Psst... if you went to X-fest you missed this show.
I am speaking of the Protomen, Nashville's premier Mega Man rock opera. The Protomen are a nine-strong rock monster and, no, I am not making this up. Imagine Rush, with Geddy Lee's pterodactyl shriek replaced by a raw and cutting counter-tenor spanning at least four octaves, all in android costumes.
See, Protomen are just one example of the kind of talent and innovation that regularly slips through town under the mainstream radar. It happens in a nondescript storefront somewhere on Dickinson, in a little beer and wine store across from Sheetz, in the living room of a party house. It happens.
Caspian, one of the brightest rising stars in the post rock world, have been through twice. These Are Powers (apocalypse dance noise featuring ex-members of Liars), the Silent Years (who received a rad shout out from Spin!), ex-members of the Dead Milkmen... really, I could go on. MC Homeless relocated here from Ohio almost a year ago. He's opened for the Coup and once chased MudVayne out of a Burger King in Maine, but you can find him in 21 Eleven most days with his feet on the couch. The Kickass had one of their first shows in a long time at the Spazz, and Future Islands play local showspaces when they come around, since the folding of the Red Rooster effectively closed downtown to nontraditional music.
I don't mean to idealize, not every band is gold... but every band is real. If you want to be on the frontlines, then get yourself out to an independent show. Do some research, go listen to the bands. There are so many shows to choose from, it's hard to not find something you love. Be scientists. Check out the listings on these links.
myspace.com/spazzgallery
myspace.com/21eleven
Our underground spaces are why Greenville is a bigger NC tour destination for independent bands than Asheville... that's right, Asheville! The state's big art town! The place where you can't throw a rock without giving a multi-instrumentalist a concussion!
Anyway... enough blather.
The members of Nat Turner and the Slave Rebellion were kind enough to meet me on an offshore oil rig to protect my identity. Nat Turner, who have been playing around town since early summer, bring an uncommon amount of energy to the stage along with an activist fire that's pretty rare these days.
(full interview below... as promised)
Hawk Season: Describe a post-apocalyptic society influenced by your music.
Victor Herazo: Wow
HS: Good answer.
Chipp Weatherly: If society was influenced by our music, hopefully we would avoid the post-apocalyptic world in the first place.
HS: That's good.
Jason Luther: I suppose a society influenced by our music – by the message we're trying to get across – if our music was introduced into a post-apocalyptic world I suppose it would work a little bit better because, like, we stand for the fight for freedom and against injustice, so if you could have that whole “hey, there's this big government or, you know, military force leading the way against a rebellion” and I feel like our music would be good for that. Like the theme music in a movie.
CW: It's interesting that you would pick that question because the first song we ever wrote was about a post-apocalyptic world. “Manmade Wasteland.”
VH: I think there would still be battles with giant robots, except for everything would be equal. There'd be freedom, but there would still be giant robots.
CW: Everybody would be giant robots... with light sabers.
HS: What's the hardest thing about being a newish band?
JW: Getting out of your town, because everybody wants to know, like, if you have fans in that city. And it's like, “Well, not yet, but we will once you sign us into your venue.” We got that from the Luna Bean, the guy wanted us to send him a demo CD, and he's like “How many fans do you guys have in Wilson?” and I was like “None... yet.”
VH: I think the hardest thing is getting yourself out there, getting people to show up to shows, because at first they don't know who you are.
Heinrich Arnold: And then, likely, the majority of the town will like bad music anyways, so they won't come to support the underground music scene.
CW: Everyone loves bad music, except for us. We rock... don't put that in there.
HS: Are kids still being expelled for wearing your shirts to city schools?
VH: I think after the first one they kind of got the hint to stop wearing the shirts.
JL: It's a very interesting subject, it's kind of weird, the information came from a third party thing. It was like, my college professor heard it from one of his other students whose friend was involved with it, so I don't know exactly what happened. All I know is that I was told that somebody was expelled and that my roommate's brother was actually written up for wearing our t-shirt.
CW: One thing that should be stated, is that the way we view the name, and the t-shirt, and everything like that, you know, everything we stand for, it should not cause any discrepancies or whatever. I think a lot of times people see the word “slave” and get immediately offended.
JL: People like to get offended.
VH: Well, they need something to do, right?
JL: It's just that, it's like Chipp said, people don't take the time to read through it, think about it, like, “Hey, who is Nat Turner? Why is Abe Lincoln on this t-shirt?” Maybe you should look at the rebellion next to the word “slave.”
HS: Who would play each of you in a film?
VH: If Bruce Lee were still alive...
CW: Well, me and Jason both do acting, so...
VH: If Bruce Lee were still alive, yeah. But otherwise, Jackie Chan... or Mr. Bean? How about Mr. Bean? Okay. Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean would be mine.
CW: I think everybody should have to pick everybody else's. Like, you can't pick for yourself, you'd be like “I like this actor, he's hot... I'm hot, so...”
HA: Hmm... Jessica Alba for me.
HS: Do you have the lips for it?
JL: What kind of film are we talking here?
HS: I guess post-apocalyptic.
VH: Saving the world!
JL: I think, what about Chipp? Let's start with Chipp. Who does Chipp remind you of?
VH: Stephen Hawking.
JL: Heinrich would definitely be Steven Seagal.
CW: His hair!
JL: Make an expression like everything we're saying is stupid.
VH: Okay, Steven Seagal, it's decided.
JL: So we're decided for you, wait, did we ever decide on Chipp?
CW: No, we didn't.
VH: I don't know why this is all so difficult... it's because Chipp's so goshdarn unique.
JL: Johnny Depp comes to mind, just because he's got that soul patch and similar hair.
