Nick Dewitt delivers drums, vocals and keyboards in post-punk emo rockers Pretty Girls Make Graves.



Drummer Nick DeWitt has the charisma and chops to rival any of his contemporaries yet drums aren't the only instrument in his repertoire; DeWitt also played keys for Seattle rock outfit, The Murder City Devils on their final tour. However, he began on the guitar, learning songs from tablature books such as Metallica's Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All. His friends who played guitar turned him on to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, where he says cryptically, "I learned some weird things from them."



When he was younger he wanted a Tama Rock Star, but his brother talked him into buying the Gretsch kit he plays now. "I'm thankful he steered me in that direction, especially now, it's much nicer. I still have it and I still play it."



"I started playing when I was 15 and it was perfect for me. I had some attention problems over the years-I'm a selective listener I guess. But it helped when I started to play."



DeWitt's influences vary as much as the tempo changes in a Pretty Girls album cut. The idea that all the members of PGMG have come together from different musical backgrounds holds true, especially for him. "What initially got me interested in playing music on my own was Metal. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, that kind of stuff. Megadeth and Anthrax. Really operatic types of stuff. When I was younger, it was more of the technical drummers that inspired me like Neil Pert (Rush) and Bill Bruford (Yes) - anything that was especially technically derivative. It wasn't until later that I started to appreciate creativity in spaciousness and simplicity. The things that I appreciate now are so much different. Metal drummers were part of the building blocks of what I appreciated later."



Eccentricity in taste is what makes Pretty Girls Make Graves so unique. Each member brings something new and exciting to the table, combining influences and technique to create interesting new arrangements. Variant music genre's was part of DeWitt's childhood. "My dad played a lot of jazz when I was growing up. Dexter Gordon, Donald Byrd. I really love Chico Hamilton. A lot of the Stan Getz samba stuff."