CityBeat: Talk about singing in the pocket…
Dave
Butler: Starts like a kiss, ends like a curse. Really it’s profoundly
fun and very aerobic. I have to pace myself because I have a tendency
to get wound up as a drummer. I’m over-animated and I get winded — bad
thing for a singer. I’m getting better, and the sound is working well.
It’s probably as hard as it seems, but I don’t know any better. The
guys say different, but I don’t think I’m that great a drummer. Just
‘capable.’ It’s hard to get good monitor without feedback live. I
reckon it’s a bit weird for the audience. Especially on a
small stage where I disappear behind the guys. Haven’t figured out the
portable 5’ drum riser yet. I like the ‘frontman’ ideal, someone to
focus on.
I try to be a frontman in the backseat, but I’m tethered to
the kit for now. We are in secret discussions to
bringing me up front, getting a good gig drummer. Not sure what I’ll do
up there but it’d be enthusiastic.
CB:
Are any of you Amish, or is it more Amish-like tendencies?
DB: I was
pretty much raised in Amish country (Knox, Holmes, Richland and Ashland
counties). Spent a good deal of time at auctions with my mother and
grandparents, hanging out and playing with Amish kids. I wasn’t really
all that fascinated with their lifestyle; I got it, thought it was
fine, but always wondered what they thought of me. My appearance was so
loud in contrast.
CB:
Any particular inspirations?
DB: Absolutely and unabashedly. We really
do wear our influences on our sleeves. The Stones, Bowie, T-Rex,
Stooges, Kinks, Clash, Mott the Hoople, Thin Lizzy, Wire, X, Ramones …
the list goes on and on. Lyrically, I admire Lou Reed, Jim Carroll,
Elvis Costello and Andy Partridge. Come to think of it, much of our
sound is early XTC, Adam & the Ants even. We wanted the sound to
have a good muscular guitar-driven feel, like so much of the late ‘70s
Punk and Glam. Clearly the range of inspirado is akin to the way Bob
Pollard and GBV came into their rich sound too. So many great
influences, pick your favorites and run with it, see where it goes.
CB:
What kind of conversation does your music have with its listeners?
DB:
Great question. We create complex little simple Rock songs … it seems
easy when you listen to it, but we’re all about finding infectious
combinations of simple structure. We’re a song band, as
opposed to a sound band. It’s about great songs, one by one. We want to
give little Aesop’s Fables of Rock, the kind you want to listen to over
and over and over. Not tabloid Rock, that’s shocking now, gone
tomorrow. We want the songs to create strong associations like the Rock
songs from our experiences and youth.
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