NOISE! writer and resident sandwich expert (for realz) Joe Stando penned the latest column/artist spotlight for the Battle Creek Enquirer. This is a bi-weekly deal and by default makes the Enquirer the coolest newspaper in the Midwest.
Anyway, Joe touched base with Cereal City natives, Hometeam, who are now doing their thang out of Lansing. With a new EP out and opening for bands like The Swellers and The Wonder Years, the guys are doing all right for themselves and pop punk as a whole. What might even be more refreshing is their drive to support the music scene in addition to playing in it. You’ll have to read the article to catch it, so do it.
‘HOMETEAM’ HEROES GAINING STEAM Sometimes, it takes a band a while to define its sound.
Many times, that is a conscious effort to try something new and different.
But for punk rockers Hometeam, who originated from Battle Creek, it’s doing what comes naturally.
“We’re just a bunch of punk rock kids,” said guitarist and frontman Tyler Damron, a Harper Creek graduate. “It’s what we grew up with, and it’s who we are.” [ READ STORY ]
Check out the exclusive video by Kari Lynch and her band below this story, recorded especially for NOISE! readers. Because, well, she loves you guys.
The question was as simple as it was imaginative — Who would win in a steel cage match between West Michigan’s country starlights Kari Lynch and Shelagh Brown.
“I can’t answer that,” said Lynch laughing.
We’ll call it a draw.
But after all, these two booming-voiced country crooners wouldn’t dream of even exchanging a negative word between each other, let alone lock up in the confines of a steel cage. That is a perfect picture of the unity and solidarity between local country artists. And it’s one that Lynch and her band are at the forefront of.
“It’s nice to be in a community like that,” said Lynch. “It’s different from the rock community or pop community — an no offense to either of those genres — but it’s always been about the music. …When we see another country artist or band having some success, that’s a good thing. All that’s going to do is turn attention to West Michigan country music and maybe people will check out what we have to offer.”
Lynch is doing plenty to shine that light on this region’s country music, taking stage at a boatload of high-profile shows while spreading the word on her latest self-titled EP, her first studio recording that features the rest of the band. Lynch has two previous recordings.
More of an old school country artist drawing influences from Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, her sounds has subtly bled into a number of additional genres fused in by her all-male back-up band that play a spectrum of styles from John Denver to classic rock.
The end result is what some might refer to as country pop, however, it’s that hugging to the old style sounds of the genre that sets Lynch and Co. apart from her cohorts, like a Shelagh Brown or Small Town Son that tote a little bit of a more modern sound.
“We definitely have a sound that falls somewhere in the middle of traditional country and contemporary,” Lynch said. “It just happens naturally.”
The latest EP, released in May, comes on the heels of her previous work “Don’t Talk Out Loud”. Lynch said the current EP is the clearest representation on her and her band’s live sound, therefore the summer’s agenda is dedicated to spreading the word on the album and getting it in the hands of people.
Lynch and her band will do this with a steady slate of shows, which include an Aug. 2 gig with The Band Perry at the Clare County Fair in Harrison, Mich.
“We really want to be playing shows every week,” said Lynch, who just recently shared the stage with Mat Kearney at The Intersection in Grand Rapids. “It’s nice every month to have a really big show that we’re stoked about but we’re still playing a lot of the smaller shows on the weekend, too.”
Lynch’s big-country voice and band might prove to be too big for Grand Rapids to contain. While building a strong fan base here on the home front, Lynch admits that the end game will likely entail a move to Nashville — for obvious reasons — while making frequent trips back to the Mitten.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO “Fly Fly Fly” Music and lyrics written by Kari Lynch Video by Dave Van Keulen Featuring: Kari Lynch (lead vocals); Matthew Kok (acoustic guitar/back-up vocals); Sam Briggs (cajon); Ryder Jones (resonator guitar/back-up vocals)
I can almost hear the little voices inside the heads of members of Chanical Fields upon finding out that I would be the one to review their self-titled EP.
“Oh no. The Rant guy? Doesn’t he kick puppies for fun?”
Don’t worry, my talents are not limited to griping about things that piss me off (just mostly). And the puppies thing is only kind of fun. As for the album…
The opening track, “Casualties”, screams of the band’s David Bowie influence. This is a great opening song for this album as it really captures the band’s tight instrumentation and the best range for vocalist Greg Whitmer. Its up-beat tempo kept my foot tapping throughout the entire duration, and the little guitar breaks were perfectly placed and well executed.
As the album’s second track progressed, I found myself desperately looking for a way to hack into the website so I could delete this song titled “Falling”. The vocals were decidedly weaker than that of the previous track, and it felt like it was going nowhere. Then, after the first verse, I was punched in the face by a guitar-solo-heavy instrumental segment that sounded like it would have fit perfectly somewhere on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I will say, however, that this song would have been better served to just finish out on the solo without the additional “And I’m falling” lines toward the end, and the “Je t’aime” lyrics just seemed oddly inserting.
The band came back with their third track, “Aeda”, and had me feeling like I was listening to a lost Syd Barrett song. The first verse hits you like a weird, dull, melodic mallet (in a good, Barrett-esque way), then completely shifts tempo in which I really enjoyed drummer Chase Marks’s dynamic stick work.
