It was late 2007 when Sacramento local Zack Lopez mailed his band’s three-song demo to KWOD 106.5’s Andy Hawk. His fledgling band was Middle Class Rut, and among those three tracks was “New Low,” a catchy staccato rock song with an anthemic chorus that resonated with Hawk from the moment he spun the CD. He added it to KWOD’s rotation of local bands and the fanfare mounted almost instantly.
By the end of that year, it was among the top requested songs on the station, not just for locals but across the board. MC Rut, which consists of Lopez and drummer/vocalist Sean Stockham, had just been dropped from their major label, Island Def Jam, which was sitting on that same recording of “New Low” when they cut the band loose.
“It just kind of did what you hope a song will do,” said Lopez, who has a deep respect for Hawk’s insistence on giving local bands radio time. “I’ve always thought that was the coolest thing because it gives normal listeners a chance to hear locals.”
Middle Class Rut quickly became a Sacramento staple, headlining sold-out shows and supporting established touring acts as they passed through Northern California. They also booked international tours and traveled the United States with the likes of Social Distortion and Alice in Chains. (I caught them at a KWOD show alongside Alkaline Trio, Pennywise, Anti-Flag and the rapidly ascendant MGMT in 2008.)
As the band’s popularity swelled, they built toward their 2010 debut album, No Name No Color, anchored by “New Low.” They followed it up in 2013 with Pick Up Your Head, which saw the band fleshed out to a five-piece after years as a duo.
Those two album cycles kept them on the road for years, but it all came to a screeching halt in 2015 when the band’s gear was stolen from their trailer right before their final hometown show. Already burnt out from years in motion, they took it as a sign to pack it in.
I recently caught up with Lopez to talk about the ensuing few years, including the demos they released in early 2018 and the new record they currently have in the can, Gutters, which was funded entirely by Kickstarter donations from their fans.
In early 2018, Middle Class Rut released a collection of old demos called Strangler Days. How did it feel to revisit those songs so many years later?
They were from the first two years we started playing music. We were writing so much then that we couldn’t even release the songs quick enough. It’s a time and an energy that we’ll never have again. It would be lame to let those songs die on a hard drive, and it was a good way to see if people still gave a shit about the band. We figured we could put this weird shit out before we go make an album.
What happened when the band parted ways after touring behind the second album?
You have a band account that keeps you going, but when you’re not playing, the money drains quick. Three or four months afterward, Sean was like, “I gotta start working.” Sean does carpentry work in Boise, and I’m a contractor in Sac. I just jumped right back into that. It felt good to kind of get back into that, but that’s short lived, too.
I hit up the label and put out two records on my own and built a rad studio in Sacramento. Having a studio makes a huge difference. It’s somewhere I can go for as long as I want and record undisturbed.
You all parted ways in 2015 after your gear was stolen. If that theft never happened, would MC Rut still have shut it down?
We were supposed to go into the studio. We were renegotiating a contract and were pretty much set to do the cycle again, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to commit like that. It just felt like the last thing in the world we wanted to do. It didn’t feel right. We weren’t inspired, so we hit our label up and said we’re gonna step back. The gear getting stolen was just another sign to fucking relax. Listen to the sign … We’ll just go our separate ways.
What did the label say?
We were with Bright Antenna out of Oakland. They have a ton of bands now, but we were the first band they’d signed. It was more like family than any other label we’d been on in the past. They’re just endlessly supportive. They said, “Whenever you want to come back and get at it, we’re here for you.”
Sean no longer lives in Sacramento. Where does he live now and how does that work for the band?
He lives in Boise, Idaho. He moved there right before we made the second record, but it didn’t matter. He’d fly to where we’d start the tour and we’d all take off together.
What spawned the new album and the Kickstarter that funded it?
It was Sean’s idea. If we could do it ourselves, our obligation was just to the people who funded it. Now we’re looking at a few options. Doing it yourself is rad, but there’s a limit. It’s paid for and we own it 100 percent.
Did you set out to create a specific sound with the new record?
We didn’t. Our second record was so focused and loopy with percussion and hip-hop beats. I don’t know how well it went over, but people didn’t seem to respond to how excited we were. I knew I wanted to do the loopy stuff [on the new one], but we couldn’t help but just bash out rock music in a room, too.
We turned the band to a five-piece on the second record. Everyone’s like, “Man, you guys are way better as a two-piece.”
You recorded the main instruments live in one room. Why did you do the vocals on your own at your home studio?
It’s just about being a control freak and having a budget. We knew as long as we got drums down in the studio, anything else would be extra. I’m so used to recording myself. If I have to sing something more than three times and I still don’t get it, I just pretend the song doesn’t exist and revisit it later. I can’t stand punching in stuff.
Your upcoming tour will include Concerts in the Park in Sacramento. How did that come to be?
We’ve played it twice. Andy [Hawk] and I are always talking and he’s like, “Dude if you ever want to play again, let me know.” He does so much cool stuff for the city. Everyone you know can get in, it’s a free show, they treat you well, and you get paid to do what you do. Why would we not do that?
Middle Class Rut will headline Sacramento’s Concerts in the Park for the third time on July 20. Also performing will be Black Map, Dark Signal and Blackheart. This show is free and will take place at Cesar Chavez Plaza (910 I St., Sacramento) from 5–9 p.m. For more info, go to Godowntownsac.com. You can order copies of MC Rut’s latest album, Gutters, at Mcrut.com.
**This piece first appeared in print on pages 18 – 19 of issue #270 (July 18 – Aug. 1, 2018)**
Music is awesome, isn’t it? Whether intentional or not, music is a big part of everyone’s lives. It’s all around us: on TV, in ads, in our headphones and earbuds attached to our smart phones with streaming audio. Chances are if you’re reading Submerge, you love music too. Even though there is more great music being made than ever and access to it is becoming easier and easier, it’s still sometimes hard to know where to look to discover new tunes. Enter Submerge’s annual year-end best-of list! In 2013 there were so many amazing albums released that we actually expanded this story to feature the top 30 instead of the top 20. You’ll notice that a lot of this list, approximately 50 percent, is local. That’s not by mistake. That’s not because we tried to include local albums just to round out our list. No, we just have that much talent right here in our own city.
