 | | | District band members, from left: Marco Stassi, Miles Elze and Connor O'Toole Photos provided | | | | | | Sometimes big things can happen from the smallest of actions. When 18-year-old Lafayette drummer Miles Elze, who is interning at recording studio East Bay Recorders in Oakland, saw Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo walk by, he said he "just had to call out his name and ask for a picture."
The two musicians ended up talking about music and Elze's band, District, as well as Trujillo's son's band, Otto. Tye Trujillo, 18, is known for playing with world famous metal band Korn when he was just 12 years old, and recently went on tour as the bassist for punk band Suicidal Tendencies.
"When he left I thought that was one of the coolest things ever to happen to me," Elze said, "even though he's probably never going to remember me."
About a month later Elze got a call from the producer at the studio where he works, and the producer said, "Hey Miles, I hope you're sitting down because Rob Trujillo just called and wants your band to open for his son's band." On Dec. 16 District performed at the Starline Social Club in Oakland as part of the Metallica 40th Anniversary week.
District was formed in 2017 when guitarist and vocalist Marco Stassi (who is currently a senior at De La Salle High School) and Elze met for the first time at Ryan Lendt Studios in downtown Lafayette. "It only took a couple of days for Marco and I to become best friends and it's remained that way ever since," Elze said. "We later asked our friend Connor O'Toole (who attends Acalanes High School), who had similar music taste as us to learn the bass and play with us at the 2019 Lafayette Teen Rock Band Showcase where we came in second place."
Elze's band, District, has played at The Pheonix Theater in Petaluma in 2021, UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Virtual Prom Performance in 2021, the Lafayette Art And Wine Festival in 2017, the Battle of the Bands Oakland in 2019 (first place), and has done a few high school performances at Acalanes, De La Salle, and Clayton Valley high schools. Elze said the Dec. 16 show was to be their biggest yet.
"The most exciting aspect about this opportunity for us is to make an impression on an audience that we've never played in front of before," Elze said, "and to know that some of our musical heroes in Metallica will be watching is absolutely beyond us, so we are very lucky."
District has two music releases: the 2019 LP "What I May Find" and the 2021 "Outdated - EP" which was recorded with Grammy-winning producer Michael Rosen. For more information about District, visit: https://www.districtrocks.com/; For information about Ottto see: https://www.otttoband.com/ |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA