Subject id

Having been a band for only a little over a year now, Brantford natives, Subject id, are quickly making a name for themselves in Brantford and the surrounding areas.
The band was recently selected as a supporting act for Canadian rock and reggae group, illScarlett, and with the big show at Club NV just a few days away, Subject id is ready to rock Brantford.
With front man Dave Mercante on vocals, guitar, and piano, Anthony DeDominicis on guitar, Taylor Kitchen on bass, and Levi Kertesz on drums, these four guys have managed to create their own unique sound and broadcast their talent together under the name Subject id.
“Dave and I have been friends for a long time, since we were in high school basically, and then we both went to Brock and we lived together and every night we would just write stuff on our acoustic guitars” said guitarist, Anthony. “We kept writing more and more, and then we found Levi, which is another good story,” he added.
Dave explained that his dad managed a Shopper’s Drug Mart and Levi had handed in an application for employment that mentioned playing drums as a hobby of his.
“My dad called Levi and said, ‘Hey Levi, you didn’t get the job, but my son plays in a band so could I pass along your email [to him]?” laughed Dave.
Then there’s bassist Taylor Kitchen, which Anthony says he has been friends with forever.
“He’s always played guitar and piano. He’s really skilled,” Anthony mentioned.
The boys have played several shows throughout Southern Ontario, including stops in St. Catherines, Toronto, and of course, their hometown Brantford.
“We’ve played Toronto a lot recently. We played at the Rivoli a couple of times and we did the Sound Academy, which was really sweet,” said the guys.
After receiving the news that they would be supporting illScarlett on their stop in Brantford, Subject id has nothing but excitement in the coming days of the show.
“A friend of mine, Jamie Mittendorf, runs shows around here and owns a company called Blackout Productions. We played a show with Street Pharmacy and after the show we asked [Jamie] if he had a spot for the illScarlett show and he put us on the bill. We were really excited,” explained drummer, Levi.
Though the guys are super stoked to share the stage with illScarlett, there is another part of the show that they are really looking forward to.
“The crowd, definitely,” started Levi, “If it’s an illScarlett crowd, it’s going to be big. I’m excited to just talk to people after the show and see how many people we can get to check us out again.”
The band also has some other super exciting projects in the works.
“We have plans for a live EP. We’ll be recording very soon and it will be six to eight tracks,” said Dave.
“And we’ve just printed T-shirts which can be purchased by contacting us through Facebook or picking one up at the merch table at our shows,” added Anthony.
With so much excitement surrounding Subject id in the next few weeks, it is safe to say that big things are coming for these boys, and they are definitely making their city proud.
- The Sputnik

With a bit of a pop/folk sound, Subject ID is hard to pin down to just a traditional genre. With elements of Sublime and then some Violent Femmes they traverse a wide spectrum of sound. At times sounding quite brilliant lyrically, but then maybe a little goofy, as on the track “The Tree Song”. Showing some great writing skills on tracks like “Stalker” and “Cycle Stays the Same”, with great metaphors and with the vocals just complimenting the messages of each track.
On “Stalker”, the track starts off with a great bass-line by Anthony DeDominicis and Taylor Kitchen, and remains bass and beat driven by Anthony, Taylor and skins of Levi Kertesz. With two bass players with the same sort of rhythm, Anthony also plays some guitar on the various tracks of Subject ID, they offer a great sound. All in sync and playing off of each other, the band works very well together to give the full feeling of what Subject ID brings to the table.
On the track “Wooden Strings” you get more of an acoustic folk sound. With a bit of Violent Femmes sound, that David Mercante offers on each track with his vocal range. At about the 1:50 mark, the tempo of the track speeds up with a nice bridge that offers up a solo of sorts that is simple, but compliments the track. Actually bringing to mind a classic rock feel to it at times.
The band offers a swingy pop rock and folk based sound and is quite pleasing to the ear. It is actually very interesting that in listing their personal influences, they did not list such bands as the Violent Femmes, Sublime or B52's. Maybe not so much the B52's exuberance and tempo, but you can definitely hear some influence in there. With the vocals mainly sounding like Gordon Gano, but with Mercante’s own style adding a softer feel to it.
Overall, Subject ID is a great band with their own sound, no matter who their influences may be, or who they may resemble. Unable to really nail down their sound to one, or even two, specific genres, as has become customary lately with many bands. They offer a feel good sound even when touching on not so feel good topics. With not sticking to traditional ways of band members roles in the band, they open up doors for themselves where many other bands may stay stuck in one particular sound. With three of the band members listed as singing vocals, two band members listed on guitars, bass and even percussion, it leaves much more room for exploration for different sounds and techniques. Each of these tracks offers the sound that is Subject ID, with Mercante doing the bulk of the lead singing, you definitely know each track is from the same band. What the future holds for Subject ID, is all completely up to the band as they evolve and change their styles, yet always sticking to the same core of their true sound. No matter what style they settle on, or even if they keep changing it up, Subject ID is a band to keep an eye on. - Rok Out Radio

About: Subject ID -very interesting band from Brantford

Aug 19, 2011

"What would later become Subject id first began as simple dorm room jams as university room mates. Though they frustrated many of their fellow students in the halls with excessive screaming and obnoxious “playing” at ungodly hours, they did manage to attract the odd audience. A natural preference towards guitar over their studies soon propelled them to open mics and even a switch in programs for Mercante - who later decided to take Seneca’s Independent Music Production program in Toronto. The band is currently working on their debut album and are gigging the southern Ontario scene."

1). What is the most exotic/extraordinary place you have ever performed at?
Nothing too crazy yet. But in our first year of university there were flyers posted around the residence building inviting artists to play at an open mic. Halfway through our set we noticed that the majority of people in there were wearing black. Everyone was really into the music, and after the set we were approached by a hoard of very deprived and horny catholic girls who were no doubt after something. They informed us that the entire set we had just played was for a strong religious gathering...it also explained the washy hallelujah covers and saccharine piano ballads. I guess we brought those girls something a little more interesting ;) [;)]

2). When you are 70 – how do you see your life?
When I’m 70 I’ll probably be looking through an online catalogue for the fastest electric wheelchair my money can buy, and organizing old-people races similar to the ones in the Fast and the Furious. We’ll soup them up and maybe even make it into the Oldympics.

3). If you could talk to any of the rock-stars, dead or alive, whom would you talk to and what would you ask?
I’d talk to Jeff Buckley and prudently ask him to never go swimming in Wolf River.

4). What countries and cities would you like to visit the most during the tour?
I’d like to visit/play in Alberta. From the pictures I have seen it’s a truly amazing and unique area. I’d like to go run through their forests and try and survive for a few days. Anthony and I would definitely love to play at a little town in Italy called Castelli where both of our families are from. We’ve visited it in the past, but to actually play a show in their town square would be beyond cool!

5). Which famous band/artist you would be glad to share the stage with?
Sharing the stage with MGMT would probably be a lot of fun. Those guys seem very clever and I love what they're doing. They’ve so far managed to keep this great pop sensibility while going well outside the box creatively. I feel like they’ve always got something worth listening to.

Listen to: Subject ID - Cycle Stays The Same - Er - Arena Cast