words & guitar

ISSUE_01 WINTER

A MUSIC AND PHOTOGRAPHY ZINE

©_2020

Vacant lot.

Corner of Fuller and Wealthy SW Grand Rapids

CONTENT

LETTER FROM EDITOR 04

FELON CLASS 08

STORMO 20

FROM THE EDITOR

This zine exists to capture a sample of the city of Grand Rapids. It features interviews with two local music groups insterspaced with photos taken around the city. Though the two bands included here, Felon Class and Stormo, produce very contrasting sounds, they are still both products of the same attitudes, the same communities, the same town. despite it’s small size, GR is home to a very unique and thriving music community. The artists working here create a wide variety of musical genres, from indie-pop to hardcore punk. The different sounds from GR are inherently tied, both geographically and culturally.

Intersection of Fuller and Lake SW Grand Rapids

WORDS & GUITAR

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Logan St. SW Grand Rapids

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WORDS & GUITAR

RAGING AGAINST THE CLOWNS OF THE STATE

Words: Mick Rutowski Photos: Sam Rottschafer

an interview with self-proclaimed “weirdo hardcore band” Felon Class

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This is a band that is hard to pin down, and they like it that way. Known as “Grand Rapids’ most dangerous band,” Felon Class writes a type of hardcore reminiscent of groups like Hoax or Raw Nerve. Their music is unembellished, straight forward, and truly pissed off, without sounding contrived or corny. There is something more to Felon Class though that elevates them from being just another pissed off hardcore band. Their music contains an unexpected tinge of goofiness, for lack of a better term. The band has a bizarre obsession with circus clowns, as evident in the title of their latest (and only) release, Circus Tricks. They also have more than one song containing to word “Clown.”

The humor in Felon Class is brilliantly expressed through some very atypical riffs and progressions that make one feel almost like the punchline in some kind of grand sick joke. During live performances vocalist Sam plods and stomps their way around the room, usually in some kind of costume like a cowboy or a grimy 19th century politician.

Felon Class performances will catch you off guard, you might feel like you’re being entertained by a group of clowns, they tell jokes and do tricks but not the kinds that make you laugh. They also play seething hardcore that’ll make you want to hoist a big rock over your head and throw it through the window of a US senator.

Sam: vox Liam: guitar Nelson: bass Wilbur: drums

FELON CLASS

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WORDS & GUITAR When did Felon Class start?

S: When did Felon Class start or when did this band start?

When did this band start and then how did that turn into felon class?

N: I think it was late 2015.

S: And we were not called Felon Class, we were called Happy Birthday Satan. We have a live recording up on bandcamp and a facebook page.

Are they still up?

S: Yeah they’re still up, there’s actually a bunch of songs on that recording that would later become Felon Class songs, like Scum 1 and Scum 2.

N: It started out because sam just came over and wanted to start a hardcore project or something...

S: Powerviolence N: Yeah you wanted to start a powerviolence band with Wilbur, and you recorded scum 2 on the Tascam. Thats on the Happy Birthday Satan soundcloud right?

S: Yes that recording is on soundcloud.

So wait, your first release for this band is on soundcloud and it was recorded on a Tascam?

N: Yeah it’s soundcloud rap.

S: We were all in high school then and none of us knew Liam yet, we only played one show and it was the first show at Proud of You house, but it wasn’t called that yet.

S: So should we talk about when we found Liam?

Is that when you guys became Felon Class?

N: That was a good two years later.

L: Yeah it was like winter 2017 when I joined.

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FELON CLASS

“OH YEAH, WE BROKE SHIT AT THAT ONE” 11

WORDS & GUITAR

So how would you describe your sound as Felon Class?

S: reggae W: jazz fusion N: comedy L: spoken comedy jazz W: its hardcore but its a little bit more fun I would definitely call your sound hardcore but its like, goofy N: its not serious W: I feel like we would have other labels to though, other than just hardcore, like noise-rock maybe 12

FELON CLASS

“IT’S

HARDCORE,

BUT IT’S A

LITTLE BIT MORE FUN”

Ok so, you get your first review in pitchfork, how would they describe you?

