| Volume 5, Issue 120 • December 31, 1999 through January 13, 2000 | |
  Roast Beast Talks Turkey By Sarah Petersen
"There's sort of a cute element to it, too," says Tweiten, the bass player. Drummer Kleinknecht is dubious: "Cute death metal?" They laugh. The light-hearted banter comes naturally to Roast Beast, both onstage and off, indicating an affability that belies the ferocious energy of their music. In trying to describe Roast Beast's sound, the band members hesitate. "International, metal, jazz, punk," Kleinknecht begins. "It's really aggressive. But it's not straightforward like punk." "We have a different approach to song structure and time signatures," Baker explains. "There's a strong melodic sense in what we do. But I don't know that I'd say we're catchy. There are moments, elements. "I think part of it is that we don't see our instruments in a traditional way. The drums aren't just rhythm, the guitar's not all flashy, and the bass isn't just root notes. Every instrument is a lead instrument, everyone has her own voice. There's an equal balance. It connects in a common place." Vocals are a key element. Baker sings lead, but Kleinknecht and Tweiten have a share in the mic time. "Sharon's singing," Tweiten says, "Terrica and I are screaming, and we're all talking...There are different levels of vocals going on, often at the same time." Baker writes most of the band's lyrics. "I write mostly about frustrations," she says thoughtfully. "Work, culture, gender, capitalism, isolation, about what it's like to want to come up and smash the whole thing." She pauses, then deadpans, "I'm not writing love songs." Love songs don't typically feature lyrics like "another yearlong toxicity/redundant wreck without a key/sealed in a spirit bubble all night/Lucid dreaming accident/every detail remembered like so much money spent." (from "No Accident") Been There, Done That Musical complexity is what makes Roast Beast really unique. All three are experienced musicians, having honed their musical chops in other bands before forming Roast Beast. Baker played the Minneapolis scene as a part of Strumpet, while Kleinknecht drummed for Nectar; the two joined forces, found a bass player, and formed Shoot. When Shoot's bass player departed, auditions and connections through mutual friends brought Tweiten (formerly of 900 Lbs.) into the fold, and Roast Beast was born in August 1998. Audiences are mixed. "Lots of other musicians," notes Tweiten. "But then," Kleinknecht adds, "we'll be playing in a bar, and some old guy, one of the regulars, will come up to us and say, 'Hey, you guys were really great. I love that thing you did.'" "It really is music for everybody," Tweiten says earnestly. Baker concurs, but qualifies the assertion. "We're mainly playing for ourselves, and writing songs that are interesting to [us]. Taking songwriting to another dimension. Which is probably why there are a lot of musicians at our shows." Superheroes All of this, however, is just a warmup for their real careers--as superheroes. "We'll have a sort of Habitrail setup in Terrica's drum set," Baker explains excitedly. The superheroes' powers, apparently, will lie in their instruments. "Kari will hit her bass, and the earth will shake." The others chime in, animated: Kleinknecht's drumsticks, when crossed, would form a protective shield. One chord from Baker's electric guitar will send evildoers flying, hands over ears. As the laughter abates, Baker says a bit sheepishly, "This is what we talk about during practice." Until the superhero thing comes through, though, they'll stick to being a band. Baker is logging serious time at the mixing board, putting the finishing touches on the band's CD, slated for release in about two months' time. "It takes us a while to write songs," she admits. "We're all perfectionists," Tweiten reminds her, with a sort of rueful pride. The 11-song album will feature little elaboration in terms of post-production additions; the goal is to capture the feeling of the live sound. In the meantime, Roast Beast will continue to play; they are slated to appear on a 10-band roster on New Year's Eve at Big V's on Snelling; on Jan. 12, they will be at the Terminal with Abdo Men and Bozart. Roast Beast will also play an all-Helmet set at The Battle of the Cover Bands (Jan. 31, 7th St. Entry). Back | |
| Copyright 1997-2000 Lavender Media, Inc. All rights reserved. |
