David Drouin of the band Cold Engines has been on a long musical journey. Drouin jump started Cold Engines a year and a half ago right after his previous, hugely popular, award winning band, The Brew were calling it quits. Drouin, having had numerous songs he’d like to record, called up a few friends from his hometown area of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
“It’s the same drummer. He’s my best friend,” Drouin said. “We both walked away from The Brew, and within a couple weeks we had put this thing together and started recording.” Cold Engines has Drouin on lead vocals and guitar, Aaron Zaroulis on drums, Geoff Pilkington on percussion, and Amelia Gormely on bass. Gormley, due to professional commitments, was recently replaced by Eric Reingold.
Many in the local music industry have labeled Cold Engines an “alt-country” band, but, according to Drouin, they don’t use country elements any more than any other classic rock band, like when Led Zeppelin recorded “Hot Dog” or many of Neil Young’s songs.
“Classic rock seems to be the best way to put it,” he said. “Bands in the vein of Zeppelin and Kansas, they could cover a wide variety of rock music. I like to think that’s what we do as well.”
Less than a year and a half into their existence, Cold Engines has been nominated by the New England Music Awards for Rock Act Of The Year. This speed of light momentum of his band surprises Drouin.
“I never expect anybody to pay attention to anything I’m doing,” he said. “So any time anyone shows interest, it’s surprising. I do it because that’s what I want to do. It is surprising. There’s so much music out there. People are pretty saturated.”
Cold Engines have released three full lengths CD s in the 15 months they’ve been together. Drouin recorded them all within 12 months but staggered the releases over 15 months because he thought it was a little too much at once for the listeners, maybe. The material for the three CD s were newly written and recorded for Cold Engines, with no leftover from The Brew being used.
“When I walked away from The Brew, I just started writing a lot,” he said. “Once we got warmed up to that, writing every week, every time we meet up we try to write. That’s the number one thing we do. With 52 weeks in the year, that adds up to a lot of songs.”
Paying the bills for all that studio time is feat in and of itself. Drouin’s friend Tim Phillips owns and operates Phillips Sounds in Rowley, Massachusetts, so Drouin got himself a good deal. Drouin also plays out constantly, sometimes five shows a week, solo shows, duo shows with drummer Aaron Zaroulis, and shows with Cold Engines.
“I constantly put it back into making the albums,” he said. “I’d say 50 cents on the dollar. I still have to eat too.”
Drouin derives most of his income from being a full time musician. “I’m booking shows. I’m playing shows. I’m recording albums,” he said. “I’m also a full time dad, referencing his toddler daughter who could be heard trying to get his attention during this interview.
Drouin has Cold Engines playing out all over New England. He owes much of that success to old connections. “That’s where being in a touring band for 12 years really paid off,” he exclaimed. “I had established a lot of relationships with promoters and venues over the last 12 years with The Brew.” Drouin still has their telephone numbers to call and see if they have any open dates when Cold Engines comes through their territory.
Cold Engines has played out so often that they’ve proven themselves in many of those rooms, insuring a stable foothold in many. Like any local band, they still have to put on their salesman hats and tell potential new venues what their marketing plan is and to let them hear some music. “The whole nine yards,” Drouin said.
One of the Cold Engines drummers is 25 years old while the others are 30 even. Drouin has been playing in bands since he was 13. He started The Brew at age 16 and finalized their lineup when he was 18.
“That’s where I learned most of how to record an album,” he said. “We recorded in Virginia, Nashville, and Los Angeles, everywhere,” he said. “That was a national band that worked constantly.”
The Brew had been courted by a lot of labels but they felt a do it yourself approach was best during those frantic times of the record industry. “The band split up, so who knows what the right move was in retrospective,” Drouin said.
When asked where he’d like to see Cold Engines go from here, Drouin said he’s already where he wants to be. He gets to meet up with his friends in their motorcycle garage to play music and make records. “Whether anyone liked it or not, that’s what I’d like to do. I already get to do that. I’m pretty much living my dream.”
