Kapow! Explodes on Music Scene

Fledgling rock band Kapow! is getting its name known around Bloomington by leaving it where people can see.\nSketches of its comic-like logo explode on multicolored CD envelopes all over town. Free demos sit in front of the register at Soma and on the counter at Dharma Emporium on Kirkwood. Local merchants don't know where they came from. "If they came in and left those CDs, I didn't see them," says a Dharma Emporium employee. \nKapow! singer and bassist Andy Salge says there's a method behind the mystery. "I drop them off strategically at places like Soma and Tracks and at shows," he says of the 500 CDs he's distributed around Bloomington. "I leave them places where there are people looking for original music. It helps get our sound out." \nTogether since September 2003, the Bloomington-based rock band is made up of three IU graduates and a local drummer. Salge and singer/guitarist David Sullivan met through a mutual friend at an Indianapolis high school, and have been in bands together for the past eight years. They played together in former Bloomington rock band Blue Moon Revue for several years. The two have been featured in opening acts for Parliament Funkadelic, Los Lobos and Rusted Root. Kapow! is Salge and Sullivan's most recent musical endeavor.\nThey met drummer John Gray through a gig when they came to IU. The Indianapolis native had experience with Bloomington's music scene from his time spent drumming with IU business school graduate-turned-songwriter Rich Hardesty.\nKeyboardist Brad Whitely is the most recently added member of the quartet. He has trained and performed with jazz professor David Baker and musicians Pookie Johnson and Jimmy Coe through IU's School of Music.\nKapow!'s members call themselves a singer/songwriter rock 'n' roll band. Sullivan says classic rock is the main genre influencing their sound. \n"Since Kapow! is mostly rock 'n' roll right now, I think it's safe to say our influences are mostly classic rock," says Sullivan. "I'd say there's a lot of Tom Petty influence. I've been going through a hardcore Elvis Costello kick, and there's a Beatles influence on Andy's side."\nSullivan was hesitant to name further artists who inspire Kapow!.\n"The true influences are so broad and far-reaching that it's really hard to pin them down," Sullivan said. \nA Bluebird employee says Kapow!'s sound "verges on punk, with a tinge of Dave Matthews and jam rock."\nUncle Fester's bartender Randi Smith worked the night of Kapow!'s last show. "I like them," she says. "They're kind of jammy -- they've got their own original style. They draw a cool crowd. I love it when they play at Fester's."\nUntil recently, Kapow had little performance or exposure. \n"Remember that blizzard over winter break, with the 24 inches of snow?" says Sullivan. "We played Bluebird during that, kind of as a favor. We ended up playing to our girlfriends and one other guy."\nSullivan says their fan base consists of people who have picked up their demos or gone to the shows they've had at local bars and house parties.\nBut that might soon change. Kapow! played at Uncle Fester's on January 28th, kicking off a four-gig stint through March at Fester's and Best of Bloomington's club night. \nKapow! will be performing with The Swell at Uncle Fester's on February 24.