Homegrown Music Festival 2014: Going for Broke
Staying above water means staying up late
Getting third place in a job interview never feels good and this is how I started at Perfect Duluth Day. The coveted “calendar internship” is fought over by University of Minnesota-Duluth writing students. With a BA in English Education and years of teaching experience, this could have been a cakewalk. But, I lost out to undergrad journalism students.
Nevertheless, Paul Lundgren invited me back since I had a thesis on underground music in Duluth. We came up with the concept of the project outright: showcase up-and-coming Duluth area artists. There are stereotypes outsiders see as Duluth music: the legacy of Bob Dylan, the sonic depth of Low, and the bluegrass revival of Trampled By Turtles. In short, we needed to destroy this and show everyone something greater.
Sadly, FM metal hasn’t lost its power. The cock-rock gusto of the ’80s – with its vagrant
homoerotic flare – somehow turned into a bath of bar chords and homophobia. Thankfully, Wolf Blood is part of a growing countermovement to mainstream metal. With hooky riffs and spacey arrangements, the group merges the sonic qualities of Desert Rock with the force of Motorhead. Jake (drums/vocals), Mindy, and Mike (guitars) explain if you want sweet vocal harmonies, go somewhere else. They’re bringing you the monster truck.
The Social Disaster is loud, soulful, and fun. The group pushes genres into a conflict
and the end result is surprisingly well executed. Jake, Rachel, and Jesse explain how replacing the bass with a synth and adding in a second guitar opened different avenues for them. “Foolproof” documents how a struggle among soul, punk, and synth produces a breath of fresh air in Duluth. The group’s debut Dark Side of the Roller Rink capitalizes on this gust and became one of my favorite records of the year.
Working with Brian and Sophi of Lion or Gazelle couldn’t have
come at a better time. The EP There’s Blood in Fire fills listeners with lush soundscapes. The group, at the time, was moving away from itself through songs like “Gloria” and “The Harder It Rains” whose lyrical tension clashed with otherwise cheerful pop melodies.
In 2006, Sarah Krueger was Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s hometown
hero with her appearance on American Idol. My Eau Claire native mother-in-law said, “You know, she was on American Idol” – like it was almost a calling card for a city’s success. Although Sarah didn’t place on the show, she became an anti-Icarus to its popularity and continued to work of her music. In fact, she went on to become one of the “under the radar” musicians in Duluth.
It’s sad but true: people over 21 don’t go to all ages shows. On one hand, they’ve
earned it. On the other hand, they miss out on some good shows. At the time, Vivielle was a group of high school friends blending folk harmonies with the sonic qualities of lo-fi. The group was a good reminder that sometimes skipping happy hour can be worth your time.
Growing up during the ’90s, the radio was still a king. FM ’90s rock like Goo Goo Dolls
and Gin Blossoms played on repeat before SNICK and TGFI aired at 7 p.m. Keir Gellatly proudly admits how this decade changed his perspective on music and songwriting. Although his group Lay Low and Bender may not be from the ’90s, his music theory is indebted to those airwaves. If your are ever at one of his shows, just mention the ’90s and you’ll make a new friend.
Dad’s Acid is bad name, but a great trip. Birthed out of a love for B-movies, the group produces a grimmer and grittier vein of surf rock. Jake Swanson and Nicki Molder assure us that simple tunes will blow the audience away when amps are turned up to 11. Although the band wants to avoid cheerful melodies, songs like “Surf’s Up Minnesota” hook fans in and don’t let go.
If humans are born with 10 fingers, Christoph Bruhn has 12. Playing American primitive guitar, he is a follower of the masters Leo Kottkie and John Fahey. This music, as he describes it, is a listener’s music, a genre where people sit down and experience the sounds that surround them. Even non-musicans will appreciate Bruhn’s ability and ask themselves “How does he make it look so easy?”
