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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

The business of the bands

Local bands struggle with economic drain

Since IU boasts one of the highest ranked music schools in the country, it is no surprise that the creation of many local bands begins at IU. Sex Tiger and John Wilkes Booze represent two Bloomington-based bands aiming for entirely different goals. However, they both share the same overall objective of success.\nRuss Castillo, an IU telecommunications professor and the owner of Castle Creek Recording, Bloomington, sees many local bands struggling for a bigger name. \nCastillo said bands often have a minimal amount of revenue and are digging deep into their pockets when trying to produce a record. \n"If groups are as serious as I am, I am happy to work with them and take them down," he said. "Most students cannot afford to record and it is easier for me to produce because I have all the equipment." \nCastillo produced the 3 Minute Mile CD which gained a good amount of recognition, but he has also seen groups he's worked with fail. \n"Everyone is trying to make it one way or another and gain some kind of local or national recognition," he said. "Their hopes are high and if they really want it, they're going to succeed."\nEach band has its own definition of success. John Wilkes Booze is aiming for nationwide recognition and a tour-driven career path. \n"We were originally inspired by the punk, new wave scene that was prominent in Bloomington in the late 1970s," said Eric Weddle, who plays electronic saxophone and guitar for the band. "We come from the place where bands like The Gizmos, MX-80 Sound and the Dancing Cigarettes were born."\nSince its founding in 1999 the goal of "The Booze" has been to combine an interesting live show with a conceptual political show. The band originally played in local bars, where it still appears sporadically, but it did not take the group long to move to the larger music spectrum. \nJust over 2 years ago, Chris Barth and John Dawson, both members of Impossible Shapes, a mellow, psychedelic band also started in Bloomington, joined John Wilkes Booze. The two have managed to tour with both bands and work daytime jobs while they are in town.\n"It definitely gets hard touring with two bands," Barth said. "I'll be on the road with one band for a month and without a break I have to switch and be on tour again for another month." \nDuring the off times when he happens to be in Bloomington, Barth works part time delivering sandwiches on campus. \n"If they fired me when I got back, it wouldn't bother me. I have no aspirations to do anything but play music," Barth said. \nJohn Wilkes Booze is currently on a two-and-a-half week tour in New York City. The band members travel together with their equipment in a van they share with Impossible Shapes. This summer "The Booze" toured the entire western U.S. and plans on covering the East Coast this summer. \n"We have gotten a lot of national press (coverage) and support from our record label, so our name is already becoming more recognized throughout the nation," Wilkes said. \nSuch extensive touring has made the band members very conscientious of planning expenses for their tours. They book all of their own performances and make sure they have the money to travel before they commit to anything.\n"We all work day jobs so we have our own money individually and we use money that we make for gigs to pay for our gas and food when we are on the road," Wilkes said. \nAll the band members are IU graduates and said their attachment to Bloomington is still important to them. \n"Ultimately we are most interested in touring outside of Indiana, but we are still coming back to play for the time being," Barth said. \nSex Tiger's guitarist Kevin Clarke expresses quite different goals than those of John Wilkes Booze. \n"Our band is definitely more of a part-time activity right now," Clarke said. "We are really into writing songs and looking to improve ourselves, so we are not so much about money making thus far."\nThe band consists of five members, all from the original group, other than a bass player who quit last year. Their first performance was during the summer of 2001 in a house basement on 12th and Washington streets. They had virtually no start-up fees, because each member already owned their own equipment.\n"We usually play once or twice a month either at house parties or Bears Place," Clarke said. \nDuring the spring of 2002 Sex Tiger borrowed a van from a relative and toured for a week on the east coast. They played 5-6 shows scheduled through friends and bands that have come through Bloomington. \n"There is really a network of friends among bands, everyone tries to help each other out," he said.\nClarke is currently a full-time student at IU, and he makes his academic lifestyle his first priority. He hopes to continue touring and expanding the band after graduation and hopefully break through to a larger audience. The band has not yet signed with a record label, but it has recorded two demos.\nThere are many trials to starting a band and making it a success. Sex Tiger and John Wilkes Booze are a good representation of the varied size and success of Bloomington bands. Though it may be an economic drain, all bands are ultimately searching for success.\n-- Contact staff reporter Lindsey Kaplan at lkaplan@indiana.edu.

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