Heavy Metal Bassist Gabe Crisp of Whitechapel Goes Nuts for Knob Creek 15

On this episode of The Fred Minnick Show, Whitechapel bass player Gabe Crisp joins the show. Named for the Whitechapel district of London, where Jack the Ripper famously went on his killing spree, the Knoxville, Tennessee, metal band has released seven studio albums to much acclaim. Fred talks with Crisp about the role of a bass player, his career, his love of bourbon, the covid era, heavy metal fandom and plenty more. Whiskeys tasted: Distillery 291 Colorado Whiskey (12:44) Henry & Sons Cask Strength (18:26) Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 9 Year (26:50) Knob Creek 15 Year Old (40:07) EPISODE SUMMARY Fred and Gabe talk about a wide variety of things, such as: Gabe says it was the pandemic lockdown that made him a bourbon fan. The band would sometimes get Blanton's on the road, but it was a trip to Kentucky for a bachelor party, a trip that involved several distillery tours, that initially got him hooked. While the pandemic shut down Whitechapel's 2020 tour, it gave the band the bandwidth to write and record its new album. Per usual, Fred gives Gabe a tutorial on his method for tasting whiskey, starting with Distillery 291 Colorado Whiskey. Fred, a wannabe bass player himself, asks Gabe if he thinks Whitechapel would ever go full-on Spinal Tap/"Big Bottom" wherein the bass takes over entirely. Gabe essentially says "maybe." Crisp was inspired to play bass by listening to Green Day, a bass-forward band featuring Mike Dirnt on bass that got big in the 1990s. There's a brief discussion about why Gabe doesn't sing in the band. In short, singing in a deathcore band isn't as easy as many might think. Fred professes his love for Old Fitzgerald bourbons: "If this was football, [Old Fitz bourbons] would be Pro-Bowlers." Fred also notes that the interview was recorded on the anniversary of the Bottled in Bond Act, which was passed in 1897. They celebrated with an Old Fitzgerald bottled in bond whiskey. Fred and Gabe talks about parallels between bourbon and music when it comes to hype driving popularity. Crisp says he feels metal fans, in general, are more devoted than other fans and are "there for the long haul." Crisp says he doesn't listen to much music, but rather listens to the same music he did in high school: 1990s pop punk and 1960s rock like the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Gabe narrows his favorite of the flight down to the Old Fitzgerald and Knob Creek, ultimately going with Knob Creek, with a nod to J. Henry for its finish. Expect the new album from Whitechapel before the end of 2021. QUOTABLES On why he sticks to playing bass guitar and doesn't sing for Whitechapel: "One time, back in the very beginning of the band, we were just messing around and I tried to do some sort of actual scream. It was something you could still laugh about today. It's a lot harder than people think it is. To scream and yell and make it sound forceful, and actually articulate and make it sound like something, and do that for an hour ... It's a skill for sure." RESOURCES https://twitter.com/gabecrisp https://www.instagram.com/gabe.crisp/ https://www.facebook.com/public/Gabe-Crisp See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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