Biography

1. Serving or designed to destroy. To destroy intentionally.

2. to do away with or cause the undoing of.
Just the opposite of “destruct,” the term and band name RESTRUCT.
Brought into existence by Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Freeman
Belmont. The name signifies the rebuilding of something. Building is
exactly what this band is doing, while growing closer every day. This
group of four self taught musicians have been playing together for less
than a year and yet are completely in sync. “If I had to use one word
to describe RESTRUCT as a band, I would say we’re all brothers,” says
Freeman in his Video electronic press kit. He began to put the group
together in 2005, and now feels along with everyone else that this is
the winning formula. “We all get along great, Creating really good
vibes,” he said. “Jason and Noah have known each other forever, and
Colin and I go back three years now.” As the brotherly bond grows
stronger, the music they have been creating along the way more than
speaks for itself.
During their short existence, RESTRUCT has already attracted the
attention and official sponsorship of Rockstar Energy Drink. They have
also caught the ear of Hip-Hop legend E-40 and his Sick Wid It Records
label. The hotbed that is the Northwest has already given birth to so
many of the great talents of the modern rock era. We believe RESTRUCT
will soon be added to that list as a force to be reckoned with.
Picking up a guitar for the first time at age twelve, Freeman says he
always has had a thing for music. Freeman with his natural musical
talent has continued to progress over the years with other instruments
Hoping to get a head start on his career eighteen year old Freeman
joined the Navy. On the USS Jefferson City SSN 759, while stationed at
Point Loma in San Diego he would play acoustic music for his shipmates.
“I always played guitar but it was more of a hobby or outlet. Then
after going through a really bad break up with a girl it just became
more than that,” he explains. Freeman admittedly was using music as a
form of self therapy while coming out of this bad relationship. It was
this bad situation that made him realize that music was his destiny
which leads him to pursue his dream full steam ahead.
As soon as Freeman was done with his submarine tour he went home to
Vancouver and immediately began writing, playing and performing. While
playing some local bar shows, he met a band called Dropout Theory with
whom he knew the drummer. The band took him under their wing and helped
him get other shows. While attending one of their “Battle of the Bands”
concerts, Freeman saw Colin play guitar for the first time. “It just
blew me away,” Freeman said. “He was really good, crazy good. He is the
best I’ve ever seen live” he continued “Colin put on a great show.” If
you ask twenty three year old Colin he humbly says “Guitar playing is
like an Olympic sport. I know I can play guitar alright, but I don’t
consider myself God of guitar like he does.” admits Colin. Further down
the road after Dropout Theory broke up, Colin was busy pursuing his
education while Freeman who had already been subtly trying to recruit
him made it an all out push to make him part of the band. “I knew he
was really determined and wanted me in the band,” Colin said. “I pretty
much knew then I had to join him, I could have moved to Tahiti and he
would hunt me down, I had no choice, I was the first one in.”
Freeman and Colin started playing together as a band in early 2007.
After going through a couple of drummers, Jason joined the band to play
bass. Now having been with RESTRUCT for a little over a year, Jason is
easily the most experienced member of the group at thirty eight years
old. He was previously part of a pretty successful band called Trip,
who toured with 80’s metal giants Great White in 2002. After a tragic
fire in a club in Rhode Island that took many lives and made national
headlines, he and many of his musical cohorts just couldn’t move on. “I
was kind of musically wounded,” Jason said. “I was staying away from
bands all together when this thing came along. It inspired me to play
again. I feel like I’m in a great place.” Meeting Freeman for the first
time, Jason was given the task of learning fourteen songs within a
week. He accomplished this and they began playing venues from there.
Although he makes it a point to say that all members of the band are
equal brothers, Jason knows that with his experience the others do look
to him at times for guidance. “People may see Jason and think his age
sets us apart, but it doesn’t. Everybody in the band looks up to Jason
because of what he’s been through,” Noah said. “I feel like they are
all right there with me, the other guys go out of their way to make me
feel young,” Jason adds with a laugh, which draws laughter from the
others.