Compiled by all of our contributing writers and staff, we hope this list will help you discover something new. And because all of our attention spans are so short nowadays (are you still with us?), we kept our reviews to 140 characters or less, because we all know that reading someone’s short, to-the-point Twitter post is a helluva lot better than reading someone’s four-paragraph-long Facebook rant. Now, set forth and discover some new jams! Who knows, your new favorite band/album may be waiting for you somewhere on this list.
30.
Danny Brown Old
Fool’s Gold
What can you say about Danny Brown? He’s rap’s Jim Morrison, The Lizard King. Old has been on repeat since the day I got it. And will be.
29.
Run the Jewels Run the Jewels
Fool’s Gold
As dope as promised, it gets no better than this. Killer Mike is at his best, and El-P provides the perfect sonic-scape for destruction.
28.
Biosexual The Window Wants the Bedroom
Debacle
Fantastically produced debut album of avant-garde supergroup featuring the great Jocelyn of ALAK, brother Michael RJ Saalman and Zac Nelson.
27.
Paper Pistols Deliver Us From Chemicals
Self-released
2 can do it all. Skinner & Lydell are all binary: beard/belle; drum/voice; age/youth; decadent/austere; beautiful/music.
26.
EGG Overly Easy
Self-released
If Cake and Phish had a baby? Close, but doesn’t quite describe this amazing band. An infectious sound that makes you wanna get up and GO.
25.
M.I.A. Matangi
N.E.E.T.
M.I.A. is pissed off, and still fresh as ever, rapping over aggressive beats and keeping the Sri Lankan sound alive.
24.
The Men New Moon
Sacred Bones
Brooklyn noise punks retreat to a rural cabin, finding a balance between a Mudhoney dustup and a Grateful Dead peace-in.
23.
Gauntlet Hair Stills
Dead Oceans
Gauntlet Hair dropped the dopest, weirdest album we’ve heard in a minute and then immediately broke up. Spacey, strange, with a dash of pop.
22.
Jacuzzi Boys Jacuzzi Boys
Hardly Art
The Miami trio switched things up with a more polished than pure garage sound. Still playful and infectious, just adding new dimensions.
21.
Gap Dream Shine Your Light
Burger
Mid-tempo sex appeal born of psychedelic melancholy and rock ‘n’ roll disco; drugs, dance, drugs, booze, dance, fuck.
20.
Miley Cyrus Bangerz
RCA
Crying cats ftw! The most dissed/discussed AoY; w/ hits by Dr. Luke, Pharrell & Mike WiLL, twerk! This is Miley’s year.
19.
Chuuwee Thrill
Self-released
With rap albums you usually either get bangin’ trap beats OR real lyricism. On Thrill you get both. One of Sac’s best in top form.
18.
Century Got Bars & Bru Lei Midtown Marauders
Self-released
A flawless Tribe tribute and audible tour of this fair city’s nucleus. If you’ve spent more than five seconds in Midtown, you want this.
17.
David Bowie The Next Day
RCA
Charming, confidently progressive with kick-ass guitar solos. It’s classic Bowie with a modern, enthusiastically suspended twist.
16.
Black Sabbath 13
Vertigo/Universal
Pure smokin’ stoner doom rock at its finest! Timeless lyrics and riffs. This album picks up where the band left off with Ozzy 30 years ago.
15.
Nails Abandon All Life
Southern Lord
Yeah, it’s a light version of Unsilent Death (the most brutal album ever), but it’s still hard and evil enough to kill your grandma.
14.
Bombino Nomad
Nonesuch
A perfect album for trekking the Sahara. Blues guitar, smooth Tuareg vox, steady rhythm. Produced by Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys).
13.
Meat Puppets Rat Farm
Megaforce Records
Return to form for desert-baked Brothers Kirkwood. Simple, honest, catchy… Bare bones and poignant. May the Puppets live forever.
12.
Foals Holy Fire
Transgressive
With Holy Fire, these British boys delivered their most focused (and heaviest) album to date, bringing a new meaning to “modern rock.”
11.
City of Vain Back Against the Wall
Self-released
Sacto punkers bring forth one of the best punk rock records of the year, not just locally, but globally. Warm tones and classic style!
10.
Middle Class Rut Pick Up Your Head
Bright Antenna
More fierce rock ‘n’ roll from Sac’s Dynamic Duo…and we <3 it! Grimy grooves and distorted chaos mark MC Rut’s best album to date.
09.
Horseneck The Worst People Ever
Artery
Booze-fueled bone-breaking sludge metal with a sense of humor. This EP gives Sac’s heavy music fans something to smile about.
08.
Tel Cairo Voice of Reason
Illicit Artists
Tel Cairo is the best kind of weird. If Kurt Cobain made hip-hop music in space it would sound like Tel Cairo’s Voice of Reason.
07.
Foxygen We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
Jagjaguwar
Flamboyantly lilting pop with occasional Jagger twists; creates proneness for nymph-like prancing, sometimes mincing.
06.
Death Grips Government Plates
Self-released
A dizzying mix of poetry, yelling and other stuff people hate. But in the eloquent words of MC Ride, “Fuck your idols/ Suck my dick.”
05.
Screature Screature
Ethel Scull
A solid debut by the Sacramento quartet. Guttural lyrical torrents coalesce with shadowy, rhythmic tones, blending into a dynamic framework of sound.
04.
!!! THR!!!ER
Warp Records
Your favorite dance-punk band is back again with more rump shaking, baby making, all-night-party-inducing tunes. Instant classic!
03.
Cove Candles
Self-released
It’s an insightful album. An emotional excavation replete with lyrical fluidity, melodic flirtations and a groovy aftertaste.
02.
