FIGHTMASTER

San Francisco band Fightmaster are a band equipped to sing from the point of view of both genders. They have two vocalists, Duke Fightmaster and Lesley Frost, who sing separately as well as in harmony. Their singing and folk-rock sound harkens back to the days of Jefferson Airplane and Fleetwood Mac. Surrounded by a music scene full of punk, grunge, rap, metal, pop, and rapcore, Fightmaster play in none of these styles, preferring to go their own way with music that is gentle and melodic but also lively and sometimes satirical. Guitarist Duke Fightmaster grew up in Mission Viejo, CA, where he was, by his own description, “a destructive problem kid” who later mellowed out to focus on songwriting. His influences included Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, X, Wilco, and Richard and Linda Thompson. He played in several Bay area bands but by the summer of 1998 had all but given up on music — until he lucked into a romantic encounter. He agreed to play at a gig with a friend’s band and during the rehearsal, he found himself singing with the band’s backup harmony singer Lesley Frost. Their performance together was the beginning of a romance that would also become a creative partnership. Frost quit the band she was in to join with Duke in forming a new band. She also acquired a new skill, learning to play bass after the band had given up on finding a bass player. Bob Marcucci, a former high school football star from San Rafael, was discovered by Frost on an Internet site and was the first and last player to try out for the job of Fightmaster’s drummer. The band recorded their first album, Closer Now, at a studio in Oakland called the Wally Sound, which has seen the birth of albums by bands such as Tarnation and Dieselhed. They have played occasional shows at San Francisco venues like the Paradise Lounge and the Hotel Utah and released of 2001′s Closer Now. ~ Lynne Bronstein