Page 36 - September 2017

Stainhaus and Baus– Gig Preview
BY BEVERLEY NAPALM
The musicians of Stainhaus | COURTESY PHOTO
Flagstaff’s DIY music scene has always been wide open stylistically and inviting and welcoming of different approaches. One of the current local bands I am most excited about is Stainhaus. They are a gothic pop band, which sets them apart from other local bands by default as there aren’t too many other goth bands around at the local level. Their take and approach is refreshing and engaging. Stainhaus haven’t played too many public performances so far but play a not to be missed show on September 2 at Flagstaff’s Firecreek with Baus, Whistlepig and Vicious Chiller.
The author caught up with the talented guitarist and goth mastermind Zeb Max (also of respect- ed local bands Heebie Jeebies, Dragons and No Big Deal), and posed the following questions.
I know you have been in a multitude of local bands, but don’t know if the other band mem- bers have a previous musical history. How did Stainhaus come together?
Stainhaus was brought together for a couple reasons. The first one was that I, like many others, wanted to see more female talent being showcased in this town. Having played music with Arianna Marie in a previous project called The Strange, I knew she was a good musician and missed getting to hang out with her, so she was my first person to contact. Being able to enjoy hanging out with your band-mates is just as important as being able to make good music with them, and with Arianna, I knew we could do both. With bass, guitar, and vocals taken care of the next piece was finding a drummer. I knew Sierra Jones had got a drum-set and wanted to get involved in a band, she also seemed weird enough to enjoy being in a “goth” band so I approached her about the position. Luckily for us, she was way down and things clicked immediately. Besides trying to promote female musicians I also wanted to have this band consist of several different “scenes” within the community. With Coffee Pot and its offshoot bands seeming to have a quite different audience base than my other projects I thought of recruiting one of them for our synth player, a must have for goths. The projects that came from those band members also seemed to be noisy and weird, which made me think they might be a great match for Stainhaus. Originally I hit up Dan Yulle for the position of synth player but he wasn’t able to make it to practices so I asked Sam Bee. Having hung out with him at a kitty pool party or two I knew he knew his music and was good to chill with. So with the party together, we started on our journey to make “goth” music.
Stylistically it’s quite a change from other music of yours I am familiar with. Was the vision for your sound clear from the band’s conception?
Stylistically I am not a goth player. Besides Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, and Lebanon Hanover I don’t listen to a ton of goth music. I knew I wanted goth sounding straight eighth notes on the bass, transparent eerie chords on the synth, drum machine sounding live drums, catchy minor sounding guitar melodies, and chorus soaked vocals. But honestly, as far as goth goes I’m a huge poser. While I have had some of the best dance parties of my life listening to my friends gothic/industrial/dark-wave/etc playlists I hadn’t sat down and really put in a ton of time learning the style. I kind of feel like I’m trying to tell someone a story but I have only read the cliff notes. So I knew approaching this new project with fluidity would be the best option and that allowing the band as much freedom as I could would work out to be the best way to create something original and enjoyable. Our friend Jake Stanhouse (you might notice a similarity in his name), is our go-to official on the music and I think he’s said we’re more dark/death rocky than goth, but it all feels right to us.
Gotta ask a geeky technical question – Flanger, phaser or chorus pedal? (Or all three?)
Hmmmm, well I’ve been tinkering around a lot more than I usually do with pedals for this project. Throughout our practices, I’ve tried out all three of those but right now I just use a delay, chorus, and distortion pedal. And since leaving town for a little while, my chorus pedal has dissipated so I’ve just been using a delay which I’ve sort of enjoyed. My prefer- ence for a cleaner guitar tone I think is just another tell tale sign that this style of music is not my native tongue, but thankfully for me Sam does a good job of bringing most of the sounds the true believers are looking for.
Your activity to date has been fairly low key. Just a smattering of local shows so far. Is Stain- haus collectively difficult to assemble due to other commitments, or are you just taking your time to craft your sound? When can we expect to hear some Stainhaus recordings?
Mike Morales, Sierra Wendt, and Thomas Jackson of Baus | PHOTO BY C. FONTILLA
We have been trying to take it fairly slowly. We practiced for months before putting to- gether our first show. I think it’s because we are all pretty busy and want to take our time crafting the right sound. Much of the band is fairly new to their instrument and I’ve been trying to write guitar melodies and leads which are completely new to me, being mostly a rhythm guitarist and front man by trade. But the extra time we’ve put into the songs has really paid off I believe. I don’t play any of the parts that I did when I wrote the songs, Sam has tinkered with several synths, Sierra has really come a long way on the drums, and Ari- anna has become an incredible front woman and bandleader. Our drive leans much more towards getting together and playing music than it is trying to promote the band and get our name out there. As for recordings though, I think we are aiming to have some sort of recordings by the end of the month? We have the 5 or 6 “original” songs ready and a cover or two we really love. Got some new material we’re working on as well which sounds a little bit more experimental than our current stuff that might or might not make it on the recording as well.
| Also on the bill on the 2nd at Firecreek, and from Oakland CA, Baus (pronounced Boss), are a dy- namic punk trio consisting of Sierra Wendt, Mike Morales, and Thomas Jackson. Their vision of punk extends to no wave and disjointed funk leanings, executed with equal parts precision and ex- citement. The author caught up with drummer Thomas during the bands current 6-week US tour.
Your newest release, “Will Be Right Back” straddles many styles, and to my ears at least, is less dense and a slight departure from your previous releases. Was this a conscious decision or natural progression?
Not much of a progression as much as we’re just constantly writing. We had a hand full of songs from Will Be Right Back in the works while finishing up Idol Minds.
I love how there is space within your music. At times it brings to mind many post-punk-funk bands such as Delta 5, with great interplay between all the instruments and vocals. It seems your music is very considered and precise. How do you approach songwriting?
You’re right about the “considered” part. I’m a nerd when it comes to space and breaks, and the other two in the band seem to be as well. That is the kind of thing that stuck with me growing up listening to soul and jazz and stuff. All the punk stuff comes naturally after when we put together a song.
Your music strikes me as playful and ambitious. How do you see yourselves fitting in within the current punk scene? Do you consider yourselves a punk band even?
Yes, we’re a punk band, and we couldn’t care less if others thought otherwise.
You recently moved to Portland from the Bay Area. How has that affected the Baus dynamics?
Honestly, the only thing really affected by my move is the fact we can no longer play shows at the drop of a dime. It’s definitely a bummer having to turn down a dozen shows a month as a result, but as far as writing we are still able to produce new songs no matter the time restraints. In fact, I have no doubt that the future releases won’t be any less infectious than the last.
If you could play a show with any band, past or present, who would it be?
Damn, that’s a hard one. We were close to playing with Devo once. That was close enough to check off our bucket list. Maybe Parliament? Any major freak that’s ever existed, to be honest.
You are presently on a lengthy tour. How do you juggle work commitments with musical ambitions?
This is definitely the longest we’ve planned to be on the road. The thought of it was less daunting until we concluded our first week and realized we have another month to go. Mike and Sierra have definitely mentioned their willingness to part ways with jobs to con- tinue touring. My job is flexible enough that taking time off usually isn’t an issue.
| You can check out Baus at baus.bandcamp.com.
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