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Photo by Gary Mead, graphics by Yuri Duncan.

For Matthew Miller, the band’s drummer, the whole experience has been surreal yet extremely gratifying.

“Meeting everyone at the right place at the right time really worked to our advantage,” he said.

Neil Berenholz, bassist, chimed in, “Everything simply revolved around random occurences. It’s magic!”

Pre-show meditation at The Volrath. (From left) Mathew Miller, Neil Berenholz, Joe D'Agostino, and Brian Hamilton. Photo by Gary Mead.

Magic or not, when Cymbals Eat Guitars — a name that serves as a homage to New York City counter-culture and referenced from a quote Lou Reed was saying about how rock bands should be recorded — they knew no one.

After they established themselves as a band, they knew the first step before pushing themselves out into the public was to have a product to act as a catalyst. So they wrote a collection of songs, went into the studio and recorded Why There Are Mountains on their own.

“We did things backwards in the studio. We had the tools at our disposal to do layer on top of layer. When it came time to do it, we got everything live,” said Berenholz.

With the help of the Wrens’ Charles Bissel, a demo was made, which caught the attention of Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Modest Mouse and The Hives) to record the final product.

With this process, the band did not feel pressured in any sort of way and allowed them to do exactly what they wanted to do with their music.

“Our idea was that the record was completed when we got it done,” said vocalist Joe D’Agostino.

Once the risk was taken and the album was completed, the band did everything they could to get it out into the music world.

“We threw it on a torrent and physically hyped it to practically thousands of people,” said D’Agostino. “Neil worked on getting it into record stores like Rough Trade and Piccadilly Records oversees.”

After these internationally-known record shops heard the album, it practically sold itself. But back in the states they had a lot of work ahead of them.

“From the time up to the Pitchfork review, it gave us time to figure things out and learn how to do things ourselves,” D’Agostino said.

And once things happened, they happened fast. Tours were planned, an official album release date was set beyond their DIY touting, and they had to fill the keyboard shoes with someone who could keep up the pace. Enter Brian Hamilton.

“I’m like the baby in the band,” he said about being the youngest. “I played in other bands around Brooklyn, but one day, out of the blue, I received a call to audition with Cymbals Eat Guitars. I liked their music and thought what the heck, I didn’t have anything else to do at the time.”

The band liked what Hamilton could dish out, and like everything else in the band’s unintentional philosophy, things quickly fell into place.

The band hangs out down the street from The Volrath trying out one of the houses. Photo by Gary Mead.

A summer jam packed with touring both intimate clubs and monstrous festivals, the band members don’t plan to slow down anytime soon and will eventually make it back into the studio to record another album that fits their liking. For now Why There Are Mountains will be released September 22 on Sister Den Records.

“Looking back, the album is really a snapshot of ourselves at the time,” said Berenholz. “We just wanted to make the best possible recording we could.”

Links:

Cymbals Eat Guitars: http://www.myspace.com/cymbalseatguitars

This is the Hex Haus, home to four unique musicians who gravitated from beyond the outer reaches of Indianapolis to become bound by the forces of creative musicianship. This is the home of We Are Hex.

(From L to R) Matt Hagan, Brandon Beaver, Jilly Weiss, and Trevor Wathen. Photo by Gary Mead.

And not only is this house a residence to the band, it doubles as their recording studio where their debut release Gloom Bloom (due out April 7 on their own label with the entire album streamable on their website http://www.wearehex.com) was conceived.

“When we decided to make Gloom Bloom we actually found a studio space,” said drummer Brandon Beaver. “It had this amazing 15-foot ceiling and was an old classroom this lady was leasing as an arts studio. We wanted to be more serious as a band so a recording studio seemed like a logical step. But it did not work out, and Gloom Bloom was done throughout our little three-bedroom house.”

Brandon Beaver (Photo by Gary Mead)

Staying at home proved to be the best option, capturing the essence and aura of what the group is about more so than they could have imagined. And unlike the basic principles of the lo-fi home studio movement, Gloom Bloom is something different, something more. The frenetic atmosphere of the songs and how they morph and transition with each other is something the band could not have captured elsewhere.

“Brandon wanted to make the album feel like a mix tape with pieces flowing in between songs,” said vocalist and keyboardist Jilly Weiss. “Everyone sings and plays various instruments that they normally would not play. One thing I don’t ever want to lose is that feeling and edge of the punk rock influences I grew up on. In the end, I feel like we captured that immediacy because these songs are super honest.”

