State of The Music Scene
By Benjamin Wise Lightle
If Julia Child were to make a dish of Freshkills, she’d skip the roux and start with a base of the Jesus Lizard, throw in some Drive Like Jehu and the Birthday Party, then top it all off with a menagerie of stuff from the Dischord label. Even without the help of chef television personalities, the Freshkills have managed to whip up an incredibly satisfying musical meal.
The Freshkills are Johnny and Tim on guitars, Mitchell playing bass, Jim on drums, and Zachary singing. Though the members of the band, Tim aside, have all been residents of Williamsburg for some 9+ years, it was four years ago that the Freshkills started as (what else?) bar talk between Zachary and Jim. Zachary had just come from the Candy Darlings, they knew Johnny from his former band Black Cat Revolver, and invited Tim along as he sat playing songs on the Mars Bar jukebox, in the East Village. Mitchell is the newest addition and claims he’s having more fun with the Freshkills than anything he’s ever done in his entire life before (he didn’t really say that, but let’s pretend). Their 2006 full-length debut, “Creeps and Lovers” garnered rave reviews from pretty much everyone that matters in the realm of good taste. They’ve played shows all over Williamsburg and in all the five boroughs, at venues including, but not limited to: Europa, Luna Lounge, Passout Records at 131 Grand St., Studio B, Union Pool, and Trash Bar.
I had the pleasure of meeting up with them for some smokes and booze on an unseasonably warm January evening at the Soft Spot (128 Bedford Ave.) for a little discussion about where they and the music scene in the neighborhood are headed.
Block: How is it affecting the scene when no one can afford to live in Williamsburg anymore?
Zach: Well, people are moving to Bushwick…
Johnny: Bed-Stuy…
Z: The scene hasn’t gone through any drastic changes because I don’t think people move to Williamsburg or Greenpoint to form bands anymore. All the people coming in are here to start families, or they already have nice jobs or are looking to continue their higher education, and that’s fine. They’re yuppies not in the “die yuppie scum” sense, they’re young, urban professionals. They’re not here to form a grindcore band, they don’t go to shows, and they don’t seek out much new music, as far as I know.
Block: All the venues in Manhattan have closed down…
Z: Except Cake Shop, which is still amazing. There is still Mercury [Lounge] and Bowery [Ballroom] but the Cake Shop is really the only place in terms of being able to walk into a bar, put down five dollars and being able to know whatever you’ll see will be interesting.
Block: So what’s going on in Brooklyn along those lines?
J: It’s still happening all over Brooklyn at places like Glasslands [289 Kent Ave.].
Z: Yeah, Glasslands is a really vibrant, vibrant scene. It’s not even band-based, but more community-based. There’s Death By Audio [49 South 2nd St], which is all ages…
Block: I think these all-ages venues are what’s really keeping the scene alive, and all the shows Todd P puts on. For a while, it seemed like there weren’t a lot of shows going on; now you can find something pretty much every night of the week.
Z: There’s show paper which lists all the different all-ages shows. I think the Brooklyn music scene is still really vibrant.
J: I’d say there’s more opportunity now in the Brooklyn music scene now then before, there’s more places to play that aren’t straight up clubs.
Z: Then there are places like what the Continental used to be, places you can go see really crappy bands. Basically the music scene is Manhattan 10, 15, 20 years ago. Except for the rent and the majority population of douche bags…
J: I don’t mind the douche bags, they bring the good restaurants.
Block: Is there anything you miss about the “old Williamsburg?”
Z: We miss Cokies (infamous bar of yore), Clovis Press (lovely bookstore now occupied by a cheese store), and the Sweetwater before it was a bistro. Other than that we are entirely nostalgia-free.
Block: Do you feel like a lot of people want to get involved with a band in New York for the cool-kid credentials that come with?
Z: I think that all the bands in New York that are legitimate and amazing, or pretty good, or even pretty bad but well intentioned, are a good service. Yeah, we can sit around for five hours and complain about bands that are in it just to be cool, but if you asked me to name them I wouldn’t be able to think of one. It’s really easy to fall into the trap of looking for bad guys where they don’t exist.
Block: Tell me about the new album. Your debut “Creeps and Lovers” garnered great reviews all around.
J: It’s defiantly better than that.
Block: Do you see yourselves playing some of the bigger venues then?
Z: I don’t want to come across as “Who gives a shit?” But we’re so psyched about the new album, I can honestly say, “Who gives a shit?” At this point in the band, we really want to play a lot of basements and a lot of all-ages, because we really haven’t had that opportunity before. Of course, if Bowery called tomorrow and asked us to open for so-and-so we’d be excited to do so. It’s hard to say things without sounding clichéd that “We just want people to hear our music.” We really just want people to hear our music.
J: We want to play in front of a lot of people.
Z: People that will enjoy it.
Block: Who are you guys into right now? What bands are in the five boroughs to keep an eye out for?
Tim: Beat the Devil (BK) is pretty obvious…
Mitchell: Demander (BK)…
Z: We’re playing with Beat the Devil in the next few weeks and played with Demander pretty recently. They’ve been around for a while and are fucking awesome.
J: Austerity Program out of Queens is amazing, we haven’t played with them yet but are trying to organize something.
Z: All the bands we love fall into different genres that we’re all into. We tend to like bands that are a comfortable fit to play with, like Team Robespierre (BK).
J: Golden Triangle (BK)…
Z: Yeah, Golden Triangle is probably my favorite band in New York right now. Actually, my favorite live band, I don’t think they’ve really recorded anything yet. The Giraffes are pretty fucking amazing as well…
Block: How would you describe your sound today as opposed to, say, three years ago?
J: A lot more focused, a lot more melodic. Cinematic is the wrong word to use, but the sound is a lot wider. The guitar work used to be based on tension and a lot of atonal stuff. It’s become a lot more complementary, a lot less abrasive.
Block: I’m sure that appeals to a wider audience…
J: Did you say whiter?
Block: Haha, I’m sure the white boys really love the direction you're going…
Z: From the vocal end, we’re trying to be less clever, not clever in a good way; I’m trying to be more emotionally direct, actually saying what I mean. The music then is actually more direct.
M: I think the music has become more honest, less self-indulgent. It’s not a deliberate way to become more classic in terms of songwriting, it's just very natural. We had a lineup change and that let the rest of us write music differently.
Block: Is it safe to say that the Freshkills are behind Obama?
M: We like him but I’ve got some issues with his stance on gay marriage…
Z: I mean, my dad is gay and married, so that’s kind of a deal breaker for me.
The Freshkills are off to Austin for South by Southwest in March. The forthcoming album will be out later this year. And they even have a website: www.fresh-kills.com
