–Eric Harabadian
Karma, paying it forward, doing unto others—however you want to categorize it, these all have to do with working with and treating others as you would like to be treated. For veteran Detroit area bassist Larry Fritzley these concepts have been put into practice and prove that if you treat others well and with respect it will, indeed, come back to you.
It was right around Memorial Day weekend 2009 when DJ Metal God (Eric Sadorf), who was on xtrememetalradio.com at the time, emailed Larry with an inquiry after hearing his band Silent Aggression on MySpace. “He heard our music and searched me out,” says Fritzley. “He wanted to play some of our stuff so I scrambled around to put together some Mp3s of our material for airplay. He consistently played our songs daily for months. We got to be friends and to show my appreciation I sent him an autographed Gene Simmons DVD because he was a big KISS nut. That led me to another xtrememetalradio DJ Joker who offered to do graphics and artwork for a CD if we put one out.”
The kindness of strangers sparked a chain reaction of activity throughout the xtrememetal radio camp that culminated with a third DJ Datis Alaee (DJ Metal Daddy) who sort of took Fritzley and Silent Aggression under his wing. “It’s funny because, to be honest, Datis wasn’t that crazy about Silent Aggression’s music at first,” admits the animated bassist. “But he and I hit it off. He told me he’s more about helping people and, as he says, knows when someone ‘has a good spirit’.”
Fritzley found out that Alaee, not only was the owner of independent hard rock and metal label Favahar Records, but was the band liaison for the third annual Warriors of Metal Festival in Chillicothe, Ohio in late June 2010. Little did Fritzley know that opportunity was about to come knocking at his door.
“The organizers were putting this festival together and wanted to get some of the metal bands that were coming to the festival in some central location for a pre-show event,” explains Fritzley. “You know how metal heads are—some are fickle and some like to party more than others. Datis wanted to see if I could get a show at Blondie’s in Detroit. That’s where I came in as the host of this event. So, one day I asked if there was any room on the festival bill for Silent Aggression. Datis agreed to book us first to kick off the festival at 5pm. I thought that was a huge honor because they would have to change their whole schedule to fit us in.”
The Warriors of Metal Fest III will have already taken place by the time you read this. But we read and hear about so many stories of those down on their luck or adhere to the old adage that nice guys finish last. Well, here is a story where that Detroit born and bred determination mixed with a little luck and a healthy dose of fate can actually flip the script on said negativity.
And Fritzley has certainly earned his musical stripes starting with bass chores in mid-‘80s high school bands while diligently studying the work of Iron Maiden low ender Steve Harris, integrating triplets and rolling lines into his repertoire. From there he went on to stints with Meridian ( featuring future Overloaded and Tokyo Blade drummer Larry Gonzalez), Twist of Fate, Betsy Ross, Chain Reaction, Satin Steel and Bridgewood, which spawned guitarist Matt Austin and drummer Brad from Pistol Day Parade.
“As long as I’ve been working I’ve been trying to get to a certain point,” says Fritzley. “I know a lot of musicians around town and they’re starting to know what Silent Aggression is and respect what we’ve done. They know we’ve got a spirit and a definite attitude and playing this Metal Fest is like our field of dreams.”
Silent Aggression has been in existence since the late ‘80s and also features guitarists Jerry Farley and Shawn Sullivan, lead vocalist Clinton Cox and drummer Adam Cruz. In addition to kicking off the festival the band was also chosen to perform a song to be taped for a Dio tribute DVD. Also, Fritzley has the distinct honor of sharing the stage with internationally recognized guitar shredders Christina Crago, Michael Mills, Joe Stump and Curran Murphy for an all star additional Dio tribute on both nights of the festival.
“If I had to put my career under a microscope and analyze it I’d say that the last two years have been the best because of a lot of things that have come through for me,” says Fritzley. “ We’ve done a lot of great shows opening for bands like Primal Fear and Shatter Messiah, got distribution through The End Records, got on this WOMFEST III and I was invited to go on the road with a couple of great bands too. I have to credit Silent Aggression with that because, alone, I’m not Silent Aggression—no matter how many contacts I have. There are four other excellent musicians in this group and it’s been a team effort.”
For information on Larry Fritzley check out www.myspace.com/bridgewood20 , Silent Aggression: www.myspace.com/silentaggressiondetroit and WOMFEST III: www.warriorsofmetalfest.com .