Gemini Syndrome
April 21, 2014
Zeros Hard Rock Club- Corpus Christi, TX
Corpus Christi’s Zeros Hard Rock Club, does it again people! Bringing another big name act, to their kick-ass venue for an up-close & personal, visual & auditory indulgence! Pulling into the venue, the sound-check was already under way for the headlining act Gemini Syndrome. The velvet metal articulation of Aaron Nordstrom (former guitarist for Otep) could be heard in the parking lot that sets across from the venue. A couple adoring fans could be heard expressing their reverence for Nordstrom’s palpable voice. From just this alone, one could tell this was going to be a night to remember; one could tell from this alone, that it was going to be a night to dwell upon for years to come.
Opening the show was Corpus Christi, Texas natives, Lucid Haven. Lucid Haven, immediately kicking teeth in with their first song of the night, Sinical Soul. Trouncing the crowd with their heightened, perspicacious performance full of double bass & quick speed-metal fingering, giving the crowd their all, Lucid Haven, continued their astonishing night with Reapers Toll; Endless Curse & finishing their set with an ear bleeder by the name of Lord of Lies! Keep your eyes & ears open for this phenomenal MetalCore band, guaranteed to blow your mind!
Following Lucid Haven, was aptly named, SKREWFACE! SKREWFACE gave its hometown venue & its patrons a heavy set that left the crowds face at their feet. Setting the stage on fire with their thrash-metal, SKREWFACE, played God of Thunder. An original track filled with killer drumming, phenomenal vocals and deadly bass riffs that could raise the dead… After God of Thunder SKREWFACE, killed it again with The Nameless, Followed by Screaming in Silence; Annihilate; Cauterize; Dead Weight; Eye of the Storm & leaving the crowd to pick their faces up off the floor, slapping it back onto their skulls with their final song of the evening Strength Beyond Strength.
After SKREWFACE’s set was disassembled, Starset’s equipment took its place… Looking like futuristic Astronauts from a galaxy far away, the band took to the stage enrobed in black spacesuits (except for the front man who was wearing formal clothing) to perform a unique & prodigious set for the crowd who was anxious to see Gemini Syndrome. The band played a full set of amazing original songs full of synthesized symphonies, phenomenal vocal expression, melodic guitar playing & musical conspiracy about future events to come. Wowing the crowd with an unusual, cybernated, keyboard type of instrument & laptop every step of the way!
The time of night everyone waits for had come upon them Starsets stage was taken down and again replaces with more equipment. This time it was replaced with that of Gemini Syndromes. People came as far away as Hays, Kansas to see Gemini Syndrome perform that night. Especially an awesome fellow by the name of Jason who is confined to a motorized wheelchair. From previous experience, this photojournalist decided to bring a couple people along with him (who by chance happen to be fans of Gemini Syndrome) to help protect himself & his camera while he did his job. But once learning of Jason, he decided to have his protection stand by Jason, to insure he had a wonderful night…
Gemini Syndrome took to the stage, and the crowd went completely wild. Opening their set in an unusual way with their outro, Gemini Syndrome played Lux as an intro. Pleasure & Pain played after, followed by 
Syndrome & rocking the house to its foundation with Basement, so hard the power literally shut down. But not before front-man Aaron Nordstrom reached out to a certain, dehydrated girl in the front row, holding her hand through most of the track before said power was rocked out. After a few quick adjustments, & the power was restored Gemini Syndrome continued rocking the crowd of various ages with Falling Apart; El Diablo; Resurrection & Pay for this. Only to shut the house’s power down (Literally) yet again with the hard hitting track, Left of Me.
After the road crew exited the stage from making a couple more adjustments, the night continued with Mourning Star, a song Aaron Nordstrom, dedicates to those who hate certain parts about their self being it mentally or physically. Ending their phenomenal set Gemini Syndrome played Stardust. An amazing hit described by Aaron Nordstrom, to be about his trials, tribulations & rites-of-passage in & around a hotel while growing up in his northern town. A Synners Conversion indeed, ladies & gentlemen. Yet another show that has be chalked down as a MUST see.
Review by: Jared Wingate
Gemini Syndrome
Lucid Haven
Screwface
Starset
Exclusive interview with Gemini Syndrome’s Aaron Nordstrom
We here at soundcheck411.com have an exclusive 1 on 1 interview with front-man Aaron Nordstrom, of Gemini Syndrome!
Jared Wingate: first off let me thank you for taking the time off of your busy schedule to have a chat with me before the show Aaron.
Aaron Nordstrom: It’s my pleasure!
Jared Wingate: This is the third time you all have played Corpus Christi, Texas in less than a year, Have you had any time off and what’s your favorite show so far?
Aaron Nordstrom: Uh, We’ve had a little time off… Not a ton, we were on tour in February with Red & Emphatic for that month, came down here… We had a couple weeks off then we played SXSW. We had another week and a half then we started this tour, so were already off to a good start this year.
Jared Wingate: Sweet, sweet… Which one of those shows would you say were your favorite?
