I have had the opportunity to hear a few bands on more than one occasion since arriving and have decided to shed some light on Work, the Moon Knights , Rebecca File, and Feeding Frenzy.
To start, I saw Work and the Moon Knights open for Tokyo Police Club on April 22nd at UAF. The Moon Knights were on first with their ridiculous costumes and loud, lo-fi sound. They were a bit too abrasive and obnoxious for my taste. So, I was happy about 30 minutes later when the first notes were picked by Caleb Kuntz of Work, who along with Eric Lonn, Chad File, and EJ Skinner, Jr., paved the next 40 with some great instrumental rock. I've seen some great showmen on stage at concerts before and Kuntz easily ranks in my top 10. Top hat, retro glasses, stringy mustache, red button-up shirt, basketball shorts, and slippers are all main ingredients to his rock star recipe. Throughout their set, File threw down some great time signature changes and fills on the drums; Lonn whacked out the mini keys; EJ strummed, slapped and picked the bass; and collectively, they all screamed and clapped at perfectly-timed moments. They were a great act to get the crowd hopping before a solid act by TPC for the rest of the night. Upon returning to my abode later that night, I didn't hesitate to recommend their sound to Radio K's Nowlikephotographs show back home. I figured, why not get some of these local bands exposure to the lower-48. I can't say I've ever specifically sought Alaskan bands before so maybe NLP would be interested in giving them some airplay. I'm looking forward to seeing them at least a couple more times before EJ leaves the country in a couple months and any other reasons why they may not be around soon.
What prompted me to start this entry was the fact that I came across the MySpace page for a vocalist here in Fairbanks named Rebecca Menzia-File earlier today. She's married to the drummer of the aforementioned band Work (Chad File), is a backing vocalist for another Fairbanks band called Feeding Frenzy, and apparently does her own solo stuff. Her MySpace tracks are very chill and interesting to listen to. She has a mix of opera, indie, and experiment in her style. It wasn't until I came across the track "Let Him" on her page that I really realized her ability to put out a good sound as a solo artist. Oh yeah, she's also expressed interest in teaching singing lessons for my clients here at the at-risk youth drop-in center to coincide with the music lessons I'm planning on starting sometime in July. I think I have about seven teens interested in learning how to play anything from piano, violin, drums, bass, and guitar. We'll see how it pans out. I think Rebecca will do a great job.
Feeding Frenzy is another great local band here in Fairbanks. I first saw them at a 200+ person cabin party and bonfire the night before Fairbanks' hippie music festival called Clucking Blossom, where they also played and captivated the audience with their banjo, violin, acoustic guitar, floor tom, mallet, tambourine, and catchy vocals. The first streaming track "Winter's Getting Cold" is their main crowd-pleaser, quite obviously, because of its several "bop bop da da daa" lines, the speed-up tempo, and yelling lyrics throughout the song. "If You Don't" is another one they play quite often. Daniel Fermin, Ryan Bateman, Rebecca File, and Ephy Wheeler know what it takes to master the art of sing-along in the mixed style of indie, bluegrass, folk-rock. To edit Mr. Walken's famous line on SNL, "I've gotta fever! And the only prescription is more [banjo]!"
I'm looking forward to obtaining a copy of studio quality tracks of these bands and others here in town to give them a full listen through. Then again, this is Fairbanks we're talking about. So no guarantees on that by any means. I'm guessing that I'll be getting those copies by way of mp3 cds burned by a couple people at some point.
Until my next Fairbanks/Alaska musical discovery, enjoy the links I've shared above!
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