how they played

[jebrinklog]

it's hard for me to remember when and where, but i'm sure that i read something Ian said about the band purposely forgetting how to play their recorded material live. what happened at their shows, then? was it improvisation with hints at their actual "songs" or did they do more experimental kinds of things? i've seen pictures of Ian sitting at a table with a microphone on it. what else went down?

[brikelly]

jebrinklog said:

it's hard for me to remember when and where, but i'm sure that i read something Ian said about the band purposely forgetting how to play their recorded material live. what happened at their shows, then? was it improvisation with hints at their actual "songs" or did they do more experimental kinds of things? i've seen pictures of Ian sitting at a table with a microphone on it. what else went down?

I saw them at the Middle East a number of years back, but I was really drunk that night. Plus, I'd brought a friend from Ireland (who was familiar with Don Cab, but not with S&S) who spent the entire night trying to convince me that we were watching Don Cab and they "should be breaking into the rocking tunes very soon now..." :-)

I do remember that Kevin Shea's drumming was quite amazing. It was weird - it looked like he was intentionally and consistently dropping sticks out of his hands, letting them roll across the drum skins and then deftly picking them up without missing a beat. Or, I could just have been out of my tree on Guinness.

[Aria]

I've read the same interview, and I interpreted that comment as more of a statement of purpose, namely, s&s composed songs with no boundaries or rules or preconceived ideas of what a song should be. To take the thought further, yet more literally, you could say the music was composed in a totally linear sense, meaning what they happen to write one moment has no influence on what they will write the next moment. "Through music," if you will.

[esebeday]

i can't even begin to remember where i read it, but a couple years ago i stumbled across an interview with ian williams, and they talked a lot about storm and stress. i remember him saying that he loved the disappointed expectations of people when they came into a club and saw what looked like a rock band's setup on stage (drums, guitar, bass). then they'd come out and play, and people would heckle them. he also said that at some shows, they'd put their guitar/bass amps on the front of the stage, facing the audience, so they couldn't really even hear what they were playing. when i bought UTAFL, the clerk at the record store told me they'd played in columbus and basically been booed off the stage. she also warned me it was nothing like don cab. oh yeh, S&S is also on the shit list in chunklet issue 16...whoever submitted them REALLY didn't care for their show.

[ShawnPhase]

all i know is that my band (grandizer) played with storm and stress alongside a minor forest, and trans am on a blizzardy night in feburary 1997 before their record came out, and they played...i didnt expect to see anything near familiar from what i was told but i still loved it and whyled the fuck out while they played, there were crowd pops and shit. it was definately different but it was also something the crowd liked.

niggaz be whylin out...

[theslowwizard]

I watched one of S&S's shows online somewhere (forget what site, can't find it now) and the audience was definitely NOT INTO IT. They were making this amazing music and the crowd was just irate and trying to talk over them. People just never appreciate something great even when it's happening right in front of their faces.

[Jeff]

i would fucking LOVE to see that video. if you happen to come across it again, you should post the address

[asristir]

theslowwizard said:

People just never appreciate something great even when it's happening right in front of their faces.

Duder... there's no accounting for taste. Personally, I think Storm and Stress suck. What they did with their instruments doesn't interest me in any way.
If the artist has a right to free expression (sic), then the audience has the right to feel insulted that they paid 15 bucks to hear watered-down free jazz antimusic.
However I love the fact that you appreciate them.

[pollack]

I believe he was talking about supersphere. www.supersphere.com

[raybradbury]

Yes, I saw that show on supersphere. I think there were a couple. It was actually identical, note for note, to the recorded material. I was gladly surprised. I talked to Ian about it when Battles came to town, and he was talking about how people would laugh at them at shows and think it was improvised junk. But he made the comment, "No, they're real songs."

[Don Caballero]

Why does it matter whether it was improvised or not? Just because something was written means it adds some new depth and legitimacy to the music? Not really. Personally, I go apeshit almost everyday to under thunder and fluorescent light, what a record.

[raybradbury]

Well, that sounds directed at me, so I better explain. For the last 7 years, I've played (and still play) improv. So if you took my comment to be negative in any way towards the idea of musical improvisation, you're sorely mistaken. I'd place Under Thunder in my top 10 favorite albums ever, alongside American Don. Needless to say, Storm & Stress are missed desparately by more than one of us, Administrator.

[Don Caballero]

I find it hard to believe that the songs could've been played note for note. Furthermore, they'd be little point in memorizing it all. Still, I am pretty desperate to see the supersphere show or any footage.

[cliff]

There was definately a great deal of improvisation. That's probably a good thing...

[CioCio]

I recently ordered a Storm & Stress press kit off of Ebay, and it came with an essay about the band written by Ian. When I next go home, I'll type it up and share it with you all, if you're interested.