Shredding on the Rez

Mark Maggi: I play drums in the band Defiant. We started about 15 years ago, me and Tom. Then I met his sister here and this band has taken off over the last four years. We’ve been playing out quite a bit. We play classic rock with a metal influence. But around here you have to play a lot of Creedence and a lot of Top 40. It’s the only way you can get a gig. But when you get the chance to play an original, you take it right away. We’ve got about 20 songs of our own between all of us. We’re influenced by Black Sabbath, Metallica, all that stuff. I’m from Browning, so I was kind of late to the metal thing. These guys lived in Seattle, so they got to hear more… Thomas Kipp: Megadeth, Slayer, Guns ’n’ Roses—all the 80s heavy metal bands. Randy Rhodes, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Jimi Hendrix are my biggest influences as a guitarist. Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath too. Christine Kipp: My favorite bass player ever is Cliff Burton from Metallica. I got to see him live in Seattle before he died. He was strong and he put a lot of heart into it. You could tell. Living here in Browning was a little hard at first, but being around my relatives helped me to find out who I was. In Seattle, I felt like I was always alone. There’s a sense of community here. Everyone watches out for you. It’s like a big family here on the reservation. Thomas: I felt like I was coming home when we moved back here. My spirituality got pretty strong and I’m getting into the Blackfeet ceremonies. Just being around the people is great. I feel like I belong. This is where my ancestors lived for thousands and thousands of years. Mark: My situation’s the opposite. I’m from here. Every chance I’ve gotten, I’ve taken off. This is a reservation, so you are limited in the things you can do here. We named our band Defiant because when we started, everyone was telling me that I shouldn’t have my wife playing bass for me and her brother on guitar. Also, a lot of people here are more into country. So when we came out we were really aggressive. We are who we are and we don’t have to answer to anyone. So actually, we have just recently decided to change our name to the Blackfeet word Akihksasit. That means “defiant.” VICE STAFF