The final piece of the puzzle was twenty five year old Noah, who like
Freeman is also an Iraq War veteran and fresh out of the military. Noah
took over the drumming duties for the band just over six months ago,
after finding their previous drummers didn’t fit the direction of the
group. Jason who has known Noah for seven years knew he was qualified
for the job. During a chance meeting at Noah’s house in San Diego, he
and Freeman collaborated on some music and the permanent mold of
RESTRUCT was formed. “I laid a couple beats down for him,” Noah said.
“He programmed the drums with a bunch of crazy double kicks and stuff;
I banged that out for him and I just saw him light up. It was pretty
much a done deal from there.” The band sealed the deal as this
collective by playing their first show together the day before
Halloween, October 2008.
The greatest asset to the band besides their raw talent and camaraderie
is their versatility and the wide spectrum in which their music spans.
“We’re pretty versatile; every song is not about the same thing, that’s
something I try to avoid as a writer,” Freeman said. “I find
inspiration from a ton of different things. I’ve got songs about
politics, and obviously the standard stuff, love and hate. Everybody
can find a piece that they can relate to.”
RESTRUCT’s sound has been described by just about everyone who has
heard it, both fans and industry, as something that is so catchy and
mainstream that at this point it’s not a matter of if, but when they
will make their impact on the world. The band themselves probably
explained it best, Jason said “it’s mainstream but it identifies with a
huge spectrum of people. It’s not something that’s specific to one
group, it seems like it’s something that young and old can identify
with the lyrics. It’s very marketable.” Colin explained in further
detail “it’s mainstream, kind of like modern hard rock, but there’s
stuff in there that’s like pure 80’s metal, that’s the stuff Noah and I
really like. Freeman’s more into modern stuff. His song writing and his
voice are really mainstream, but then we have songs where there are
riffs and there are guitar solos that sounds like it comes from 80’s
thrash metal bands. It’s sort of a mix of new and old hard rock.” “We
can be hard rock and we can also be all acoustic, super soft, not
mellow, but with a little edge,” Freeman added. “My goal on the record
is to make it where you can listen all the way through and the flow
will take you all different directions.”
The group who has already been compared to a wide variety of highly
successful international superstar acts like Nickelback, Staind, 311,
Daughtry, Tool, Disturbed, Trapt, Three Days Grace and even legends
Metallica and Pantera. The group says they can’t be mad when they are
compared to someone successful. “If somebody compares you to a
successful band you must be doing something right,” Colin said. When
listening to the album, People say they’ve never heard anything like
it, but at the same time it seems familiar. That’s what makes it easy
to take in.”
The debut album, “Built Back up from Self Destruction,” is shaping into
something great. “Everybody has a different favorite song,” states
Freeman, which again calls to the diversity of the music. The two that
have been called the most marketable are “Sex Slave” and “Alcohol.”
Some of the band’s other favorites are “Peeling Skin” and “Know Me
Now.” The only problem at this point seems to be deciding what will
make the album. “Freeman’s got a wealth of material, it took us a long
time to pick the songs we were going use for this album,” Jason said.
“With Freeman being so prolific we’ll have plenty of great songs for
the next album also.” Freeman already has hundreds of songs written,
and continues to compile more, faster than the band can even learn
them.
Currently RESTRUCT seems to have a universal goal of finishing their
album and making it the best possible release it can be. They are also
concentrating on taking things one step at a time. But they won’t be
slowing down at all; Freeman is, according to the others an
“unstoppable juggernaut of a driving force, but at the same time very
open minded and diplomatic”. “I’m just a driven individual,” he said.
“I want to put my energy where I know it’s going to be the most
effective for the group”. “I never stop, I can’t stop.” Noah adds
“Freeman’s got that unstoppable drive, you cannot stop him. If you stop
him you’re going to get punched in the mouth or something.”
Get on board now for an amazing ride with this new upcoming group. The
journey with RESTRUCT looks like it’s going to be a long and prosperous
one. Colin probably put it best when he said, “We’re not looking to
just do this locally, we are swinging for the fences, shooting for the
stars and we will go wherever that may take us.”