Some Fear None does it all for the fans

Some Fear None’s brand of hard rock hasn’t lured much local coverage over the past six years, but that’s never stopped droves of Sacramento music lovers from tuning in anyway.

Fans who have been following the four-piece since its garage band days have an eventful 2016 to look proudly upon. Some milestones: a Sammie win for Artist of the Year; a headlining gig at Concerts in the Park on Friday, July 22; a Thunder Valley Casino Resort show with Papa Roach on Saturday, July 30; and an opening slot at Aftershock Festival in October.

Aftershock is a nice payoff for a band that has stuck around and paid its dues, but its members aren’t the only ones who can bask in the glory. The fans, nicknamed the “Sum” of Some Fear None, can revel as well.

“What are [the fans] going to be proud of? Us going and playing in their garage? Not necessarily,” singer Nathan Giguiere said. “Playing Aftershock? They’re going to be proud of that. Because they earned that, too, and we’re representing them.”

That fan-focused attitude has remained since the band formed its current lineup in 2011. Jason Weisker (drums) and Chuck Carrasco (guitar, bass) formed Some Fear None after performing together in Sacramento bands throughout the 2000s. After some lineup changes, they recruited Giguiere and Gina Salatino, his sister-in-law, to share guitar and bass duties.

The band released its first EP in 2013, Break Hold and Elevate, an eight-song sampler of alternative ballads and moshers that feels like home for fans of Deftones and Taproot. Its sophomore album, 2015’s To Live and Die, showcases a bigger sound ready for national airplay.

The album opens rough and sentimental with “Tell Me When You Want It To Stop.” Salatino lights a match with a less-is-more, overdriven guitar hook cooled by a softer bass line leading the verse, played by Carrasco. Giguiere’s voice echoes overhead, commanding but with a subtle, soothing rasp. The arrangement is held together by Weisker’s tight, dynamic drum work. It’s heavy, sincere and soulful, and it’s easily imagined filling arenas.

That’s not to say they were trying to write according to what could sell. Authenticity means everything to “the Sum.”

“We prefer to have massive exposure, but not at the cost of abandoning why we do what we do,” Giguiere said.

Putting on the best show possible is tantamount for the group, and surprising the audience with guest artists is one way. At Concerts in the Park in 2014, Gabriel Cheng, son of the late Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, joined Some Fear None to play his father’s bass guitar for an in memoriam cover of the Sacramento legends’ song “Be Quiet and Drive.” The band is tight-lipped about another local surprise this year, and if history indicates anything, fans will want be there.

To Giguiere, Some Fear None has become an independent entity, and with it the obligation to serve the people who’ve cared about its musical journey.

“It’s a little bit of a responsibility,” Giguiere said. “We started off doing something, and we’re still doing that same something, and now we have people that have invested in us. … Now, doesn’t that translate to some sort of responsibility to follow through with putting on what they’ve believed in?”