, which will be produced by nu-metal king Ross Robinson, who has got bands like KoRn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot on his r
