MICHELLE JUERGEN | editor-in-chief
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courtesy of Denouement
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| Left to right: Robbie DeLong, Matthew Lee, Sam Ward, Andrew Pledger, Malachi Ward, Keiko Ward |
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courtesy of Brother
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| Left to right: Robbie DeLong, Shawn Morones, Kyle Neal and Mark "Ziggy" Morones |
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THE CLAUSE When did the bands form and why?
ROBBIE DeLONG The Denouement formed in fall 2004. My freshman year, Sam Ward lived across the hall from me in Trinity and we found out within the first week of school we listened to the same music. So he quietly walked up to me one day and said, “Do you play drums? Do you want to play for a band?” So I went and hung out with them and thought they were really cool. For Brother, for the most part we all played together at Kaleo, and Shawn Morones booked a show one time and was like, “You guys are gonna play as my band,” and we said okay.
SHAWN MORONES I played with all the other guys more or less in different incarnations, here and there. But officially, we got together April of last year. I was going to play a solo show, and decided I wanted a full band, and so I needed a name to tell the booking agent, so I made up the name Brother offhand. I asked each of the guys if they wanted to play for this, and we ended up really clicking and it grew and grew. It was not planned at all.
TC How do you describe your sound?
RD I try not to describe the sound of the Denouement. I’d say it’s somewhat accessible rock and roll. I think my favorite thing to say is, if the Arcade Fire were better at their instruments and liked electronic music, I think that’s what the Denouements’ sound is like. Brother’s sound is Beach Boys-inspired folk rock. That’s an easy way to put that.
SM The easy term for Brother’s sound would probably be folk rock. It could be called Bob Dylan, Beach Boy-style.
TC Where’s the craziest/weirdest place you’ve had a gig?
RD The Denouement has played at some really awful places. One time when we played at this place in Pasadena, a Godsmack cover band opened for us. They were a bunch of 40-year-olds, and they were a Godsmack tribute band. That gig was just weird. And it was at a pizza place. We’ve also played at a lot of weird churches in Yucaipa.
SM Brother played on Trinity Lawn once. We were really loud and really underprepared, so it was kind of ironic, because it was probably the most people we’ve had at a show. We’ve played in a lot of different kinds of bars, too. Once Robbie and I had to run five blocks to find a snare drum because the bar we were playing at forgot to tell us they didn’t have one.
TC How often do you guys practice?
SM We usually practice at least once a week, but we see each other almost everyday, so there’s usually some kind of artistic give and take all the time. Even though we rehearse once or twice a week, we see each other a lot, so there’s that camaraderie.
TC How do you deal with your adoring fans?
RD Uh, procreation? No, I hang out with most of them, because most of them are my friends.
SM I don’t know…you’ll have to ask me in a couple years.
TC What are your long-term goals or your vision for the band?
RD I’m the wrong one to ask, since I’m in both bands, and I’m an opportunist, so I guess my long-term goal is to ride whichever band is doing the best. The hope is that we can eventually make one or both of these bands a sustainable source of income. We want to at least be able to make the music we want to without having our lives interfere. I want to do anything with music as a career.
SM In a perfect world, it would be nice to eventually support ourselves solely through this. We want to get to the point where we have the freedom to use music as our creative outlet where it’s the only thing we have to worry about. There’s a lot of emphasis on good songwriting at the core regardless of however the song is embellished. At its deepest root, it’s still a good song. That’s always in the back of our heads. We want to do the best we can with what we know and push ourselves with what we don’t know.
TC Who smells the worst?
RD You know, there was a time when it was me. I don’t know, though, it’s hard to say. Shawn Morones is trying harder to be like me. He smells like I used to.
SM Oh, Robbie. Totally.
Brother has an upcoming show for the TOMS Shoes event on campus March 3 at 4:45 p.m. Check out www.myspace.com/thebrothercircus for songs.
The Denouement is playing March 6 in at Nazarene Fellowship in Irwindale at 9 p.m. Check out www.myspace.com/thedenouement for songs.
