Band embraces pop status

It's Friday night in Bloomington and the guys of Run of the Mill are just getting ready to rehearse for their upcoming CD release party. After only nine months, the band has come a long way from late-night discussions about coulda, shoulda and woulda in the dorm rooms of keyboardist Ryan Bruick, 22, and frontman Chris Isom, 21.\nThe band came together by way of the introductions from the six-rules-of-separation anomaly that is percussionist Ben Handel. Handel, 22, who played in a ska band with bassist Christian Petersen, 23, also played in the IU drumline with the band's drummer, Justin Shaw, 21. Flexing their comedic skills/tendencies, the guys chose the name as a way to help critics and fans make plays on the band: Run of the Mill. \n"We are a pop band, and that's all we're trying to be," Handel says. "We're not trying to reinvent music here. We are trying to take what we know of music and what we know of ourselves as players and apply it together, and we hope people like it."\nAs a general rule, the band does not like to play covers, choosing instead to play music off its first CD, Hey You, and using covers only to fill the gaps in the set. The members of the group attribute their sound to the unique instrumentation that inhabits each track. \n"I will write a song with guitar and vocals, and I will play it for these guys, and they will make it interesting," Isom says. "Their arrangements make it interesting. I think it is pretty diverse, while at the same time always pop-sounding." \nBoth drummer and percussionist take their influences from soul and R&B, creating a diverse sound in the songs' rhythms.\n"We are getting better at putting songs together as a band," Shaw says. "I think it's the intricacies of our music that make us so different and original. We are all classically trained, so we all know what works with music and what doesn't." \nIsom wrote all the songs on the CD. He estimates he spent anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of months on the lyrics before the band began arranging the music. Several of the songs feature conversational and relationship-driven themes.\n"This is the last interview, well, and the first that I will ever tell the truth," Isom says. "I am going to start lying about this in the future, but the truth is that every single one of these songs is just a character. It is just like I was writing short stories, something that sounded clever at the time, but in the future I will be saying they are about people. It is more interesting to the audience." \nWhile none of the guys can agree on a favorite track on the album, Bruick describes the sound as surprisingly original. The musicians all see themselves meshing well with the local music scene. They feel that their plans will be a pleasant surprise for music fans. \n"It seems like now, in the last year, there's been a shift in the scene here," Handel says. "The only bands were cover bands. They are really good at what they do, but there are only so many times you can hear 'Proud Mary' or 'Brown Eyed Girl.' But I think people now are just starting to enjoy the musicianship. There is just a really high level of musicianship in Bloomington these days."\nThe guys recorded the CD in a whirlwind three days. They attribute their success to manager Matt Shane, who set up the studio time and helped produce the CD. \n"I wish we could give the CD away because it is not about making money on the CD at all," Isom says. "I just want people to hear it. Come see us. Never expect to see us again. Just come see us once and then make your decision."\nHey You is available at T.I.S. Music, Borders, Barnes & Noble and at the CD release party.\nThe musicians say they enjoy all aspects of the process and describe themselves as highly performance-oriented. \n"When I am on stage, all I think about is how I can make the crowd dig what I am getting into," Handel says. "If you're having a good time, the audience will be having a good time, too."\nThe unpredictability of live performances is very attractive to each of the guys, who just want to have fun with the music and the crowds. \n"This is fun, and that's why we're doing it," Shaw says. "We're in Bloomington, Ind., so we're not rock stars. We are not making a million dollars a year off of our music. So the reason we do it is for fun. We started playing our instruments because they are fun and we enjoyed them."\nRun of the Mill plays tonight at the Bluebird Nightclub. Cover is free with a student ID.