Etc.
Section B • Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
April 10,2001
Thursday, April 19, 200:
Thursday, April 19, 2001
Sunfire Ceramics
Paint-it-Yourself
Studio and Store
1002 New Hampshire * 749-2828
--you cool.
Tai: Another thing that could be added to that. People see rock stars and they want to be rock stars because they get so many chicks and blah, blah, blah. That's just not what it's about to me. That comes with it. You're going to have the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, no matter what. But why not use that rock stardom to help people?
Band takes new approach to rock
By Luke Wetzel
By Luke Wertzel
jayplay @kansan.com
jayplay writer
Interviewer: I'm down at Quinton's Bar and Deli with the members of Sapphire Gin, an up-and-coming Lawrence-based rock band. With me are Lawrence residents and band members Tai Vokins (guitar), Joe Doran (vocals) and Greg Bush (bass). Drummer Micah "Reed" Woulfe is participating in a clinical research study and was not able to be in attendance.
How did Sapphire Gin come to he?
The recent addition of Doran, a London native, has Sapphire Gin excited for upcoming events including the release of a CD, a spot in the Kansas City World Music Festival this summer and most immediately, a gig at the Jazzhaus on Wednesday. Each member of the band has quit his job within the last month. Bush even plans to sell his car. As band leader Vokins put it, "We are 100 percent band."
Greg: Micah, Tai and I went to Shawnee Mission South together. We met Joe at one of Randy's parties, actually. He said he used to sing in a band, so we asked him to come sing with us.
I saw you guys play a party on Ninth and Louisiana last year. I remember you playing a lot of covers.
Tai We play covers and we play originals. If we can get someone who wants to pay us money, we'll do anything. Covers are fun, but we don't want to get known for it. You're not going to become famous playing other people's stuff.
Where do you plan to tour?
Greg: College towns. Madison,
Iowa City, Berkeley — everywhere.
Where do you plan to tour?
We're working on cover gigs this summer. By the time next school year comes around, we plan on having an original tour with our songs.
How often do you practice?
Members of the Lawrence-based rock band Sapphire Gin are excited for the release of a CD and an appearance in the Kansas City World Music Festival this summer. Contributed photo
How often do you practice in an old condom factory. Back in the 1920s when it was built it was a rubber factory where they made reusable condoms. They would hand them out to sailors when they went overseas and you could reuse them.
I think they made rubber raincoats, too. Now it's a distributing plant. It's in downtown Kansas City in an industrial area where nobody lives. We practiced upstairs, but then they moved out to Olathe and didn't have room for us, so we moved to Lawrence where we practice in a friend's garage.
Joe, you're from London. How did you end up with these guys? *Joe:* I did a study exchange thing with JuCo and I was at this party at
Randy's house and I met Tai.
How would you describe your sound?
Joe: Dynamic Rock. There's some groove in there, there's funk, there's classic rock, there's everything. We decided Dynamic Rock. It sounds like a title for a kind of music.
On your Web site you mention "giving rock 'n' roll the kiss of life it so desperately needs." How do you plan to go about this? Your Sentences
Greg: I think our show's very important. Your music can totally suck, but if you put on a good show, we might remember you the next day.
Joe: Now it's popular to be whining about your childhood and being babyish and juvenile, and I think people are getting tired of it. They don't want to hear that stuff anymore. I guess we're kind of a knee-jerk reaction to stuff like that. It's good to get to people but get to them in a way that makes them feel positive about themselves, that makes them happy. Being sad doesn't make you cool.
Joe: I think we want to take it back to the early '90s attitude.
So do you want to take it back to the early 1990s rock sound?
Tai: When was the last time you went to a good rock show? 94. People were mosing to Bob Dylan. So it's not how the music is, it's the attitude behind it. That's what I think.
More Information
Sapphire Gin will play the Jazzhaus 926.1/2 Massachusetts, on Wednesday. Check out their Web site at www.sapgin.com.
Joe, how did you get started singing?
Joe: One day I was in the car with my mom and my sister and I think "Porch" by Pearl Jam was on the radio. I think I was a bit drunk or something and I just belted it out. I started screaming it. My mom turned around said, "I didn't know you could sing," and I said, "I didn't either." That's how that started.
Are you a David Bowie fan? Joe How can you not be?
Tai: Did you know David Bowie coined the word disco?
I did not. Greg, what do you like about the bass?
Greg: It's a very percussive instrument. One of my biggest influences is Stevie Ray Vaughan. I love blues, I love the style of blues, and I'd like to play the bass the way he plays the guitar.
Do you have any backstage rituals? Pre-concert chants?
Greg: I like to warm up.
How do you plan to achieve success?
Greg: Showmanship. I get angry when I go out and watch a band and they just stand there. You have so much room to jump around, so use it. We're gathering our last bit of money to buy some wireless plugins so we can do that. We even thought about bringing some pyrotechnics into it. It's dangerous, but if somebody gets lit on fire, I guess it's part of the show.
— Edited by Melinda Weaver
Check out the Kansan classified on the web at www.kansan.com
Advertising, Marketing & Sales
Work in the fast paced newspaper industry! If you want to be a part of the #1 advertising staff in the nation, we want to hear from you. Ideal candidates are energetic positive and motivated. Summer & Fall employment for paid/credit positions available. Submit resumes & completed applications to The Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint. For questions call 864-4358. Applications due Friday. APRIL 20, AT 12 P.M.
Empl