Music & Games Night : In Leaves, Owltrain & Musical Charis

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Marilyn’s On K, Sacramento

Sometimes when bands break up and members go their separate ways to form new groups, their fans are treated to twice the amount of music. An obvious example would be The Mars Volta and Sparta rising from the ashes of At the Drive In’s breakup in 2001. Such was the case when Sacramento-based pop-rock band Self Against City imploded in late ’08, catapulting the members into two different groups that would later come to be known as Musical Charis and Owltrain. It wasn’t the nastiest of breakups, but it surely wasn’t the prettiest either. On Wednesday, March 18 the split factions of what was once Self Against City were brought together at Marilyn’s on K. Would there be fireworks?

Musical Charis took the stage first. The two core members of the group are Blake Abbey (formerly of Self Against City) and Jessie Brune (also a very prominent local singer/songwriter); throughout their set, different musicians joined them and played various instruments. After somewhat of a slow start, the band really started to pick things up when their drummer joined in on the third song, giving the audience something more to groove to.

Highlights of the set included Abbey talking a whole bunch of crap about his former bandmates in the room (awkward yet hilarious) and the performances of crowd favorites “The Life,” “Anatomy” and their set closer “Baby Blue.” All in all, it was a great musical performance that showcased the musicians’ many talents from Abbey and Brune’s beautiful vocal harmonies to their great songwriting skills. Their set surely proved to all in attendance that Musical Charis is a force to be reckoned with in the music scene today. Look for their late May release of Electra Church Bells via JMB Records.

Next up was Owltrain, who with their more typical rock-band setup (two guitars, bass, keys, drums), were able to really up the level of energy in the room, with a sound reminiscent of bands like Mute Math, Minus the Bear, Coldplay and Radiohead.

The band’s most notable feature was the incredible performance of Owltrain’s drummer, Justin Barnes. The guy was a machine, and he looked so at home behind his kit it would make any percussionist want to practice more. (Even then they still probably wouldn’t have the chops this guy does.)

Barnes may have been the standout member of the group, but that doesn’t mean the other members didn’t shine as well. Jeffery LaTour, who played primarily guitar and some keys but sang backup vocals as well, made great use of his effects pedals and looped samples. He also was singing through what I later learned was some type of old telephone, rigged up as a microphone, which served as a very unique, lo-fi filter for his soaring voice. Jack Matranga, the group’s lead singer who also switched between guitar and bass, played some rather technical parts on bass and guitar while maintaining his breath and pitch control quite well. Finally, Danny Cocke, who mostly played bass but wound up with a guitar in his hands for a few songs, rounded out their sound perfectly with his effortless playing. The biggest crowd pleasers were “Harmony Cannons,” “Green Key,” and the set closer, “1984,” which included an incredible buildup at the end where sounds were layered upon one another until it came to an abrupt end, leaving the crowd mesmerized.

Rounding out the night was In Leaves, a brand new band to hit the Sacramento scene. Considering this was only their second performance as a full band, In Leaves was quite impressive and loud—very loud. With their amps set to 11, In Leaves proceeded to make everyone in the room’s ears bleed, but in a good way. In between songs, lead singer JJ Dunlap’s voice sounded destroyed, but during the songs he was great, proving how much of a trooper he really is. The band really started to shine when Dunlap dropped his guitar (not literally) and became more of an energetic frontman with his long shaggy hair in his face, a hole in his jeans and tambourine in hand as he furiously danced around the stage. His vocal style is similar to that of Caleb Followill of the popular band Kings of Leon—so watch out KWOD, you might be spinning In Leaves soon.

At the end of their very rockin’ set, In Leaves walked off stage with the microphone swinging from the rafters and feedback from the bass amp permeating through the room. The sound guy had a “WTF?” look on his face and everyone else was making sure they weren’t deaf. Hearing is overrated anyways.

Luckily, the only fireworks all night were of the musical variety, Abbey’s comments notwithstanding. Breaking up can be hard to do.

Whatever will be…

K Sera is not a typical rock band by any means. It is a gathering of many talented local musicians headed by Mike Caswell. Its debut EP, The Machinist, features a roster of around a dozen individuals from bands such as Self Against City, Heroes Last Mission and Broken Iris. There really is something special about listening to these recordings; it’s as if one can sense the amount of time, energy, commitment and passion that went into each measure of every song. On March 8 at The Underground in Roseville K Sera will be on hand live, in the flesh, for its debut live performance and to celebrate the EP’s release. Mike Caswell was nice enough to take time from his busy schedule to answer some of Submerge‘s questions via the wonderful weave that is the World Wide Web.

I understand that you started this project all by your lonesome. How was it that you recruited so many talented musicians to collaborate on the recordings for The Machinist, K Sera’s debut EP?
I really wanted the EP to have a collective feel to it, so we made a list of all the instruments and musicians we wanted and got to work. When it came down to it, all we had to do was ask. Everyone was really easy to talk to and fun to work with. It was a cool experience having so many amazing musicians help me out.

When listening to these tracks the first thing I think is, “Damn, these sound good. Must have been expensive!” How was it that you were able to finance recording such a collaborative type of EP? And how were you able to schedule getting everyone in the studio to lay down their tracks? How long did it take to complete these recordings?
Scheduling was a bit tough, but with the help of my manager, we were able to get everyone there. The whole process took about two months of basically just living in the studio, plus another month of preproduction before that. Sounds like a lot of time, but it went by incredibly fast. The whole process was a learning experience from start to finish.

What was it like to work with producer/engineer Jay Trammel? I personally have worked with him in the past and know he can be quite demanding and can push you musically to perform your best. Did you find this to be the case when you worked with him?
Jay definitely pushes you and expects the best, that’s why I was so set on him producing the EP. We wanted to make the songs the best they can be and Jay is never afraid to tell you, “You can do it better.” He gave Sean and I total freedom to try any ideas that we had, even if it meant going to Toys R Us to buy a Playschool piano. Jay has a way of making you work, without it feeling like work. Yes, it was a demanding schedule, but it was exactly what I needed.

So for this show on March 8 at The Underground, what will the live lineup be and what can people expect?
Most of the guys who recorded on the EP are playing with me [at the show], except for Lee [Hurtado, bass, of Heros Last Mission] and Justin [Barnes, drums, of Self Against City] who will be playing in their own bands. We are going to be playing all the songs on the EP, have some guest performances, visual art to go along with the music, and the entire night is going to be filmed, so it should be a good time. It’s one of those shows that the bands who are playing it are just as excited as the kids going to see it. Personally, I have ties to all the bands so it will be a night hanging out with friends and doing what we all love to do.

What are your plans for K Sera in the future? Any motivation to tour, shop the EP to record labels, etc?
I’ve already started work on ideas for the next record, but the main focus is touring. We want to get on the road as soon as we can.

Anything else you want to share with the readers of Submerge?
Sean Stack is the only other official member. I found him after a couple of open auditions. He’s amazing.
We rarely had a night alone in the studio. My closest friends were always stopping by to hang out, bring us food, and make sure we were all healthy and well rested. Also, other bands would stop by and offer advice and feedback on the parts we were working on, which was awesome.