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Band In Seattle
Starts Right Now
♪
Hi, welcome to
Band In Seattle,
I'm your host, Xander.
Band in Seattle features
up and coming bands from
all over that are hoping
for their break on the
national stage.
Tonight we have two great
bands, Acid Angels and Big Sur
in our studios,
and they're ready
to share their music
and their stories with you.
We'll be right back with the
high energy
garage/punk/rock band
Acid Angels
[Applause]
♪
♪I wake up
late ♪
♪and I know that
I'm paralyzed. ♪
♪I try to stop ♪
♪But you stick some
needles in my eyes. ♪
♪I feel so crazy,
I feel so high ♪
[Music trails off]
Kelly: Can you feel it...
that one is about drinking
and driving,
and rolling
your truck...
and spending two days
in the county jail.
First show I played was in
this band called
"Sedated Souls".
After that I was in a band
called the "Witch Doctors"
with Carl, the other
guitar player in
in "Acid Angels"....
See how this
all comes back around...
then I was in a punk
rock-kinda country band
and it was called
"Redneck Girlfriend".
Me and Terry the singer
of "Redneck Girlfriend"
joined "New American
Shame" ... that's where
Geoff came along -
we got him -
and then the "Acid Angels".
Geoff: He can write
any song he wants.
He can just think about
a song, or a style, and
it'll be great...
because he is a showman...
he's not going to be happy
unless you are standing up...
or throwing up.
♪You're ready to roll. ♪
♪Let it Roll! ♪
♪
Kelly: I was raised down
in Oklahoma and Kansas...
so you know, everyone down
there wore like Wranglers
and at the time there
was Alabama and
Oak Ridge Boys,
but then I moved
up here in 9th grade and
everybody in the apartment
complex were rockers...
and everybody liked
Motley Crue...
and I was like:
man, I don't want
to jump in...
so I liked Wasp...
Wasp was my band...
and since Blackie Lawless
played bass and sang...
I think it was Blackie
Lawless that kind of got
me into the rock
kind of thing.
Geoff: I really liked
playing the drums as soon
as I started, and then for
a long time I just thought
that was just
enough to do it.
But then I started to have
a couple of reality checks
from people who were more
accomplished musicians:
"Your meter sucks" and I
just started taking it
really seriously as
opposed to just "this is
something fun to do
when I get drunk"
Kelly: We play this song
"Gotta Move",
you know it's about
a prison break...
song about ya know,
"gotta be quiet"...
"OK"...
you're breaking
out of prison.
♪Take our freedom
in the cold dark
night skies. ♪
♪
♪Won't be long 'cause you
know we just walked by. ♪
♪
♪Gotta get back to what
we left our there. ♪
♪
♪We can't get caught ♪
♪Hey babe♪
♪we really don't care. ♪
♪Feel the shivers
going up my spine. ♪
♪Lights out, we're going
down, we gotta move. ♪
Kelly: What I like
about "Acid Angels"...
I don't think I've been in
an argument with one of
those guys, ya know how
some band members just
argue all the time:
"I wrote that riff...
why aren't you
playing it".
It's always nice to just
come to band practice and
hang out with the
friends and not think...
you know you've been in
bands before where there's
always that one guy...
you're like: aww man, I
gotta go to band practice
and be around...
that guy is so weird...
I don't like that guy...
Jaymie: Hi, I'm JayMe
LayMe , I play guitar in
"Acid Angels".
I helped Kelly write
one song: "My Stereo".
That's a riff I ripped off
from Iggy Pop, actually.
♪ Lighting strikes ♪
♪We may be here,
but always twice, ♪
♪ While I'mdown the road,
you hear the screams of ♪
♪rock and roll. ♪
♪Well I know girl... ♪
♪one more time, here
we go: My Stereo! ♪
JayMe: I taught myself how
to play guitar actually.
And I hang out with other
bands who were way better
than me and try to copy
everything that they did...
Sooner or later you
get your own sound
if you keep going.
♪... in every way. ♪
♪I'm In the road... ♪
♪I turn it up, just
for you when I know. ♪
♪Yea... ♪
♪one more time... ♪
Kelly: Most of the time,
I look out there I see my
friends and stuff...
so I kind of I
kind of ya know...
I like to make everybody
kind of a part of it...
so if you're in the front,
or whatever, I'm probably
goin' to single you out
and probably rank on you a
little bit or jazz
you a little bit.
