A Very Insomniac Weekend to keep music fans wide awake
By Kelly Vormelker, Staff Writer
March 6, 2008 | 12:30 p.m.
A Very Insomniac Weekend is a showcase of bands under Insomniac Booking, senior Brian Ostrander's booking agency.
This weekend is an exaggeration of what Ostrander strives to do everyday with Insomniac Booking.
"What I have been trying to do with this Insomniac thing is develop a musicians middle class, where you can survive and be a musician, and maybe work a day job somewhere. You're not going to be on MTV, but you're not going to be dirt poor, lying in a gutter somewhere, strumming three strings on your guitar," Ostrander said.
A Very Insomniac Weekend will perpetuate this DIY attitude of promoting a musicians middle class by presenting students with a slew of bands.
Thursday, March 6 @ The Union -- 10:00 p.m.
Featuring: Barn Burning, The Wading Girl, Kaslo
Barn Burning released the EP Bound to Leave This Dark Behind on Feb. 27. This EP finds original members Corwin Butterworth and Anthony Loffredio, the only two static members since the release of Weatheredbound in 2003.
Barn Burning's most consistent lineup now consists of, Loffredio (acoustic/electric guitars, harmonica, lead vocals), James Toomey (drums, percussion, toy piano) and James Merida (bass, keyboards, vocals).
"When we get drunk, we throw things from the stage. Except for the drummer. I've also been told that our music kind of grows on people like a slow fungus. Not everybody gets it at first," Loffredio said, telling people what they need to know before the show.
The Wading Girl is currently touring alongside Barn Burning. The band has been producing tight rock songs with a slight folksy influence for three years. In this time they have released two full-length records, most recently The Miriam Demos in 2007. They are currently working on a third release.
"We sing about our friends, our families, religion, politics, whiskey, books, traveling, geography and love (both lost and found). Sometimes we sing about all of the above at the same time," said The Wading Girl members on their MySpace.
Kaslo is the only truly local band playing at A Very Insomniac Weekend. Most who frequent the Athens music scene have familiarized themselves with the band. Kaslo released Watching the Carousel Collapse in 2007 with a new, fully instrumental sound. This record was recorded in Athens' own 3 Elliott Studio with help from producer extraordinaire Josh Antonuccio.
Members of Kaslo define their sound as "intellectually-minded, melancholic pop-rock."
Friday, March 7 @ Donkey Coffee -- 9:00 p.m.
Featuring: The Gunshy, Joe Anderl, Winter Makes Sailors, The Kyle Sowashes
The Gunshy's latest album, There’s No Love In This War, showcases, a deep, grisly voice that Matt Arbogast pushes out for songs that have a unique, story-telling nature. Arbogast has attached himself to the nomenclature of The Gunshy in order to disguise himself from what he writes.
The Gunshy's songs are personal, a feeling that Arbogast echoes in his own mindset.
"Fans should know that I really don't like the word 'fan.' Friends are better than fans," he said.
The Gunshy has a full cast including Arbogast, Ben Grigg, Dan Hanke, Matthew Wiseman, Corey Wills, Kara Eubanks and Adam Penly. They are also currently touring with Joe Anderl.
Joe Anderl employs a large lineup of people that alternate gracing the stage with him, which he affectionately calls "The 1984 NFL Draft." Because of this revolving lineup, diversity in sound develops.
"I like that the songs can evolve and change shape so easily. It's that evolution and willingness to push a melody in different directions that keeps this interesting to me. Plus, I tend to rock out a little more when I have the power of a drummer behind me," Anderl said.
Anderl will not know whether he will have a drummer in tow until the actual show. Either way he will deliver a sound that he best characterizes as "[a] little bit of sad bastard Neil Diamond mixed with the rock extravaganza of Swearing at Motorists."
Winter Makes Sailors is Sean Gardner's (meltymelty, The Kyle Sowashes) solo project. He has described this project as a personal learning experience. Since the project's conception, Garner has put out mellow, stripped-down pop songs reminiscent of deep-seeded personal strife. Over the past couple of years Gardner has expanded this endeavor by recording songs and preparing to release his first solo record in the fall.
"Most of the Winter Makes Sailors' songs are very stripped-down, very simple pop songs, usually just on an acoustic guitar or piano," Gardner said.
The Kyle Sowashes have evolved from an revolving door of members to the currently firm make-up of Kyle Sowash (vocals, guitar), Dan Bandman (drums), Justin Hemminger (guitar), Lonn Schubert (bass) and Gardner (keyboard).
The band will be releasing its most recent album, Yeah Buddy!, in April 2008.
"We're probably going to be the loudest band at this event. Earplugs are probably a good idea. Tinnitus is not such a good idea," Sowash said of his band's decidedly upbeat sound.
Featuring: The Quincy Apparatus, Six Gallery, MeltyMelty
The Quincy Apparatus will be kicking off the "party night" of A Very Insomniac Weekend. With the last night of this weekend being a house show at The Beaver House, Ostrander wanted to book bands that would reflect this foot-stomping, beer-chugging atmosphere.
The Quincy Apparatus is currently working on its first full-length album, Squires and Savages. Members Geoffrey Shobert (guitar, vocals), Joshua Voland (bass, vocals) and Martin Kirkwood (drums) make up this garage-esque band.
The band hails from Cleveland, and although the band has never played in Athens, one of the members goes to Ohio University.
"There are tons of people here that have been dying to see them. They are like [the] legendary, folklore, party band that everyone has heard about but no one has seen, so there is so much hype going around [about] it," Ostrander said.
Six Gallery just released its EP Prelude Feb. 2.
"We actually recorded this with little to no intention of ever releasing it to the public. It was recorded initially to use as a tool to write vocals over these songs. Because of the quality of the recording, and the simple fact that it had been over a year since we released any material, we decided to release it as a 'Prelude' to our full-length," bassist Alex Weinhardt said.
Members include Weinhardt, Will Vokac (guitar), Ben Miller (drums) and Ben Schreiber (guitar). Six Gallery will record its first full-length record this summer. It will include six or seven tracks enhanced with vocals, ground not previously explored by the band. Local yokels can compare Six Gallery to Athens own Papadosio. Both find an energy and originality even when their songs are devoid of lyrics.
Meltymelty aims to create pop songs that are simple yet instrumental. The end product is that of a relaxed yet catching mixture with crooning lyrics. Meltymelty is currently recording its first record. This is slated for release in late May. However, the band members will begin promotions when their video airs on MTV's "Bands on the Rise" in April on MTV2.
Meltymelty is the collaboration of Kevin Davison, Sean Gardner and the recently added Mark Himmel. With founding member Gardner in both meltymelty and Winter Makes Sailors, the two bands inevitably influence each other.
"I love working with Kevin in meltymelty. He's super laid back and extremely creative. He is definitely one of the best musicians and one of my favorite musicians I've ever played with. When I can bounce my ideas off him and him off of me, I feel like we write some pretty great songs," Gardner said.
Ostrander is forecasting success for this weekend, and although it seems there is looming gloom in the future with Ostrander graduating, Insomniac fans need not worry just yet.
"To be honest, even though I'm not going to live here, I still want to be a part of the music community. I still want to help promote shows. We are going to be having house shows [at Beaver House] next year. So not only will I be sending bands that I am working with in terms of Insomniac here to play, I wouldn't mind setting up a show, coming down for a weekend and doing that sort of thing," Ostrander said.
Just in case, music fans can down a Red Bull or two and be their own insomniac by catching all three nights of this "festivus" weekend.
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Interested in learning more about Brian Ostrander, the man behind Insomniac Booking? Click away to read a Speakeasy profile of Ostrander.