A recap to a quarter following The Wife and Kids

I have spent the last nine weeks following around my roommates' band The Wife and Kids. I said in my very first post that I love them; I live with them, but I don't always like them, and that is still true today.

Over the course of the quarter, TWaK have gone from a group of four guys competing with one another to a real band that work together to write and perform music. When I started writing this blog, the band really conflicted with one another. They did not want to share music, and there were many tense moments during song writing and practicing.

However, some time after the Wire show things really started to change. TWak started working together. There was less competition during song writing and just generally more respect among all the members. The Wife and Kids became a band.

I do not know what caused this change, and I really hope TR, Adam, Coert, or Chad comment on this post to tell me their opinions.

I really noticed how much the band had changed during the interview. Listen to the history of The Wife and Kids part, and you will see that the band started off on semi-rocky ground. However, you can also here the respect that they have for one another now. Each gives the other the benefit of the doubt and listens to try to make TWaK even better.

It has really been a great experience from my perspective to follow them. I do not know a lot about music. In one way I have learned a lot about guitars and amps, and what is takes to perform a show. It literally takes as long to set-up for a performance as it does to play the show. I was just amazed by that, and it made me have a lot more respect to see what the band was willing to do to perform for an audience.

It has also been really great to watch the band interact. All of the members of the band are creative, and it has been really great to sit in on practices and hear songs evolve. I knew song writing was a organic experience, but it can be really amazing to hear how a song changes within the first couple practices or when lyrics are added.

This project has been more successful than I ever thought it could be. I think I have really captured The Wife and Kids, especially by being able to get photos, video and audio of them. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

I do not expect this to be the end of this blog. I will still be living with Chad and Adam next year, and if TWaK survives, I will continue blogging about them.

Riverfest

The Riverfest show was very good. Their set was cut by several songs, and they had to stop a song because Adam played when he was not supposed to. Musically, other than these things, it was a great show. Good stage presence, and being outside meant I could finally get good pictures of Chad.

The set was about 45 minutes long, so it was one of their longest shows too. I think this is TWaK's last show this quarter, and it might have been their last show with Coert, so that is kind of bittersweet. All of the band's friends were there, though.

Chad wore a black Spiderman costume meant for a 6-year-old on stage, so that was pretty good and got some cheers.



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An Interview with the Wife and Kids

Wednesday night I finally got to sit down with The Wife and Kids and have an interview with them. Chad was in class so he wasn't there to participate, but the interview went really well. I will warn you though there is some swearing and bad language in the interview.

I split it up into 8 parts. The last one is by far the longest at about 20 minutes. The rest are all 6-8 minutes long and "Fun Questions" is only 2 minutes long.

Part 1 is the band introducing themselves and talking about influences.

Part 2 is talking about performing

Part 3 is about song writing.

Part 4 is about other bands in Athens.

Part 5 is the bands future.

Part 6 is just more general information about the dynamic of the band.

Part 7 are just some fun questions.

Part 8 is a detailed history of The Wife and Kids (warning this is 20 minutes long.

Practice Last Night

Well I got to hear two songs before I left to go to a lecture last night. The band is sounding a lot more solid, as they get ready for Riverfest on Friday. I bought a digital recorder so I am hoping to schedule and publish an interview with the entire band by then, but I've been really busy this week so it might get postponed until next week. The songs are sounding stronger with each practice, and there is another tonight. I should be able to stay for the whole thing this time, so I'll post a full review then.

Tentatively, according to Adam and I also heard TR say this, TWaK will be playing as the opening act of Riverfest on Friday starting at 5 p.m. with at least an hour long set.

No Rest for the Weary

The Wife and Kid's practice last night was significantly better than the night before. Coert was back on bass and vocals, and the songs sounded a lot better.

TR has written a guitar solo for To the Broken Man. Personally, I don't know if I like it. It changes feeling of the song. The solo links the two parts of To the Broken Man and tries to get the audience ready for the punk second half, but the solo feels too long.

They had to replay a few songs, but it was a successful practice. I am looking forward to the marathon of shows next week for Washington Fest and Riverfest. I plan on taking a lot of pictures with Coert's new D40 and hopefully get some video too.

