Friday, October 17, 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 5
Skia band has good shot at Bottleneck really
842-8665
By Tom Winter Kansan staff writer
1111111.
In a crowded basement on 25th Street, horns wall, bass drops and Otis Warner's voice echoes off the concrete walls.
It's nothing unusual, just
tence for almost four years.
another Monday night practice for local band The Norman 360.
Wes Gartner, drummer, and Bryce Billings, guitarist, have both been with the band since its inception.
After some changes, Gartner, Billings and a few of the current members began to in a band called The Hitmen.
"Wes and I met and started playing together in January of 1994," Billings said. "We were in a band called Skamish."
The band, a nine-piece ska ensemble, has been in exis-
"A lot of people probably still know us by that name," Billings said.
A year after they started The Hitmen, they acquired the lineup and changed the band's name to The Norman 360.
They got the name from their days of practice at the Lawrence Antique Mall, where Billings worked. The band used to take smoke breaks in an airlock in the building. Inside the airlock was an antique fan with the brand name Norman 360.
The band has since produced a self-titled CD and also been featured on a ska compilation called "Skarmageddon 3" released by Moon records. The band is now compiling songs for
The Norman 360
"Most of the people in the band are jazz influenced," Gartner said. "Our songs will lots of times have an upbeat, jazzy, even weird kind of feel."
its next album.
The band plays many songs in minor chords.
2858 Four Wheel Dr.
"A lot of the songs are off in the realm of music theory," Gartner said.
The songs range in timbre from a swanky, international spy feel to a jumpy, 1920's sound to a calypso beat.
The band is replete with musical training. Five of the members are music majors, three of the members have played or are currently playing in the KU Jazz band and the primary songwriter, Billings, is a music composition major.
Billings said much of the influence on the songs he writes came from other ska bands like Let's Go Bowling, The Toasters and Hep Cat.
Mike Walker, trombonist, said
that the band's influences had broadened in recent projects but that the music still had the same backbone.
"Our new songs have the same common thread, but are going off in different directions," he said.
In Lawrence, The Norman 360 plays primarily at the Bottleneck or the Granada. Their next show will be Sunday at the Bottleneck, where they will be playing with The Slackers and Venice Shoreline Crist.
Also, the Bottleneck will be featuring The Norman 360 shot on special.
What's in a Norman 360?
"Bacardi 151, Jaegermeister and Frangelico," said Ian Burns, bassist. "It's the spirit of the band."
The band will play Nov. 3 at the Bottleneck with fellow ska musicians Mephiskapheles.
Lawyers defend TV careers
Barristers take to air for money, audience
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The most talkative lawyers in the land are vacating the theater of the courtroom for the more glamorous arena of television, and it's all O.J. Simpson's fault.
The arrival of camera coverage in Simpson's 1994 murder trial heralded a new age of law as TV entertainment and created an instant industry of legal commentators.
When the trial ended, the talking went on, and now several of the most celebrated commentators are making TV a big part of their professional lives.
Lawyers Greta Van Susteren and Roger Cossack of CNN's "Burden of Proof" have given up their law practices to practice TV. Johnnie Cochran, of Simpson courtroom fame, juggles a law practice and business enterprises with a full-time show for Court TV.
The Court TV network, launched shortly before the Simpson extravaganza, hit its peak during the trial and has parlayed the interest into several popular shows including the nightly "Prime Time Justice."
Leslie Abramson, defender in cases such as the Menendez brothers, has a contract with Court TV
to appear on "Prime Time Justice"
and other shows, but she is openly
seeking her own permanent spot
on TV.
Although Abramson said she does it for the money, she acknowledged her overriding interest was to bring the defense point of view to TV.
"It's a very powerful place," she said. "You have an impact on public opinion. You have a chance to change things, and that's why it's so dangerous in the wrong hands."
Abramson seized the chance to guest host the "Rivera Live" show for a week — a show she said she would never appear on when host Geraldo Rivera was in charge because of his anti-defense views.
"The bias of the media is toward the government and most of these shows have a pro-prosecution agenda," she said. "Who's going to be pro-criminal?"
"My mother wanted me to be a preacher, and I have an agenda. I'm trying to preach the gospel of freedom to ordinary people," he said.
Incidentally, his appearances do seem to boost the sales of his many books on the law. His latest to be published this month? "O.J.: The Last Word."
Gerry Spence, attorney, had his own show for a while.
"My mother wanted me to be a preacher, and I have an agenda. I'm trying to preach the gospel of freedom to ordinary people."
Gloria Alred, a celebrity lawyer long before the Simpson case, has her own KABC radio show and has
Gerry Spence attorney
done some TV commentary. She said she provides a liberal, feminist voice on predominantly conservative talk radio.
"There is a need for progressive voices in radio," said Allred, who represented Nicole Brown Simpson's family during the Simpson civil trial. "I consider it part of my professional duty to speak out whenever possible."
For some, the powerful TV audience is enough to make them give up the law entirely.
Manny Medrano, an assistant U.S. Attorney for 13 years who prosecuted the high profile Enrique Camarena case, now works full time for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. The Harvard Law School graduate said he's moved on from doing only legal commentary to covering news assignments such as floods and fires.
THE UNIVERSITY
THEATRE
The University of Kansas The University Theatre presents William Inge's Endearing Comedy
Directed by Jack B. Wright
Scenic and Costume Design by Stephen Hudson-Maireet
Lighting Design by Dennis Christilles
AMERICAN COLLEGE
THEATER FESTIVAL XXX
Bus Stop is KU's entry in the 1998 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival
Partially furnished by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee
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