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| Skyline Rodeo |
From time to time, Chorus and Verse shines a light into the New Brunswick, NJ music scene. In the
shadow of Rutgers University, 50,000 students spread across several
campuses across the state, the scene has increasingly become more
underground. With fewer live venues available for bands to
strut their stuff and gain experience in front of live audiences,
there is an increasing reliance on private shows and venues in other
cities to support the numerous talented bands making great music
that call the area home.
Skyline Rodeo is a great example of the vibrancy and potential of the music that's being made.
Starting, as most New Brunswick bands so, from the ashes of previous
groups, the quartet has established themselves as one of the most
entertaining and original post-punks acts around. They've
managed to achieve the difficult balancing act of being innovative
and interesting, while still witty and engaging. While
some bands who experiment with sound as much as Skyline Rodeo does
become art-rock acts will little broad appeal, these guys
might just redefine "pop" by making their music popular without
sounding like the rest of the stuff that's out there.
The band, Steve Bumgarner,
Morgan Chen, Christopher Rousseau and Joe Dingerdissen, have also
been supporters of independent music through Chen's MightyMing
record company. In addition to releasing the band's last CD,
Long Drive To Iceland, in March 2005, MightyMing released the
Mightyming Mix Tape #2 at a release show at Maxwell's
in Hoboken, NJ in February. Mix Tape #2 features 20
tracks - including Skyline Rodeo's "George Bailey Complex" - from
bands across the country. The free compilation is great sample
of cutting-edge music and the independent ethic.
Chorus and Verse interviewed guitarist/vocalist Bumgarner about
Long Drive To Iceland as well as the MightMing comp. We
also asked about the state of the New Brunswick music scene and when
we'll get a new album from this band to watch.
Last month, you played Maxwell’s
for the record release of the new Mightyming Mix Tape #2
compilation. How did the show go? Can you tell us a little bit about
the comp and the bands that are included on it?
The Mightyming release show at Maxwell's went very well
considering it occurred on the start of one of the biggest
snowstorms in recent memory. It's gratifying playing on such a solid
bill; Ifwhen and American Watercolor Movement are two of the most
innovative Jersey bands around, and Pretendo plays extremely
intelligent but also really fun indie-rock. The comp is an
opportunity to try and give some exposure to bands we feel deserve
it without charging the requisite $200-300 most comps ask you to
pony up. We usually do a low-run with black and white covers to keep
the costs down, but this allows us to give them out for free at
shows to encourage as many people as possible to hear them. In
addition to the two Jersey bands above, we also have Jersey acts The
Roadside Graves, Sparks Fly From a Kiss, Kate Sikora, and Crayon
Rosary as well as lots of bands from the Northeast and even the
Midwest. We consider all types of music; if you're good there's an
open invitation.
One unusual aspect of your albums that immediately stands out
is that you include an instrumental track, such as "Peppermint
Patty," which leads off the latest disc. Is there a logic behind
starting off the album that way, and do you think it’s more
difficult to produce or perform live a song without vocals to an
audience that’s probably waiting the whole time for them to come in?
We deliberated over this one. It can definitely be musical death
to open a set or an album with an instrumental, but at two minutes
we felt it was a nice little set-up for the rest of the album. We
liked the song but felt it might have broken up the momentum
elsewhere in the album, so why not open with it? We actually haven't
played this live in awhile, but we used to play it first in the set
to feel out the room both acoustically and crowd-wise. Audiences
might sometimes be disappointed with instrumentals, but we don't and
couldn't write worrying about pleasing everyone.
Long Drive to Iceland was released about a year ago, so
you’ve had a long time to perform those songs on stage and put the
album out there. How do you think the band has changed musically
over the past year, and are there any tracks on the album that you
would have done differently now looking back?
I think all bands go over their own songs with a microscope every
once in awhile, so occasionally things we wish we had done
differently crop up. But, all in all, we still feel pretty good
about how it turned out. Musically we have progressed into a tighter
band, not only in live execution but in song structure; we tend to
get to the point a little quicker these days. I think it's directly
attributable to two things: Chris coming on board and gelling so
well out of the gate, and playing a lot of shows. We understand each
other's musical language so much better now that we can say just as
much with fewer notes. Whether that's a permanent direction or just
a phase is all up in the air. Two albums from now we could put out a
two-song, 75-minute epic about photosynthesis.
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| Skyline Rodeo |
There’s a note on your website that you have new songs that
you’re looking to record soon. Do you have any idea of when you’ll
be hitting the studio again and do you think that fans will be able
to get a new Skyline Rodeo album this year?
If we're not doing coke off a mixing board by July I'd be
surprised. I'm just kidding about the July part. But seriously, we'd
really like to record this summer and release a full-length by end
of year. We have about eight songs ready to go today and we'd like
to get four-five more completed. We're kind of in a writing groove
right now, so let's hope it keeps up and we can put this album out.
When you go into the studio, are most of the songs
fully-formed and ready to be recorded, or do you continue to
experiment and make changes while you’re there? Is there an element
of spontaneity in the final recording process or do you have
something specific in your head that you want to hear in that final
mix?