Adam will be bar tending on the stage for a song during Washingtonfest. So look forward to that.

*EDIT* Apparently, there will be no Washingtonfest show. It has been canceled.

The Wife and Kids Practice?

I wished that I was deaf last night. The Wife and Kids had a pseudo-practice last night. I say pseudo-practice for two reasons.

1. Coert wasn't there, so there was no bass and Adam, TR and Chad shared vocals.
   
2. It was the absolute worst they have sounded since they formed. In fact I remember their early practices well, and they never, ever sounded as bad as last night.

Generally, I try to give the band the benefit of the doubt at practices. I understand that they aren't supposed to sound as good at practice as live or recorded. That consideration was not deserved last night. The joys of listening to microphone feedback and a random instrument (something was wrong with the mixer because I could never hear the whole band simultaneously) as I sit down for the first time to rest and eat dinner.

Also, Chad can't sing. He carries no tune at all. This was the first time I had heard him try to sing any of the band's original songs and hopefully it is the very last. Not only can he not sing; he can't sing and play drums at the same time. He gets off beat. I was very surprised that TR didn't say anything. He has a reputation for clearly identifying when the band sounds atrocious.

To be honest Adam and TR weren't a whole lot better. They were missing parts in several songs and TR forgot some lyrics, but nothing quite equaled the sonic fury that assaulted my ears as I heard a random instrument and squealing feedback.

Band Meeting

The band had an important meeting last night. The most important thing addressed was the search for a new singer and bassist. Since Coert leaves in September, the band is looking to replace him. There have an ad on musicians network. They will be auditioning singers by giving them three songs to learn, but the band is adamant that they have to tryout more than one person. They want to hear what's out there and give things a chance.

The bassist will get similar treatment. He/She will have to learn three songs and tryout. They've heard from one guy already, but no one has heard him, so it's very up in the air.

Coert said that he is willing to help the new person learn his parts. He seems to be taking things quite well. It's not as if he is being thrown out of the band, but I'm sure it's hard to discuss your replacement in a band that you started. I don't know if he will resume his spot when he comes back next year. There might not even be a Wife and Kids because TR is graduating this year and Adam will be graduating next year.

Maybe Chad will take over and turn The Wife and Kids into a noise-rock band. That's a joke, obviously. Chad is into a genre called noise-rock, which is just what it sounds like. No melody, lyrics, or anything that makes music, music. Based on his descriptions it does not sound very listenable.

The other thing that the band covered was recording. They already recorded the four song demo that is on this site, and they would like to record their new material. They agree that this should be done after the new singer and bassist are in the band. Their friend Eric is willing to do it for $20 an hour, and he will record the four songs that they previously recorded for free. His mixing is also free.

Their other option is to record with a guy they met at the Baker show. He is charging $12 an hour, which may or may not include mixing. They listened to his Myspace and were generally unimpressed. It sounded like his recording equipment wasn't as good as Eric's.

The last thing that the band talked about was practices. They haven't practiced since the Baker show. They have Campaign for Literate Dogfood to learn, a solo for To the Broken Man, and a reprise for Farewell Collision. They are practicing three times this week.

Live recordings from the Baker Theater show

So even though the show was five days ago, I finally have everything that I want online.

If you look to the right I posted five songs that were recorded in the sound booth that night. They are hardly professional recordings but give a good idea of what the band sounds like live.

Race Against Myself and My Hero are covers.

The other three are the band's original songs. Someone asked me at the show if To the Broken Man was a cover of Tool, but it is not. It's an interesting song though. It starts off light, then gets really heavy at the end. The cool part about having a live version of it though, is that you can listen to it side by side with the recorded version.

Cigarettes and Shooters is one of the band's newest songs. Adam sings lead on it and TR is backup. I don't really know how to describe it. The song is very much in the vein of mid-90s rock, though.

Slow Play was known as Best Damn Song up until about two weeks ago, when Adam wrote lyrics for it. The song is musically probably the band's oldest. They've been practicing since last quarter when they formed.