November 1 will be Trenton resident Patrick Thompson’s 55th birthday, but it will also be the launch day for his group’s new album.
Thompson (songwriter/singer/guitarist) is founder of the group Dinosaur Stampede, and he and the band will celebrate their latest album, titled “Big Sigh Country” (Dumbhead Records), with a show at Randy Now’s Man Cave in Hightstown on Saturday, November 1.
In addition to Thompson, the band consists of Titusville resident Matt Kohut on bass (he’s played with Cold Soil Drifters, Chris Harford and Ween), Keith Hartel on lead guitar, keyboards, and vocals (Adrenaline OD, Tammy Faye Starlite, Richard Lloyd, Handsome Dick Manitoba), and Keith Kenny (Metal6000, Red Suitcase) on guitar and vocals; Kenny also engineered the album at his home studio in Hightstown.
Playing drums, providing vocals, and producing the album is Trenton’s Sim Cain, who has worked with the Rollins Band, Ween, the Dean Ween group, J. Geils Band, Regressive Aid, and Scorn Flakes, among others.
(Aside from his musical ventures, Thompson has worked in energy and commodity data sales organizations for years.)
The group’s website, www.dinosaurstampede.com, describes the band’s spirit perfectly: “Rising from the Primordial Soup that was Trenton’s City Gardens in the ’80s and ’90s, Dinosaur Stampede features an all-star lineup that channels the Indie/Punk spirit of Central Jersey Rock.”
U.S. 1 spoke with Thompson recently about the creative process behind the new release, and caught up with him personally.
U.S. 1 Newspaper: Tell me about the album. Are these new songs?
Patrick Thompson: No, they’re not new; they’re eight songs I wrote over the years. “Lie Fight” is the most recent, written while we were recording. We’ve been working toward this album since even before the pandemic when we fell off, but then tried again. We did some sessions in 2022, and this was when Keith Hartel was getting more into guitar, really throwing himself into it, and less available to play bass.
Then in the fall of 2023, we went into the studio with a new bass player, Matt. He’s got a long history in the music business, but he’s also a writer and communications professional, even did some (public relations) work for Barack Obama.
U.S. 1: The album release concert in Hightstown happens to be on your 55th birthday.
PT: It won’t be so much a birthday party, but I had to come up with a plan for the album’s release. I knew what I’d be doing that day, and it’s a good excuse for people to buy tickets and come out to the show.
We’ll play the album in its entirety, and that’s pretty ambitious. We’re excited to show these songs off, to get these five people all onstage. But we’ll play songs from the last album as well, so we have a good catalogue to choose from.
U.S. 1: Do your songs reflect on political and other current events?
PT: It’s a mix of things. Some are political, and others are more introspective. For example, “Oil, Blood and Palestine” was written during the early 1990s during the Gulf War. The song is actually less political and more about the process of what I was going through at the time.
The song “Lie Fight” is more political (but in a metaphorical way). There’s the idea of when you bring a knife to a gun fight, you’re always going to lose. When you’re bringing the truth to a lie fight, the truth will get beaten, which isn’t surprising in today’s world. But the truth prevails; it makes the bitter world sweeter in the end.
U.S. 1: When I listened to the song “Other Animals,” I heard some slide guitar, and thought I detected a trace of country or Americana music. Is this a new direction for Dinosaur Stampede?
PT: I do aspire toward country and Americana, but the group is made up of all of our musical tastes. Country is an evolving genre, and it’s been on an incredible journey through the 20th century.
That song, “Other Animals,” is the oldest, written about the Los Angeles riots in the ’90s, things about it that were percolating in my head at the time.
As far as Americana music, Keith Hartel came onboard with the recording in 2024, and added a lot of guitar ideas. His guitar contributions are aggressive, multi-textured and inspired, and in the end are one of my favorite aspects of the project.
U.S. 1: I hear the layers of guitars, and also really nice vocal harmonies. Dinosaur Stampede has three guitarists, and you all sing too, right?
PT: We have a really, really good guitar player, and a very, very good bass player who is also a guitar player, and I play guitar, too. I’m on the acoustic guitar intro for the song (“Other Animals”).
Big Sigh Country is not the album we intended to make; in fact, we didn’t know how it was going to turn out. We didn’t know Keith would come in with all this great multi-layered guitar stuff. So we just sat back and let it evolve.
For vocals, we’re fortunate to have Sim and both Keiths, who have a lot of experience in the studio, arranging harmonies, and capturing sound. It was a long road getting all the harmonies and guitar sounds done, but it was worth it.
U.S. 1: You mention drummer Sim Cain, known for playing the first note at the first ever Lollapalooza festival in 1991 (a bass drum thump). I thought he was British, but he’s from the area?
PT: Yes, Sim is a Central Jersey guy who grew up in Princeton, and his mom had a house on the island (in Trenton) — that’s where he and the Henry Rollins band practiced.
He was born in Britain but raised here, and he was part of the whole City Gardens scene, etc. All of the musicians in the band have been playing with so many greats over the years and they bring so much experience. I’m a lucky guy to be able to create and play with them.
U.S. 1: Refresh my memory about your family?
PT: My wife, Amy Brummer (a former arts journalist for TimeOFF magazine/the Princeton Packet), is a registered aromatherapist and gong therapy practitioner (or gongologist). She studies voice and sound meditation with vocalist Ruth Cunningham.
She is also co-coordinator of Central New Jersey Herbalists Without Borders and tends a plot of St. John’s Wort that she uses to make herbal infusions and develop better relationships with bees. She also played gong on our album.
My son, Jackson, is still a sports journalist, with Fox Sports now. (He’s also worked with ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and The Boston Globe.)
My daughter, Very, is following in my footsteps, playing music that she calls post hardcore. Her group is called Having Fun Yet? Their first performance was last October 31 — I went to see them, not knowing what kind of music they did, and they blew my mind. It’s interesting to see her playing in New Brunswick, where I played my first gigs.
U.S. 1: Randy Now has always been so nurturing for area musicians, because he encourages bands to play original music at the Man Cave. That’s rare.
PT: The last time at the Man Cave, the show was sold out, so what more can you ask for as a creator of original music?
It’s hard to get anyone to care about original music, and it takes a lot of time and effort. But my thinking is, someday we’ll all be gone, but 30 years from now maybe someone else will hear these songs and get inspired. The songs will always be there, and hopefully my grandkids will listen to them.
Dinosaur Stampede, Randy Now’s Man Cave, 119 West Ward Avenue, Hightstown. Saturday, November 1, 7 p.m. (doors). Tickets: $20 in advance ($5 ticket fee). 609-424-3766 or www.mancavenj.com.
Dinosaur Stampede on the Web: www.dinosaurstampede.com.