Doombird Cygnus
Eightmaps
Vivid percussive landscapes seen through a celestial-tinged lens. Spacey harmonies embedded within hypnotic textures and bright timbres.
01.
Chelsea Wolfe Pain Is Beauty
Sargent House
A beautifully haunting album. Wolfe’s ghostly vocals, layered with cascading guitars, violins and synths, will put you in a trance.
Middle Class Rut pushes their boundaries on their latest release
Sacramento natives Zack Lopez and Sean Stockham reached new heights when their band Middle Class Rut struck rock radio gold with the single “New Low” in 2010. Now the band is back with their sophomore release, Pick Up Your Head, which not only expands the band’s boundaries musically, but also will see their live roster grow.
Believing Pick Up Your Head’s sound to be too big to produce live as a duo, MC Rut opened the door to three more musicians who will tour as part of the band this summer. In a recent interview, Stockham told us that the new lineup will feature a bass player, second guitarist and a percussionist, whom he seemed very excited about.
“He’s actually a great drummer. It’s almost a shame to limit him to just the percussion stuff, because he would be such a great drummer in his own right,” Stockham said. “We might switch off at some point down the line…we might have him play the drums and I’ll just sit backstage and masturbate or something like that.”
The addition makes MC Rut’s already huge, rhythmic live sound even larger.
“It feels like two drummers on stage,” he said. “I really like that. As a drummer, it’s really fun to look over and feed off his energy and mine. It feels like the drums are a lot bigger than they were before. We’re having fun with it.”
Stockham discussed MC Rut’s new members and the process behind creating Pick Up Your Head in the following interview.
Zack and I were talking about how you put a band together for the road. How does it feel opening up MC Rut to new musicians?
At some point during the recording of the record, it became obvious that there was no way we were going to be able to do these songs as a two-piece, unless we used computers and that never felt natural. So, I think we knew we were going to have to try to find some people, and that’s the shittiest thing you could do. It’s sort of like going out and looking for friends, because not only do they have to work musically, but you have to like them and you have to spend a lot time with them, and they have to be able to work for peanuts because we can’t pay people a ton of money. Through our little network and other friends, we found a group of dudes. We just got into a room and instantly started playing a bunch of songs. We didn’t even give it a chance to see if we liked each other. It worked so well musically, so we went down to Austin [Texas] that was our first outing as a full five-piece band and had a really good time. We felt that the shows were really good, and we get along really well with these guys. We’re stoked, but I don’t know how people are going to feel about it. I’m guessing that a lot of people who like our band like us because of the two-piece thing. Not to bring up another obvious two-piece band, but if you went to see The White Stripes, and there were a lot of other people on stage, you’d be like, “Aw man, I just came here to see Jack and Meg.” I’m hoping people are a bit more open-minded to it. We can’t do something just because people expect us to do it, or because that’s what we’re known for. That sounded gimmicky to us, and believe me, if we thought we could pull it off as just a two-piece band, it would be so much easier and so much cheaper to do it that way, but at least for this run off this record, we’re going to do it like this. We might experiment doing some songs as a two-piece and the rest as a full band. I don’t know how it’s going to work yet, but we like these dudes, so we hope everyone else does too.
The shows went well in Austin, but it sounds like you’re a little bit apprehensive…but the musical chemistry seems good, so I guess that’s the most important thing.
Yeah, I think that’s the thing. Once you have a really good show where everyone is jamming together on the same page, it just feels good and you stop worrying about it. Like I said, my apprehension comes from how the few people who actually know our band and like us will react to it, but it feels good so far.
Zack and I were talking about all the stuff you used on the record as percussive instruments—hardwood floors, pots and pans. What kind of stuff are you bringing live?
He’s pretty creative and got into the whole idea of trying to come up with different things to make these sounds. He’s got a couple of brake drums from an old truck, a couple of trash can lids from Home Depot. He’s put cymbals on top of other cymbals and broken them. Everything is trashy and loud. There’s no shakers or anything like that. It’s almost like Stomp!, just loud and nasty shit to hit. I’m sure it’s going to be something that evolves over time too.
From the sound of it, it doesn’t sound like you’ll have to worry too much about people not being into it.
I don’t think so. I think it’s going to be fun, more fun than in the past. Anyone who’s that closed-minded who’d only like our band as a two-piece, I could take or leave those people.
Being a drummer and having someone else to feed off of, have you noticed the songs changing from your end live? Did it reenergize any of the songs for you?
We haven’t played all that much old stuff yet, all the stuff I’ve been used to playing for years. I’m curious to see if that changes at all, if he’s playing with me. The new stuff, that was probably the biggest challenge of this new stuff, the drums and the guitar are just background. They’re playing supportive roles to the vocals and the overall song. Eveyrone’s playing the supporting role. When Zack and I first started this thing, jamming as drums and guitars and screaming into a microphone, it’s was just a barrage of shit happening. The hardest part has been having to calm down a little bit and actually having to listen a little while you’re playing and remind yourself why you’re having to chillax a little bit because there are all these elements that are happening. I don’t need to distract from those by being crazy drummer guy.
When I was talking to Zack, it sounded like the songs are built backwards in a way by starting with the percussive parts and then building the songs around that. Being a drummer that must have been a pretty neat feeling.
I love that the result is always a really beat driven song, and I think that’s something we’re never going to get very far away from. We both feed off that beat. We could write an entire song to no music as long as there’s just a beat happening, probably a lot easier than we could write a song if there was no drums but just a guitar line. That’s how the one song that I wrote lyrically on this record started out. I was jamming just drums in the room, I recorded a couple beats and then I went out into a room and started singing acapella over these beats. We’re definitely very beat oriented.
It sounds like how a rap song would be written.
It is, man, and that’s why we’ve always felt something in common with that kind of music. Maybe we don’t really know what that means or how to fit that in, but we’ve spent a lot of time collaborating with hip-hop people because there’s something in common with that.
You can hear that in the way you were talking about how the beats and the music are just background to the songs.