Sometimes it will go on
a little longer than I
wanted to and James our
guitar player will look
over and like "OK,
dude, come on...
we're here to play, we're
not here to have the
'Kelly comedy show'
(from live concert): "This is
definitely not Darrell's
up on 99...I don't know...
just set up"
And I think ya
know, it makes everybody
feel like they're
part of it.
It's almost like going to
a comedy show, you want
that guy to rank on
you a little bit...
your like "Hey, did you
see that guy.. he said I
was a booger face" or
whatever, you know.
I mean, it's just fine.
Geoff: Come On...
That's a cool one.
That's like.... I think
that's our version of the
"The Kinks"
♪
♪Hey. I get the shivers when
you walk next to me. ♪
♪I realize you're
everything that I need. ♪
♪I get so dizzy,
my face hits the dirt ♪
♪I grab my chest because
my heart starts to rush. ♪
♪I wanna wanna wanna
come back to you. ♪
[Music Trails Off]
♪Lucy don't
you walk away. ♪
♪Don't walk
away from me. ♪
♪Now Lucy don't
you walk away. ♪
♪Don't walk away from me. ♪
[Music Trails Off]
Kelly: Lucy...
Lucy is about a dog.
It's about just blowing
off work and taking your
dog down to the beach.
JayMe: Skeeter's singing
to his dog, saying "Hey,
you better do what I
say or watch out"
♪Don't want to be inside, Don't
want to be inside and die. ♪
♪I wanna come alive. ♪
♪I call my girl by
her name, ♪
♪I say lets grab a bite. ♪
♪I know a little area ♪
♪What about the
food you like. ♪
♪Took her down to the beach
and took some ♪
♪drinks up in the
safety zone ♪
[Music Trails Off]
Kelly: These?
Those are my salesmen.
You should see...
If someone calls me up and
says "Hey Siverstar we'd
like you come out and get
a quote and re-roof my
roof" Aww OK, I'm on the
phone all polite and
whatever...
and then I knock on the
door and there is so many
times I get this...
ya know and it's like
Charlie Manson's here to
measure our roof.
♪You put those keys up
in her eye ♪
♪And now we say goodbye. ♪
♪Lucy don't you walk away,
don't walk away from me... ♪
[Music Trails Off]
Kelly: I'm a roofer...
These hands, ya know...
I don't know my
anniversary, when the
power goes out, my VCR is
blinking 12:00, I don't
know how to...
Geoff: We were signed to
Atlantic Records and we
would come home from tour
and he would go
back on the roof.
One time I got up on the
roof with him, I'm like
"yeah, I'll go roofing with
you" and the roof was like
this, and I had to do the
tearoff and I was like
doing all the hard work...
and by the end of the
day I could
pop the blisters...
it was like bubble wrap.
Kelly: What a
little girl...
that was not even
that hard of a job...
I'm not kidding.
And this is where all
the money's made...
'cause it ain't coming
from the songs.
So each on of these...
is like a beat...
that pays.
♪Never run away ♪
Kelly: Hold On Girl.
That one...
yea it's just about a dude
(not me) just arguing with
your chick.. you know,
kind of a Sid and Nancy
relationship or whatever,
you fight, then you're
miserable without her,
but when you're
with her your fighting...
there's a
squirrel going by.
JayMe: We got some vibrato
going on the amplifier,
Fender Super Reverb, and
we actually time the
vibrato to the drum beat.
It sounds really cool.
Geoff: It sounds like
it's from the 60's.
It totally nails that kind
of almost Phil Spector-ish
"Wall of Sound"
♪Girl, don't
tell me
what to do. ♪
♪Don't tell me what to say. ♪
♪'Cause I still
know the truth. ♪
♪I... ♪
♪I'm walkin' down the road. ♪
Geoff: I played in the...
what I call the
"Colour Box Bands".
The Colour Box was a club
down on 1st avenue, and I
just played in every
one of the bands...
I played in band, after
band, after band,
after band...
and usually 4
or 5 at a time.
Kelly: Everbody
makes the rounds.
Especially the "life-ers"
What else are you gonna do?
Like I played with that
guy, I'm so sick of that
guy, I'll go play
with this guy...
I'm out of here"
That just happens.
He was actually doing
"New American Shame" and
"Loaded" at the
same time so...
being in a band
with Duff...
that probably opened a
bunch of doors, and got to
play with a bunch
of cool people.
Geoff: Touring with Duff,
or someone from
"Guns N'Roses" is a
great experience.
If you...
If you have to be not
famous, and tour in a
band, try to get someone
from "Guns N' Roses"
in the band.
♪
JayMe: One of my favorite
songs is Mexico.
It's more early 70's
Rolling Stones style.
