Today we’d like to introduce you to Corporate Citizen.
Corporate Citizen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Our three original members, Steve O’Brien, Bob Meder, and Dan Achin, got together to write the types of songs we have enjoyed listening to since our youth. Bands like H2O, Kid Dynamite, Minor Threat, and Bad Religion had big impacts on all of us and we wanted to try to recapture that vibe in our songs.
Over two years and a few line up changes we have played over 30 shows and released two EP’s. This year we began working with El Topo Records out of Tijuana. Working with Carlos and El Topo has been a great experience that has opened up some doors for our band that may not have been available otherwise. We have been able to open up for some legendary bands like The Freeze and Ignite which was an honor for us for sure.
Today the band consists of Dan Achin on drums, Mike Ruggerio on bass, Bob Meder on vocals, and our trio of guitar players, Steve O’Brien, Steve Diaz, and Louis Ramsey. We put on a very energetic live show where we try to get everyone in the venue involved since live music is best when it is a shared experience by all in attendance. At this point, we are just trying to have fun and make music that our 18 year old selves would have loved.
As the shows keep getting better we have had the pleasure of meeting so many great people in the San Diego music scene. The talent in San Diego for music, art, photography, and promotion is outstanding. Plus you have people like Jason York and Chris Mazzola reaching out and helping the community through Punk Rock Food Drive. All in all, there is no place we would rather be playing music than here in the San Diego area.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been pretty smooth compared to other bands’ stories I guess. We don’t have any “got stranded in the desert”, “got our stuff stolen from our practice space”, or “got arrested in Kansas” stories. Our biggest struggles probably come from trying to make still being in a band work while also having full time careers and families to take care of.
Please tell us about your music.
Corporate Citizen is a band that harkens back to an era where there were packed shows and kids jumping off the stage into circle pits. We specialize in writing music that is fast and aggressive and catchy. That comes across at our shows where we do give it all we’ve got and had a great time doing it.
We are most proud of the music we make. Steve O’Brien, our chief writer, has a great knack for our coming to practice with a song done from front to back but then also being flexible enough to take in all the members’ ideas and see what happens. The writing experience for Corporate Citizen is very fast and very fun to be a part of.
What sets Corporate Citizens apart from others is the style of music we play paired with our live show.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For Corporate Citizen, success is writing more music and playing more shows. There is no quantifiable benchmark that we are looking to accomplish. Just getting together and rocking out is success enough. Maybe opening up for some more national acts would be fun!
Contact Info:
- Phone: 7608094621
- Email: corporatecitizensd@gmail.com
- Instagram: @corporatecitizen2017
- Facebook: corporatecitizen
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChX_cK2sZnjSw1rF8Nb1Kgg
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