That’s always been the two different sides of this band from the get-go. We’ve had that one side that’s guitar and drums rock ‘n’ roll music that’s written that way, with Zack and I in the room jamming for hours and hours until something comes out. Then there’s the other side where the two of us are in the lab with a computer and a pair of drumsticks to hit whatever’s around you in the room to build a beat like someone would build a beat for a rapper. It gives you such different results. It’s almost two completely different sounds. I love those two sides of our band. We’ve found even more success on that side of things, with songs like “New Low”…”New Low” was totally put together that way. It was built as a beat on a toolbox and over the course of a day, just building, building, building and adding to that song. The same song could not have came out if it was written from our normal positions behind the drums and guitars.
Has this sort of hip-hop producer side of the band won out more on Pick Up Your Head?
Yeah, this album is definitely more beat-based, and assembling the songs in a totally different way. We’ve been jamming together for so long. We found a tape we’d made that was dated 1996. You could imagine that if you’re doing something for so long, you can get a little bit bored. If I’m always behind the same drum kit, and he’s always behind the same guitar, things are going to sound reminiscent of things you’ve already done years ago. I might have my go-to beat that I play, and his go-to beat that he plays. It was like, what do we do? The only thing you can do is totally rearrange the process and do something completely different. What’s awesome about that is that it’s not only this breath of fresh air and you get this new sound, but you get this new excitement for doing it, because it feels like something new. It feels like it did when you were a kid and you first started playing music and everything was new, but now we’re 30 years old, we’ve been doing it for half our lives or longer. We need to switch things up and keep things fresh.
Did you listen to that old rehearsal tape you found?
We don’t even need to. We don’t really need to listen to that one.
There’s a lot of layering on these tracks. Did you hear right away what each songs needed or was there an experimentation factor behind that?
Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes it’s really obvious. Sometimes the song asks for what needs to be added. Then sometimes you’re listening to it and it sounds a little light or a little empty. It was everything from A to Z with these songs. Some of them came really easy and were maybe a bit more minimal, and some of the other ones were a bit of a struggle to get them out.
Did you produce this one yourselves also?
Yeah, and that’s the other thing. We’re not used to going into the studio and saying, OK, we’re going to make the record on this date. It’s an ongoing thing. I guess we’re just used to that. We’re also used to combining the writing and the recording process all into one. We try to do that still. We try to go into a room and just write, but we don’t have a whole lot of luck doing it that way. The computer or whatever’s being used to record has to be ready and running, because that’s just the way we work.
So you’re just constantly working on stuff?
That’s why the idea of working with your traditional producer kind of guy, we just really don’t know how that would work. Maybe with these new guys in the band, we’ll do something that’s more straightforward. Maybe we’ll write a couple songs during sound checks that will be rock songs, and we’ll have someone come in and produce it in the traditional way. As long as we’re doing more—I don’t even know what you’d call it—like assembled beat stuff, that stuff is just going to have to grow organically.
Pick Up Your Head will be released by Bright Antenna on June 25, 2013. In the meantime, you can be sure to get a taste of the band’s new material and expanded lineup when they play Cesar Chavez Park in Sacrmento on May 10 with Jonny Craig and others. Best part? The show is FREE. Check out the video for “Aunt Betty” online at Mcrut.com. If you’re in the Sacramento region, grab our current issue to read our companion interview with Zack Lopez.
Here is your first look at the 2013 Concerts in the Park lineup. Last summer saw record setting attendance for the Friday night series and by the looks of it this year shouldn’t be any different. Here is what we’re particularly stoked about: local hip-hop from the likes of Rasar, Live Manikins, DLRN and a couple others. Also Kill the Precedent is one of our absolute local favorites and we didn’t expect to see them on the listing at all, as they are rather heavy and in-your-face. And of course we’re pumped to see !!! (Chk Chk Chk) headlining a night not long after their new record THR!!!ER comes out. The Mother Hips are closing one night and they also have a new record out soon, same goes for Middle Class Rut. All in all it’s a pretty solid lineup in our opinion, but hey, what do we know? Best of all, the shows are all free. Let us know which bands you are excited about!
May 3rd:
Element Of Soul
Musical Charis
They Went Ghost
DJ Epik
May 10th:
Middle Class Rut
Jonny Craig
Dogfood
I’m Dirty Too
RCK:RMX (Blackheart+Buckdog)
May 17th:
Arden Park Roots
Syncro
Rasar (formerly Random Abiladeze)
Live Manikins
DJ Whores
May 24th:
James Cavern
Iconoclast Robot
Rock N’ Rhyme
DLRN
Heartworm
May 31st:
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
Exquisite Corps
Paper Pistols
Sam I Jam
June 7th:
Mumbo Gumbo
The Quinn Hedges Band
Tel Cairo
June 14th:
Infamous Swanks
The Lesdystics
Avenue Saints
The Bar Fly Effect
Shaun Slaughter
June 21st:
Mother Hips
Jackpot
The Old Screen Door
Roger Carpio
June 28th:
Brodie Stewart
Nevada Backwards
The Carly DuHain Band
Big Trouble
DJ Rigatoni
NO SHOW JULY 5th
July 12th:
ZuhG
Joy & Madness
Harley White Jr. Orchestra
DJ Oasis and INKDUP
July 19th:
FallRise
Kill the Precedent
Restrayned
Fair Struggle
Z Rokk
July 26th:
The Brodys
Hero’s Last Mission
The Bell Boys
Humble Wolf
DJ Billy Lane
Lite Brite distills the energy of their high-powered live show on a brand new album
A rock concert might be the only place in the world where it is acceptable to thrash around with full force, scream at the top of your lungs and push random people to the ground. If you tried this on the street, a grocery store, or a restaurant you will be kicked out and given the cold shoulder by society. Whether it’s moshing in the crowd or playing guitar on stage, rock concerts welcome your inner beast with open arms. There is one local band that produces this kind of high-energy show that can make anyone want to jump around. Submerge caught up with brothers Eddie and Matt Underwood, members of Sacramento rock-trio Lite Brite, in front of Peet’s Coffee to discuss their new self-titled album and rocking out on stage.
