Roman Funerals, X-Ray Press, Winter’s Fall
Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011 – Townhouse – Sacramento
Let’s face it: watching two or more hours of the same genre of music rarely keeps the full attention of any audience, whether it’s thrashy punk rock or a dose of lulling acoustic folk. The jumble of bands playing Sunday’s show at the Townhouse, headlined by Sacramento’s Roman Funerals, provided a different kind of experience instead.
Winter's Fall
I was in the ladies’ room when I heard the drums of the opening band overhead, one hour past show time. I ran upstairs in time to see the five members of the Berkeley, Calif., band Winter’s Fall onstage playing “Anyways” from their newly released album At All Angles. Thirty-five or so people were fanned across the bar and corners of the room. Wearing button-down shirts and sneakers to fit the part, it was the first time the self-described Americana, indie folk rock band had played a show in Sacramento. I was immediately caught off-guard by lead vocalist Peter Stanley’s voice, which varies between a distinctly higher, somewhat nasaly quality like Jon Thor Birgisson in Sigur Ros and a lower range like the voice of The National’s Matt Berninger. The songs lasted four to five minutes, transitioning from upbeat guitar hooks to dreamy layers of guitars mixed with synthesizers and harmonized vocals, creating a full, soothing sound that was both folk and rock. Topped off with the sweet sound of a lap steel guitar and Stanley’s voice, their songs radiated country undertones. They played “Who’s to Say,” also off of At All Angles, and “Paper Chains” from their 2008 release Winter’s Fall.
X-Ray Press
X-Ray Press from Seattle eradicated every ounce of calm left in the room. The five-piece band pounded out a foreign genre that overlaps math rock, hardcore and punk creating a sort of ‘90s-meets-the-future sound. Despite their contagious, frenetic energy complete with head-banging and string tapping, the audience refrained from wriggling and writhing in front of the stage–maybe because they were in shock. Imagine beeping robot sounds composed to distorted guitars and intricate drumming, stopping abruptly to change the tempo two to three times within the same song, and you will have a vague conception of what this band sounded like. Lead vocalists Michael Pasuit and Paurl Walsh exchanged screaming and melodies over the various time signatures, sounding something like Brandon Boyd from Incubus singing over Dennis Lyxzén of Refused.
Roman Funerals headlined the show, fronted by brothers Evan and Matt Ferro of the former Sacramento band Bright Light Fever. Several local performers joined them on stage, including Kris Anaya of Doom Bird and the Alternative String Band. The set began with “Change in Weather,” a haunting opener filled with heavy drums and melancholy guitar riffs. Their songs are lyrically rich and eerie, with the brothers delivering most of the words in harmony with a sort of raw intensity, joined by their acoustic guitars. “I go to sleep at night wearing all my clothes in case the rich kids come to get me. They’ll take me away to a house on the hill and tell me lies about American history,” were the opening lines of “Secrets for Sale,” followed with booming drums, tambourine shakes and echoing “ooh ahhhs” that the audience sang along to. The harmonies joined with the percussion sounded something like Fleet Foxes but with the darkness of a Neko Case song. The accompanying keys, played by Anaya, added just the right touch of mood-setting. They played all the songs from their EP Six of Us, in addition to a cover of the Doom Bird song “Shape of Hearts,” at which point Sacramento’s Alternative String Band joined in with cellos and violins. Only the brothers and the String Band remained on stage to play their final song, “Six of Us,” a melancholy song that they noted “is about our father’s daughter’s children.” The brothers thanked the crowd for sticking around past midnight on a Sunday night at the end of set, and, with an act of generosity, left a stack of 10 free CDs on the stage for the audience to take.
Matt and Evan Ferro hone their sibling chemistry as Roman Funerals
Words by Bobby Gulshan
When the guys from Roman Funerals arrived at the Bistro, the first question I asked them was how much time they had. If they wanted to just crank out this interview, I was prepared to do that. Alternately, we could order a few rounds, get some food and see where it led. They agreed to the latter, and the Scottish ale began to flow. Luckily, I remembered what the hell I was doing there in the first place and managed to get some of it on tape.
