Coming Up Spades and Ash Trays, An Interview With The Human Reunion

To say I approached my interview with the Human Reunion with some trepidation would be an extreme understatement. I missed the band’s Cincinnati and Akron debuts earlier this Summer (where they shared the limelight with Enon and Thunderbirds Are Now!), and while I fully expected (based on their collective pedigrees alone) that the band may have already firmly established themselves as Dayton’s newest rock showmen, I didn’t know for sure. Contributing to my hesitation was the fact that I’d been privy to more moniker-related message board crossfire than music, and I’m not normally one to voluntarily rock the Dayton musician shit talk boat (at least not in print).

So you must be asking yourselves why I made arrangements to prepare this eccentric quintet for their media debut? Simply, curiosity killed the cat. And an invitation to interview the band at one of their regular bi-weekly practices would provide the perfect opportunity to adequately sample their aural antics. To be frank, these four dudes can assume a fair share of the credit for keeping a pulse in the Dayton indie rock undercurrent for over a decade. While this list is in no way comprehensive, they’ve been in some way responsible for the following legacy and current powerhouse Dayton indie, pop, punk, noise and shoegazer outfits: Lazy, Cigarhead, 8-Bit Revival, Revampire, The Motel Beds, The Lab Partners, We, Electricity, and the list goes on.

Posted September, 2005.(more)

No Rest For The Heartless, An Interview With Heartless Bastards

It may come as a bit of a surprise that the voice at the head of this year’s indie rock pack, emerges from the slight and unassuming frame of Dayton/Cincinnati native Erika Wennerstrom. Don’t get me wrong, the peculiarity of this phenomenon has nothing to do with the fact that she’s a female musician, but rather because she emerges from her shy frame as a performer far beyond her years. She lays her soul bare in her lyrics, channels a throaty howl that has been likened to Robert Plant in the pages of a recent Rolling Stone, and possesses a rare songwriters ear that has resulted in some of the strongest and most memorable rock hooks in recent memory. These are the things that rock and roll legends are made of. Not to be overlooked, her partners in crime, drummer Kevin Vaughn and bassist Mike Lamping have the high quality rhythm rock chops that will undoubtedly carry Heartless Bastards straight to the top.
(more)

What Has Eight Legs And Is About To Hand You Your Punk Ass? An Interview With The Fugue
The Fugue are less a band and more a rare musical enigma that will leave you scratching your head, among other things. And after several evenings of correspondence with singer Joe Somar only a few things are clear to me:
First and foremost, this is a band that pukes, scrapes and flings their half-digested punk sound like a collective of no-wave Gallaghers (the comedian, not the brothers), and they definitely don’t give a flying fuck who the musical and physical blood, sweat and bile lands on. Second, a chance meeting with The Fugue may result in head trauma. Are you in a racist band, who hasn’t paid their optical insurance or secured a Lens Crafters warranty? You might wanna steer clear of this foursome. Oh yeah, they aren’t taking any shit from Yellowcard’s fiddle player no matter how many back flips he does on Conan O’Brien either. Nattily clad fashionistas beware, The Fugue aren’t a pleasantly theatrical quartet who panders to the faint of heart. They are dangerous, nervous, shifty-eyed, and unpredictable. They are a band who is prepared to unload a musical shit storm on your sorry ass. (more)