you are three A singer, guitarist and bass player from Saint-Georges-de-Beauce. A drummer living in Australia. The young hard rock band Deraps, which released their first work last summer, dreams of making a living from their music for as long as possible.
The trio have just embarked on a nine-show tour of Quebec. He will open for Sword tonight at the Corona in Montreal, Sunday at the Impérial Bell in Quebec, January 20th in Alma and January 21st in Trois-Rivières.
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” said the 25-year-old guitarist-singer in a phone interview.
Deraps will perform at the Stonedead Festival in Newark, England on August 26th with Blue Öyster Cult, Therapy? and The Answer. A European tour is in the works and preparations for a series of shows in the United States are underway.
“We were talked about in classic rock, Burn! and screamers. Our album received ratings of 8, 9 and 10 out of 10 and five stars. We didn’t really know what to expect. people stumbled. There’s a big buzz and it’s going very well,” the guitarist-singer confessed to the formation.
Jacob Deraps, William Lachance and Josh Gallagher dream of making a living from music.
“We want to make a living from it and do what we love. If we can do this all the time, I’ll be a lucky guy,” said the man, who is sponsored by Gibson Guitars and its Kramer Division and Ernie Balls Strings.
Influenced by Van Halen
Deraps, their debut album, was released on June 17th on German label Metalville. The trio directed music videos for five of the album’s eleven tracks. On this opus, the band takes up Sweet’s classic Ballroom Blitz.
Heavily influenced by Van Halen, the trio draws inspiration from hard rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s.
“Van Halen is our favorite band. We don’t hide it and we have no problem with it. There are also several different styles on the album,” he said.
Deraps is the singer and guitarist’s real last name. The young musician, self-taught, received a grant entitled Zappa Fellowship Award in 2016, presented by Dweezil Zappa, son of the famous Frank.
“Prior to forming the group, Dweezil had watched one of my videos on YouTube and commented on it. I had the chance to meet him when his formation Zappa Plays Zappa came to the 2015 summer festival. He then texted me that I was on the list of finalists for this scholarship and he then informed me that I had won,” he said.
An Australian drummer
This scholarship consisted of a two-week, fully-funded stay at a music camp in the US state of Montana.
“I was 19 years old. I’ve attended shows and been able to perfect my playing by jamming with multiple guitarists. I then had the opportunity to go on stage with him when his group came to the Imperial Bell,” he said.
It was September 19, 2016. Jacob Deraps had played Van Halen’s solo Eruption and also joined the band for the encores to Frank Zappa’s Willie the Pimp.
Australian Josh Gallagher left the Australian summer for the Quebec winter for this series of nine concerts.
“Josh had seen my Van Halen videos on YouTube. He attended one of my shows in 2017 and then decided to join the group with William. We hadn’t seen each other since 2019 due to the pandemic. The tour started well. We broke the ice and it’s fun,” he said.
All information about the trio is available online at derapsofficial.com