Kelly: I always like to
listen to the melodies
that JayMe always .. I
mean he comes up with
really good melodies
for his leads...
he's my Keith Richards..
♪Hey everyone, ♪
♪ they leave so fast,
I'm going to sit ♪
♪right here and
make it last. ♪
♪I take it easy, I take it
slow, I feed the habit, ♪
♪yea, I'm watching it grow. ♪
♪I realize, it's Mexico,
I need the action, yea, ♪
JayMe: I've played in
cities all across the
United States and I
will tell you Austin is
probably number 2, New
York of course is really
good, but Seattle's
my favorite.
Geoff: It seems like...
and maybe this is
just because
I'm back in Seattle...
but it seems like there's
almost a scene cohesing
again, ya know, like there
was in the late 80's...
it's a nice feeling...
we'll see what happens.
♪ Knocked out the sunlight,
put out the flames ? ♪
♪
[Applause]
Xander: Next up on
Band In Seattle are the
sad, dark, pretty
folk songs of Big Sur.
Stay tuned.
♪
Jake: I have been playing
music since I was a little boy.
My sister had a Sears-
Roebuck organ that I
used to come up with
melodies on and play with
and found that if you just
added keys together,
they made pretty sounds.
♪
♪ Don't give me those eyes
because I wanna look good ♪
♪ I know I'm big baby, but
I'm misunderstood ♪
♪ You don't gotta be skinny to
wear them tight jeans ♪
♪ You just gotta be pretty, and
baby that's me ♪
♪ Yes I look real good in
a shirt and a tie ♪
♪ With my hair spiked up
and my head held high ♪
♪ And I promise you, baby,
by the end of the night ♪
♪ You'll be smiling at me
and you won't know why ♪
♪ Because there's more
of me to love ♪
♪ than you're ever
gonna know ♪
♪ There's a rhythm
to my walk ♪
♪ even if it is
a little bit slow ♪
♪ And I won't hear
you complain ♪
♪ when I lift you
like a doll ♪
♪ And I'll make
you feel pretty, ♪
♪ and I'll make
you feel small ♪
Jake: I'm Jake
Hemming, singer/songwriter
from the band Big Sur,
and I work at a small
family-owned
vitamin store,
and drive a 1990
Cadillac Eldorado.
We moved to Bellingham
when I was 18 and all I
wanted to do was
play music...
and to play music
consistently and be taken
seriously, you end up
playing in front of people
and that feels so good...
especially playing with
band members in front of
people, that's a
different thing.
So the idea of making
money at it...
it was really cool when I
played a show and had the
best time of my whole life
and then someone would
give me money...
it seemed ridiculous.
It started making sense
when I realized how many
hours I put into it...
we put into it as a band
performing and practicing
and writing and the gas
money that it takes to get
places, especially now,
and instrument repair and
strings and all
those things.
Kat: Indian Jenny is a
song about a book
I have never read...
I keep meaning to read the
book that I always forget
the name of, but I'm sure
Jake will tell you about it.
Jake: The book is called
"Sometimes a Great Notion"
by Ken Kesey and Indian
Jenny is by far
my favorite
character.
♪
♪ She goes to
all the bars ♪
♪ and spinning underneath
the stars ♪
♪ In time to sweet guitars, ♪
♪ she makes confetti
of her heart ♪
♪ But she can't forgive him ♪
♪ Or the river ♪
♪ Oh it makes her shiver ♪
Indian Jenny is
also a song where I get to
hear Steve and Kat
harmonize with the violin
and the trumpet and they
created a melody that I
heard in my head and
I never had to
tell them existed...
they just found it without
me ever saying a word.
Kat: Steve and I worked
out harmonizing violin and
trumpet parts ... which is
one of my favorite things
that we do in the band.
♪
Jake: All the songs that I
write are very personal,
they're painfully
autobiographical sometimes...
so 'Their Honeymoon' was
the first real song where
I tried to do that.
Steve: He's talking about
something that is supposed
to be a happy occasion and
is not a happy occasion...
pedal steel players
excel at adding the
tear-in-your-beer factor
to the song, so I enjoy
that song a lot
for that reason.
♪
♪ She says 'this
is too much, ♪
♪ one more night ♪
♪ and this love is not enough' ♪
♪
♪ She says 'this love
is not enough. ♪
♪
♪ It's not enough. ♪
♪
♪ You're love is not enough. ♪
♪
♪ It's not enough.' ♪
♪
♪ They're the two in
the picture there... ♪
♪
Derek: In
the song 'Me and Townes',
one of our more upbeat
numbers, but still dark
and somewhat disturbing,
like most of our songs
Jake: 'Me and Townes' is
a song I wrote about a
newspaper article I found
looking through archives
of a woman in the early
'70's from Alaska who
murdered her family.
