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" There`s such a fine line between the Southern rock song thing and the blues. It can be one accent on how you stroke it - strum it. "
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By Ross Gohlke
Memphis is known all over the world for the blues, that`s no secret. But blues ain`t the only music being made in the Bluff City these days. A burgeoning number of musicians around town cater to a younger, hipper crowd by playing a younger, hipper brand of music. It`s sometimes called alternative or indie rock`n`roll, and it made Nirvana rich and famous. In Memphis, as with the many types that came before it, it`s just called damn good music. And no one does it better than the Simple Ones. After producing a litter of EPs and singles, the band finally has a full-length CD, Worth the Weight, to show for their efforts. For maximum Simple Ones impact, you really should give it a listen. But before we go any further, let`s meet the cast. Jared McStay plays the accidental Billy Corgan look-alike guitarist/lyricist, a real-life rock star/car salesman with a family to boot - equal parts average Joe and pop genius. Jim McDermott stars as the effects-conscious bass player whose long hair betrays the redneck-country-heavy metal roots he still can`t bring himself to forsake. Roy Berry is the Tasmanian drummer, the slightly enigmatic and unpredictable third wheel who chain smokes with all the glee of the kid on the block with the biggest four-letter vocabulary. The scene: a Midtown bar named Yosemite Sam`s, made cozy by the decor, the dim lights, a noisy television and cheap beer. The boys have come here to do an interview. This power-tripped trio has been around for awhile. They were first called the Simpletones and tried every possible variation on the theme - The Simpletones O.K., $imple Ones - before settling on the current, simplest one. McStay: I took out an ad in the Flyer about five years ago. I put it in there a month. I think the influences were like the Jam, the Clash... McDermott: The Pixies is the one that got me. They went through several drummers before they settled in with Mark Miller, who drums on about half of Worth the Weight. Then one night McDermott heard Berry play. McStay: We start jammin` a little bit more. We feel each other better. Berry: We`re actually set up to kind of play the songs, but if someone feels the spirit, say, as long as everybody`s listenin` and jumps in with them . . . This calm acceptance, this willingness to be moved by the spirit, prompted one critic to describe the music as "blues-ridden chug from Memphis," a surprising description for the band, but one not without its accuracy. Berry: To me I think we`re kind of a fast band, but we get reviews and they say we chug. McStay: Yeah, it`s amazing. We just chug. McDermott: And it`s kind of like, damn. Call it lazy, call it jamming. Whatever it is, it`s something that comes from being in the South. And if their music isn`t exactly "blues-ridden" the blues comes into the picture somewhere. McDermott and McStay have spent most of their lives in Memphis. Berry moved here from Florida seven years ago. That definitely counts for something when they make music. Berry: [The blues] kind of seeps in. We don`t consciously try to play any blues. But I was noticing when I was recording with Research [one of Roy`s side projects with an album coming out in March] - here`s a good example. The guitar player had this riff. And I thought the downbeat was in the middle of the riff, because in the middle of the riff, if you listen to it from that point, it sounded totally like a Southern rock song. But the riff actually started two counts down the way from where I thought it started, and it threw me off. And in that way it seeps into your brain being from the South, or being in the South for a long time. Without consciously having to try to play a blues progression. McStay: There`s such a fine line between the Southern rock song thing and the blues. It can be one accent on how you stroke it - strum it. The tendency to jam is certainly a Southern legacy, but the Simple Ones are more than just a Southern band. They`re a Memphis band, something that can be a blessing or a curse. Or both. For the Simple Ones the curse takes the form of being perpetually in the shadow of another Memphis indie band, the one that might just make it big when their new album hits the stores early next year - the Grifters. From Portland to Pittsburgh to Nebraska, any mention of the Simple Ones in the media inevitably compares them to the Grifters. The influence isn`t imaginary. Tripp Lamkins, the Grifters` bass player, sometimes plays guitar with the Simple Ones. But Berry has also done some stand-in recording with the Grifters. Berry: They`re all our friends, so of course there`s gonna be general rub off. Does the comparison make them work harder to achieve their own, non-Grifters sound? McStay: Sure man, I do it all the time. If I play something and I say, oh, that sounds just like the Grifters. McDermott: Some of our stuff creeps into theirs, too. McStay: It`s not just all give and no take. A good deal of the band`s lyrical content centers around the classic boy-meets-girl pop theme, but with a twist, as in the song "Drunken Kiss." McStay: The song is about a guy who got drunk and kissed a girl and ended up falling for her, which is bad for him. It was just a kiss. I`m singing this as a friend of his saying if you don`t break this off or get your shit back together, I`ll take your head a spin it. I`ll kill you and your friends won`t miss you . . . To quote the Clash "What`s more political than being in love?" Berry: The thing about the lyrics is you can explain them with really short stories, but their vague enough to fit a variety of situations. McStay: At first I wanted to call that first record Vague Rant. A pun on "vagrant". `Cause they`re really vague rants about shit. Berry: Jared`s just a pun man. All the puns you see on the record, that`s him. McStay: Maybe we`ll still do that, I don`t know. Berry: No. For the unabridged version of this interview, go to Shangri-La Records.
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