We have progressively gotten more experimental in the studio, but
as with all unsigned, unfunded bands, the clock is a factor so you
have to have fairly concrete ideas going into the studio or you'll
be broke. We actually had a flat rate to record last time, so we did
get to play a little more than we ever did before. We're trying to
do some decent quality demos in the basement right now in order to
be able to experiment a little with them. This way we have an
idea of anything outside of the core song we'd like to try. But the
studio always has some neat toy that throws that out of wack and you
spend five hours trying to get an amazing sound out of a vintage
Farfisa and then you realize you forgot to record the guitar. Damn.
How does your songwriting process usually work? Do you tend to
just get together and jam on ideas until something starts to
develop, or do individual members work on ideas on their own and
bring something to the group to either get ripped to shreds or given
the full Skyline Rodeo treatment?
It's a 50-50 split between the two. Rarely does anyone bring in
more than a riff or at most a developed part or two, and sometimes
parts manifest themselves just by messing around at the beginning of
practice. It's a very democratic process in a way. We try to toe the
fine line of incorporating everyone's ideas without completely
obliterating the original thought. Then again, sometimes the
original idea does get obliterated and if it's for the better
everyone is cool with it. Lately, we have had two songs that have
almost been written on the fly, which is a liberating feeling for us
as we sometimes deliberate over the same part over and over again to
a fault. The great thing about this band is that all the songs can
feel like "your" songs even though you may not have thought of the
original part. Everyone's contribution really makes it what it is.
The band is going to be returning to the Court Tavern in New
Brunswick after a long absence and you guys have deep roots in the
scene from other bands that you’ve played in. How would you describe
the New Brunswick scene these days, and how much opportunity is
there for a live band to get gigs and develop a following?
Ahh, the New Brunswick scene. It's really hard to describe.
On one hand you have a thriving house scene with new bands popping
up all the time, but with only one indie-rock venue in town you have
so many bands that fly under the radar unless you personally know
their bass player or something. When I first starting going out to
shows in NB in '99, you had a decent amount of venue choices and you
could get to know people just by going out to different clubs each
night. Now, you have to be in the know a lot more to really keep up
with things. Not saying it's good or bad, but that's the way it is.
Playing in NJ is tough these days. We really only play three
venues in the state these days, the Court, the Brighton Bar, and
Maxwell's. The Big Art show down in Asbury has a great thing going
on, but it only happens once every couple of months. New Brunswick
really needs another Melody, Plum St, or Budapest where local bands
can build up a following playing low-key but fun shows. With the
current climate in the town, I really don't see that happening
anytime soon, unfortunately.
The disconnect between the college and the indie-rock scene is
bigger each year it seems. WRSU is a great station; I wish the
college supported more of its efforts. I'm rambling now.
Does the band expect to be hitting the road any time soon?
Where are some of the places that you’ve performed in the past, and
are there any places that you really enjoyed and would like to
return to? Does the band generally like touring and being on the
road?
We're always looking to hit the road. With full-time jobs it's
tough to tour extensively, but we try to play a number of regional
locations on the weekends and plan one or two extended tours
throughout the year.
So far our favorite places to play have been Boston, Minneapolis,
and Richmond, three places with talented, interesting bands and
extremely enthusiastic fans who in general don't go for the whole
style-over-substance scene. I love New York, a lot of great bands,
but it's refreshing to occasionally vacate that scene.
We love touring, I wish we could do it a lot more. It lets
you see the country in a very different way. It also adds some life
to older songs knowing that you are performing them to a brand new
audience who more than likely has never heard anything by you. And
the groupies ... don't even get me started!
One of the latest reviews for Long Drive To Iceland says
that “the band packs suppressed anger into every note and syllable.”
Ok, so how angry are you? Are you taking anything for that? Anger
management? Do you need a hug?
Dude, we're pissed! Not really, but I think there is a theme of
disenchantment with a variety of societal and personal issues
scattered about the songs. We're not overtly political in our music
but it bubbles to the surface now and then. Although amidst such a
stable, rational political climate, it may start bubbling over, if
you know what I'm saying. By the way, a hug would be really nice,
thanks for the offer.
What can fans look forward to from Skyline Rodeo in 2006?
What do you think is the next step in the band’s career and where
would you like to be if we were to talk again a year from now?
We try to maintain one modest goal of continually evolving our music
to where we want it to be. Along with promotion, you ideally hope
that in turn better shows, more fans, and album sales will follow. A
year from now I'd love to be talking about having a few more tours
under our belt, a new record to promote, and hopefully a reputation
for being a great live act who tries to push the envelope. I'd like
to see us experiment with different instrumentations and song
structures in attempt to make people go "this isn't the same band I
listened to on Long Drive to Iceland, but I really like it".
Now that I think about it, I guess that's a loftier goal than I
originally started saying three sentences ago. Oh well, if it
doesn't pan out hopefully we have fun failing. [ Websites: www.skylinerodeo.com,
www.mightyming.com ] |
