MUSIC
A couple of Buffalo somebodies:
London vs. New York and Johnny Nobody
By Christopher Schobert
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London vs. New York: Tim Staszak, Nick Gordon,
Dan Ratel, and Stephen Goss Photo by Scott Edwards. |
London vs. (Western) New York
London vs. New York’s stock-in-trade is the kind of angular, postpunk rock that’s a little bit Wire and a tad Gang of Four, with a dash of Public Image Ltd. Eminently danceable, it clearly pushes the band to the forefront of local music. The band’s debut record, Words & Behavior, is a brisk, stylish romp that easily rivals (and likely surpasses) the last Rapture and Franz Ferdinand albums; a new EP is on the way. Timothy Staszak is the band’s twenty-four-year-old drummer. A South Buffalo native, he works as art director at Righteous Babe Records. Lead vocalist Stephen Goss is working on a Ph.D. in English education, and is a graduate assistant for City Voices City Visions (cityvoicescityvisions.blogspot.com). Guitarist Nick Gordon recently released a solo album, It’s a Chemical Drag But It’s Not That Bad, and is starting on another. And bassist Dan Ratel is a teacher, former drum-and-bass DJ, and radio host.
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London vs. New York,
Words & Behavior |
TS: Most of the songs we were producing were fast and aggressive, and “Android” was a definite change of pace for sure, in terms of length and sound. I think we were mostly still looking for our sound, and still are.
SG: When we’re writing, we imagine the audience moving to our music, which leads me to answer that we fall under dance-punk. We just want to be excited when we write, and when we listen to music. I want goosebumps. If a bassline makes the hair on my arms go stiff, I know it’s what we are going for.
DR: I’m not one for genres, especially when it comes to guitar-driven music. Hip hop or rap only has two classifications, hip hop and gangsta rap. Why can’t rock do that?
A lot of the music is downright fun, too, even though lyrically much of it seems quite dark. Was this intentional, to kind of mix up lighter-sounding hooks with darker material?
SG: Someone told me once that our music was very postmodern. I’m not sure if it really is; I like our music to be a contrast of dark and light. I joke sometimes that our next album is going to be called “postmodern sounds from the above-ground.”
I must ask: where did the name come from?
NG: After a brief discourse between Dan and myself about which was the better of the two larger “original” “punk” scenes, the name popped into Dan’s head. We all thought it sounded quite lovely!
TS: Nick digs the Ramones and Dan likes the Sex Pistols. Hence, London vs. New York. And it’s weird, we thought someone would have the name, but lucky for us no one did.
Tell me a bit about the artwork for Words & Behavior. It’s a pretty striking mix of day-glo colors and collage elements.
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London vs. New York: Stephen Goss, Tim Staszak,
Dan Ratel, and Nick Gordon Photo by Scott Edwards. |
SG: Also, neon and bright colors present a sort of “super-reality.” Tim does all of our work, and he’s brilliant. He also deals with me very judiciously. I have a lot of ideas when it comes to our posters or pins or T-shirts, and he always considers my point of view. We have very nice dialogue in that way.
How supportive has the local music scene been for you guys?
TS: I remember going out to shows when I was sixteen: to the Continental, Broadway Joe’s, Back Stage Pub. Nobody supported anyone. It seemed like each band was doing it all alone. The feeling was very cut-throat. Today, it’s like a community. Bands are helping other bands with shows; I’ve been asked by other bands to do some artwork. Everyone is scratching each other’s back. And to be honest, I think it speaks more when you go to a local show and see how many people come out to see these bands.
SG: We started our band, people heard our music, and within a few months we were playing places that we had only dreamed of playing (Mohawk, Showplace, the Tralf). The scene welcomed us with open arms.
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Johnny Nobody’s
What It Feels Like Broke |
Google the band Johnny Nobody, and one of the first links you’ll find is a Cleveland-based rock site featuring some high praise: “Johnny Nobody is the best thing to come out of Buffalo since the Goo Goo Dolls.” Ask around the Buffalo music scene, and you’ll hear the same thing. The band’s debut record, What It Feels Like Broke, is ten tracks of fuzzed-out guitar rock that isn’t afraid to feature strong hooks. During some downtime while on tour, the band’s three members—Andrew Vaeth (vocals and guitar), Colin Roberts (bass), and Jay White (drums)—talked about their sound and their future. (A new record is planned for 2008, along with continued touring.)