Aaron Nordstrom: Huh, Ummm… I don’t know man, every show is different… Considering the different size venues we’ve played here too. We played here (Corpus Christi) with Five Finger Death Punch, that was a really fun show.
Jared Wingate: Oh man, that was an amazing show!
Aaron Nordstrom: Uh, I just totally love playing Texas every time we come down here…
Jared Wingate: I can completely understand that.
Jared Wingate: There are lots of wild fans out there, as a matter of fact a few of them followed me here today. What’s the craziest fan(s) you can remember?
Aaron Nordstrom: Oh boy (laughter ensues) I have kind of a funny story from a couple nights ago, we were in Missouri, this guy came to me after the show as I was standing by the merch talking to a couple people or whatever… he came up to me and he tells me: “Dude, I’ve been telling people I’m in the band, I got ladies lined up waiting to sleep with me after the show so thanks bro! (Hardy Laughter ensues both Aaron & Jared) so he had been rolling around all night telling people “I’m in the band “and these chicks are like “OH MY GOD!” I don’t know how crazy that was but it made me laugh. I’m standing there thinking, “Good for you I guess dude, but don’t be going to the bar running a tab on us”
(Laughter continues quite a bit)
Jared Wingate: Oh shit man, no shit! (laughter continues)
Jared Wingate: Alright this is a hard one to answer, who is your favorite band that you’ve toured with?
Aaron Nordstrom: Oh man that is hard one… Um…. Um… I don’t know if I can answer that! I mean Mushroomhead, Device, Non Point, Five Finger Death Punch, Drowning Pool… All awesome bands tour with, super cool guy’s man… You know Mushroomhead, Device & Drowning Pool, all invited me on stage every night so I got to sing with them, so that was a big honor for me.
Jared Wingate: Oh yeah!
Aaron Nordstrom: So yeah we have been really, really blessed to tour with such great people.
Jared Wingate: Oh that’s too cool man, way too cool.
Jared Wingate: Um, what do you and the other band member like to do as a hobby on your downtime?
Aaron Nordstrom: Uummm, some of us like to work out, I practice martial arts when I can, I’ve been doing Kung Fu for quite some time some time now. Mikes into lifting & what not. Um personally when I have downtime I like to play guitar or some piano, practice that stuff… If I’m home I like to hang out with my dog, you know…Just do the domestic thing when I’m home. It’s hard to get any real downtime when you’re on tour so…
Jared Wingate: Right, right.
Aaron Nordstrom: Yesterday we went out & shot some pool, had some dinner you know…. Tried to relax…
Jared Wingate: Right, cool… Good good.
Jared Wingate: Could you explain Stardust to us, and what it means to you?
Aaron Nordstrom: Sure! Stardust was a Motel in the town I grew up in…
Jared Wingate: Yes.
Aaron Nordstrom: And uh, I had a lot of interesting experiences there as a kid in my late teens & early 20’s you know…
Jared Wingate: Right.
Aaron Nordstrom: Um some good, some bad… A lot of hotel parties you know, uh…
Jared Wingate: Yes
Aaron Nordstrom: A lot of madness and just some new experiences to me as a youngster.
Jared Wingate: Right.
Aaron Nordstrom: I guess the song is just kind of remembering that time & kind of a thank you to those people who helped shape me & got me to be in the place I am at today, you know what I mean?
Jared Wingate: Right, I completely understand.
Aaron Nordstrom: Kind of a memoire if you will.
Jared Wingate: Yeah I can totally understand that.
Jared Wingate: Every time you guys come to Corpus, you bring it big… Are you guys ready for Zeros tonight?
Aaron Nordstrom: Oh Yeah! (Laughter)
Jared Wingate: Oh Yeah!? (Laughter)
Aaron Nordstrom: Oh Yeah! Had a nice day off yesterday, we’re well rested… Good to go!
Jared Wingate: Good!
Jared Wingate: There are only a few performers that have the lyrical genius you possess… Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Maynard James Keenan of Tool & Brandon Boyd of Incubus… Who influences you to write so, intellectually so?
Aaron Nordstrom: Whoa, Wow (modest laughter) Thank you for that, putting me in that category. Well um, lyrically Maynard has always been an influence for sure. I’m a big fan of like uh… Jonas Renkse, from Kataonia; Mikael Åkerfeldt, from Opeth. I especially like them because their… Not… Originally… like English speaking, first language people?
Jared Wingate: Right, right.
Aaron Nordstrom: So for them to come up with the lyrics they do (laughing in amazement) is really impressive to me… Steven Wilson, from Porcupine Tree, is another really good one. Um, but over the years man, I’ve listened to so much stuff even Type-o Negatives, Peter Steele to Brandon Boyd of Incubus I was a big Incubus fan for a long time… Just a lot of really big, big influences in my life man.
Jared Wingate: Sweet! Well that about wraps it up man, thank you so much for giving us your time today, to answer a few questions for us at Soundcheck411.com Aaron!
Aaron Nordstrom: Sweet! It’s all good! My pleasure!
