MarsupiaL will be featured on URTV’s “Mt. Dungeon” this Thursday, Jan. 8th, from 11:00-11:30pm on channel 20 (available in Asheville, NC through Charter Communications). MarsupiaL will be performing live music, followed by a short interview, all in front of a blue screen.
For more information, please visit: www.myspace.com/mountdungeon
Jaime McKee • jmckee@citizen-times.com • published September 26, 2008 12:15 am
Podcast (15MB) Podcast (15MB)
Asheville band MarsupiaL is not new to the scene — it’s been playing locally for almost eight years. The rock band recently released its third album, “Curtains,” and has already started on its next record. The group will be performing Friday at Hannah Flanagan’s. We met up with Brad Mehder to learn a little more about the guys:
Question: Who makes up the band?
Answer: Ian Reardon on guitar and vocals, Brad Mehder on bass, Forrest Smith on guitar, Chris Carter on drums and vocals, and J. Ferris doing live and studio engineering.
Q: When did you guys form the band?
A: We formed the original band in 2000. I think our first show was in January 2001. We’ve done a few different lineups since then. (Brad and Ian were in the original lineup).
Q: How do you think the sound has changed since the first lineup?
A: I think the new lineup is much better. It’s totally a different sound for us. It’s definitely more rock, maybe a little more indie rock compared to the jam band thing, which is what we were more into five or six years ago.
Q: Do you guys collaborate on writing, or is there one main person to do that?
A: Chris, Forrest and Ian are really good songwriters. Forrest doesn’t really write lyrics so much, but he did some songwriting on “Curtains.” Mostly, at this point, it’s been different people’s songs and everybody else’s opinion on the songs. We have started collaborating more on this new album that we started about a week ago.
Q: So you’ve already started on another record?
A: Already started a new one, yeah. We’ve got so many songs, we just wanted to record them. We practice in our own studio, so studio time is free for us. It’s just a matter of us being able to get there and get our heads straight.
Q: How long did it take you guys to come up with the songs, write them and record the last CD?
A: Most of the songs were already formed, and even a lot of them already had recordings on some solo albums and things like that, and collaborations with other people. Getting them together was pretty easy. Just a matter of the different person showing us the songs and different parts.
Q: How would you describe the CD to others?
A: It’s pretty diverse, but not as diverse as our first two albums. The songs are different. There’s definitely a flow through the whole album, I think. A little riskier on some of the songwriting. Maybe not as straightforward on some things. Especially on the beginning of the album, it’s pretty different.
Q: How do you think you guys set yourselves apart from other bands in Asheville?
A: I think we definitely have a different sound. I think we focus a lot on the actual songs and songwriting — not that other people don’t. One of our best things, and probably one of our worst things at the same time, is that we do change our music a lot. For some people, they’re cool with that. It’s always something different.
Embracing the seven-year itch, local rock band Marsupial scratches the surface of new material, some of it courtesy of two new members, on their latest disc, “Curtains.” The band unveils the album at a CD release party Saturday night at Westville Pub on Haywood Road.
Members Brad Mehder and Chris Carter spoke about the band’s new release.
“Seven years ago when we started, I can see us fitting into that ‘jam band’ category sure, but now we’ve really focused on writing songs and not so much of the improv,” said bassist Mehder. “I actually don’t know how to describe us because if I say one thing, it feels like I’m leaving something else out.”
“I think each of us has unique tastes but we all meet somewhere in 1970s rock,” said new member, drummer Carter. “I think that period is common ground for all of us.”
Band members credit the years and their like minds with seasoning their sound as they have played mostly in the Southeast since their inception.
“We’ve stuck to this region for reasons of money and gas, and we all still have jobs,”Mehder said. “There’s so many good clubs around, and lately we’ve tried to get into listening rooms and were trying to stay out of the bars. It’s a tossup sometimes between better money or those who come out to listen to music.”
“The new guys (Carter and guitarist Forrest Smith) are writers in their own right, and their new songs have brought new energy to the band,” Mehder said.
“I feel very lucky to be playing with these guys,” Carter said. “I had always liked the band, and I thought it would be fun to be part of something like this. I’m very excited to do some of my original stuff, but the person who has the best musical idea we just go with it.”
The band’s sound engineer, J Ferris, recorded “Curtains,” and Mehder said the band already has another album ready to go. “We love recording. It’s such a different process. Then we get to put them out there and celebrate the finish, when everything is done and you get feedback from everyone else.”
Amy Jones writes about music for the Citizen-Times. E-mail her at ajontheair@
hotmail.