CW: Dude, nobody's going to watch my movie and go “WHOA JOHNNY DEPP WOW!”
VH: Dude, it's decided. It's Johnny Depp.
CW: No. Johnny Depp is such a good actor, but I get so tired of the way people act about him.
JL: He does too, though. That's why he's cool.
JL: Hugo Chavez.
VH: Chico Chavez?
JL: Hugo. Isn't he an actor?
HS: He's the president of a country.
JL:He's a president?
HS: He's in his 50s.
JL: Yeah. Let's not go with Hugo Chavez.
VH: What was that dude, from that movie, “the Mexican” or something?
JL: That's Johnny Depp.
VH: No, man.
CW: Oh! Antonio Banderas!
VH: Yes!
HS: Okay, we've got Antonio Banderas.
CW: Or Enrique Iglesias. (about Jason) No, no the guy, the guy that punches everybody, the drunk Irish dude, I think.
JL: What drunk Irish dude?
VH: Sean Connery?
CW: Russell Crowe? Russell Crowe! Yes!
HS: If you could open for any band or musician, alive or dead, who would it be?
VH: Bruce Lee.
HS: He just goes up on stage and kicks people.
JL: Exactly, that's a show in itself.
CW: Thirty minutes of entertainment.
HS: Dude, were you at the show last night where Bruce Lee kicked a bunch of people to death?
CW: He would just be screaming notes.
JL: Jimi Hendrix. I dig Jimi Hendrix' style a lot, I would love to open for Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin.
CW: What a stereotypical answer.
JL: Dude, you can't help that those are my favorite bands. Well, then, who would you pick, Chipp?
CW: We can't say Motorhed, because we play one of their songs. Bach.
HS: He was a musician.
CW: I like Bach.
JL: Have you ever heard Back's organ fugue? Dude, it's insane, man!
HS: Oh, he's crazy. So, we have Bach and Hendrix?
CW: Bach, Hendrix, and Turbonegro.
VH: Wait, who decided on Turbonegro?
JL: Chipp.
CW: No I didn't.
VH: He decided on Bach!
CW: Oh, shit, then screw Turbonegro.
HS: So the answer is... either Bach or Hendrix, screw Turbonegro?
JL: Turbonegro's great.
VH: Jason, you pick one now.
JL: I picked Hendrix, man.
VH: Okay, fine, two Hendrix. Who do you pick, Yngwie?
HA: I don't know.
VH: Do you want to put the default Dragonforce?
CW: Everybody's like “You guys could open for their Guitar Hero song!”
HA: Who did 'Yes We Can?”
CW: Oh, god, Made in Mexico?
HA: Have you ever heard that song?
HS: No.
HA: It's so dumb. (plays guitar riff) That's basically what it is.
JL: It's completely out of tune.
HS: Heinrich: do you have a choice by any chance?
HA: I'll just go with Paganini if he's going with Bach.
HS: That's fair.
CW: No, actually, I would change mine to Deep Purple and not Bach, honestly I think it would be Deep Purple.
JL: Deep Purple would be cool.
VH: Yeah, that's a good choice.
CW: That's my serious answer. Deep Purple is amazing and they have influenced me so much. I love Ritchie Blackmore. Amazing guitar player.
VH: Let's get a slew. Deep Purple, Hendrix, Bach, Paganini.
HS: Okay!
VH: ...and Nat Turner and the Slave Rebellion!
HS: That would be an awesome show.
HS: Question number six of your Six Questions of Death is... how bright is the future?
VH: Whose?
HS: It's a pretty general pronoun.
VH: Good music's coming back.
CW: I think music's coming back. It's less about the image now and it's getting more about the roots of good, solid, fist-pumping excellence.
JL: Not necessarily on the radio, but, it's got to come from somewhere.
CW: It starts in the underground and it makes its way up to the top.
JL: In the world, there's a lot of things in the world that are going in bad directions right now, but at the same time people definitely have the ability to change that.
VH: So, what do you think? Is it going to work out or not?
JL: The future for this, our society, is looking kind of iffy right now.
CW: I personally believe that we're in a transition period.
JL: Musically, it's good.
VH: It's like the fall of Rome.
CW: It sounds really weird when you just say it, I've read a couple of books on it actually, and our society is going exactly the same way as they did. It's a huge parallel. A lot of people are saying that, because we're becoming so obsessed with convenience and niceties and everything that we're going to eventually... everyone's going to turn towards that. The things that are important are going to get harder and harder to find. It's really interesting.
JL: Convenience is ruining a lot of society, like, you get more convenient robots to build your product because people make mistakes.
HS: They won't rebel.
JL: It means they lose jobs because. It's getting harder to find people, I won't say harder because some people get forced into blue collar jobs, but... it used to be, like, you grew up to be a farmer. Not necessarily you wanted to, but at least you worked. Nowadays people just keep getting off the farm. Farming's going down, city life's going up, we're just going to be one big... what's that planet called?
HS: Uh, from...
JL: You know what I'm talking about. Coruscant.
HS: It's actually based on Trantor from Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.
CW: Oh! I know that! I know that!
HS: You've read Foundation?
CW: I've read it.
HS: Awesome. Awesome. (high fiving)
CW: Trantor.
JL: You've read it?
HS: A lot of Star Wars is based on the Foundation series. A lot of sci-fi, too.
CW: Isaac Asimov is science fiction.
HS: Yeah, he really is.
VH: HG Wells!
CW: Everybody who saw the I, Robot movie but didn't read the book? Go read the book.
JL: But, Will Smith...
***
Nat Turner & the Slave Rebellion can be found online at myspace.com/natturnerx. I'll be back next month, deity willing. Stay rad.
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