Jilly Weiss (Photo by Gary Mead)

This honesty in the music comes from a group who spends just as much time understanding their capabilities with the equipment they own, as much as capitalizing on their limitations. When it comes to outtakes, the band knows exactly how to use them to their advantage. And by this, you get a depth and experience you normally could not get on a linear, static release.

“We knew we wanted to do it our way,” said Beaver. “We wanted the bad mic placements. We wanted to have that feeling that the listener is right there with us. It’s good as an artist to keep producing and not working too hard to make one guitar part or one beat too perfect.”

And all of this worked to their advantage as everything on Gloom Bloom feels necessary, from the tracking to the interludes, the contemplations and the wild effects — everything was mic’ed up. It’s what makes this album a true concept of the identity of the band.

“The creative process tended to be a lot closer to improv and the way jazz guys construct their songs,” said Matt Hagan, guitarist, keyboardist, and vocals for the band. “What I really like about this band is that there is not a leader. We are all in it together as an equal.”

Matt Hagan (Photo by Gary Mead)

They all agree that this is the single most important factor to what makes We Are Hex tick.

“This band has no individual ego,” said Trevor Wathen, bass, keyboards, and vocals. “It really helps that we all generally get along.”

Trevor Wathen (Photo by Gary Mead)

However, this was not always the case. Before Wathen and Hagan joined the band, We Are Hex was comprised of a different amalgamation. It begins with a 45-minute drive north to Muncie where Beaver and Weiss met. Beaver was living up there while Weiss was going to school. During that brief moment, Weiss started up a band called Days And Nights In The Skeleton Crew with Hagan. After that became a short-lived experiment, she tried it again with Ari Ari. Both Beaver and Weiss had no restraints to stay in Muncie. Ari Ari was their way out of the college town. When they came down to Indianapolis to play shows, they felt like they were getting more support from the capital city than the transient environment around Ball State.

After Ari Ari split up, they decided to form We Are Hex as a three piece with their friend Mark.

“It just did not work,” said Beaver. “No one was 100 percent behind it. The three of us just could not work together. If you heard what we sounded like then versus what we sound like now, it’s apparent how different it was back then.”

But they tried to make it work, long enough to record a full-length album. But then Mark left the band, and they scrapped the album, never seeing the light of day that Brandon admits to remaining buried somewhere inside a desk drawer.

But if that failed experience taught him one thing, it was to record everything, which is an important part of the band’s psyche, to get that documentation as Wathen boasts to having about two-and-a half albums worth of material during the making of Gloom Bloom.

As Beaver and Weiss were trying to re-group and determine the band’s direction, they ran into Hagan at a show one night. Hagan who played in several bands after Days and Nights — including Life After Bed, Black Panel Van, and Big Bang Static — had migrated to Indianapolis thanks to a job on the south side. The two had been contemplating a guitarist for a while, and Hagan fit right into the profile.

Then there was Wathen, a Southern Indiana resident who was burnt out on school and wanted to just create music. He had been in several bands, but knew that if he wanted to do what he wanted and do it right, Indianapolis was his next move. He was introduced to Weiss, and they began hanging out. When Mark left the band, he was asked to complete the lineup on bass.

“Originally we were super drony, no guitar, just bass and keyboards,” said Weiss. “And the keyboards were on loops. There is only so much you can do with that. Now that we have four people constantly writing and being involved, we can take our sound to so many levels.”

(From L to R) Jilly Weiss, Trevor Wathen, Brandon Beaver, and Matt Hagan (Photo by Gary Mead)

Now that Gloom Bloom has shown what they are capable of, the band is setting out to see just how far they can take their sound. The next project, an EP titled Various Songs, Sounds and Furs, was a process of writing songs that was completely new to the band and tends to drift towards a soundtrack-style of layered composing.

“Unlike just creating a song from scratch as a whole, we wanted to try a different approach, take an instrument like a drum part and build off of that particular instrument,” said Wathen.

For Hagen, he has never been in a band that has had such a diverse and creative atmosphere. “The idea that we developed together as a band is that we want to constantly keep doing things different.”

“We want to challenge ourselves,” added Weiss. “We make music we like because we have to play it. The goal is to better ourselves. I don’t care if it’s louder, quieter, experimental, I just want to make it a step up every time.”

