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Flagpole: Are you aware of the significance
of the day that you guys are plcying at the 40
Watt?
Griffin Kay: I'm not.
FP: It's Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's birthday.
GK: Who's that?
FP: He was a guitar player for Steely Dan
and The Doobie Brothers.
GK: Whoa. No way.
FP: Yeah. And eventually when he decided
he didn't want to play music as
much anymore, he realized he
wanted to go off and learn how
missile defense worked.
GK: Holy shit.
FP: He eventually taught
himself so much that he
became an advisor to the Bush
Administration on missile
defense.
GK: That's crazy.
FP: And you're playing on his
birthday.
GK: Is he from Athens or
something?
FP: No.
F or all the whiz
zing sounds and Ms.
Jackson-if-yer-nasty
keyboard bass that
saturate So Many Dynamos'
two (soon to be three) full-lengths, it's clear
as day when you see them live that they are
a loud guitar band. It's telling that while the
quartet was in the studio in 2007, it posted
a blog honoring those who inspired its new
crop of material: Yes, Battles, and local boys
Cinemechanica. "Guitarmonies"—a phrase
coined by the eminent Greg Collins—are all
over the forthcoming effort, The Loud Wars.
Expect big guitars with hooks to match-
unmissable ones, either sung by keyboard
ist/vocalist Aaron Stovall or simultaneously
launched by dueling guitarists Griffin Kay and
Ryan Wasoba. And of course, it's anchored by
big beats provided by Clayton "Norm" Kunstel.
As opposed to appealing to the ephemeral
fawning of The Blogs, the Dynamos chose old-
fashioned, hyper-consistent touring as their
route to exposure, which entails all the usual
fun—-first off, you've got your van wrecks. "A
tire blew out in Nebraska, and our van flipped
and almost killed us. That was the big one...
we had a few smaller ones here and there, but
that was the big, horrifying one," says Griffin.
Then there are the woefully mismatched'tours
with bands such as quasi-gimmicky hardcore
act HORSE the Band. The Dynamos get along
famously with the guys in HORSE, but their
audience is another story. This is where they
honed their heckler-deflecting skills, but
Stovall looks back on the experience posi
tively: "[We were] playing for younger kids
who haven't even made up their minds about
what kind of music they really like. You're so
indecisive when you're that young, so the cool
thing is maybe we appealed to some kids and
saved them from a long life of nu-metal."
FP: Do you know the significance of Dec. 13,
the day you're playing at the 40 Watt?
Clayton "Norm" Kunstel: I do not.
FP: It's the birthday of Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
CK: Jeff "Skunk" Baxter? What's that?
FP: He is a session guitar player. He played
with Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers.
CK: Really?
FP: Yeah, he does a lot of VH1 specials...
he was born in ‘48, so he’s gonna be 60... let
me see, I’m looking at his Wikipedia page right
now...
CK: What a coincidence, so am I.
FP: Okay: [reading from Wikipedia] "In
1990, Baxter joined John Entwistle, Joe Walsh,
Keith Emerson and Simon Phillips in an abor
tive supergroup called The Best."
CK: [Also reading from Wikipedia] "The
group released a live-performance video in
Japan before disbanding."
FP: They actually called themselves The
Best.
CK: Wow. Keith'Emerson is such a badass.
It's worth mentioning that touring con
stantly, being broke, crashing vans, etc.,
has certain payoffs. One of these includes
the privilege of recording their latest album
with Death Cab for Cutie's guitarist/producer
wunderkind Chris Walla, who has previ
ously worked with Tegan and
Sara, The Decemberists and
The Thermals. The band and
producer connected via their
previous label, Skrocki Records.
As Kunstel tells it, "He opened
up a package with [our last
record] Flashlights and he said
he became a big fan. He said
he was aware of us before, but
now he said he was on the
team... the email he sent us
ended with a P.S.: 'I'm going to
record your next record.'"
The band—which has acted
as its own booking agent,
manager, and in the case of
Wasoba, producer—was already
adept at the recording process,
but spoke highly of Walla's
presence as a cheerleader. "I
remember one moment where
we were just completely stuck... I remember
I had my guitar on and I was like, 'Why am I
even holding this anymore?"' recalls Wasoba.
"And he just got on the talkback mic and said,
'Hey, can you guys do me a favor and play
through the riff to "Bulls on Parade?"' We were
like: 'Are you serious?' And he was like, Teah,
just play it a little bit.' So we played the riff
to 'Bulls on Parade,' and it was so ridiculous
that it put us in a better mood."
FP: So, you know you guys are playing the
40 Watt on Jeff “Skunk" Baxter's birthday?
Ryan Wasoba: From Steely Dan, right?
FP: Yeah! And The Doobie Brothers.
RW: And he had the signature Epiphone
acoustic guitar with the really sharp ES-71
style cutaway; it had a skunk inlayed on the
headstock.
FP: I didn't know that.
RW: Do you know why he was named the
Skunk?
FP: I always read that he refuses to divulge
that information.
RW: I heard it was because he would
always fart while recording. I imagine that
would kind of fester.
FP: I always thought it was a weed
reference.
RW: I don't know if Steely Dan would be
the "weed-reference" type. I think they were
like... a red wine band.
After finishing the tracking in sporadic,
frenzied sessions of writing in the studio and
working around insane schedules, the new
album was mixed by Alex Newport (At the
Drive-In, The Locust) and eventually picked
up by Vagrant Records. And while the band is
obviously pleased to be sharing a label with
acts like The Hold Steady and Paul Westerberg,
the label is more well known to most for
its associations with late-'90s acts like The
Get Up Kids and The Anniversary, which the
Dynamos are more than comfortable with. "We
definitely feel a kinship to those old Midwest
bands that just toured their asses off, which
has served as model for us in the past," says
Wasoba. "That stuff was crazy important to
us when we were kids in the early 2000s liv
ing in the Midwest." The album has a release
date: Apr. 7. And while that's obviously a date
to remember, there are some other important
ones coming up, as well.
FP: Dec. 13—does that date ring a bell?
Aaron Stovall: Hmm... it doesn't.
FP: It's Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's birthday.
AS: Oh!
FP: Big bushy mustache... always with a
beret... I'm gonna throw some band names at
you. Steely Dan? The Doobie Brothers?
AS: [laughing] Okay.
FP: He chaired the Congressional Advisory
Board on missile defense.
AS: Really?
FP: He also wrote the theme song to "King
of the Hill."
AS: Goddamn. He's a real multi-tasker.
Jeff Tobias
r 'N
WHO: Ra Ra Riot, So Many Dynamos,
Princeton
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 13
. HOW MUCH: $10
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DECEMBER 10,2008.- FLAGP0LE.COM 25