.i.
Pushmonkey returns with hard rock sounds
Pushmonkey has thrived in the
hungry music scene of Austin and its
surrounding areas since 1994. Lead
singer Tony Park, drummer Darwin
Keys, guitarist Howie Behrens, gui
tarist Will Hoffman and bassist Pat
Fogarty draw from their surprisingly
diverse musical backgrounds to pro
duce a heavy sound all their own.
Park said he and the band members
grew up listening to music that ranged
across rock boundaries, including
bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden,
U2, Sting and The Smiths. Park said
the band uses the members' diversity
to blur the lines between rock genres.
Pushmonkey went national in
1999, touring with Godsmack fol
lowed by performances on the
Ozzfest Tour and a stop at Woodstock 1999 in New York.
“There was a lot of mud and dirty naked people sleeping
on top of empty pizza boxes at Woodstock,” Hoffman said.
This year Pushmonkey has been out promoting its latest
CD, El Bitche, which was released last September. El Bitche
has yielded two successful radio friendly singles, “Mine to
Waste” and “Myself.”
In addition to promoting El Bitche, Pushmonkey has been
working on a live album that is expected to be released later
this year. Hoffman said die hard Pushmonkey fans will be
excited to know the band is also planning to re-release its first
album, Maize, as soon as the end of March or early April.
Maize is currently out of production and will be released with
bonus live tracks.
Hoffman said sleeping late is not the only perk of living the
life of a rocker.
“The best feeling is when we are on stage and we can
feel the juice between us,” Hoffman said. “When you can
feel the juice coming back from the crowd the feeling is
multiplied by 10.”
Park said he
never knows what
to expect from his
live performances
in College Station.
He said he can
never be sure how
the amount of fans
that move away
each year will bal
ance with the
influx of new sup
porters.
“At A&M you
have got tons of
fans and people
that like to party,”
Park said. “So far
A&M fans have
been supportive, but there is no telling.”
“We are going to bring it,” Hoffman said. “If the audience
wants crazy then we will give them crazy.”
Hoffman said Pushmonkey does not do much planning
before a show. He said the band feeds off the audience and
just lets the music flow.
“I like to see people singing the words to our songs,”
Hoffman said. “I want to know people are having a good
time.”
Park said Pushmonkey has grown as a band and discovered
how to make music it is comfortable with. Park said the band
has realized it does not need to rely on business entities to
define it.
“We are going to make it the way we want to make it,”
Park said. “We are just going to do what we want to do.”
Hoffman said there is no end in sight for Pushmonkey, and
the band plans to keep making records and touring.
Pushmonkey will be performing at Shadow Canyon at 11:30
p.m. on Friday.
—Daniel Hohmann
PHOTO COURTESY OF PUSHMONKEY
Move to
Plan B
In performance and creation, Plan
B takes its music seriously.
Guitarist and vocalist Cody
Johnson, bassist Wally Wronka, gui
tarist and vocalist Gary Dykes and
percussionist Tommy Swanson have
more than 45 years of collective musi
cal experience and training on a vari
ety of instruments, forming what they
describe as a band “comprised of four
members, all of whom strive to be
masters at their craft.”
The band’s musical influences tend
to be masters at their craft, as well.
Bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush and
guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn all color
the Plan B sound.
“The music is what drives us,” said
Johnson, a senior bio-environmental
design major. “Every one of us feels a
supernatural responsibility to [do] what
we do, and we all agree on what has
been termed ‘Plan B. music theory.' “
Johnson explained the music theory
as when the “biological body creates
its own natural biorhythms and tones
on the organic level.”
“The job of the musician is to
arrange these tonal sounds with the
instrument or voice in order to evoke
human emotion and feeling, some
thing completely non-material and
non-physical in nature,” he said.
However lofty and ethereal its
intentions seem, Johnson said the
See PLAN B on page 8
Kelvin brings emotion,
music to Fitzwill/s
Kelvin, an Austin-based quartet, beats out emo
rock jams and gathers as much inspiration from
Dostoevsky and Kafka as they do from their musical
influences, Radiohead and Sunny Day Real Estate.
Formed in 1999, guitarist/vocalist Vincent
Hagedorn and bassist Stephen Becker played
together in the Austin area as the band evolved
through lead guitarists and drummers. The group
finally settled on Kentucky native Jessica Campbell
on guitar and drummer Yamal Said, who played in
the band early on.
They spent last August on tour in the Southwest,
closing the tour in San Diego opening for The
Strokes.
“Our tour to California was the most fun we’ve had
as a band,” Hagedorn said. “We received a good
response and played really well. It seems to me that
the bigger the crowd, the better we perform, though I
think I might lose my mind if we played in front of
thousands.”
The band has not enjoyed a smooth ride the whole
time they have been together. Sometimes, they do not
ride at all.
“My worst band memory would have to be run
ning out of gas at 4 a.m. on our way back to Austin
from College Station,” Hagedorn said. “We were
lucky in that the first station we walked to hap
pened to be open.”
Kelvin has played in College
Station several times since last fall
and hopes to play at Northgate
Music Festival without worrying
about what the other festival bands
are doing.
“I hate the idea that music is in
competition with one another,”
Becker said. “The truth of the mat
ter is that we’re all really different
from one another.”
Hagedorn added that Kelvin
plays with a specific purpose, dis
tinguishing the group from other bands.
“Many bands are out to try to get people moving,
many want to make you sing along, some want you to
hear a story,” Hagedorn said. “We are interested in
making you feel something emotional.”
Kelvin will be playing Thursday night at Fitzwilly’s
from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
—Thomas Phillips
PHOTO COURTESY OF KELVIN
Blue October ready for
another headlining show
If fans need a Blue October fix, the wait will soon be over.
