Doomriders.

IT'S A TRUISM that all bass players secretly want to step out of the murky shadows at the back of the stage and front their own bands--trade in the keys to the rhythm section for six-string glory and scream their heads off. Nate Newton, despite playing for Converge, one of the most interesting and beloved hardcore/metal bands around, is no exception. He says he loves his day job, but still has an itch that only fronting a band can scratch. Enter Doomriders: part Thin Lizzy, part Motorhead, and all skate rock.

"I PLAYED GUITAR before I joined Converge," says Newton, who was a member of the seminal Virginia Beach hardcore band Jesuit in the '90s and plays guitar in the uber-heavy studio project Old Man Gloom on the side 'l just played bass to go on tour. I always wanted to play guitar in my own band.'

Fellow' Bostonians Jebb Riley (There Were Wires), Chris Pupecki (Cast Iron Hike). and Chris Bevalaqua (Hallraker), skateboarders all, were also down for starting a new band with a laid-back attitude. Bevalaqua recently left the band and was replaced by former Cave In drummer JR Connors.

"These dudes in Doomriders, we've been friends forever," says Newton. "I said, 'We should start a band and go on the road, skate, and break shit.'"

Playing with Doomriders is a bit of a vacation for Newton, who says the writing process is a lot different than with Converge.

"Converge is intricate." says Newton. "Doomriders, the whole jam aspect of it, is a little more akin to my thought process. With Converge, Kurt (Ballou, the band's guitarist) writes something and says, 'There you go Write a bass part and it better be good.' The writing I do for Doomriders happens from jamming at band practice when we can turn up loud."

Doomriders found its sound in the most organic way possible. The members brought all their influences to bear in the writing process and avoided trying to over think what they were doing.

I always go into record stores trying to find this one record that's rock and punk and metal, all at the same time, and I could never find it," says Newton. "That's what we wanted to do. We'd write songs and we'd be like, That's good, but do you guys want to be a punk band or a metal band?' We realized that we wanted to play all kinds of music."

Doomriders Black Thunder is available from Deathwish Inc, while the vinyl version is on Magic Bullet.

Have the Doomriders been touring lately? And with who?

We just finished an East Coast tour with Coliseum, Saviours, and Young Widows. We toured Japan and then the west coast in October, with Boris.

Out of all your travels, where are the best strip clubs?

That's a hard one. If you're going for sketch, Amsterdam and Prague. If you're going for upscale good looking ladies, Vegas or Miami. If you want to get grossed out, Atlanta or New Orleans. Not that I go to strip clubs or anything; that's just what I heard.

Are strippers more into you guys since you play in a metal band?

Have you looked at us? We can't even get women to talk to us. Plus, I think the whole "I'm in a band" thing doesn't really work unless you're in Fallout Boy. And my wedding ring doesn't help matters.

If you could play a show with a famous skate rock band, which one would it be?

The Big Boys, and I would ask them to play "Red/Green."

So you must make a lot of money--when are you building a concrete bowl in the backyard?

Hardy fuckin' har. For one to build a bowl in one's backyard, one would need a backyard first. When I sell out and write a song for a horror movie soundtrack, I'll then finance my mansion and build a private skate facility. Until then, road trips.

You guys have a track on P-Stone's next Thrasher video, Shotgun.

Berard may have had something to do with it. We're stoked. As cheesy as it sounds, I've always wanted my music in a skate video.

Is the band ever going to come out on stage on black horses with black capes and swords and whips?

That's the old shit; we're on the next level now. We're gonna come out on polar bears. A polar bear will fuck you up good.