We just want our sound to be unique

“Black Dawn” is a metal band from Long Island, New York. They have been performing music since 1996. The band is influenced by Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Disturbed, Down, Fight, Godsmack, Korn, Life of Agony, Metallica, Mudvayne, Soil, Soundgarden, Staind, Stone Temple Pilots, Tool, Volbeat and White Zombie. Metal on Loud had the pleasure to Interview the Rhythm Guitarist of the Band Tom Kelly. Please enjoy the Interview and support the band.

Hi Tom, Would you please Introduce Black Dawn to the readers?

Black Dawn is an all-original hard-rock band from Long Island, NY that has been performing shows on Long Island and in New York City since 1995.  Among a couple of other obscure releases, we have released three studio albums in all that time, all of which are available on Itunes.  The most recent release was “Until We Meet” in 2014.   

Are you currently working on a new album?

Yes we are.  We are hoping to get the new album released later in 2016.

There has been no change in Line-Up since the start of the band, How do you guys manage to keep cool without any indifferences among each other?

We are actually a lighthearted band, and we try not to let the indifferences get in the way of the music. 

Have you ever thought of bringing Black Dawn to the ends of the World, Say for example to a country like India?

For right now, I am working on getting us into New Jersey.  It is certainly not completely out of the question.  We would travel for the right opportunity if it were at all possible.   

How often do you guys tour, do you get enough support from the local fans?

We actually have not gone on the road in a long time.  We played shows in California and Kentucky about fifteen years ago.  We are a local Long Island / New York City band, and the fans here are very good to us.  One of them just went to jail for us last night.  We were playing a birthday party in Northport, NY for a local promoter who has been nothing but nice to us and many other local bands over the years.  We were on stage performing a little crowd-mover from the “Age of Reason” album entitled “I Am Who I Am”.  Although I did not see exactly how the fight started, it looked like it started in the mosh pit.  I ended up with an excellent view because the fight moved onto the  floor directly in front of me.  This fan was on his back being restrained by others less than twelve inches from my pedal board.  He was dragged out the front door before we finished the song.  As I understand, he continued fighting with police and paramedics who arrived on the scene a few minutes later, so we did not see him for the rest of the night.   

Of all the live shows that you have done, what would be the best experience you had, can you share this with us?

I really enjoy interacting with people who have a sincere interest in what we do.  This really makes it all seem worth while.  I also enjoy interacting with people in other bands.  In June 2015, we were booked to open for Warrior Soul and Lynch Mob at Revolution in Amityville, NY.  We took a gamble by booking that show because our drummer’s expectant wife was due any day.   I arrived early to set up the merchandise table.  In addition to myself, the only people in the building at the time included the soundman, Lynch Mob on stage doing their sound check,  and Kory Clarke at the bar with two members of his band.  We had just played with Warrior Soul one week earlier at Blackthorn 51 in Queens, so I struck up a conversation with Kory by telling him that I thought he put on a good show the prior week.  He said “You must be fucking crazy”.   Adding to this coincidence was the fact that this particular venue has one of Kory’s paintings on the wall, so I talked to him about his painting too.  I would definitely like to play with Warrior Soul again.  We will be playing with Lynch Mob again on June 25 at Blackthorn 51.

There are so many metal bands out there, what are your plans to make Black Dawn an unique band in the metal world?

The same way any other band becomes unique, with the music.  Maybe just playing twenty years with no lineup changes makes us somewhat unique.  We just want our sound to be unique, and we strive to give our fans something on the following album that they did not get on the previous album.

Do you have any plans in store for 2016?

Hopefully we will get our next album released.  We have some really good shows booked.  We are playing the grand opening of a new venue called “The Backstage Pass” in Ronkonkoma, NY on April 2.  We are opening for Michale Graves at Blackthorn 51 in Elmhurst, NY on April 23.  We are opening for Prong at Revolution in Amityville, NY on May 7.  As mentioned before, we are opening for Lynch Mob at Blackthorn 51 on June 25.  We are planning on booking a bunch more later in the year, so definitely stay tuned!

What would be the best experience in the life of Black Dawn so far?

Put simply, all the shows we play.

Would you like to leave a message for the readers?

Look out for our new album later this year!  Follow the links to each of the band’s social media profiles directly from the official band website!