“If we have any underlying rage, [performing] is a good way to release it,” said vocalist and guitarist, Eddie Underwood.
“Instead of stabbing each other in the face,” continued drummer Matt Underwood. “It’s an expensive habit really.”
Eddie, Matt and Robert Lander, bass, are ready to bring their high-energy show straight to your living room. Their goal was to make their new self-titled album as close to the band’s live show as possible, making Lite Brite’s stage-fueled passion completely mobile.
The opening track of Lite Brite’s new album are recorded sounds from the band having fun with an analog phaser, creating eerie sounds that set the stage for their 12-track rock album. “We had an idea that it was going to be a theme in the record. I don’t think it ended up being exactly the way we thought it was going to be but it was a good way to tone the record,” Matt said. “I like the way that it turned out. It’s a noisy record.”
Lite Brite is excited to unleash a record that it can completely claim as its own. There is only one track, “Heaven,” on which the band collaborated with a musical engineer.
“We did it all ourselves. We mixed it all ourselves. We recorded it all ourselves. It was exactly what we want,” explained Eddie.
“It’s going to be really cool though, getting our music done, because we never really had a whole album that is just the way we wanted it to be,” Matt added.
Lite Brite hopes to give the new music as much exposure as possible, including a tour in the near future and to make the tracks easily accessible and sometimes free online. Matt Underwood wanted to adopt a business model that was made popular in the ‘60s by bands such as The Rolling Stones, where they would release numerous singles at a rapid pace.
“It would be really timely,” Matt explained. “It’s sort of this idealistic vision that I had, get something out and get it out on the street really fast. It would be the right song at the right moment.”
So far the Underwoods have been very successful in getting their music out quickly even though they have only played music professionally for the past few years. While in high school, Matt and Eddie would jam out to cover songs in their parent’s garage with their friend Bob.
“We just started playing covers and stuff. It was fun playing stuff that we like and Bob came over every day. He didn’t do homework. That worked out well,” joked Matt.
Since then, Lite Brite has been on two West Coast tours including one with Middle Class Rut. During their past tour, life on the road never seemed to get dull for them. Every city had a new adventure waiting for them. While stopped in Minneapolis, they had their van broken into early in the morning.
“What really pisses us off is that they stole our lunch meat,” Eddie said. “All of the equipment was in the back, and they could have easily gotten thousands of dollars worth of equipment, but they just went though our ice chest and downed 10 Red Bulls and ate our lunch meat on the spot.”
But missing lunch meat wasn’t their only problem that day. The thief decided to break in through the passenger window and crack the windshield causing Lite Brite to rush to get it fixed before a show. While on the same tour but this time in Wyoming, Eddie and Bob almost landed in a bar fight over the topic of Nickelback.
“I might have said something like, ‘Nickleback sucks,’ and one guy said, ‘Hey, hold on a second, I like Nickelback. I’m about to knock your teeth in.’ And then all of a sudden someone comes in from another room where Bob was playing pool and he said to me, ‘You better come quick… Your friend is about to get his teeth knocked in,’” Eddie said.
They decided to leave the bar before anyone would have to make an emergency trip to the dentist. But the highlight of their previous tour was the high-energy and jam packed shows, full of people who have never heard of them before but loved every minute of it. “The last two U.S. tours that we did were awesome,” Matt said. “Pretty much every show was just tons of people to play for.
“We completely sold out of CDs really early on our last tour. We had to burn thousands of CDs so we had something to sell.”
Recently, you might have caught them at Friday Night Concerts in the Park in early May. That night was one of their most memorable performances because there were over 7,000 people watching them at Cesar Chavez Park.
“You can’t really beat that,” Eddie said.
Before playing a high-energy show, whether it’s in front of a huge park or small venue, there isn’t much that Eddie needs to get himself pumped up to jam on stage. “The best way to warm up is to have a couple of beers. You don’t want to overdo it but not too little, because we don’t want to stand there like a couple of stiffs,” Eddie joked. “And not too much or else Bob and I will start yelling at each other on stage.”
But now Lite Brite is ready for Sacramento to join them at Ace of Spaces on July 6, 2012 for their CD release party.
“The music scene has been ridiculously awesome to us in Sacramento, and if it wasn’t, we probably would have quit doing it a long time ago,” Matt explained. “Recording an album is stressful and everything but pay off is definitely worth it, it’s very gratifying, just having this giant project for months at a time come to an end. What’s cool about an album is that it’s always going to be there. It’s always going to exist. It’s always going to be around. And you will always have that work that you did.”
A stacked lineup will help Lite Brite celebrate the release of their self-titled CD. Stuck, Musical Charis, Simpl3jack, The Hungry and The Trees will all join Lite Brite at Ace of Spades in Sacramento on July 6, 2012. Tickets are $10 in advance/$12 at the door. For ticket information, go to http://aceofspadessac.com/.
Submerge has got your first look at the lineup for this year’s Friday Night Concerts in the Park series. The 13-week shindig kicks off on May 4, 2012 at 5 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento. You can see the entire lineup right here. Major brownie points to anyone who can name all of the artists that have been on the cover of and/or featured in the pages of Submerge (hint: there’s a lot of them).
