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Show A8 Life MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008 • THE COLLEGE TIMES M U S I C Making memories, not money ;, t An interview with local band Broke City $ • Greg Wllcox Life writer If you haven't checked out Broke City by now, you are behind on the local music scene, my friend. The Salt Lake rock trio has been in the scene for a while now, and has played with big acts such as The Used and 30 Seconds to Mars. They have also toured all over America and Canada playing songs from their three-CD omnibus, the newest one being The Answer, which was released in June of 2007. The College Times corresponded with Broke City's Joel Pack and "The Rob" via e-mail to find out about the dangers of playing in Canada, what music breaks them out of a bad mood, and why you should check out their 'goosebumpy' shows: CT: What type of band do you consider yourself to be (genre-wise)? JP: We just play rock music. People get pretty caught up in what specific scene they lend themselves to, but we just try to write good songs and play them with our guitars turned up loud, and, last time I checked, that's what they call rock music. CT: Tell us the brief history of your band. JP: The Rob and I played in a funk band together a while back called "Boogieman." After rehearsal, 1 showed him some songs I had written that were a little more poporiented, and he dug it, so we started playing them out. It was just the 2 of us, and so I gutted out the innards of my old Ibanez guitar and made a kind of Frankenstein guitar that could play acoustic, electric, bass, piano, and strings all at once. I got sick of all the wires and technical difficulties that came from having such an extensive musical machine, so we decided to get a bass player and call the band "Broke" a name I came up with while being separated from my ex-wife, trying to figure out how I was going to pay all these bills by myself. Fastforward a couple years, and we got signed to Madonna's old label, Maverick Records. We made a record and toured with some bigger bands and got to see the country. Our label quit returning our calls about a month before our record was supposed to release, and we eventually heard they were going out of business, and everyone we were working with was being laid off. We put out the record ourselves anyway, and changed our name to "Broke City." Now we're back to doing things DIY. CT: Who are your musical and nonmusical influences? JP: I've always felt heavily influenced by The Cure, whether or not it comes out in our music. They were the first band I ever really got into back when I was about five. I remember jumping up and down on my bed, cranking up my tape deck, and singing along with "Boys Don't Cry" at the top of my teeny-tiny little lungs. I also listen to Nirvana a lot -- and The Beatles. The Rob's always been into the Dave Matthews Band, although I hear him listening to stuff that's a little more out there now... I hear a lot of The ' * ' • • * Mars Volta when I'm a, passenger in his car, and every time he's driving the van on the road, he pops in Dredg, a really cool band from San Francisco we were fortunate enough to tour Canada with on the Taste of Chaos tour. Dave has always been into '80s butt-rock ~ I think Nikki Sixx is pretty much his hero. Dave also listens to a lot of pop, like Jellyfish, Butch Walker, and The Beatles. Non-musically, I guess we're pretty much influenced by our own life experiences — triumphs, failures, falling in love, having your heart broken. I think that's why a lot of our tunes feel very different from each other. They all come from different places. I • • People are finding their music differently now than they used to. Most people used to watch MTV and see a video of a band they liked, or hear it on the radio, but now, with technology the way it is, people can be choosey about what they're listening to. I think people use their friends as "good music filters" now instead of letting MTV or the radio do it for them, so we like fans to tell their friends about us and invite them to a show. CT: Describe your show, visually and musically. JP: It really depends on the show. A couple weeks ago we played at In the Venue, and the place was packed with over 1,000 people CT: Who writes the through the door. We had a songs? What are they huge sound system, and we about? Do they have a ten- flew out our friend Michael dency to follow a theme? Lee (Lighting designer for JP: I usually write the songs. Thrice, My Chemical RoThey fit a theme depending mance, Saosin, The Used, on when they were written. etc.) to do our lights. I When I was going through would use words like Epic, the divorce, there were a Huge, Goosebumpy to delot of songs that dealt with scribe our show that night. that whole feeling of frustra- The week prior, we played tion ~ and eventually loss — in Las Vegas on this kid's and then later I would write back porch. I believe the songs about finding new speakers I sang through love. As far as the newer were from the '70s and had stuff, I can't really comment the words "Radio Shack" on a theme. I guess it's easier printed on them. His backto see that stuff in hindsight. yard had no grass, probably from throwing many backCT: What's your opinion yard mini-Warped Tours. I of George Bush (just forfun)? would use words more like JP: He should quit scrunch- Cold, Dusty\ Drunk and ing up his forehead so much Goosebumpy to describe that when he gives speeches - show - but I guess the comit's adding years to his face! mon thread here is Goosebumpy— yeah, Goosebumpy. CT: How do you promote your band and shows? JP: Word of mouth, MySpace dot com, radio and good old-fashioned flyering. CT: What do you think about downloading music online? JP: I think it should get back Courtesy of fullframephoto.net Broke City Bond David Briggs, Joel Pack, and "The Rob." in the kitchen where it belongs. Seriously though, most young people download their music online, and even though music sales are down, more people are listening to more music than ever before. Isn't that amazing? CT: What's your outlook on the record industry today? JP: It's looking real bad for major labels. All the things that gave them power to do what they do are being taken away from them, and they have too much to lose by taking the necessary risks associated with changing with the technology instead of trying to change it. Bands have the ability to record for much less money than they used to, and with the Internet, you can reach lots of people if you have someone in your band who's pretty savvy marketing-wise. CT: Tell us a story about a day in your life. JP: Ha. Once upon a time we had all sorts of s— thrown at us in Canada one night as we were playing just before the band As I Lay Dying. Their fans absolutely hated us. This was a little comforting to me, one, because we sold more CDs and shirts that night than any other night, and second, because my girlfriend at the time was a big fan of As I Lay Dying, and didn't really tike my band - I was all like, "What the hell? You're my girlfriend. It's your duty to like my friggin' band!" but since that show, I don't take things like people not liking our band or bad reviews from Slug Magazine so personally. The Rob: I remember that day cause a bunch of people had middle fingers in the air and Joel would point at them and sing harder to them. It was quite funny. Then it ended up being a great show after all. To read the full interview with Broke City visit the Life Section online at httpV/ www.uvcollegetimes.com Hoping to find his soul in a song Orem musician Cory Mon releases live concert DVD Jason Pyles Life writer Cory Mon's new concert DVD, Clatter Racket, reveals the young face of a musician who's already weathered considerable life experience. His songwriting and stage presence reflect his travels. Mon doesn't wearily strum through a song with over-familiar boredom; he performs it every time like he means it - with the same conviction as the day he wrote it. In April 2007, Cory Mon & the Starlight Gospel filmed a show at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo. The DVD, whose nine audio tracks are encoded as mp3s, was released in January 2008. The professionally filmed DVD also has a scene selection. finance the luxury of picking-and-choosing from multiple performances, so they have to get it right the first time.) Clatter Racketfeatures two songs from Mon's previous CD, Living With cert footage is Cory Mon (left) bobs and weaves The Ghost from one night, e n e r g e t i c a |, y d u r i a . rfor (2005), which is imincluding mance. pressive con"Vibeke," the best song on sidering U2 3D (2007) was the new album. compiled from five different Other noteworthy tunes venues. (Not all bands can me COn- Photo credit: Katie Brandeburg are "Take Control" and "Touch of Grace,1' which feature Eric Ellsworth (one of the band's most talented musicians) playing jazz guitar and piano, respectively. Also, "Special Sunday" is one of those songs with catchy, sing-along syllables, reminiscent of a Rusted Root ditty. Mon told The College Times that pursuing music professionally can be discouraging. 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