Seaweed Sway presented another great local band showcase last Friday night at the Mission bar Amnesia, with The Beehavers headlining and Montra and FpodBpod opening. Amnesia provided the intimate and theatrical setting for this fun array of bands. The beautiful lights and red aura of the bar set the stage for a night of entertaining and experimental music. Each band has its own unique sound, and the audience took to all three acts with enthusiasm and dancing.
Sean Olmstead led FpodBpod with a sizeable set, playing many songs from his recently completed full length album, and pleasing friends (who passionately sang along) and new fans alike. The dispersal of bubble containers into the audience enhanced their performance of a song that featured a playful chorus about–bubbles! Olmstead projects his voice clearly and sings with unique inflections over the pop and pyschedelic sounds of his guitar playing .
The Beehavers’ set was eclectic, as their music interweaves folk, rock and a "gypsy" sound (as the band explains), led by Beeface Killah, real name Bryant Denison. The band formed about a year ago, but Denison has been writing songs for twenty years, and says some of the songs they play now are at least ten years old. The group is usually comprised of Michael Fortes, Zach Rubin-Rattet, Jake Nochimow, and Denison, and sometimes includes a cello player named Leo Suarez and violinists Erma Kyriakos and Charithe Premawarth.
The Beehavers’ music often features violin, and this performance included a slide whistle and ukulele for more than half the songs. Of note, the title track to the album the band is working on currently, “The Fairgrounds,” featured these two old world instruments. Although the band has been playing what Denison describes as “gypsiefolkvoodoobalkanrock” for the last year, he explains that now they want to “get back to feel good party music." He said they aim for a garage pop sound with their newer songs, and names Zach Condon of Beirut, Talking Heads, Roy Orbison, The Zombies, The Beatles and the Cars as his top influences. He goes on to explain that he comes from “a community in Sacramento that loves Garage catchy pop songs.”
“I grew up around the people in Cake,” Denison continues. “I love the Rockets, the Smashing Pumpkins. I was kind of a Goth kid in middle school then kind of went hippie in high school. All my friends were more into Guns and Roses, but I liked the Euro sound. Recently I was greatly influenced by Beirut, that’s where the ukulele and flugel horn came into our music.”
“I’m really feeling more comfortable with being able to orchestrate. I learned a lot from Matt Adams of the Blank Tapes,” he explains. Denison said that people always ask: "‘Are you covering a Magnetic Fields song,’ but the truth is I was introduced to Stephin Merritt (lead singer of the MF) after I started singing super low. Like he is known for.”
Further influences of the band include Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Brian Eno, Joy Division, The Kinks and Devotchka. “It’s good because we have a set that is very genuine and quieter for cafes and places that we can’t be too loud, like (another Mission neighborhood bar) Viracocha, but when it comes to Bottom of the Hill or Amnesia we can turn up the amps and get people moving!”
Danceable and original, The Beehavers charmed the Friday night crowd. Watch for the band’s debut album this summer.
–Shauna Keddy