May 4 Arden Park Roots (reggae/rock)
Island of Black and White (acoustic/blues/reggae/rock)
The Storytellers (roots/reggae/ska) Shaun Slaughter (indie/electro/pop)
May 11 Middle Class Rut(rock)
Lite Brite (rock)
Horseneck (rock) DJ Whores (electro/indie/dub step/alt)
May 18 Nickel Slots(alt-country/Americana)
Infamous Swanks (rockabilly)
Blackeyed Dempseys (Irish rock)
DJ Adam J (indie/dance/alt)
May 25 ZuhG(funk/reggae/jam)
Element of Soul (acoustic/jam rock)
Playboy School (electronic indie/pop)
DJ X’GVNR (pop/top 40/electro/dance/dub step/house)
July 27
The Brodys (pop/rock) Early States(pop/rock)
Hero’s Last Mission (pop)
Chaotic Fusion (DJ Oasis & !nkDup) (rock/top 40/dance/mash-ups)
As you probably know by now, this year’s lineup was not booked by longtime promoter Jerry Perry, but instead by a committee of local promoters, musicians and music enthusiasts that go by the name Play Big Sacramento. One committee member, Andy Hawk, who works at Entercom radio stations and promotes Wednesday night shows at Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, recently told Submerge of this year’s lineup, “As a committee we worked with venues, clubs, bookers and musicians in an effort to create a lineup of the best Sacramento has to offer. We have 13 weeks of shows filled with the biggest headliners in town, and have added the most talented DJs in Sacramento to play in the beer garden. Friday Night Concerts in the Park this year will truly be the centerpiece of entertainment in Sacramento this summer.”
Guy Debord, the pivotal member of the French art collective known as the Situationist International, once graffitied Paris with the slogan “Never Work.” In his book Lipstick Traces, Griel Marcus ties the SI as the real precursors of the punk-anarchist tradition. In a related way, Middle Class Rut embodies an angst that directly confronts the conditions of our world. Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals) use their songs to take swings at the monotony of the working class experience. It’s imbedded in the lyrics of songs like “Lifelong Dayshift” where both members double down on the chorus to create a throat-thick hook reminiscent of Filter: “Your life/It ain’t worth wasting mine on. I won’t accept that every day/Will just be thrown away.” A sentiment that anyone who’s ever had a miserable job can identify with. Lopez and Stockham don’t stop with lyric sentiment; they crank up their sounds to ear bleeding and make sure that their message gets loudly through to the audience. That message isn’t directly anarchist but is closely related via the spirit of DIY. Angry at the prerequisite struggle built into DIY, MC Rut’s debut full-length album, No Name No Color, becomes an example of a hard-wrought self-made body of work. Operating independently (self-recorded, self-produced), MC Rut is succeeding at making things for themselves and that ever-elusive ability to be happy doing it.
MC Rut met with Submerge at a Starbucks on Madison. Without an interior for customers to sit in, it was a fitting example of our service economy. We drank coffee over the squeals and rumbles that signify our ever-fluid social relations, and here we discussed their jejune flirtations with a major label, family and their recent tours with Alice in Chains, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Them Crooked Vultures, The Bronx and Social Distortion.
“It’s cool to go out and support a band like Alice in Chains, just for the opportunity to do it,” said Stockham.
“And that was huge for us,” added Lopez. Thankful for the opportunities, MC Rut is ready to branch out on its own. Anxious to reap the benefits of their own labor, Lopez gets adamant about headlining. “We’d rather headline basements,” he said, “and have everyone there for us than go out on another support tour. We’ve been an opening band our whole life.”
“When you’re 16 or 17 you get so excited to just get out of your hometown,” said Stockham. “The first couple of tours we did when we were younger, it wasn’t about how many people showed up or how much merchandise we sold, it was about the fact that we’re in a van driving across the world. Then we got a little bit older and had kids, and we didn’t want to do that shitty van tour anymore.”
“And we still did,” nodded Lopez. “We were thinking we just got to pay our dues. It’ll happen.”
Their previous group, Leisure, disbanded in 2004 after years of hype and little to show for their efforts. “It wasn’t until we got honest again that we started going anywhere,” said Lopez. “Getting in a record deal and being in a certain situation, you think that you can fool people. It just doesn’t pan out that way. Money was a joke then. If you knew the right person, they were just handing it out.”
Stockham added flatly, “The industry has been flipped over.” While things have changed dramatically for both major labels and bands, MC Rut is still able to take advantage of their connections to the majors. “[Our label] Bright Antenna still gets to operate the way they want to. They hire their own radio person, we hire our own artwork, together we pay for everything, but ILG and Warner make sure [our stuff] gets out everywhere,” said Stockham.
And, in case our readers haven’t been paying attention, MC Rut has been everywhere. They were getting radio play on KWOD 106.5 before the station changed formats, and their CD release Oct. 8, 210 at the Boardwalk is getting attention as one of Radio 94.7’s $9.47 shows.
Yet despite this recent success, MC Rut is doing something a little different than many of today’s popular bands. Embedded into their songs, into their angst, is the late ‘90s feel of Jane’s Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Filter and a punk rock attitude.
“You’re kind of discouraged nowadays from even being a heavy band,” said Lopez. “Especially with the indie scene how it got so big. I couldn’t be less cool showing up to the club with the rig that I have. That’s just who we are at heart. We’ve always just loved really honest, energetic, really heavy loud music.”
“We can easily feel outdated,” seconded Stockham. “Depending on what part of the world or what show we get thrown onto at the end of the night. Heavy music is still really big. Active rock, Disturbed, Godsmack–that shit is huge in the middle part of America. But when you go to London and you’re playing the hip cool place, we’re not playing to Disturbed fans. We’re playing to people who like Vampire Weekend, and that’s the scene we’re talking about. We feel like we can’t relate to them, and they can’t relate to us.”
“We wish that this band could be in the old Sacramento scene,” said Lopez. “You couldn’t beat that scene back then. Now there’s no central place, the downtown scene is totally different.”
While the places have changed, the lifestyle hasn’t; and MC Rut is a testament to the difficulty of overcoming the systemic necessity of day labor. Both members have kids and homes to support; yet they constantly sacrifice family time for music. “If you love what you’re doing that should be what you’re doing,” said Lopez. “It was a lot harder for me personally, working and existing as a normal guy, being someone I wasn’t. I was building houses in Los Angeles. That was way harder for me than it was to leave my family and go out on the road to do something that I loved. If I’m home and I’m miserable because of my job, I’m just treating everyone like shit anyways. You can burn months, years even, in a certain routine. Just stacking time against yourself.”