We started talking about a line from the band’s bio. Matt Ferro offered the following: “How do I know that 99 percent of musicians are scumbags? Dude, I have been playing and touring for a long time. I know they are scumbags. Hell, I am a scumbag.” It may seem like a callous generalization, but as our conversation continued, it became clear to me that neither Matt Ferro, nor his brother Evan, would indulge in any hostile posturing. “There are a few good eggs out there,” Matt continued. “But there is just something about music. Think of the expected rewards, like sex and drugs and money, it’s going to attract certain kinds of people.”
I am not sure if the Ferro brothers were ever those “certain kinds of people.” It seems hard to believe they could have been. Having spent nearly a decade in the seminal Sacramento band Bright Light Fever, the approach to their new project is built on a foundation of experience and maturation. This includes years of touring and exposure to the music industry, culminating in a brief dalliance with major label status. “We had our toes in with Island Records, and we got a taste of all that,” Matt said. And for all the “scumbaggery” out there, Matt stated unequivocally that his brother Evan is not a scumbag, and hence from the ashes of Bright Light Fever emerged Roman Funerals.
The Ferro brothers have been playing together since 2005 and have developed a close working relationship that Evan describes as “second nature.” In music, chemistry is everything, and to hear these guys tell it, being brothers almost gives them an unfair advantage. It comes through on the soon to be released EP, Six of Us. The sound of the record is generally stripped down and tight, with an underlying foundation of acoustic guitars and warm, two-part harmonies. It’s difficult to locate the music of Roman Funerals on the style spectrum, but there are hints of certain influences. “The way we put this record together was a little foreign for us. We wanted to make it feel a little uncomfortable,” said Matt, reflecting on the process of writing the EP. As a result, there are stylistic turns that may or may not be obvious, like my insistence that the track “Lineage” sounds like it could have been performed by an ‘80s New Romantic band. However, it’s clear that on some of the other tracks, the folk-y, almost country-like guitar parts drive the tunes. And as Evan explained, “it’s heavily influenced by The Byrds, and their record Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”
The best thing about interviewing bands is that on occasion, you will get to talk to someone who is as much of a music nerd as you. The Brothers Ferro are those kinds of guys, the ones who will drink and debate about “top fives” like characters from a Nick Hornsby novel. At a certain point in the interview, after beers and a couple slices of gourmet pizza, the conversation turned to black metal and black metal documentaries, and how Gaahl from Gorgoroth came out of the closet. If I wasn’t careful, I would forget all about the interview and start articulating my argument in favor of Dragonforce. Luckily, I remembered my notes.
I told the guys I spent the earlier part of the day listening to the EP. “Did it bum you out? I mean, it’s kind of a gloomy day,” offered Matt. It’s clear that Six of Us isn’t a summer party soundtrack. Despite the Ferros’ reverence for the jangly, country rock of the Byrds, the Roman Funerals EP is decidedly moodier. The record was produced by Robert Cheek of By Sunlight, a former Sacramento band now based in Seattle. The EP also features the services of the Alternative String Band, a prominent local string quartet. “Playing with the string quartet made us feel like legit musicians,” Evan said, as if their status was in question somehow. The EP, available on Nov. 16, features six songs that are brilliantly played and captured. Cheek’s production preserves the stripped down, folk-y feel and avoids excessive overproduction. Matt said that other members of By Sunlight, who also play in Roman Funerals, contributed to the production and performances on the record; a collective effort put forward to make manifest the musical vision of the Brothers Ferro.
Increasingly, digital technology and social media outlets mean that bands can do a lot of things that used to be the province of a dedicated cadre of professionals. I wondered what Matt and Evan thought about how technology has changed the way bands approach their craft, especially since these guys basically cut their teeth in a period that immediately preceded the Web 2.0 explosion.
“It’s a double-edged sword. You can immediately record and put something on the Internet, and it’s totally shit. But it allows you to do stuff like record the demos and stuff you’ve written without a lot of cost or complications,” Matt said. Furthermore, control over the business aspects of being in a band provide artists with complete control, and decrease the chance of being screwed over by opportunistic “scumbags.” And anyways, if you know some Web designers and graphic artists, you can always get by with a little help from your friends. However, there is another wrinkle in the social media phenomenon that troubles and intrigues, according to Evan. “You can’t just let the music speak for itself anymore, you have to explain yourself,” he said. “The mystery is gone; people can find out everything about you.” It’s the age of the voyeur and the exhibitionist. “Maybe we are at a point culturally where that is part of the game,” Matt said.
