Alien Musicians Posing as Giraffes Take Over 200 E. Patrick this Saturday

No, it’s not a cheap art house remake of The War of the Worlds. It’s just Math Rock.  Math Rock may be the most misunderstood and under-appreciated of all genres.  What else would you expect though from a music genre supposedly created by aliens? “The world’s just not ready for it man” said every new age hippie ever.  If you Google 10 reasons to like Math Rock, you get results like “do girls play (or even like) math rock?” and if you set the bar a little lower and Google 5 reasons to like Math Rock, you get “10 reasons why math teachers rock!” Since Google is seriously no help here, you should totally come to the 200 E. Patrick Warehouse show this Saturday and find out for yourself why Math Rock rules.

This Saturday there will be fine outer-worldly specimens for you to exam and other visual mysteries of science to explore.  For real though, it’s really an honor to have Giraffes? Giraffes! (G?G!) jam in our home town.  They are from Massachusetts and while they may not be Katy Perry famous they have a very loyal following that they’ve curated since 2001.  They are used to touring major cities like Philly, Baltimore, and DC and they are giving Frederick of all places a shot on their current tour.

Kabob-O-Taj is coming in from Gaithersburg and with a name like that; you’re bound to get noodly.  You’ve probably caught them at Café Nola a time or two and know what I’m talking about. 

Our local guys in Time Columns are also wicked math rock wizards. They’ve been playing around Frederick for forever and ever and they also tour, run a recording studio, and produce their own albums. Classic overachievers. 

Lead singer Kenny … Haha.  Did you get that Math Rock joke?  Anyway, lead guitarist Kenny Eaton of Time Columns took some time to chat about Saturday’s show so I could provide you all with the inside deets.  Here’s the breakdown on how the show came to be, what will be happening at the show, and what’s coming up next for Time Columns.

The 200 E. Patrick Street Warehouse is a brand new venue in downtown Frederick.  Owned by the Frederick News Post, sponsored by Frederick Playlist and Flying Dog Brewery, the Warehouse is literally the play fort for all the popular bands in town. However, it would just be a big old boring space without all of the local artist who brought it to life over the last few months.  It seems the first show did a lot to establish it as an inhabitable venue.

Kenny told us that "we really walked into a venue that has been really well prepared by all the people who worked on it last month getting it ready for the Seaknuckle album release."   He explains "we were looking around on the top floor the other day looking for places to shoot these promo video and the place is completely stripped."  Continuing he says "they really just took an empty building and turned nothing into something."

Out of all the venues in town, 200 E. seemed like the best choice to Kenny to have the show with G?G!.  He says "we were looking for a DIY space or something that was conducive to that type of atmosphere because the guys in G?G! are big [on DIY], I hate to use the word DIY, but they have that ethos about their career and doing everything themselves."  Kenny noted that "last time we played was at this place in Baltimore called the Copy Cat building", an iconic artist compound in the city.  

Time Columns have been putting a lot of effort into promoting this show.  Kenny explains "we just kind of feel a responsibility to have a good show since G?G! original asked us to play and they are awesome" and "rather than playing at the Filmore or a traditional venue, we thought it would be really cool to do it in our home town and rally support."

Having a nationally touring band like G?G! play in Frederick might bring some music fans from other nearby locations into Frederick as well.  Kenny says "I talked to friends from Philadelphia, Fredericksburg, West Virginia, and Delaware that are all coming down for the show."  He explains "sounds crazy, but anyone who’s into a band, driving two or three hours to see your favorite band that doesn’t play out too much isn’t too crazy."

The first 200 E. Warehouse show set the precedent for grand mashups of physical, visual, and audible entertainment.  Kenny says "with the first show, they coordinated lots and lots of local artists to get in there, so we’re trying to keep that alive also and give a nod to the local visual artists and not just the bands."  Bandmate Jordan Miller has been in charge of extracurricular visual entertainment at the show.  Kenny says "from my understanding, Jordan said there will be a local artist [Tom “Cheezer” Kemp] there doing live canvas pieces while the bands are playing, so we’ll have that and we’ll have cornhole and flying dog will be there, so it will pretty much be everything we like in life." He says it again as simply "music, art, beer, cornhole."

Having extra entertainment at a rock show kind of makes our skin itchy here at Bucket of Rock.  Just like the reason why Math Rock bands don’t need lead singers, it’s not necessary.  We’re always focused on the bands, quite literally through our camera lens. So extra entertainment, whyyyyyy? 

Kenny broadens our one track minds by saying "at least for me, it’s all stuff that I personally like, so I think it’s cool” and "I think it’s awesome to have all that stuff in one area."  He continues vigilantly "sometimes it can get a little boring if you’re in the middle of a set and not really digging the bands, which I don’t think any of the bands that [are playing that] night you will be bored from at all."

Ok, we’ll get over it. We realize everyone isn’t and probably has no desire to be the rock and roll machines we are.  Carry on and let the entertainment be abundantly entertaining!  So, that’s the run down on the show, but Time Columns have their eyes set on longer term goals also.

 Kenny says "we are working on our new album; we’ve been working on that for almost a year."  He continues "with that we’ll be releasing a music video that we are working on too and a tab book and a transcription book." He explains the time commitment required as "11 songs at 80 minutes worth of music and we’re dealing with at least 2 guitar layers at the same time and sometimes 4 and then 5 or 6 layers of loops and you’re like oh my god I want to cry."

The band is recording the new album at Mystery Ton Studios, the bands personal studio and that has allowed them to take the time they need.  It’s an awesome perk for Kenny.  He says "I wouldn’t be able to do that not at my studio, so it will be a good feeling to have the first one that we self-produced here on our own." 

Ok, so come to the show THIS SATURDAY crazy 8/8 at 7pm. More details on the Facebook Event.