music Mag
Clint K Band finds respect in local scene
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had turned a musical corner, concocting a confident batch of tunes that recalled the better moments of U2, Everclear and Soul Asylum set to the group's own expansive threepart harmonies and arenaready choruses.
"Usually the theme and the melody come all at once," Clint says of his songwriting process. "It might just be the chorus, maybe it's a verse or maybe it's three different songs that turn into one. Usually the main theme of the chorus line hits me and I fill in the blanks after that. If I don't have a theme, I don't have anything. I just can't sit down and say, 'OK, I'm gonna write a song,' and write it. I've gotta have some inspiration first."
Some of Clint K Band's inspiration undoubtedly comes from its Christian background, which isn't manifested directly in the group's lyrics or music, but in the spiritual vibe that runs throughout an aura more akin to Live or "October"-era U2 than overtly religious acts like Jars of Clay.
"We're three Christian guys and we just play music about life, sometimes about our faith and try to be a positive influence on anyone we can," Green explains. "But we're trying to keep it secular. We don't want to be limited to just playing Christian venues. The Christian industry is as much of a business as regular music. We want to definitely be on the mainstream side, we feel like we can reach more people."
The king-sized power chords that kickstart Clint K Band's latest self-released work, "Three Man Show," were custom-designed to do just that, marking a titanic leap forward in the group's sonic history. The trio worked for approximately 100 hours at Mercy (with "Go" producer Brad Koehler), recording and mixing "Three Man Show." The time was well spent with all members agreeing that the release marks their strongest showing yet.
The infinitely hummable quality of stick-to-the-cranium songs like "Best Friends" and "Runaround," matched with the trio's propulsive energy, make it one of the more strident releases to come out of Lawrence this year. Rather than playing it cool and aloof, Clint K Band barnstorms with unabashed enthusiasm as if nothing else in the world were more fun than playing this song, right now.
"I'd say we've just gotten more comfortable with each other and we're getting more of the sound we want to get," Green says. "It's kind of hard to describe because you just play music until you get to the spot where you're at."
Take it to the stage
Fans also have taken to "Show," packing The Bottleneck last month for the group's CD release party.
"We had a great turnout there, especially for not having the students back yet," Chet says. "We were totally freaking out because we didn't put up flyers really. We had 400 kids; I was shocked."
For Clint and crew, the live setting is the best place to get a taste of the group's many charms. One of "Show's" most headrushing numbers is titled "Take it to the Stage," chronicling a group "kickin' over amps" and "breaking glass with a bloody guitar," a fair description of your average Clint K Band concert.
"I think our sound's improved a lot, but I think our performances have improved the most out of anything," Chet says. "I think our performance is by far our best attribute. Not to degrade the record or our other attributes,
it's just something we're proud of."
"The record is a lot softer than we are live," Green says. "It's a lot more mellow."
Though musical acts with less energy and less interesting material regularly tour the surrounding states and beyond, Clint K Band hasn't ventured far outside of the Lawrence/Topeka/KC region. Partially, according to Clint this is due to lack of record company support.
"It's really difficult to book a tour when you're not on a label," Clint says. "You have no credibility to them whatsoever. They don't want to waste their time or money. You send them a packet and it gets put in 'the stack.' It's like, you can just stay home and work and play shows here. As long as we can do it on our own and be successful, we'll do that. But at the moment someone comes knocking on our door with a bigger, better opportunity, we're gonna listen."
Not that there's anything wrong with the Lawrence music scene, which has more than welcomed Clint K Band into the fold.
"For a town of its size, it's unbelievable," Clint says. "It's gotten better and bigger."
"It's a good place for now," Chet adds. "Eventually, it might be good for us to move because we're one of the few bands locally that kind of sounds the way we do. There's not many bands in our genre in this area. I'd say we're straight ahead pop-rock. Most of the bands around here are more ... this is a crude term, but 'indie rock' or 'emo.' It's amazing music, but a lot of the regular people who come to shows come to hear that type of music. So maybe someday it might be beneficial for us to move where there's a market for our type of music."
For now though, Clint K Band is firmly committed to maintaining its high profile right here in Larryville.
"There's so many bands," Chet enthuses. "Because we're here, we don't realize how big some of them really are and what they're doing for everyone else — bringing a lot of attention to this area. The Get Up Kids, Ultimate Fakebook, The Anniversary and Applseed Cast are doing really well. Shiner, Kill Creek - you can go on forever. It's great to be a part of it."
- Assistant Mag editor Geoff Harkness can be reached at 832-7178.
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