The sound of your album seems to combine elements of classic shoe-gazing with the heavy-guitar sound of bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Do you think your music has one unified sound, or dabbles in various genres?
Andrew Vaeth: I think we do have a pretty unified sound, but one of the most important things to us is to sound like us. We certainly aren’t afraid to dabble in various genres as long as it doesn’t come across as fake or out of place.
Many of the songs on the record have very strong hooks, like “High On It” and “Broke.” Is it difficult to write something with a strong hook? And what is your songwriting process? Does it start with the music or the lyrics?
AV: We really don’t have a definitive songwriting process. Sometimes it starts with one of us bringing in a chord progression or melody line to rehearsal. Sometimes an entire song is written and then introduced. And sometimes we just kind of stumble upon ideas while experimenting. I guess we have a go-with-the-flow mentality, and I think in the end that attitude leads us to the strong hooks.
The artwork for the album is fantastic. How important was the design element, and can you tell me about the artwork—where it came from, how it fits the themes of your music, etc.?
AV: The design element was really important to us. WIFLB was really our first serious effort as a band and we really wanted the artwork to be something special. Our friend Ryan Besch of Hero Design in Buffalo did the artwork. He’s an extremely talented guy and actually won an international design award for his work on the album. We wanted a kind of dark theme to match the music, and we wanted it housed in a digipak, and for some reason, I really wanted it to be centered around crows; I guess I find their mythical reputation interesting. Ryan took it from there and came up with some really amazing artwork.
You recorded the album at Harvest Sum Studios in Orchard Park with Mark Nosowicz. What was that experience like?
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Johnny Nobody: Andrew Vaeth, Colin Roberts,
and Jason White. Photo by Daren Magee. |
Colin Roberts: Working with Mark is always a good experience. I personally like the unique ideas Mark seems to come up with that always give the song that little extra something it needs.
At the time of this interview, you’re on the road in the south, and you’re just a few days from playing the South by Southwest Festival in Austin. How is the music translating outside of Buffalo?
CR: Every city is different. If there is a crowd that is watching us we always get a good response and are received well. While touring in a relatively unknown band, you never know what the shows are going to be like, especially if it is your first time playing the city. In the towns we’ve played a couple of times, the shows get better and better with each visit. In the majority of the new cities we play, the promoter, club owner, and local bands always seem to like what we are doing and always want us to come back for a better show on a better night. It’s a good feeling and that’s what we are out here doing; just trying to build off of each show and make better connections for next time around. It’s all you can hope for when you are doing it by yourselves with no label backing.
Tell me a bit about yourselves. How did the group first come together?
CR: We all grew up together in Lockport and started playing music together in middle school. But Johnny Nobody didn’t really come about officially until we were juniors in high school, and started this band out of pretty much having nothing better to do. We started taking it seriously maybe a couple of years back when we all wound up in Buffalo after our failed college careers. We are all fortunate enough to have flexible jobs that allow us to leave and tour and come back and work, so we can save money to put towards touring/recording/promotion, etc.
Multiple people involved in local music have mentioned your band to me as a group that could make a really significant impact nationally. How important is that to you, and why do you think people have responded so favorably to your music?
Jay White: It’s very important to us, and it’s also very flattering that people would mention that. This band is something that we would eventually like to be doing as our fulltime professions, and a national impact would be key in doing so. I think people respond to our music so favorably because the style of it is so open and accessible. We also work extremely hard to put on quality live shows.
AV: Playing music is something I’ve always wanted to do, so if there’s any way that we can support ourselves by playing in a band, it would really be a dream come true. It’s the only job I’ve ever wanted, and to have such supportive people around us means so much.
Christopher Schobert is a proud supporter of local music. Look for his profile of another young Buffalo band on the rise—the Stay Lows—in a future Spree.
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