Profile: Curtis Clark, karaoke metal band member

Curtis Clark is the bassist of Atlanta's heavy metal karaoke band, Metalsome. The group, whose motto is "Everyone's a rock star ... no apologies," performs behind brave-hearted karaoke enthusiasts every Monday, Friday and Saturday at the 10 High in Virginia-Highland.

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Tell me about how and when Metalsome came about.

Metalsome started in 2003. A friend of the woman who used to book the club had gone to New York, and on a Monday night went through a club called Arlene's Grocery. They were doing a thing called Punk Rock Karaoke. She approached me with the idea and said, "Well, what do you think about this?" I said, "Well, I think it's cool."

We started doing it in May of 2003, on Monday nights only. I think the first night we did it, there were roughly 30 people and we had about 20-something songs. It wasn't long after that that we made contact with the people in New York, and talked to them and realized we were so much like them. It was really pretty strange. Now, every major city in the United States has a live band karaoke thing going.

How did you start in music in general?

You start like everybody else starts. It's a hobby, and it's a passion. It's just a bad habit that you don't fall out of. I had a friend who in '76 got his first guitar, and I started playing it because he didn't play it. I sort of inherited it. Playing music is something that for some bizarre reason I've never quit doing. I'm into my forties now and still making a living, playing bass guitar. You see KISS and it inspires you. That's what happened to me, and most of the guys in my band are the same way.__