A portrait of Callum Dickson

By James Storbeck.
Dickson said if he were emo, he’d call himself “Cut Me Callum.” If he were a Viking, he’d call himself Ragnar of Galagnarmarathium. If he were a member of the X-Men, he would be the brother of Cyclops, Havok. However, he’s none of the above, so he’s Callum Dickson.
He is a man of many musical talents. A player of drums for five years, guitar for thirteen years, bass for four years, and sitar for a year and a half, he likes to keep his musical abilities diversified. “Learning multiple instruments really helps in a band situation mostly, because being a guitarist I know what guitarists want in drummers, being a drummer I know what drummers want in guitarist, little musician etiquette and also, I like learning new things” said Dickson.
Though the biggest crowd he said he’s ever played in front of was around a hundred people, even the smallest amount of fame comes with trouble. “When I was in a band a long time ago we played minimal shows, but we had a strong following of three or four,” said Dickson. “We played a show at Studio Seven, where on this particular night, two chicks showed up who had signs with my name on it. Normally people would think [“cool!”], but these two weren’t very easy on the eyes. In fact, I’ve had to wear glasses since then. On our last song, we always brought all four, and sometimes even five, people in the audience on stage. These two girls got on the stage, and immediately darted towards the back of my amp where I had put my sweater. They proceeded to pick it up, smell it, and then fought over it. Later that night they had followed the band and I back to Kirkland, so the police had to become involved.”
Although he’s never played in front of a large crowd, he and his band mates still like to have fun.
“When I was playing a show with Anarchy in a Three Piece Suit, Gavin Atherton, our lead singer, and I thought it would be an awesome idea if he leaped onto my drum set and knocked it all over right as our last song ended. He ended up clearing the drum set, and my last memory was the image of the neck of my Gibson Les Paul heading straight for me.”
Most people struggle to describe where they draw inspiration from, but not Dickson. “I draw it from a lot of bands like the Mars Volta and Between the Buried and Me, and also Ayreon. Anything with raw, non-clich