Over the past couple of years, we've talked a lot about what it takes to make a
living playing music, about the things musicians can do to help themselves in
what amounts to a sisyphean task: breaking into the music business. Well, in
speaking with local musician Rick Lescault recently, another interesting
alternative arose. Rick, formerly of vaunted local heroes Blair's Carriage and
occasional guitarist with indie rock powerhouse Wheat, is now in a rather new
band called Emetrex, made up of musicians hailing from the Taunton/Boston/
Providence triangle. You may not have heard of Emetrex around here -- they
don't spend too much time devoting themselves to the development of a local
audience -- but they are, in fact, establishing themselves as noteworthy indie
rockers over in the UK.
"We found them by sending out demos over the Internet," says Lescault. "We
looked at a bunch of random labels and sent out music. Today, most labels have
stopped accepting internet submissions, but we got in before that option shut
down." Lescault immediately heard from a reputable indie imprint in London
called Seriously Groovy. "We heard from them so quickly we weren't ready to
commit at first." But as time went on and more attractive offers failed to
surface, Emetrex returned to the open arms of their first suitors.
Seriously Groovy took Emetrex and used whatever muscle it had in promoting the
band in the UK. They released a few EPs, Staring At the Stone and
King of Animals to extraordinary acclaim. The weeklies there took to the
band, and all of a sudden there was a groundswell of support for a little band
from our Northeast Kingdom.
"They do things differently there," Lescault explains. "There's not as much
emphasis on radio, it's a little more press-driven, so people read the
magazines there and derive a lot from them." In fact, they derived such
positive vibes from Emetrex, a demand arose for personal appearances. "They
paid for us to come over!" says, Lescault, still a little surprised. "It was
the first time that someone else has paid our way to do anything. They paid for
the band to come over and they paid to release our record. To be able to get on
a plane with the purpose of going to play music overseas is the greatest thing
and to play for people in another country that know the record is something
that's just hard to describe." They played a dozen or so well-attended, often
sold-out shows from London all the way up to Glasgow and over to Dublin. "And
we can't get a show at the Met!" A joke, but it kinda makes you wonder.
Lescault's been trying to pierce the invisible forcefield surrounding the
industry for 15 years now, writing, performing, marketing himself, and, though
he's maintained a high measure of individual artistry for much of that time,
this is the closest he's come to legitimacy as an artist. "It's a huge step
over selling your records at shows," he says. "It's a good beginning. We'd
really like this success to build on itself. I mean, what we're really trying
to do is do well enough to put out another record."
Emetrex's new disc, called Metacomet after the name of his last band,
features musicians David McGlynn, Ben Hedlund, and Michael Paulo. It's a
potent, but understated array of subtly distorted, ultra-melodic pop chestnuts
that recalls the Jesus and Mary Chain, Sparklehorse, a dash of Jeff Buckley,
and a colorful variety of other cool artists.
As of now, Emetrex still has no plans to assault local avenues in its quest
for quiet domination. Lescault has another trip to London in the works, a solo
acoustic trip to further promote the album. Frankly, playing around town hasn't
been high on the band's list of priorities. "We're definitely under the radar,"
he admits. "We haven't really been striving to be a well-known local band. I've
been in bands that have been at the top of the heap locally but it doesn't do
anything. If you wanna do this thing for a living, [being at the top of the
heap] is not gonna help you make better music or advance at all."
Harsh words, especially for those of you who may have aspired to rise locally
for quite some time now. But now Lescault is speaking from the perspective of
having something else worthwhile going at a time when the local scene has never
been too good to him.
"If we're not the biggest band locally, well, whatever. For us, striving to be
popular locally feels like a waste of time. Right now, we're focusing on what
we need to do where our audience is. I'll be going over myself and then perhaps
in the spring the whole band will go over again. How great is that? No one
feels luckier than we do."
WANDERING EYE. The biggest news this weekend is the Itchies'
comeback gig this Friday (the 28th) at the Green Room. A rockin' new show is
planned with some old favorites thrown in and reworked. Opening will be the
Suicide Liquors, featuring Pete Burr of the late Mother Jefferson and Lady
Iris & Her Smut Petalers with a burlesque-a-go-go demonstration between
sets and at the post-Itchies set go-go party. Yeow! Providence post-punk punks
MainMan are playing with the unstoppable American Nitro at One Up
on Saturday (the 29th). An awesome bill -- the show is free and starts at 11
p.m.
Jennifer Kimball, formerly of the Story, and Ben Demerath
co-star at Stone Soup, also on Saturday. The show begins at 8 p.m. at Slater
Mill in downtown Pawtucket. Ticket price is $8.
Kofo "The Wonderman" and the Daylight Stars return to Providence in a
command performance. The master of Afro funk and soul will perform on Saturday
as well from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Armenian Cultural Center (70 Jefferson
Street, Providence). The event, sponsored by Oasis International, is their 9th
Annual Cultural Awareness Day, which celebrates the culture and achievements of
youth in South Providence and the West End. Other performances that evening
feature Ramona Bass and Sina Group. African cuisine will be served and the
artwork of Munir Muhammed will be exhibited. Tickets for the concert and dinner
are $15, $25 per couple and $5 with student ID. Call 421-1252 for
reservations.
E-mail me with music news at b_gulla@yahoo.com.
Issue Date: September 28 - October 4, 2001