♪Her friends search
the honky tonks
and bars ♪
♪But couldn't
find her
anywhere ♪
♪Except for on a
post office wall ♪
♪The note said
no bail was set, ♪
♪her family
they're all dead ♪
♪And she's the one
who held the gun ♪
♪It's a long way
to Kodiak, ♪
♪where the not says
her families at ♪
♪On a beer stained
highway map ♪
♪Beating hands in time to ♪
♪the rain on the dash until ♪
♪She knows she's
on her final ride ♪
♪And the bar room, ♪
♪it's a catacomb ♪
♪Of giving into guilt, ♪
♪then leaving it
out for good... ♪
Jake: I play any
of these songs by myself,
which happens from time to
time, I can hear my band
when they're not there...
they're like ghosts,
they're like incredibly
welcome, kind, crazy,
hilarious ghosts.
Steve: growing up in
Louisiana, I heard a lot
of country musicians
playing pedal steel, so I
knew the potential of it,
and instead of taking the
classic country route with
it, I decided that I would
try what I had heard
growing up in Baptist
churches with the church
organ feel and kind of
apply that which is more
of a somber,
respectful sound.
Derek: I never had any
formal training...
and having Big Sur be
the one band that I have
drummed for, I'm able to
drum specifically for the
songs without too much
thought about what I
should be doing as a
result of my training.
♪For her there'll
be no rising sun ♪
♪Just the cold
steel of a gun ♪
♪And the bed of grass
by her mamas grave ♪
♪And the bar room, ♪
♪it's a catacomb ♪
♪Of giving into guilt ♪
♪and then leaving
it out for good... ♪
Jake: 'Up over
their heads' is a song
about my two
closest friends...
I had this ballet studio
in this old house that we
turned into my music room
and I would shut these big
doors and play music all
night and just cry and
loose myself there and
when I would roll those
doors open, sometimes
they'd be sitting there
listening...
I never felt like that
from meeting a couple of
people so I had to write
a song about those human
beings and about
that house.
♪Shirt is up over
her head and bottles
are breaking ♪
♪Our Isabelle has
fallen in love ♪
♪Ferdinand stands on
her back and she is as ♪
♪stubborn ♪
♪As the ink he finds
up on her neck ♪
♪She says 'I don't
want to go to the bars ♪
♪I can't be this
with anyone. ♪
♪I don't know why you
would be there for me' ♪
Jake: There's a
couple of things I would
just say about
music in general...
one of them is that it is
a gigantic privilege to
even have people listen
to anything that
I ever write...
and that never, ever
leaves me, I always think
about that.
♪
♪My appetite is large, ♪
♪just like my hands ♪
♪And I'm not a growing boy, ♪
♪I'm a big sexy man ♪
♪Because there's
more of me to love ♪
♪than you're
ever gonna know ... ♪
Jake: 'Big Sexy
Man' is for all of my
friends that
waited it out...
that got teased and made
fun of forever and
they didn't let it
make them sad,
they didn't let it
make them mean,
it didn't make
them pick on people.
♪And I won't hear
you complain ♪
♪when I lift
you like
a doll ♪
♪And I'll
make you
feel pretty, ♪
♪and I'll make
you feel small ♪
♪Yes I'll make
you feel pretty, ♪
♪and I'll make
you feel small ♪
Kat: 'Big Sexy Man'...
I have gone back and forth
and back and forth with
myself about whether or
not to sing harmony on
this song.
It feels so bizarre to be
singing along with this
large man
empowerment song...
but I think musically it
makes sense to be there...
and I'm an ally at least!
Steve: 'Big Sexy Man' is a
song that's a set-breaker,
we use it to kill the dour
mood we've created with
our sad songs so that
people are able to stop
crying long enough to
drive home without
killing themselves.
♪
Jake: The stranger and
weirder that you come
across, the
more genuine...
It just seems like
Seattle, the community
itself, wants to
hold onto that...
it doesn't want to let
those things go, it
doesn't want to let go
of people who are being brave.
♪
Thank you so very much.
We've been Big Sur and
it is a pleasure
Xander: Thanks for
watching Band In Seattle.
To see all of the concerts
held in our studio, go to
our website:
BandInSeattle.com
Next week, we return with
more great
music and great stories,
on Band In Seattle.
♪