Much like the second track, this fourth one would have probably just made a good instrumental. The vocals seem a bit off and don’t really feel like they go anywhere. Again though, the instrumental work was fantastic and had definite momentum. I liked Trey Marks’s bass riff on this one quite a bit, too. It was catchy. Give us more of this stuff, guys. Seriously.
The EP’s last song revisited singer Greg Whitmer’s vocal range that was more in line with “Casualties”, a range I feel Chanical Fields should be embracing. If they can find that magic combination of instrumental awesome sauce with something that’s vocally sound for both Greg and Brodie I think we’re all in for a real treat.
Keep your eyes on these guys. I think we’re in store for some ass-kickery.
Grand Rapids-based rock band Relapse seemed to have already surpassed its hay day.
Brace yourself for hay day part deux.
After touring extensively between 2004 and 2008, the band called an indefinite hiatus after then-lead singer Tim Roy temporarily relocated to upstate New York. Not until late summer of last year did the act slowly start to reform, this time with new guitarist Kirk Maier jumping on board to join Nick Swain (drums), DVH (bass) and Tim and Jason Roy.
To mark the comeback, the band will release a self-titled EP on June 11 at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids. The album was recorded at River City Studios in Grand Rapids with Austin Ruhstorfer.
“We are hoping to put another EP out, possibly a full-length, at the end of the year or right at the beginning of 2012,” said Jason Roy, guitarist. “We’re hoping to tap back into what is going on in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo and move from there. It feels like waiting for Christmas to come right now with the release show looming in the distance.”
The new album promises to put on display a wide range of the Relapse repertoire, from brit-rock to driving rock ‘n’ roll. With the addition of Maier both on guitar and back-up vocals, the band found a richer sound, working in vocal harmonies rather than just doubling up on leading vocals.
Roy said there are both advantages and setbacks to firing up an old band that has been out of sight for some time.
“I think there are certain elements that are both harder and easier,” he said. “On the one hand, it is a little bit harder to get back into doing the little promotional things to make sure you gain some name recognition back. But, on the other hand, when we played the first few shows back, it was very easy to get a lot of that core group of fans back out and really up for it.”
“It was definitely easy to record this EP,” Roy added. “It was by far the easiest recording we’ve ever done collectively. We absolutely loved working with Austin and wouldn’t blink an eye at doing it again.”
The album will be the first release the band has made available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Outside of that, the band simply aims to road test their material and work hard this summer getting back in the live show fray.
This story was featured in the April issue of NOISE! Magazine
In terms of recorded output, Grand Rapids rockers Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire have been pretty quiet. Thus is not the case when it comes to their steady regimen of live shows
“We do a lot of Midwest playing,” said Kalish, taking a break from his drive through Kalamazoo where he was hanging flyers for his April 16 show at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe. “We’ve been playing a lot more music — just a lot of shows in general. We’ve been doing this for a long time. There is definitely a moment about two years ago where we kind of hit our peak (locally). That’s not to say we don’t continually peak, but there had been more downs than ups.”
Playing in the same city every night can get a tad cumbersome, and for a time, Kalish and his band served as one of the poster boys for indie rock in Grand Rapids. But they won’t be gracing Furniture City too much in the coming months as they focus on neighboring states of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Kalish said his band is now starting to build a solid following in cities like Madison, Wisc., Columbus, Ohio and Chicago and Rockford, Ill.
However, on May 20, the band will break in the stage at new venue The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids.
“Sometimes playing locally is a lot of work,” Kalish kind of chuckled. “You bring all your stuff there, you play, then you have to pack up all your stuff and bring it home to unload it. When you’re on the road, you play, pack up your stuff and just go sleep on someone’s floor.”
Between a busy performance schedule, Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire are recording an EP at Skull Studios, owned by band member Matt Ten Clay, and also at Kalish’s own studio. While Kalish couldn’t offer many details on the forthcoming work, the one thing that is known is the release will break a pretty long period of silence for the band.
“This is probably the longest I’ve gone without putting anything out,” Kalish said. “It’s probably been about 13 or 14 months since the last time we put something out.”
“It’s probably the best sounding one we’ve done, sonically,” Kalish said. “I don’t know too much about it yet. There are some labels that we’re talking to and stuff like that. Other than that, we’re not sure when we’re releasing it or even if it will be an EP or a full-length album. We’re basically just recording new music right now.”
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Album reviews
Day Lewis - Vietnam EP A throwback to real rock music, the brand new Kalamazoo-based act is still hashing out their sound, but starts off on a solid foot with this album. [READ MORE]
8.0 out of 10
The Mushmen - If You Ride With The Devil A powerful brass section and driving drums underscore their songs, which are an eclectic mix of awesome stuff, including an instrumental track which cleverly incorporates Danny Elfman’s Beetlejuice theme and an ode to long-suffering late night host Conan O’Brien. [READ MORE]
9.0 out of 10
Shneal/Synergetic Productions - Self-titled Synergetic is an album designed to make you think and get you talking. It does, though sometimes at the cost of keeping you listening. Solid work by Shneal and Synergy Productions, and great verses by Jon Harvey and Audrey Marie. It’s worth picking up. [READ MORE]