As the pizza disappeared and the glasses were drained, I started to wind down the interview. I promised to mention certain things in the final piece, like their waitress friend Courtney, and to keep certain other things out for the sakes of their parents. However, the conversation could have gone on. Matt and Evan are not only talented songwriters and musicians. They are bright, articulate and insightful guys. They may well end up filling that void in the local music scene, a scene in need of a focal point and a couple of really bright lights.
A look at the Sacramento scene shake-up in 2009
It was a difficult year for the local musician as at least eight bands met their demise. Swansong shows were played, vans were crashed and relationships collapsed in bittersweet endings. The silver lining in the shambles of bands lost? As we transition into a new decade, we’ll be greeted by fresh and lovely new bands.
That’s how this thing works. Take last year’s demise of The Evening Episode. Had they not called it quits, Terra Lopez would not have gone on to create our beloved Sister Crayon and fill that indie-pop gap in our lives. For now, it’s the breakup that is fresh for these fallen bands. Only last month, Buildings Breeding unplugged from the scene, citing a lapse in dedication as its reason for departure. Vocalist and guitarist Chris Larsen said Buildings Breeding hit a rut after founding guitarist Evan Hart moved to Oakland.
“I can’t really pinpoint what it was that made the decision,” he said. “It seemed the better we’d get, the less people would care.”
Fresh off a May tour, the band experienced a transformation from its lo-fi roots into a polished songwriting style that would become its Kite Fire EP. A man down, the group brought in Kevin Dockter on guitar and Justin Titsworth on drums. “It made the band feel brand new; finally it felt like we had something,” he said. “Even our oldest songs were fresh again. It definitely gave us a second wind.”
Buildings Breeding booked an extensive tour for November to promote the EP, only to learn that three of its six members weren’t available to travel. The band attempted to have friends fill in as best it could, but Larsen said it was apparent from those reluctant moments the band was kaput. “Chris [Vogel] and I would speak every night,” Larsen said. “When we kept coming to the same decision, we knew we had to end it. We decided to honor what local shows we had and add two farewell shows.”
The farewell show happened so frequently this year it could have been considered a fad. Bright Light Fever played its final show at Harlow’s on Sept. 10. The group had a six-year run eulogized by a can of soda.
“We bought a six pack of Sunkist orange soda before we started pre-production on our first record,” Matt Ferro, Bright Light Fever’s guitarist, said. “We drank them all but one can and kept that can in our practice room as sort of a good luck charm for the whole time we were together. When we were loading up for our last show, we looked at it and—no joke—the expiration date was Sept. 10, 2009. Same day as our last show. Poured it out in the back parking lot of Harlow’s.”
It was to Bright Light Fever’s benefit they did not share the newly expired soda. The band’s lifespan was marred by unfortunate events the members wore like an honor badge sash. Within a month of its debut’s release in Oct. 2006 on Stolen Transmission (an offspring label of Island/Def Jam), Bright Light Fever lost its distribution. By July 2007, Bright Light Fever was dropped from Stolen Transmission. The group wrecked two vans in Wyoming on two separate tours. BLF self-recorded and self-released its second record, eventually putting it on the Internet for free download due to “months wasted on empty promises and overall snakery by outside parties.”
The band finally toured without losing money last November. Alas, its follow-up summer tour led to law enforcement issues in Arizona, hitting a deer in Omaha, eight of 12 shows paying nothing and its newest member quitting. “We all genuinely loved the band, so we did it for as long as we could keep our sanity,” Ferro said. “Honestly, all the bad luck inspired us to work harder at what we were doing.”
Punk band Blame Betty attempted to bear the brunt for four years. Lead singer Brooke Sobol said being in a band exposed her to a potential she never understood, but when your band is in a constant shuffle of members, the lack of dedication wanes the drive. The band burned through four drummers, four bassists and two lead guitarists. “The more we accomplished, the more I wanted to accomplish,” she said. “When the dust settled, we had a good, solid group for a long time.”
