The Morning Benders
By Andres Jauregui
Photos by Bryan Derballa
"I'm all for getting our music to anyone we can by any means necessary."
-Chris Chu
W hether you’re 13 or 33, it’s easy to get amped on the excitement of starting a new band. And with that excitement often come the romanticized myths that have populated rock music ever since Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil so that he could play a mean blues guitar. That the story rings hollow is more often than not the first, hardest lesson a young band learns. That the story rings hollow is more often than not the first, hardest lesson a young band learns, and one that songwriter/guitarist Chris Chu and his band, Berkeley, California-based indie pop/rockers The Morning Benders, have been careful to respect.
“For bands — especially bands playing on a local level — it’s just really hard to get people to come to shows. And to pack the van and drive out to play some random city just seems like a crazy thing to do,” Chu says sitting upstairs at Different Fur, a recording studio in San Francisco’s Mission District where he works as an assistant engineer. “I’ve had friends who do that and no one ever comes.”
By writing songs ripe with nostalgic nods to Phil Spector and The Beach Boys, and covering songs by Roy Orbison and The Ronettes, Chu wears his troubadour’s heart on his sleeve. But when it comes to the business of his music, he is a modern pragmatist by any measure. While many young bands ambitiously aspire to the rock star lifestyle, the approach taken by Chu and The Morning Benders has been one of incremental growth — what pop psychology might call the power of “baby steps.”
“When we first saw The Morning Benders [at Noise Pop 2007], we saw a band with great songs, a strong vision and a ton of potential,” says Jonny Kaps of +1 Records, who will be releasing The Morning Benders’ full-length debut Talking Through Tin Cans on April Fools’ Day 2008. “All of the elements are there for them to have a long and successful career. They have an ambition and songwriting ability that is astounding for a band so young.”
In the two and a half years since Chu founded The Morning Benders as a music student at UC Berkeley, the band has taken modest, well-planned steps toward success, usually involving connections within the community. They’ve kept their content output constant, regularly releasing EPs and web material to keep the attention of their growing fan base.
Originally conceived as a demo disc to give away to fans at shows, the band released their first EP, Loose Change, through friend Marc Rickenbach’s Los Angeles-based Portia Records in 2006. An early incarnation of The Morning Benders featured a host of fellow Cal students, including Van Pierszalowski (now of Port O’Brien).
“Not to discredit any of the members, because they are all great musicians,” Chu says, “but the original lineup was thrown together in somewhat of an arbitrary fashion. It wasn’t a perfect fit for what we wanted to do. I had just moved to Berkeley for college and didn’t know anyone. I found kids who played music and got the band together without asking questions. Luckily all of them are really rad dudes and we are still all buddies.”
After the original lineup amicably disbanded, Chu recruited the band’s current roster: fellow Cal alum Joe Ferrell on guitar and Rhodes, drummer Julian Harmon and bassist D.P. Together the young band bought studio time at Different Fur and recorded its second EP, the self-released Boarded Doors. In April 2007, Boarded Doors debuted at number five on UC Berkeley’s free-form radio station, KALX 90.7FM — beating out new releases by Amy Winehouse, Peter Bjorn & John, Air and Beirut. The band followed with last month’s release of an eponymous 7-inch vinyl for the song “Waiting for a War.”
“We want to release as many 7-inches as possible,” Chu says. “We think it’s a cool way to package music, and it allows us to get some more music out there in the form of B-sides.”
With more 7-inch vinyl and their debut album on the way, 2008 is shaping up to be a hallmark year for The Morning Benders. In addition to being the band’s first full length, Talking Through Tin Cans is also the first release from +1 Records, the label offshoot of the New York-based publicity group that represents Bay Area bands such as Two Gallants and Trainwreck Riders, and events like Noise Pop. The label grants lots of creative control to artists and supports DRM-free media distribution.
“It’s exciting and kind of strange because we’re used to putting everything out ourselves. Usually when the music was done we’d just release it. Putting it out with someone else means things sometimes take a bit longer,” Chu says. “It’s been great though. They take care of a lot of the technical crap so that we don’t have to deal with it, and we’ve gotten full control over all the art and packaging ideas.”
Like many upstart indie bands of their generation, The Morning Benders espouse a DIY ethic, designing their own album covers and releasing video and audio content through the internet to grow their fan base. The band’s MySpace page lists links to other sites the members of the band enjoy or support. (“We used to have influences on there,” Chu says, “but I don’t feel like you can list all your influences, so it’s kind of a silly question.”) Their tour blog “Gigantic” hosts video footage of live performances and other media. And of course they have songs available to download free from their website.
“It’s a product of how people are listening to music. It’s just sort of what happens now. It used to be you made music and you played around and people went to shows, and that’s how you got your music out. And that’s true to some degree now, but you can also put your mp3s up and reach people instantly. And that’s why we play music: to have people hear it,” Chu says. “I’m all for getting our music to anyone we can by any means necessary. Down the line, maybe they’ll come to a show. So even if they don’t ultimately buy the CD, it’s still a good thing. It can only help, really.”
In two and a half short years, The Morning Benders have played over 40 shows across California, from Los Angeles to Sacramento. And while they’ve yet to play a show out of state, they have managed to share prestigious bills with bands like Yo La Tengo, Brightback Morning Light, Two Gallants and Vetiver by playing festivals such as Bleeding Edge and Awesomefest.
The band’s record deal with +1 Records opens up distribution in the U.K., and with it the possibility of a U.K. tour. Chu remains cautiously optimistic for this prospect. “Everything I’ve heard about the U.K. is great. They’re much more receptive to bands and live music in general. There’s a big scene for it. People go out to shows. People buy merch. There’s a whole different culture over there,” Chu says. “We’re waiting for a situation where we can play with people. You can never be sure what fans will like what band. I really like Vampire Weekend and I can see us playing a show with them. But I also love Deerhunter and I don’t think we’d tour with them. But you never know. Maybe it would work. I’ve seen some pretty weird bills and people get really into it.”
Wherever and with whomever The Morning Benders play, it’s clear that the small steps they’ve taken have started to pay off. By consistently releasing quality material, developing a network of peer relationships and picking smart, local bills that increase their exposure, The Morning Benders have exhibited poise and maturity that might ultimately earn them the success that their hard work
deserves.
www.themorningbenders.com |