Whatever direction the band takes, you can bet they will be putting forth every effort to do it all themselves and continue working at it as a group and not as individuals, because when it comes down to it, what they have is each other.

(From L to R) Trevor Wathen, Brandon Beaver, Jilly Weiss, and Matt Hagan (Photo by Gary Mead)

“We Are Hex is not a band that is ‘out to make it,’ said Beaver. “We’d love to make enough money to eat off from this band, but we play music because its all we have. We are kind of the outcasts from most of the scene here because we don’t ask for much help, and we tend to just do our own thing.

“In some way or another that has worked against us. The truth being it’s just really hard for us to think that anyone around Indianapolis would work harder for our music than ourselves.”

The band will be embarking on an East Coast tour in April and the Midwest in May. By July, they will reach out to the West Coast to complete one of their first major cross-country outings as a band. You can find specific dates on the band’s website or follow their blog at http://hexhaus.blogspot.com/. 

For a ZapTown critique on Gloom Bloom, visit our review here: www.zaptownmag.com/?p=1050.

From Left to Right: Brian Wyrick, Travis Hawkins, Antonio Leiriao, and Ben Traub. Photo by Greg "Mayor" Andrews.

When it comes to the Thin Fevers, there is a degree of gratification that emerges both from the band and the listener. It is an experience that will leave you sweaty and exhausted after dancing around to their powerful live performance or the output of an intensity they create from their studio recordings. Fans and newcomers to the band will both agree that there is a universal understanding and appreciation to just how hard this band works together to co-exist with the listener. In essence, they are getting just as much out of it as you are.

“We play 100 percent no matter what the opportunity is,” says Antonio Leiriao, vocalist for the band. “No one is going to slack in this band. Of course, if we play a more intimate environment, like a basement show, then we up the energy to 150 percent. There is just more energy in that setting.”

Antonio Leiriao at the Melody Inn. Photo by Gary Mead.

And even though the band tries as hard as they can to connect with the audience at a larger venue — and they do, proving just that at an opening slot for Gwen Stefani a few years back, for example, as they pushed the side amphitheater stage to its limits while wooing the crowd with their jerking dance moves — it is the ambiance of a crowded basement show that brings everyone closer together and creates a volatile atmosphere that conjoins to the night. The music is loud, and that is where Leiriao feels the Thin Fevers are 10 times better. The basement is also the foundation for where the band developed their sound.

Thin Fevers’ energy stems from a marriage of two prominent hardcore bands coming out of the Indiana scene: Usurp Synapse and Mara’Akate. And that is where this band’s story begins; or, actually ends, because as a result from the disintegration of both of these bands came the birth of the Thin Fevers.

Leiriao, a native New Yorker joined up with Usurp Synapse while still living on the east coast. It was the band that drew him out to the Midwest. Guitarist Brian Wyrick was playing for Mara’Akate while at Ball State. When Brian moved down to the capital city shortly after graduating, he found a home, living with the band members of Usurp Synapse.

“Having known the guys from Usurp from playing with Mara’Akate. Antonio and some of the guys already had a house here in town, so we made a makeshift room for me on the back porch,” Wyrick said. “We all played music together, watched movies, and played video games.”

This was exactly what Wyrick needed to immerse himself into the Indianapolis scene.

“I wasn’t really familiar with the Indianapolis scene at the time, but I caught a lot of house shows, and made it out to a few touring shows,” he continued. “At that time we all had a lot of friends from out of state that where touring, so most of the summers for those few years where spent hanging out with whomever was coming through town.”

Eventually, Usurp broke up and Mara’Akate went on hiatus. Not long after, Mara’Akate jumped back in with a collection of new material and the prospects of touring Europe. When the band found out the singer could not go, Wyrick suggested that Leiriao fill in. Antonio, not having much to do with his other projects agreed, which led to a closer bond between the two musicians and the early conceptual beginning of the Thin Fevers.

Another cog in Mara’Akate’s wheel of progress was that the drummer was from South Bend. As Wyrick started making a life here in Indianapolis, it became increasingly more difficult to drive up to Northern Indiana for practice or vica versa. During this time Antonio and Wyrick began culminating like views and discovered that they had similar tastes in the post punk sound with bands like Gang of Four and Wire. That dancey style of exploratory punk got to them and they wanted to do something to continue that tradition. Wyrick knew Ben Traub from another band and asked him to join in on the drums. They completed the line up with Saraswati bassist and Free Zone DJ Matt Chandler on bass.