“I didn’t even get my high school diploma,” revealed Stockham. “Like, ‘I’m going to be a rock star at age 19.’ When that didn’t work out and you’re forced to get a job, it’s factory work. In a funny way we want to have the stability of a 9-to-5, just playing music. Health insurance would be dope.”
Like too many Americans, MC Rut has to juggle their work with their livelihoods, sometimes at the consequences of self-preservation. When it’s not weighing down their bills, this tension manifests itself in the track “One Debt Away.” The chorus is a simple affirmation: “Be glad/To be home.” The first half is belted out with all the angst discussed above, the second half declines into a less tenuous space, the melodic thought of domesticity.
“We haven’t been to the doctor or the dentist in like 12 years,” laughed Lopez.
“There are times where it’s just an emergency, and it becomes this really expensive thing,” said Stockham. “My credit is fucked, because I went to the doctor one time and didn’t have the money to pay the bill. Hopefully things will change.”
For MC Rut things have changed; they’ve finally put together an album full of momentum. It’s time to reveal it to the people. “It’s nice to have officially put out a record,” said Stockham. “Now we can just move on, go out and play as many shows as possible.”
Last Friday’s Concert in the Park Series at Cesar Chavez saw the triumphant return of Middle Class Rut, another long-awaited addition to the short list of bands that have found mainstream success beyond our county lines. This success is partly due to the overwhelming response to their 2008 single, “New Low,” that was played almost nonstop on the now-defunct KWOD 106.5. The stoner-friendly, alternative radio station was a huge proponent of the band. In fact, one year ago on the same exact stage, KWOD DJ Andy Hawk announced them before they hit the stage to a much smaller crowd.
MC Rut, as they are referred to in short, consists of Zach Lopez on guitar and vocals and Sean Stockham on drums and back up vocals. That’s right, they’re a duo. But before you make up your mind based on all the preconceived notions of what a duo can and can’t do, hear me out. They aren’t the White Stripes and they sure as hell aren’t Hella. The energy that is harnessed by these two is stadium caliber, as was witnessed by a huge crowd at the Rock-am-Ring festival in Germany last June. Cesar Chavez Park isn’t exactly a stadium, but it isn’t The Press Club either, and I’ve seen the boys murder that tiny venue to a crowd of 20 on a Sunday night. The point? They’re a versatile band that owns any crowd, and Friday night was no different.
A chant of “MC Rut!” welcomed the two onto the stage; each of them casually settling in to their instruments. Lopez jabbed at his guitar like a child taunting a beehive, the feedback buzzing like angry bees. Stockham adjusted his well-worn orange drum kit and removed his shirt to reveal his “For Sale” tattoo that was inked across his chest in bold red letters. “What’s up, Sacramento?” said Lopez in a classic rock star moment. “How you guys doing?” A loving Sacramento crowd that was clearly there to support their hometown favorite answered back with an eruption of applause.
MC Rut opened their set with “Busy Being Born,” their most recent single that began with one of Stockham’s signature rim tap grooves that Lopez overlaid with slow melodic chords that scraped and dragged while he sang, “The days keep dragging on”¦“ Anticipation mounted until finally the chorus exploded wide open, Stockham punishing his cymbals on each downbeat. A cloud of dust from the stampeding mosh pit was carried toward the stage by a much-welcomed Delta breeze. This would continue for the whole length of their set that would only build in intensity as Lopez and Stockham galloped through song after well practiced song.
During what seemed like the crux of the set, a murder of crows flew overhead to the wafting soundtrack of Lopez’s guitar that melodramatically pulsed in synch with the beating of their wings. “Hold the person you love tight,” Lopez instructed the mesmerized crowd who were eating out of his hand at this point. “I like the way your shirt’s unbuttoned,” Stockham joked with Lopez. Their humor on stage is evidence alone that these two have been friends and bandmates for over a decade now. They seem to be enjoying every moment of their second chance at success after their previous band, Leisure, was signed to and then dropped from Dreamworks.
Before their final song, a white tank top was hucked onto the stage, landing at the feet of Lopez, who remarked that he’d rather they get some bras and panties. And, like clockwork, a black strapless bra made its way to the stage. Stockham was pleased and proceeded to strap the bra on himself with a little help from Lopez, who was all smiles at his bandmate’s cross-dressing showmanship. The familiar metallic percussion that opens “New Low” began, and at that point the whole crowd was in it. They sang every last word of the tune with fists pumping and heads nodding.
Crank up the volume and feast your ears on a musical smorgasbord that definitely requires a full concert hall. The native Sacramento band MC Rut combines the talents of singer and guitarist Zack Lopez with drummer and backup vocalist Sean Stockham. Lopez’s angsty lyrics explode on a canvas of poignant guitar riffs, for a full sound that is raw and edgy. MC Rut doesn’t tiptoe into their songs—they give it all they’ve got, musically and lyrically.
Who would have known a two-man band could rock this hard? This dynamic duo has been playing together since they were only 12 or 13, too young to even understand that music could be a business. “It was great,” says Stockham. “You played music because it was fun. Some kids were skateboarding. We were playing music.”
In 2000, when they were still in their teens, the guys were involved with a band called Leisure, which was appropriately named considering that neither Lopez or Stockham identifies very strongly with the band. “It was just an outlet to play shows with and be part of the scene,” Lopez remembers. It also allowed them that first taste of life as musicians. Living in Los Angeles and having a record deal straight out of high school. Lopez recalls, “We felt like we beat the system or something—but we definitely didn’t.” When the band dissolved in ’03 and it was time to join the real world once more, it was a disheartening experience. “It all fell apart and it forced us to join the club, so to speak, of what everyone else was doing,” Stockham says. “We came back tails between the legs and everything.”
In a sense, forming MC Rut was an organic decision to go back to their roots, to what music started out as for them. “That’s what we knew music as,” Lopez explains. Stockham adds, “We got sidetracked for seven or eight years. That’s what we consider that period of time in between the beginning and now.”