“It’s about the desert,” is what Kyle Maclean tells us about the American Rebels‘ work in progress. Kyle and company are on a narrative quest: a young cowboy travels the desert and faces nearly Sci-fi scenarios at every turn. Kyle’s charm is great, but he’s able to make you laugh. During our meeting, he points to a mock “wanted” poster of himself – dressed in jeans and a denim shirt – and confesses to committing “denim-on-denim crimes” in high school.
Even if I am trying to show outsiders that Duluth is more than bluegrass, there are still
some good bluegrass acts in town. Saint Anyway began as an upstart bluegrass act. After touring the Midwest bluegrass circuit, the group expanded its sound and included rock n’ roll into its set. This shift is captured in Live in Duluth and showcases how a trio can really command a crowd and have a good time.
When someone stumbles into a coffeehouse and sees a young woman on stage
playing Taylor Swift covers, the coffee isn’t worth it. Maddy Siiter has been fighting against this trend since she picked up the guitar. A song writer since middle school, she’s determined to show audiences that young women aren’t generic copies of popular music. After airing this podcast, my editor said “Don’t you just want to give her a hug?” Needless to say, it was the most popular podcast of the series.
If anyone wanted to take away the banjo stereotype from Duluth, Wino, WI is the
band to do it. The group penned “B-A-N-J-O” in an attempt to bolster the rock scene in the area. Comprised of members of American Rebels and other rock groups, Wino, WI wants to get up, get loud, and get ready for more rock.
At one time, Bone Appetit was the biggest band in Duluth. A homage to ’80s hair
metal, the group’s “Drive Away” captured the melodramatic vibe of power ballads (it was even written in A-Minor). Yet, guitarist Ryan Van Slooten charts a new path with his solo work. His third album Victory March blends the trappings of power pop with the structures of ’90s alt-rock. During our meeting, he admits that if it wasn’t for his fans, he would have given up. He’s eternally grateful for them.
Jazz vocals and a ukulele seem mismatched. That’s not the case for Hanna Cesario. Her
brand of jazz standards paired with simple strums of the ukulele add a warmness to the North Woods. At the time of our meeting, she didn’t have any recorded material, so we did an improvised recording session in my office. We had a blast doing it.
“Take it like a man” is an phrase that few people look at critically. Brian Rudell of Duck Duck Punch uses this idiom to explore homophobia and the public’s reaction to gay rights. He opens up about, while being a gay man in the Twin Cities – which is a cornerstone of gay culture in the Midwest – he still encounters verbal attacks about his sexuality regularly. His song “Take It Like a Man” is a rally against anti-homosexual sentiment and a promise that he’s here to stay.
Steam punk has been gaining steam, so to speak. The Formal Age jumps on this train
and takes us into the future with 1923-2319, a concept record about the decline of the working classes. Fans of the Pixies and ’90s college indie, the band lifts the sound of an era without sounding contrived. The group was even nice enough to quote me on its Bandcamp.
It took three years for My Bloody Valentine to record Loveless, and it took Harrison
Crane less than a year to records and release over 50 songs. Under the alias Timmy Jacks Off, Crane takes off with a Tascam 4-track recorder and turns up the volume on feedback-drenched lo-fi. Crane takes you down the path of Burroughs, complete with cut-up lyrics and spoken word. He pushes his audiences with 30 minute long songs and gender crossing imagery. He slowly became a tour de force of the series.
Imagine if the Magic Mystery Machine was only filled with Shaggy and Scooby. This is a
step closer to the concept of Red Mountain. The brain child of Anton Jimenez-Kloeckl, the group merges of the talents of Duluth across several mediums – music, dance, and art. The group’s song “Chad” captures not only Red Mountain’s musicalities, but also its theatrical flare.
If the robots are coming, this is a take over we want. Troy Peters plays avant garde
compositions with a team of robots. No joke, his music is programed through music playing robots, who have the ability to improvise with human musicians. Straight out of a ’70s Sci-fi novel, Peters represents a growing community of Duluth musicians who break the stereotype of a only-folk-Duluth.
