Page 8 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE NOVEMBER 2014

RGG November 2014 - p.8
UK Exclusive with Brandon Mendenhall
from The Mendenhall Experiment.
MENDENHALL
EXPERIMENT
THE
Brandon Mendenhall: We are a band primarily
focused on raising disability awareness It is my
experiment as a person with Cerabral Palsy and
disability to see if I can put a band together
write some songs and make it in the music
business It involves growing up and learning
how to play with my certain set of parameters
given that traditional chords are harder for me
so we down tune so I can do simple bar chords
rhythms heavy stuff I knew at a very young
age that it wasn't going to be easy to just find a
band that was missing a guitarist So for me it
was a case of write some songs put a band
together and see if we can push forward and be
successful that's what The Mendenhall
Experiment is and I think we've proved that it
works and it’s becoming very successful We’ve
formed this band and while we are out there
playing and doing what we do we are also
trying to raise disability awareness and be
mindful of people that have disabilities and
maybe try to give them chance and opportunity
that a lot of the time people overlook
Nick J Townsend: You're inspiring people now
let's not hide this fact; you've got Cerabral Palsy
but let's face it you're a rockstar And that's the
thing because you can't pretend you aren't now
Number one: I only talk to rockstars and
Number two: You've got the deal So now the
world’s going to be hearing your music I
imagine that a lot of people doubted that was
possible
Brandon Mendenhall: When I was growing up
there was tonnes of people that doubted me
including my own father at one point I'd just
gotten my first guitar and I had to hide it from
him I was working in McDonalds making
French fries and flipping burgers; the only job I
could get in my hometown because
unfortunately in Illinois sixty miles south of
Chicago things are a lot more conservative in
that part of the country; so it was harder for me
in a small town atmosphere to even find work
like five to eight hours a week minimum
because they didn't believe in my capabilities
Here at RGG we like to give you the latest music news and Los Angeles
Band The Mendenhall Experiment are aiming their sights for Europe
Founding member and guitarist Brandon Mendenhall who has had
Cerabral Palsy since birth has fought and defied all critics and cynics
become skillful on guitar moved from Illinois to LA formed a band
supported acts such as Megadeth and Korn and now has a world wide
distribution deal His band The Mendenhall Experiment is an inspiration
to anyone with a disability and a shining example of battling against the
odds in a difficult music climate RGG magazine's Nick J Townsend caught
up with Brandon in Hollywood