“When Chandler joined the band, it brought that post punk sound to the table,” said Leiriao. “Plus Matt loves Motown and by incorporating that style provided Brian the ability where he does not have to rely on rhythms. I’m a huge fan of that Stone Roses sound with their guitarist’ ability to be free and do whatever it is he wants to do.

With Chandler’s flexible range of rhythm, Wyrick’s jagged edge guitars, Traub’s intricate drumming, and Leiriao’s powerful vocal abilities, they knew they had something special and different than what other Indianapolis bands were doing at the time and with a unique blend of influences passed on with each band member.

“I remember seeing At The Drive In at Stevie Rays in Muncie,” Wyrick recalls. “It’s a small room that bands play in. My progression of musical history began in that room. I grew up listening to the radio and songs that are catchy. When I’m writing, I come up with a hook and that comes from listening to an incredible amount of rock and pop.

“The big thing for me, in the past five years, is that I have finally come to terms with my taste in music… for a while I was a bit over concerned with other people’s opinions of music, and feel that I can legitimately enjoy music again.”

Brian Wyrick at the Melody Inn. Photo by Gary Mead.

Leiriao recalls buying all the 7 inches he could pick up at shows. It was his way of getting into new and interesting music, as well as getting to know the underground and what is involved.

Being in screamo and hardcore bands, the members had much experience with DIY ethics. They decided it was time to get back in the recording studio and capture the band on tape. So they loaded up their gear and headed over the the historic Irving Theater to record. What became the output for New Systems was a raw recording into 8-track and mixed through Garage Band.

They quickly discovered that the music for the Thin Fevers had a different mental approach than what they did in the past. Even though the foundation for their music is brought up from a hardcore foundation of throwing in as many riffs as possible in the shortest amount of time, there is more of an intimacy to the fire that rages within each song. For Wyrick it didn’t matter if you screwed up in a hardcore band just so you looked cool playing it. With music like this everything stands out, and every aspect of the music conveys equal importance, even the lyrics.

According to Leiriao, intelligent lyrics is one of the most important aspects to him. “When you listen to a song, the lyrics should have something to say. I try to write lyrics that is food for thought. It is horrible when someone writes lyrics, and they have no idea what it means. If you listen to songs 20 years ago, the lyrics are very targeted. I want to make a broad and timeless statement.”

You can even relate that to the title of the album. It conveys a double meaning. Not only does the title lead to a perspective of social decay from a technological standpoint, New Systems also looks at the new approach the band is taking with their music.

The original idea was to make the release available on iTunes. Then Wyrick, who started up a website/podcast called Rockit Bomb (www.rockitbomb.com), wanted to turn the four-songs into a podcast and make it available there. It ended up being offered both as a download on the band’s website (www.thinfevers.com) and a physical release that also includes an exclusive silkscreen printed packaging by poster artist Bob Peele and a t-shirt.

“For us as a band, I want people to download these songs and put it on their iPods and listen to the music,” stressed Wyrick.

Leiriao agreed. “The more people listen to the band, the more it’s important to the music.”

After New Systems was released, the band was on a roll and became a hot spot amongst the Indy scene. Journalists loved them and fans loved them more. That is until 2006, when Chandler had to relocate to New York City which stopped the band in their tracks.

“We were dealt a big blow with Chandler leaving,” said Leiriao. “He moved so quickly that it took some time for us to get our bearings.”

It took a few years for the band to fully get back on track. During that time, they enlisted Travis Hawkins to replace Chandler. After a few practices it was like the music never lost its pulse. And when they got back into the heart of the scene again, they noticed something unique going on. More people were, once again, putting on house and basement shows, which brings them back full circle to what they do best.

“When I first saw bands play as a teenager, I thought this is what I want to do, how do I do it,” said Leiriao. “It conveyed a message to me, and I hope I do that to people watching our band. For someone to come up to me after a show and say that we did good is an amazing feeling. As a band you are underpaid and overworked. It’s the hardest job to have. But to give everything you have is the best feeling. At the end of it all, when you have nothing left, that’s absolute.”

The band is currently writing and recording new material. This will be the first group of songs writing directly with Hawkins. According to Leiriao, expect the same intensity, just less frantic.

“We are writing longer songs. This time around we are in less of a rush to complete the song as fast as possible. We are trying to find the parts, extend them, and then not rush through them.”