GUILLOTINE BAND MEMBERS, from left to right: Jason Yorke (lead guitar), Tim Miller (lead guitar, vocals), Ezra Wakefield (bass guitar) and Lawson Close (drums).
According to Guillotine’s Facebook page, “Guillotine is nothing more than a group of friends with a passion for music who got together and started jamming.”
A group of friends jamming – that’s exactly what Guillotine band members Tim Miller, Jason Yorke, Lawson Close and Ezra Wakefield consider themselves. However, things may be getting a bit more serious now that the band has recently played several shows at some well-known venues, including both the Roseland Theater and the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland.
Originally, Guillotine members included Miller and Close, along with a few other random members who Miller said never lasted beyond a couple of shows.
“Then we found these guys,” Miller said, referring to Yorke and Wakefield. “They were actually really good and had some talent.”
Miller, Yorke, Close and Wakefield became Guillotine in December 2011. When coming up with the band’s name, Miller said he was thinking of some of the more famous bands’ names such as Iron Maiden and a few others. Iron Maiden is actually a torture device that was invented in the 19th century, so Miller decided the band would be named after another torture device and Guillotine was born.
Although still relatively new to the heavy metal band scene, Guillotine has already made quite a reputation for themselves among their peers and other area teen bands. They currently have five songs that they have written and recorded, including Off with Their Heads, War Machine, Soldiers of Steel, Call of the Dead and Death from Above. They have also ended several of their shows with their own rendition of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica.
The band members consider Guillotine to fall under the thrash/heavy metal genre and some of their influences include Slayer, Iron Maiden, Anthrax and several other bands. The band has played shows at a youth center in Woodland, the Fern Prairie Grange in Camas, the Roseland Theater, the Hawthorne Theater and at the Corral Teen Center in Hazel Dell.
Miller, 17, is one of the lead guitar players in the band and also performs vocals. He’s been playing the guitar for about seven years and said he did take lessons during his younger years. Miller is currently a junior at Battle Ground High School. He said some of his musical influences include James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine and others.
“I grew up thinking it would be really cool to play the guitar,” Miller said. “So, that’s why I decided to start playing.”
Yorke is the other lead guitar player in the group and has been playing the guitar for about nine years. He and his dad started taking lessons together when he was about 8 years old.
“I decided to play guitar when I was younger because I wanted to sound like the bands that I liked and listened to,” Yorke said.
A 16-year-old junior at Battle Ground High School, Yorke said some of his musical guitar influences include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dave Mustaine from Megadeth and Darrell Abbott, a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan.
Close, 17, is a junior at Firm Foundation School in Battle Ground and he is the group’s drummer. He’s been playing the drums for about five years and said there wasn’t really a specific reason he decided to start playing the drums, he just thought it might be something fun.
Some of Close’s musical influences include Jordan Mancino, Jon Rice and Mike Portnoy.
Wakefield, 15, is a freshman at Battle Ground High School. He is Guillotine’s bass player and has been playing the bass for about five years. Some of Wakefield’s musical influences include Primus, Michael Mannering and Ray Brown.
“No one else plays the bass,” Wakefield said when explaining why he chose to start playing the bass guitar.
On top of his involvement with Guillotine, Wakefield is also a part of Battle Ground High School’s advanced jazz band, directed by Greg McKelvey. The advanced jazz band has received several top-place honors and recently traveled to Georgia to compete at the Swing Central High School Jazz Band Competition and workshops during the Savannah Music Festival.
The Guillotine band members all said their goal is to eventually get signed with a record label and they would also like to play shows at the Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Garden Arena.
Guillotine has several shows coming up that community members can attend. The band will perform Sun., June 3, at The Gardner Center during the 80s ROCK Run, put on by ROCKSOLID Community Teen Center and Get Bold Events. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and adults and children are encouraged to attend. One of the goals of this event is to get children involved with more fitness and focus on them being more active. Participants of the 10k walk/run are encouraged to wear 80s-style clothing. Registration is $25 per person, children ages 4 and under are free with adult registration.
Participants are also encouraged to get others to “sponsor” them and raise additional money. Money raised will provide free sessions at Bold Training for students who attend ROCKSOLID Community Teen Center. At the end of the run, several local businesses will have booths in the Gardner Center parking lot that will focus on healthy choices for families. There will also be a Bounce House for children and Guillotine will perform. ROCKSOLID is also looking for other bands that play rock music, particularly featuring 80s-style music, to join the event. Any interested bands can contact Nancy Miller at (360) 904-5600.
To register for the event, visit www.boldtrainingonline.com.
Other upcoming Guillotine shows
• Wed., June 6, 7 p.m., at the Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave., Portland. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the show. Buy tickets online at www.hawthornetheatre.com or contact Guillotine on their Facebook page.
• Wed., June 13, 6:15 p.m., at the White Elephant, 7500 NE 16th Ave., Unit No. 8, Vancouver. Tickets are $6 in advance, $8 at the door. Find out how to buy tickets by contacting Guillotine via their Facebook page.