For Blue October band members — Justin Furstenfeld,
vocals and guitar; Ryan Delahoussaye violin and mandol;
Jeremy Furstenfeld drums; Matt Noveskey, bass and C.B.
Hudson, guitar — playing in College Station is familiar terri
tory. In fact, playing at the Northgate Music Festival is not
uncharted ground for them either.
Blue October was an opening act for Pushmonkey at the
1998 music festival and a headlining act at the music festival
in 2000. At this year's music festival, the band has a chance
to again shine as one of three headlining acts. With nearly 15
appearances in Aggieland under its belt, Blue October has a
good understanding of what to expect from the College
Station crowd.
“When we played the festival, the venue was packed and the
energy was there,” Furstenfeld said.
This year’s show should be no different. Music-loving
Aggies seem to feed off of live music and appreciate the musi-
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUE OCTOBER
cians and their talent when they roll through town.
“College Station crowds are great,” Noveskey said, “it’s one
of my favorite places to play because the crowds are always
there ready and willing to have a good time.”
For a band that has been around for nearly seven years,
credit must be given where credit is due.
Many of Blue October’s songs are personal to Furstenfeld,
the brain behind the lyrics.
“It’s always like the five minutes prior to going on stage that
I don't think I can go up there and sing certain songs,” Justin
said. “But then I look at these guys (the band) and I’m ready to
go full force.”
With five different guys in the band, five different styles,
sounds and ideas go into the creation of the music. From punk
to a classic rock sounds, Blue October has created a sound that
works. Its sound can be heard Saturday night at Shadow
Canyon at 11:30 p.m.
“This music festival is all about having a good time,”
Noveskey said. “Nobody has to worry about competition or try
ing to sell yourself or music like other festivals. We’re all here
to have a good time.”
—Lycia Shrum
Adamo makes first appearance at festival
Adamo, which is Latin for falling in love
with or finding pleasure in, is a young band
that is steadily gaining a fan base that grows
with every show it performs.
The College Station-based band formed
in July 2001 and already has managed to
form a well-developed sound in only one
semester. Kyle Close, vocals and rhythm gui
tar: Zach Sloan, lead guitar and vocals;
James Ryan, bass; John Schreiner, drums
and Katie Sloan, violin,
found a chemistry that is
evident in their sound as
well as when they are
playing on stage together.
“Generally the chem
istry is higher in a live
environment because we
have one shot at nailing
each song, and we know
we have to be attentive to
each other as well as the
crowd,” Ryan said.
First-time listeners can expect the sound
to be a combination of rock, jazz and classi
cal influences. Close said Adamo is some
times compared to the sound of Blue
October with a hint of Incubus.
“I think the Incubus comparison is based
on our jazzy rock sound, but the Blue
October comparison is probably more recog
nizable to the listeners,” Close said.
Adamo is known to cover “A Certain
Shade of Green” by Incubus and
Radiohead’s “I Might Be Wrong.”
Although the band’s sound has influences
from various artists, the band blends it all
together to form the innovative sound of
Adamo.
From James Taylor to Radiohead, mem
bers of Adamo bring their personal influ
ences to the band. Adamo is able to infuse
elements of its influences into its music,
whether it is instrumentally, vocally or
lyrically.
Lyrically, Sloan said music is a personal
therapy for the band and
its listeners and that car
ries over to the lyrics.
“When we’re writing
our songs, we never use
the phrases ‘Oh baby’ or
‘Hey hey,”’ Sloan said.
“Our music looks at parts
of life no one likes to talk
about. Our music allows
us to present them in a
way that says there’s
beauty in being broken.”
Close said Adamo realizes when it comes
to music, everything has been said lyrically,
but it tries to find a new way to say it.
For Adamo, music is a passion and this is
not a side project. Granted, when some of the
band members first began playing together at
gigs such as Rumours, the Memorial Student
Center and once at McDonalds, they may
have been not fully aware of their direction.
But Adamo has focus now, and it shows.
Adamo will be playing on the Promenade
Saturday at 9 p.m.
—Lycia Shrum
PHOTO COURTESY OF ADAMO
Alligator Dave equals high energy performance
David Grizzle, known by his fans as Alligator Dave, started playing guitar at the age of 18
and quickly realized his talents. Grizzle and the Couch Band now perform their unique combi
nation of rap, reggae and folk music to audiences across America.
In the past, Grizzle and the Couch Band has had up to six members, but Grizzle said they
will hit the stage with a three piece configuration at the Northgate Music Festival. He said the
combination of Brian “Big Daddy” Grizzle on the bass guitar. Raul “Skillet” Ramirez on the
drums and himself taking care of lead guitar and vocals is working well.
“I like the three piece configuration better,” Grizzle said. “We are able to produce
more energy.”
Grizzle and the Couch Band recently signed a record deal with Brando Records. Grizzle said
signing with the record company has taken some of the stress out of his life and he is able to
focus on his music while Brando Records takes care of the band’s business.
“All we have to do is wake up and write,” Grizzle said. “They take care of the rest.”
Grizzle said his style has been described as a blend of his musical heroes including Bob
Marley and Snoop Dogg.
“I would like to be more like Bob Marley, because his message was positive,” Grizzle said.
“I am all about having a good time.”
Grizzle said his life provides most of the influences for his music. His lyrics are sexually
charged, but he feels it is better to sing about sex rather than sing about something negative such
as death.
Grizzle said the majority of his fans are between 18 to 25 years old, and he enjoys perform
ing in College Station because of the amount of fans in the area.
Grizzle and the Couch Band will be performing at Shadow Canyon at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday.
—Daniel Hohmann