26-year-old Dean Gustin thought he had it all figured out. A few years after earning his Red Seal from Camosun, he was really happy working with sheet metal.
“It was a good union job and I was a union trustee and then everything kind of fell apart,” he admits. “I was in a lot of pain and I couldn’t be on my feet all day.”
Gustin says that a bad back forced him to rethink his career path, so he returned to Camosun for the fall semester with hopes of adding some science to his skill set.
“I just started the Mechanical Engineering Technology Access program,” says Gustin. “I hope to move up into the tech program next year starting in September, but this is done in April.”
It’s a fairly common story; it’s Gustin’s side hustle as bassist in the local doom metal band Hail the Void that is more noteworthy. It started out when Gustin met the band and found out they were looking for a bass player. He had always been a guitarist but thought it was worth a shot, so he auditioned and things took off in a hurry. Gustin says his bandmates soon asked him to book a week off to record an album.
“Wow, I did not see that coming,” says Gustin. “I didn’t think we’d be recording. I just grew up jamming in people’s garages for the past 15 years.”
Once they released their self-titled debut in 2020, Gustin says it was put into several Spotify lists.
“It was underground at first and then it ended up getting thrown into the doom music mix and we ended up winning best debut doom album for 2020 [at the Doomed and Stoned Awards],” says Gustin.
This all happened during COVID lockdown. The band couldn’t play any shows so they recorded a live video and the story took an incredible turn.
“I think it was under 500 views but Ozzy Osbourne’s bass player [Rob “Blasko” Nicholson] saw the Live at Silverside Sound video,” says Gustin. “Blasko reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, I’m partnering with Ripple Music. I like your band and I’m wondering if you guys would like to do an album with us.’”
Hail the Void jumped at the chance and Gustin says they were given a year to come up with another album; they recorded it in August 2021 and it’s going to be released this coming February. The band is two years old now but because of COVID, they only recently played their first show in Vancouver, and their first Victoria gig will be at the Carlton Club on October 28. Hail the Void is in talks with their label for booking a tour for the summer, according to Gustin.
Still, Gustin says he had lots of friends who were in bands and he saw the chaos in the lifestyle and really didn’t want to be a part of it.
“I didn’t want that in my life,” says Gustin. “I got bored and I had this opportunity to go and try out and we started jamming and fell in love. Something came to life when we picked up our instruments and it fell apart when we traded instruments.”
Gustin says he’s excited about the band but he’s pretty open with his bandmates about his priorities.
“I’ve got to put school first,” says Gustin. “I’ll have to juggle it a bit but I need to prioritize my life. Who knows? Maybe the music thing will take off, but I think we have to sell more records than the genre will allow, so it’s always going to be a passion project.”