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Jonatha Brooke
Thursday · 20th Century Theatre
From the Folk/Pop brilliance of The Story, her duo with college pal Jennifer Kimball, to her acclaimed dozen-year solo career, Jonatha Brooke has worn the sensitive singer/songwriter badge. After the intense introspection of 2004’s Back in the Circus (all of Brooke’s discs since 1998 have been released on her own Bad Dog Records), she sought a slightly different creative direction for her latest, Careful What You Wish For. Inspiration came from unlikely events like writing for Pop sensations Nick Lachey and J.C. Chasez and co-writing with Hooters guitarist/serial collaborator Eric Bazilian.
“Eric is Mr. Rock,” says Brooke on the phone from her U.K. tour. “It was way more fun than I had anticipated and took me into some uncharted territory in terms of what persona I would assume. I became a little more boyish and cocky and really started to like it, so those songs set a tone for the record. It became more guitar-based than I had expected.”
Brooke recruited Bazilian (they had written a Circus song together) when Jive A&R honcho Teresa LaBarbera-Whites, a longtime Brooke fan, approached her to write for Chasez and Lachey. The results proved fruitful; the songs she wrote for Lachey wound up on Careful (he covered Brooke’s “Because I Told You” on his smash hit What´s Left of Me) and Chasez recorded “Beautiful Girl” for his upcoming album.
“It was challenging to write with someone else in mind but still be in love with the songs,” Brooke says.
“That’s why I ended up singing them on my record. I kind of had to ask permission. They were both really cool with it.”
Brooke’s current tour pushes the tougher Pop/Rock sounds of Careful into solo acoustic territory, which preserves the intimacy of her stunning back catalog while effectively translating the anthemic jolt of the new songs.
“Playing solo, you find out, ‘Is this a great song or not?’ ” Brooke says. “I was playing in this tiny, 12th-century church in York and I did ‘Prodigal Daughter’ and I swear it had just as much power with me and an acoustic guitar. It’s what you invest in it. ‘Crumbs’ is one of my biggest epic rockers and I always wonder, ‘Do they really want to hear this acoustically?’ and they still love it. That’s the test for me.”
One of Brooke’s challenges as a self-releasing indie artist has been marketing her music in a declining industry. But she’s finding, like so many others, that the merch table is the new record store, an idea she embraces.
“That’s the perfect time to get people. They just heard it, they fell in love with this one song, where can they get it? They can get it right here,” Brooke says, laughing. “And I’ll sign it for you and I’ll kiss you … God bless you, go in peace. That’s how I feel. This is how I make my grocery money.” (Brian Baker)
HORSE the Band with Between the Buried and Me, Animosity, The End and At Daggers Drawn
Friday · The Mad Hatter (6 p.m., all-ages show)
And now, as the Pythons used to say, for something completely different.
HORSE the Band is a SoCal Post-Hardcore/Metal quintet that has largely managed to forge an independent career over the past eight years while carving out an interesting niche for themselves in the crowded Extreme Metal field. After forming in their Lake Forest, Calif., home in 1999, HORSE the Band played local shows, recorded and self-released their official debut, 2001’s Secret Rhythm of the Universe, and a couple of EPs before embarking on several self-managed tours consisting of generally spontaneous shows.
After gaining attention with their brand of guerilla touring, HORSE the band secured some high profile opening gigs for the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Hella, The Fall of Troy, Poison the Well and Gatsby’s American Dream, among many others. Last year, HORSE the Band distinguished themselves on the Warped and Sounds of the Underground tours and as the opener for GWAR.
Almost from the beginning, HORSE the Band has referred to their sound as “Nintendocore,” a reference to the fact that they use numerous references to video game characters and situations in their lyrics. Keyboardist Erik Engstrom has utilized the Korg MS-2000 as well as the Roland Juno-D synthesizer and LSDJ Gameboy cartridge in an effort to give the band’s synth sound the same binky quality as the games they revere, which they incorporate into their brutal maelstrom of Prog, Death Metal and Hardcore riffage for an oddly disorienting effect.
HORSE the Band made a couple of forays into indie label territory before signing with Koch last year, who re-released their 2003 album, R. Borlax, earlier this year before unleashing their latest release, A Natural Death, in late June. After enduring numerous personnel changes (former bassist and drummer Nathan Winneke is now the band’s barbed-wire-throated frontman, backed by keyboardist Engstrom, guitarist David Isen, bassist Dash Arkenstone and drummer Chris Prophet), HORSE the band has settled into a solid lineup and an entertaining live presentation; their last tour found them on stage with various layers of faux greenery and a selection of stuffed animals to approximate playing in the woods.
Ever the originals, last year the band posted videos of the making of A Natural Death on YouTube, and then put up episodes of Lawrence and Friends, a show about the love between a sugar cube, a suicidal pencil and a postcard. HORSE the Band puts a melodic new spin on an old Metal chainsaw. (BB)
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2007.