Blame Betty broke up in September. Sobol said she was exploring a business opportunity that monopolized her time. The stability of Blame Betty suffered. “I just couldn’t do both,” she said. “The pressure of being the front person got to be more than I wanted. I actually have stage fright. There’s a lot of pressure on the front person.” Sobol said she wants to be the girl standing next to the lead now—drinking a beer and playing her guitar like a crazy woman.
Buildings Breeding split without its inner-band relationship suffering. Larsen and drummer Melanie Glover are still together. “Being able to share music with my true love Melanie, it was at times difficult, but so incredible to see her grow as a musician,” Larsen said. This is the exception.
David Mohr found out the hard way when he split with Meg Larkin just before the summer, leaving Sacramento without its premiere dance duo, 20,000. “I tell people now not to be in a band with your significant other,” Mohr said. “People warned me. I should have taken their advice.”
When Mohr ended his six-year run with previous band Didley Squat, he said it felt like an actual breakup, the intimate kind; but losing his band and girlfriend in a breakup was a crushing blow to his psyche. To make matters worse, the laptop they used to make their music was Meg’s computer. Mohr tried to record on his old four-track, but found the process frustrating.
20,000 never had an official last show. The breakup happened amidst scheduled dates around Midtown, each of which drove the nail deeper into the coffin. Mohr remembers one show in particular at Luigi’s Fungarden. “I was dreading that show,” he said. “It was right after we broke up and the plan was to keep the band going. It was just too weird to get on stage with your ex-girlfriend and pretend to have a good time, pretend to be into the songs when really you’re done with it.”
So why is this happening? Mohr said he is concerned by an influx of negative energy. In Bright Light Fever’s bassist Don Suave, he astutely wrote in the band’s obituary, “it has been frustrating to see our fan base consistently waning while, from my point of view, the quality of our work has been consistently waxing. What I’m saying is, ‘It’s all your fault.'” Similarly, Larsen expressed a frustration with the abandonment that came with his band exploring hi-fi aesthetics.
“I think [the band] was let down by that fact because we were all extremely proud of the stuff we were creating together. Add the hopes of being signed to a new label and having them leaving you dead in the dirt, that is sure to shake any band up.”
Blame Betty spent two years convincing a club to let them play and brought 75 paying attendees out on a Thursday night, only to have the rest of the bill spot four people and split the door money. “[The club] didn’t return any of my calls to get another show booked there,” Sobol said. “But, the other band still does shows there.”
Let’s not forget the silver lining. With the dissolution of such great bands, an absence is left within the artist. As Ferro put it, “playing in a rock ‘n’ roll band makes you cool. Like smoking cigarettes. So right now, I’m lacking cool.”
He and his brother Evan immediately continued writing music under the moniker Roman Funeral. The duo hopes to record an album by the spring and tour in 2010. Larsen is doing a “solo-y thing,” while his ex- bandmates have taken to other local acts like bands with ex-The Matches members and playing with Chelsea Wolfe.
Mohr obtained a laptop and has released two free digital records as Favors. His new venture retains the 20,000 sound, but with a lot more heartbreak. He is currently practicing with Ben and Chris of Impotent Ninja, as well as Chris’s girlfriend, which made Mohr wary at first. “I definitely spoke to Chris about it, but I think they might be stronger than Meg and I,” he said. He hopes to do Favors shows by the summer.
Through all the bullshit, each band had no problem expressing its gratitude for the little moments shared among bandmates and fans. For Ferro of Bright Light Fever, it was traveling in a van across the country with brothers and close friends and taking a piss while your bandmates all meet Iggy Pop on a street in Texas. Larsen recalls the feeling after Buildings Breeding’s last show as he thought, “If this many people came to our shows all the time, I would never quit. I could just play Sacramento and Davis the rest of my life.” Sobol recently caught a show with her bandmates. They still flirt with the idea of reforming again, pending a lead singer shows up. Mohr is doing his best to remain friends with Larkin. As of this week, he hopes he can give his friends one last 20,000 record. The two finished, but never released, an album before the breakup. “Up until about a week ago, I didn’t want to get it out,” he said.
