Math. Each school day, carping kids across America grapple
with this most onerous of subjects. The most frequent bitch,
of course, is that you never use the dabs of pre-calc and
geometry absorbed in a typical public education out "in the
real world."
And that's usually true. But then there's Mechakucha.
This all-instrumental trio inflicts lumbar-crumpling rock
volume with precision and mad-science obscurity. Some sort
of top-secret algorithms are clearly at play, as whiplash
time-changes and labyrinthine chord progressions fuse into
a chaos-theory maelstrom.
Although it's easy enough to lump Mechakucha with indie
rock's wonkiest subgenre--the school of post-prog metal
known as "math rock"--you can't deny the muscular impact
of its debut album, One Million Safe Hours. Listen
to this disc on headphones and it's like your head is trapped
inside a very small, very intense electrical storm.
Last week, as the band looked forward to a West Coast tour
and a hint of national buzz, I sat members John Krausbauer
and Matt Ogburn down to discuss Mechakucha's unified
field theory.
WW: How has the record been received?
J: We hear that the first pressing of 1,000 is almost
gone. I'm not sure who the hell is buying this thing, but
someone is. Some people are a little bit scared of instrumental
music, but it seems to be going all right.
A couple of archetypes dominate underground rock in
Portland: There's the beer-swilling, full-on greaser punk
and the stylish, sensitive indie rocker. You guys don't
fit in either way. What gives?
J: Well, Portland's
roots are pretty much in pop punk, and that seems to continue
to be the case and maybe it will be forever. But any town
you go to, unless you're talking about New York, L.A. or
Chicago, most of the underground music will be based in
pop punk. And we're kind of against that. My idea is that
art should be about going forward, about challenging things.
M: But John, you have to remember that this is a town with
bands like Holgator and Regrade, so there
are things going on. Last of the Juanitas moved here,
and The Planet The is a terrific band. Besides, we
always try to rock anyway, so people will hopefully get
into it even if it's not something they're familiar with.
You strike me as a band that might inadvertently attract
people who work in music stores and pore over Guitar
Player. Does anyone ever ask you about your "chops"?
M:
A lot of people give Glenn (Schmidtz) props, because
he's clearly doing something that not everyone could do.
J: One of our friends asked once if we got a lot of drummers
coming up to us to ask questions after the shows. Because
if there's anyone who's gonna get bored playing straight-ahead,
4/4 rock and roll, it's a drummer.
I've heard that Alternative Press magazine is
planning a feature on Mechakucha, which seems a little off
the beaten path for them. I mean, it's not like you guys
are Insane Clown Posse.
M: Jesus, that's the stuff
they do? I had no idea. It'd be pretty rad if we were in
there right next to ICP.
J: Yeah, we did an interview with them two or three weeks
ago, then had to take a photo really quick and send it to
them the next day, because we'd never had a photo before.
M: We kind of have some compunctions about the whole photo
thing.
J: It's not like we're trying to make some huge political
point, but look--there's the music. Does it really matter
what we look like?
Well, then, what's next for you, shy boys?
J: We're working on getting ready for these tours and
writing the material that'll end up on the next records.
And for us, writing can be a slow process. We were together
for three years before we recorded the first record, so
maybe we'll record the next one in about a year.
As the other members of the band can tell you, I have a
tendency to fuck around with one song forever. We don't
want people to forget about us, on the one hand, but it's
more important to get things right than to put it out fast.
Does Mechakucha hope to inspire fear or love?
J:
I'm leaning more towards fear. But maybe--I don't want to
sound too much like a hippie--love for music, love for art,
love for fuckin' with stuff.
M: Hippie. I guess I'd say, anything but indifference.
J: My answer was better.
The Mechakucha Formula:
Matt Ogburn (bass) + John
Krausbauer (guitar) + Glenn Schmidtz (drums)
Mechakucha's One Million Safe Hours joins releases
by The Champs and Portlanders-turned-Minneapolitans
Bozart on the San Francisco indie label Frenetic
(www.freneticrecords.com).
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Willamette Week | originally
published February 16,
2000
|
