Cortland native charged about working in Battery

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

When Jason Shrodek was a kid growing up in Cortland, he’d spend hours playing guitar to his favorite bands.

Note for note and solo for solo, the rebellious youth found comfort and direction jamming along. Little did he know one day he’d make a living touring the country while doing pretty much the same thing with Metallica tribute band Battery.

“I remember when I was growing up I was playing a lot of Metallica songs, and I guess now I know the reason why,” laughed Shrodek, calling from Sturgis, S.D.

As lead guitarist in a Metallica tribute band, does that mean that Shrodek considers himself a disciple of lead guitarist Kirk Hammett?

“I don’t know about that,” Shrodek said. “I almost see myself as a musician in training. I’m still kind of a reckless guitar player, but over the years in watching Metallica videos and listening to solos, I kind of know his techniques and when I don’t know something perfect, I know how to fake it.”

Musical journey

His musical path began in local metal act Kerruption, which played around the region, including shows in Cleveland, Akron and Warren. It was during one show in the late ’90s that the group shared the stage with Battery. After catching wind that the cover band needed a new guitarist, the decision was easy for then teenager Shrodek.

“First of all, I was young and I was like, ‘I can tour all around the country and play all of these gigs?’ So that was a pretty good feeling,” said Shrodek, who attended Lakeview High School. “That was pretty cool, and Kerruption was just staying in the area and not showing much sign of going anywhere, so I pretty much went with that for a while.”

After living his own personal “Garage Days,” Shrodek returned to Northeast Ohio and started Entice. Eventually he returned to Battery performing double duty with Entice opening with the tribute band. However, last year Entice called it quits, and Battery again became Shrodek’s focus.

“It’s pretty much just fun to do,” Shrodek said. “I enjoy being on stage. I like going out, seeing the country, doing a lot of traveling and pretty much doing anything I want.”

Namesake song

Having admittedly forgotten more Metallica songs than he knows — at one time Shrodek said he knew the band’s entire catalog — the Northeast Ohio native said Battery has roughly 100 James Hetfield and Co. tracks in its repertoire. Ironically, it’s the band’s namesake that proves to be the most complex to pull off live.

“I’d have to say one of the hardest ones we do is ‘Battery’ itself,” Shrodek said. “It’s just the timing and the riffs and putting it together with the drums. It’s always been kind of strange putting it together the way the timing is.”

Shrodek said the band’s set list varies from night to night and depends on the venue.

“Some clubs want to hear ‘Enter Sandman’ or ‘Sad but True,’ and they get upset if we don’t play them. Some of the biker bars want to hear ‘Turn the Page’ or they get upset,” said Shrodek. “Then we go some places and they want to hear ‘Battery.’ That’s more like the hardcore clubs and the hardcore fans.”

Living up to labels

Battery, which actually opened a few dates for Metallica in the ‘90s before Shrodek joined, plays roughly 100 dates a year around the country. While there are other “Ride the Lighting” cover bands out there, where does Battery rank?

“I don’t really think of us as being a great thing or anything,” Shrodek said. “We always get complimented, saying that we’re the best Metallica tribute band and one of the tightest bands, but I never try to label us as the best.”

He quickly added, “But I know definitely we don’t suck. I know that much.”