Exploding with soul

When the John Wilkes Booze band jams out, guitarist Jason Groth yells and slaps out hard cords, singer Seth Mahern squeals like a woman and the drums, bass and organ flare heavy all over the place. These soul brothers play their hearts out without taking breaks between songs as they sweat in bassist Chris Barth's tiny basement. The dim room is lit only by two incandescent lights, and the music is the only thing that makes the dark alley atmosphere disappear. The song is capped off by everyone rocking with all they've got, then there's a quick swigging of a beers accompanied by light sounds from the organ before the band is back full-throttle. \nThe first time you see JWB perform, it seems like the musicians are just crazy rockers with lyrics that sound like Jim Morrison on an adrenaline rush. The waves of the music set the scene for mad dancing. In the lounge area across from where the band plays, hangs a poster of Billy Joel that says that a person can only go so far with natural talent -- and from there a musician has to practice. After the band is done playing, Groth says they feel like they are waking up from a trance. \n"I do not even remember a lot about the shows we play, because we just give everything we got into our performances," Groth says.\nWhen playing a live gig, JWB usually only plays a set that lasts 15 minutes. All the band members reminisce about a show in when they drove to Kent, Ohio to play a six-minute set. \n"We played for six minutes. Two minutes into it Eric (Weddle) broke his guitar, and by the end of the set I was the only one still playing with glass all over me," Groth says. "We were there for 48 hours to play for six minutes." \nAll of the band members agree that a good band should be able to give everything they've got into a short set. \nAt WIUS's 2001 Culture Shock in Dunn Meadow, the band played a 15 to 20-minute set, which band members say drew a diverse crowd of fans and shocked passersby. \nDavid Rosenstein, music director at WUIS, watched JWB perform.\n"The band was called the John Wilkes Booze Explosion then," Rosenstein says. "They lit the stage on fire, Seth went off-stage and was French-kissing random people." \nJWB does not try to be a normal college cover band, the musicians are unique by playing and writing music the way they want to. The members of the band include Mahern (vocals), Barth (bass), Aaron Deer (organ and trumpet), Groth (guitar, saxophone and vocals), Weddle (guitar and electronics) and Mark Rice (drums). Mahern and Weddle started the band in October 1999 with two other people. Groth joined in February 2000, and in March 2001 two of the original members of JWB left and Barth, Deer and Rice joined. This new line-up debuted at Culture Shock, and in August they released "Summer of Blood," the band's first cassette, which sold 99 copies.\nCurrently the band is working on a series that will consist of five EPs entitled the "Five Pillars of Soul." For at least six years Mahern, who exudes a deep interest in the history of soul music, has been asking himself and others who the five pillars of soul are. Mahern presented the idea to the band, and everyone took off with it. All the EPs should represent individuals who used their souls to get what they wanted.\n"The most exciting music is soul music… all music has soul in it," Deer says. The band does not refer to soul music as only R&B, though Rice says James Brown is his soul influence. \n"My soul influence came from the blues explosion when I was in high school. (But) being around Seth for the past few years, (it's) more white influenced," Groth says. \nBand members say Indiana has soul -- with a scene in Indianapolis and Booker T. Jones' lasting influence in Bloomington from his study at IU in the '60s. \nJWB just released the first EP of the "Pillars of Soul" series entitled The Five Pillars of Soul, Vol. 1: Melvin Van Peebles on Jan. 31. Melvin Van Peebles tried to make films in the United States in 1957, but failed and traveled to France where he made it big as a filmmaker and author. He wrote about experiences of black Americans in the '60s. He eventually came back to the U.S. where he wrote Broadway shows, books and albums that gave support to the black community. Van Peebles finances his own work, which allows him to freely express himself as an artist. Coincidently, Van Peebles was recently the artist-in-residence at the Black Film Center Archive here at IU. \nJWB praises Van Peebles for expressing himself as he does. Barth and Mahern believe that musicians make soul music when they aren't too self-conscious. JWB tries to do the same thing with its music. Mahern believes they play wild live because, "we have to do it." Groth says that all the band members lose total physical control when playing live, as if they were at a dance party letting the music take over. They just let everything out.\n"Even if I were sober, I would not remember most of our shows. The best shows are the ones you can't remember," Groth says.\nAudience members who have not seen JWB can expect to experience a roller coaster of emotions. "There are points where you are afraid, exhilarated, into it and then afraid," Deer says. \nAfter experiencing JWB play live, viewers might want more of this unique sound. The band plans on releasing the future EPs two months apart from each other. To catch more information on JWB's record releases and upcoming shows, go to the band's Web site at www.johnwilkesbooze.com.