The Epic: Taking frat rock beyond cargo pants

Frat Rock? \nThe concept seemed laughable at first, almost oxymoronic. A mental image is conjured of guys in cargo pants trying to perfect Dave Matthew's songs so the girls would dig them at the next formal. The Epic is Bloomington's newest, up and coming frat rock band, stemming out of the greek subculture here on campus. With six members in the band, they represent four of the campus' fraternities, and are enjoying a large fanbase within the greek community. Although the band credits much of their success to their involvement in fraternities, they are looking to broaden their horizons and their audience. \n"I hate justifying it as 'yeah, we're a frat band.' I don't want to be catering to the frat scene -- not known as a frat band," says guitarist and vocalist Kevin Cochran. "But a lot of our success can be attributed to our following and connections within the greek community."\nGuitarist Luke Clayton agrees.\n"I would like us to have a more universal appeal than just a frat band," he says. \nA six-piece set, made up of acoustic guitars, bass, drums and an unconventional twist of violin and percussion, Epic has an original sound that complements the Bloomington music scene. Epic's sets consist of 15 cover songs driven by the unique flavor of the band, intertwined with five original songs that are equally well received by the audience. "(We play) covers that you'll know, but music that you won't expect," drummer Ian Schmoll explains. \nThe band performed at the Bluebird Nightclub Monday night, opening with an energetic O.A.R. song, "About An Hour Ago," then following it up with an Epic original "Runaway." Other crowd pleasing songs throughout the evening's performance were a cover of "Steal My Kisses" by Ben Harper, featuring bass fingering by bassist Kevin "Planet P" Pulaski as a transition into improvisational interplay between the acoustic guitars and the electrical violin stylings of violinist Dave Dickerson. Also, a medley of Sublime's "What I Got," " You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" were crowd favorites. The band then slowed things down once again with "Indiana," a Samples cover that featured just two members of the band, Cochran on guitar and vocals and Joe Frank on percussion and back-up vocals. Epic then brought the crowd to their feet with a take on the Dave Matthews version of "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan.\n"I love the Dave Matthews covers we do because of the violin," Clayton says. "Dave (Dickerson) is so good, he can play the solos perfectly and throws his own twists in at times. Sometimes onstage, I just look over and am in awe of how good he is." \nOne of the band's enthusiasts, senior Ben Forrest, says, "After leaving their performance, I was completely and totally uplifted, the Epic has revolutionized the Bloomington music scene." \nThe Epic is a relatively new band on the scene, although Clayton and lead vocalist Cochran have been playing together since the eighth grade. Percussionist Frank joined about six months ago, and the other three members joined in late September. They started out playing mostly fraternity parties and the occasional gig at Uncle Fester's, the band's self-proclaimed home base. \nAfter forming as a six-piece act, the band debuted at last semester's Greek Fest.\n"The first time we played together, it was weird because we didn't really know each other. We sounded good, but we weren't too comfortable yet… everyone was unfamiliar," Cochran says. "Since then, we've practiced a lot more and we now can feel each other and the music a lot better on stage." \nBoth Cochran and Clayton agree that their sound quality and the crowd's reaction has improved considerably since forming as a six-piece band. In retrospect, Clayton says, "everyone has taken a while to come into their own with this thing, but now we have learned to read each other's styles onstage, which makes us come together and take our playing to new heights." \nIn the few short months since its inception, the Epic has found success in a variety of venues throughout Indiana. In late November, the band opened for Afroman in South Bend, the musicians recalling the show as one of their most memorable performances. \n"It was the biggest audience we have played for yet, and because we opened for Afroman, everyone thought that we were a national act and were asking for autographs. It was very cool," Cochran says.\nRecently, the band hit the studio in a 36-hour marathon session, recording five original songs. Epic musicians consider the self-titled release a demo of sorts. They say they needed something to give to bars, and when more songs are completed, the band will put out a full album.\n"We are only in the early stages of the band's evolution," Schmoll says. In the coming semester, the Epic musicians hope to not only broaden their fanbase, but also their talent and the variety of music they choose to perform. The musicians hope to venture out of Bloomington to play shows at Purdue and at Birdy's bar in Indianapolis. They are also negotiating some tentative dates in Virginia and Maryland.\n"I'd really like to do more funkdafied covers, like some Stevie Wonder or Sly and the Family Stone… more obscure covers that people can't hear at the bars in Bloomington, you know, upbeat songs, something to dance to," Clayton says.\nCochran would like to incorporate more of his musical tastes, like the work of John Mayer and the Virginia Coalition, into the band's repertoire. The band also hopes to continue working on incorporating more originals into their shows. \nThe Epic plays tonight at 10 p.m. at Uncle Fester's on Kirkwood.