6 - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2002
Indie rock with high standards
By Janette Yost Jayplay writer
Indie has arrived.
After moving to Lawrence from Topeka this summer, The Billion played the Bottleneck Thursday to celebrate the release of its new album, "Never Felt This Way Before." The night before the show, the band practiced at its farmhouse west of Lawrence, putting out a new vibe.
With its new single, "Hey Girl," playing nationwide on college radio stations including KJHK, 90.7 FM, The Billions will begin its first official tour Aug.22 in Lincoln, Neb. The band will play again locally sometime in September.
Jon Crawford, Tulsa, Olka., junior, said the new CD left him wanting more.
"After hearing the song 'Into the Light,' I definitely want to catch the band's live show." Crawford said.
John Nowak/Kansan
Bilions fans Natsumi Ogihara, Tokyo, Japan, Takako Yano, Yamaguchi, Japan, and Aya Ogihara, Tokyo, Japan, applaud the band during their final song.
"First time we've ever headlined and had people come to see us."
Dan Billen
bass player and keyboardist
Dan Billen, the "old man" of the band at 23, said their music was hard to categorize, but called it "underground alternative with a classic rock influence." At first listen, indie pop comparisons to Pinback and The Ladybug Transistor come to mind.
But Billen wants to avoid the stigma attached to indie music — low standards, cynical attitudes and the sound quality of a basement four-track recording. The band went for that sound at one time, he said, but has grown since its 1998 conception.
All Topeka High School graduates, The Billions members have been in school back and forth between Washburn University and the University of Kansas during the past years but are out of school now, living off their music. After self-releasing three albums and playing regularly in the area, Northern Records, a California indie label that also signed the band Cush, approached the band with a record deal. It signed earlier this year.
The band changed its instrumentation throughout Thursday's show. Billen played bass and keyboard in the main lineup, standing right behind his keyboard to make quick changeovers between them even in the middle of songs, while
adding tight back-up harmonies to the main vocals. His keyboard took on many personas, from pipe organ to strings to slide guitar.
Sam Billen, Dan's brother, sang lead vocals and played electric guitar with a touch of acoustic in the middle of the set. His smooth fill-in-the-gaps voice and complete lyric clarity is similar to Elliot Smith or Nick Drake.
Jared Bowes played electric guitar and sang background, his guitar playing took advantage of every note in the scale, whether arpeggiating or power chording, giving a modern rock-a-billy feel to the music. Bowes added keys on one song and lead vocals on another.
Ken Komiya kept them all together on drum-set; he often played with brushes, once added the tingling of a homemade house-key chime set and consistently twirled a drumstick in his unused hand. His drumming offered a retro feel: think "That Thing You Do" from the same-titled movie. His drums were key in the band's rhythmic mix-ups — reminiscent of The Velvet Underground. Dan also helped the percussion section with the band's unique instrument, a much-kicked homemade jingle bell pedal stand.
The band's Web site and rockkansas.com credit The Flaming Lips, The Beatles, Neil Young and Pedro the Lion as influences.
Though the band had two opening acts on Thursday, The Hardaways and The Capsules
kansan.com
Go to Kansan.com to hear The Billions.
For more go to www.thebillionsband.com.
John Nowak/KANSAN
Guitarist Johnny Jared Bowes performs "Victorian Shade" as The Billions wrap up its Thursday night set.
and each of The Billions' songs was well-complemented with jams and segues. The Bottleneck ran only about 40 minutes, not quite long enough for its position as headliner. The crowd called for an encore.
Billen spoke into the mike, with a humble,
straight face.
"First time we've ever headlined and had people come to see us," he said.
The jingle bell kickstand must be catching on Contact Vtaj at atjayplay@kanan.com.
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