Speaker Speaker
By Bob Ham
Photo by Renee McMahon
Any band that has slogged its gear across the country on its own dime knows that DIY is at the heart of what it takes to get by in the music industry today.
Just ask Seattle’s Speaker Speaker. The young pop punk three-piece has been doing it all, handling everything from finding a distribution deal for its first self-released EP Again & Again & Again to helping its current label Burning Building Recordings secure distribution with Burnside (encouraging fans to buy the physical version of last year’s We Won’t March EP by offering a prize for every original receipt mailed in), to booking a few cross-country tours and ponying up for the recording of its new full length Call It Off, released last month. The band even started up a grassroots street team to promote its shows.
One of the most salient examples of Speaker Speaker’s DIY ethos, and perhaps the most critical, is the guerrilla promotional work they did to win the majority of votes in The Stranger‘s 2006 Big Shot contest. “We rented a moving van,” recalls bassist Danny Oleson, “and played on the street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and walked around Ballard, playing on acoustic guitars and talking to people about voting for us.”
All three members of Speaker Speaker are quick to point out the fact that doing street shows and handing out flyers at other bands’ shows (as they were just doing a few nights prior to this interview) is something that comes with the territory. “It’s not like we set out with this DIY mantra,” says guitarist/vocalist Colin McBride. “We just started working because you can’t just sit around and wait for someone to come to you. We just started going out and working and the work paid off.”
The payoffs may seem minor to other bands, but for Speaker Speaker, all the hard work is paying huge dividends. The trio was able to grow a large fan base throughout the U.S., especially in its hometown, long before it even had a recording done. This is all thanks not only to Speaker Speaker’s instantly accessible and energetic sound (think a more pop-oriented Jawbreaker) but also their humble attitudes and sincere efforts to bring the music to the people, no matter what the situation.
“On our last tour, in Ohio I think,” recalls drummer Jasen Samford, “it turned out the sound guy didn’t know that we were playing and they had booked a hip-hop show that night. So we played a 12-15 minute set. And we only got $2 for the show. That probably covered the cost of backing out of our parking spot.”
If making money were an issue for Speaker Speaker, they probably wouldn’t take the risks that they do. This includes a jaunt to Baltimore to record their latest album with former Jawbox leader J. Robbins, all of it on their own dime. From what the band has to say about its experience in the studio though, it was a justifiable expense.
“It was amazing working with [J. Robbins],” says McBride. “He’s really patient and really knows what he’s doing and he made us feel really comfortable.” To that end, McBride also points to his fear of singing in front of Robbins, an idol of his, and how the producer “was really cool about it. He told me that he went through the same thing when they were recording the last Jawbox record, which really helped.”
In support of their debut full length, Speaker Speaker will be making their way to Austin for SXSW this month, and will head out again for the blessing and curse of a nationwide tour, tentatively scheduled for the fall.
“It’s taxing,” says Samford, “but it’s what we want to do.” McBride agrees, pointing out that because of their previous tours of the U.S., Speaker Speaker “has floors to sleep on from here to New York. That’s one of the best things about touring for us. We don’t play to really big crowds, but we meet a lot of new people and have made a lot of friends. There aren’t many bands that can say they have a network like that.”
www.speakerspeakermusic.com |