These boys are now so close that they virtually finish each other’s sentences. Although there are only two of them, the talent of the band is in no way compromised, and each member has settled into his niche. They relay that Lopez’s specialty is “playing loud guitar and singing” while Stockham’s specialty is “playing loud drums and singing.” Oh, and did they mention playing loud?
The pair played as an official band for the first time at the Capitol Garage in December ’06, and have made quite a stir since their debut. So far, they’ve released two EPs, which they simply refer to as “The Blue One” and “The Red One.” “These are our mix tapes,” Zack laughs. Although their second EP was just released in May, it was met with applause and a cry for an encore throughout Sacramento and beyond. The song “Busy Bein’ Born” is a hit in the UK, and the guys feel that it’s a much better representation of their style and musical capabilities than “New Low,” the catchy and more straightforward US single. Lopez explains, “We’re a lot heavier and a lot rawer and a lot more aggressive. [New Low] just kind of came out the way it did, but “Busy Bein’ Born” encompasses everything we do—it’s heavy, it’s soft, it’s melodic, it’s got lyrics, it’s got melody.”
Yep, it’s got melody, but don’t think that MC Rut is just screaming for no reason. Woven in with the powerful vocals and bad ass guitar riffs is a very honest fear of the ordinary, of struggling to make it in a life you don’t even want—as the name Middle Class Rut implies. “We’re goal oriented people, and the thing about the 9-to-5 American dream middle class is there’s really no goal—there’s just an end,” Stockham says.
They’re riding the coattails of fame now, but understand the fickle nature of the industry and that a 9-to-5 job could be just around the corner—although they continue to evade that world like the plague.
Amazingly, the fame doesn’t seem to have gone to their heads. But, they do admit that it’s a much more friendly world when you get to be the headliner rather than the opening act. Stockham recalls playing at the Boardwalk multiple times as an opening band, and generally being treated pretty badly. “Now when we roll in there and throw a show and it’s our show, we’re kings for a night,” he says proudly. With the reception they’ve been getting recently, it looks like they’ll get to be kings for more than just a night.
When it comes down to it, though, MC Rut is just two guys doing what they love. Public attention comes secondary to the music. “It just so happens that people are starting to listen in and recognize what we’ve been doing,” Stockham says.
Submerge catches up with MC Rut in the interim before they hop a plane to London—an interview that appropriately takes place at the Streets of London bar.
Can you tell me a little about the projects you’re working on now—the new album and the upcoming tour?
Sean Stockham: We’re always playing and writing music whether it’s an album we’re writing for or not. We do what we do. We get together five or more days a week and play music for as many hours as we can. Right now we’re getting ready to go to London in November. Obviously we’re really excited about that
Have you guys ever been to London before?
SS: This is the first time. It’s definitely something we’ve dreamt about doing since we started playing music. At some point we had stopped dreaming about it, and it didn’t even seem realistic.
Zack Lopez: Now it’s reality.
When do you think the new album will be realized?
ZL: We don’t even know really what the new album is. We’ve never written a song for a specific project.
SS: Out of what we have now we could probably put together maybe four to seven projects.
Why did you make the decision to release EPs instead of a full album?
ZL: They are full albums essentially. We’re just scared of the word “album.” Once you commit to saying “album,” that’s your first album.
SS: It’s just like not committing to marriage”¦ There’s something very scary about marriage and there’s something very scary about a full-length record.
So people have described your lyrics as being kind of aggressive. Did you write these songs during a dark period, or are your lyrics pretty consistent?
ZL: It wasn’t a dark period; it was just a normal life period. You don’t necessarily have to be depressed, you know? Most people aren’t happy with their lives as it is and I think that’s a big part of this band.
Your songs express a general dissatisfaction about middle class life. Would you say you have a fear of the 9-to-5 lifestyle?
SS: It’s different than like the fear of death, because none of us have actually experienced death”¦ The 9-to-5 thing is something that’s always right there.
ZL: I feel like some people are down with what they do and that’s great. It’s all about being happy with where you’re at. When you come to the point where you’re struggling to be somewhere that you don’t even want to be in the first place, that’s when you’re bummed.
Do you think that’s an artist thing?
SS: I don’t want to say that. You can say that, but yeah, that’s probably exactly what it is.
ZL: We expect a lot from ourselves. And if we don’t get it, then we’re miserable, and we keep chasing it till we get it.
You guys have high expectations, then?
ZL: From the first time we played music, we expected everything”¦ But at least we’re on the road to hopefully getting there. We’d rather be trying to get somewhere than never try and never be anywhere.
How do you think living in Sacramento affected your lyrics, or did it?
ZL: It definitely didn’t. It was more living in L.A., living on a failed dream that affected our lyrics.
In one of your songs, the song “I Don’t Really Know,” you write, “We’re never going anywhere, just circling around.” Do you still feel that way at times even today, even though it seems like your band is really taking off now?
SS: I think everyone feels like that, generally stated. For us in the band, its such an exciting time right now it would be really hard to not feel like shit was improving at least.
ZL: You’ve got to understand, five minutes of your life where you could feel so strongly about something you could write 10 songs, and you have to express what you felt at that point. It doesn’t necessarily express how you feel all the time”¦it represents who you are at that point. And we’re really good at writing songs about moments.
So if you wrote a song about right now would it have a more positive spin on it?
ZL: It would sound like 311. And we’d be bummed on it.
How has your music evolved between the last songs you released and the new songs you’re working on now?
ZL: The vibe is the same, but we feel like we’re better songwriters. If we don’t consistently keep writing better songs, we feel like we’re not doing our job. Every time we’re writing something, the only reason we ever move on something is because it’s better than what we’ve already done. If its not, it gets left behind, and that’s where it deserves to be.
SS: At the same time, if what we’re doing now doesn’t at least have something in common with what we’ve done before, then it’s not even us.
