KID
DYNAMITE
f nothing else, Dan Yemin, guitarist
for upstarts Kid Dynamite, is very
directed. When we last spoke
with Yemin, his legendary
outfit Lifetime had just broken.
up after releasing Jersey's Best
Dancers, and he was on his
way back to graduate school to finish
up his doctorate in psychology. Yet, Yemin
had already designed the blueprints for Kid
Dynamite, mixing the youth crew melodies of
the Gorilla Biscuits with the grinding vocals of
Rorshach-a bit. like Lifetime, except with
sharper teeth. But something kind of strange
happened along the way: nothing.
For nearly a year, Kid Dynamite was the band
that almost wasn't. Despite hardcore's incestu-
ous nature and the swarms of bands featuring
ex-members of one band or another, Yemin
had some difficulty finding like-minded musi-
cal soulmates. Needless to say, he's picky. After
bringing bassist Steve Ferrell into the fold,
Yemin recruited drummer David
Wagenschutz, who helped found Ink and
Dagger after playing in Lifetime from 1991 to
1994. "Dave's departure from Lifetime wasn't
on good terms from either side, so we had to go
through a lot of stuff together, head to head,
before we could see working together success-
fully," admits Dr Dan, ever the psychologist.
"But we knew that something we did together
would be volatile in the best possible way."
But that is where Kid Dynamite nearly
stalled, as Yemin and his cohorts couldn't
find a singer to complete the puzzle.
Practicing three nights a
week above South
JOB SITE
Street in Philadelphia, to the delight of
local scenesters, the band fliered and held
auditions like the hardcore version of
Spinal Tap. "It was back to basics," laughs
Yemin, recalling how the same sort of hustle
and legwork brought Lifetime together in the
early 1990s. "It isn't beneath me or anything
but it was frustrating. I couldn't figure out what
was taking so long. We were wondering if any-
thing was gonna happen, really."
While many projects would have simply dis-
solved from the lack of progress or the frustra-
tion of not being able to perform, "Coach"
Yemin was able to keep everyone focused,
making the band's self-titled debut even more
of an accomplishment. To keep Kid Dynamite
a contender, "We would sit down as a band and
have movie night when we would watch old
Flipside videos of Minor Threat, The Circle
Jerks, and 7 Seconds," said Yemin. Even with-
out a full-time singer, Kid Dynamite cut a ten-
song demo last year. Indeed, Yemin was com-
mitted and critical, unwavering in his quest and
unwilling to stray from his intended plan.
After what seemed like an exhaustive search,
they finally found Jason Shevchuk, formerly of
New Jersey's Bound. The band is clearly
on its way, having turned out exactly as
Yemin had anticipated-a band that
actually sounds like the Spirit of '88
without sounding revival or like a novel-
TRI AND TR
ty. Further, Kid Dynamite is one of those
rare bands, like Avail, that seems to tran-
scend the minute differences and
boundaries that stratify the hardcore
scene. In fact, Yemin, ever outspo-
ken about the "ills" of that scene (ie
emo, metal packaged as hardcore
and, gasp! backpacks), insists on
playing as many mixed bills as possible.
"It's overstated," he admits, laughing at
his list of complaints. "But I will maintain that
I want to play shows with a diverse range of
bands and encourage a diverse range of peo-
ple to be into the scene."
So, end of story, right? Except for one other
problem: Remember, Dan has just spent a lot
of time and effort to complete his doctorate in
psychology, making it that much harder to
pack up and drive around the country to play
shows. "There's the rub, and I will tell you that
those two things cannot be reconciled, not
with that kind of job situation and not with this
band, which has led to a decision that was boil-
ing under the surface the whole time," says
Yemin, who currently works as a therapist at a
residential treatment facility that deals with
emotionally troubled teens.
And that's where Shevchuk, Wagenschutz,
and Ferrell teach the "coach" a thing or two. "I
mean, our singer is graduating college at the
end of May and he's just like, 'Even if the tour
sucked and we were losing money, the fact
that I am somewhere different every day is
really exciting.' And that's the right spirit,"
Yemin says. In actuality, Yemin needs little
prodding to quit his job in order to do music
full time. "Everyone's really fired up," he says
with an understated grin.
After all, Kid Dynamite-the record, a US
tour this summer, recording a second
album, a European tour this fall, and then
a tour of Japan-was all by design.
-Joseph Epstein
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