L: trashy basement punk S: yeah trashy noise rock infused basement punk N: sewer music W: its creepin’ music What’s the deal with the clowns?

Your ep is called circus tricks and you have like two songs with the word “clown” in the title.

Why? L: joke band N: I mean clowns are clowns, what else can you say?

Uh, alright S: its just about being a clown And making people laugh?

S: no its not about making people laugh its about being a clown!

Because you like to be a clown?

S: yes exactly just being a clown because you enjoy it S: when we talk about Felon Class being a joke band its not like how Weird Al is a joke band, its a fun band because its fun for us and we can do whatever the fuck we want and enjoy our time, its not about making people laugh 13

WORDS & GUITAR Ok so who are some of your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?

L: Can we all agree that our main influence originally as a band was Ceremony?

ALL: yeah definitely Ceremony N: For me definitely Helmet W: METZ L: Jesus Lizard maybe S: Bleach era Nirvana L: yeah and we fucking love Slipknot Who are each of your favorite bands from michigan?

N: Mustard Plug L: Mustard Plug W: Mustard Plug S: shoutout Life Loss, oh and Dead Hour Noise W: Oliver Houston too, and also Liam’s high school metalcore band L: no we don’t talk about that Whats the most memorable Felon Class show and why?

S: Our show at Pyramid Scheme probably for me W: Or that skatepark we played in Lansing What was that venue called?

L: I think it was the TRAP or something? it was some kind of acronym W: it was some small skatepark in the middle of this big warehouse S: yeah it was completely dark and we had to walk through all these big factory rooms, and it was during the middle of a big snowstorm W: there was like two feet of snow outside L: and we played in this big halfpipe S: it was our first out of town show, not a lot of people came but the people that did were really excited it was cool What are some next steps for you as a band L: We’re planning on recording more material 14

“THERE WAS BROKEN

GLASS, CHAIRS WERE

GETTING DRAGGED

AROUND AND SHIT”

FELON CLASS An LP? L: two splits, and then an LP Who are the splits with?

L: Drow and Gimmick!

Have you ever been compared to ay other bands?

S: yeah early on we were compared to Ceremony a lot, Scum 1 sounds like its right off violence violence but if violence violence was written by like, high schoolers Any comparisons you didn’t like?

S: we got called a “weird metal band” once in lansing Alright, so if Felon Class could open for any band, who would you each choose?

L: SLIPKNOT N: uh, compressor head S: who the fuck is compressor head?

“WE FUCKING

N: its that robot band, its 5 robots and they just play like the ace of spades by Motörhead L: what are your bands Sam? S: Daughters, if I could open for them I’d go insane W: i don’t know like Code Orange or something, Jesus Piece maybe.

Or Acrylics!

LOVE SLIPKNOT”

S: Going back to influences, Acrylics is definitely a big one for us.

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WORDS & GUITAR

So this one is for Sam, what are some of the main themes that you try to express through your lyrics?

S: well originally those HBS songs were just like sad, angsty shit, but now the themes I’m playing around with are like, I’m trying to be more visual with my writing and talk about things like, depravity and just coasting through life off nothing and living in shit and being ok with it, there’s not really a lot of grand themes It just like, being scum and accepting it.

What’s the best Felon Class song, and why?

N: probably Wedding Bells W: I’d say Surgeon Song, that’s my favorite one to play S: really? but you never want to play that one N: Wilbur never wants to play it because he doesn’t want hear it too many times and ruin it S: he wants to savor it L: I think surgeon song, I also really like to play strut though S: I think Wedding Bells, but Loping Towards Bethlehem is really fun too because its like, slimy 16

“I’D FIGHT DRAKE” Who’s the best swimmer?

S: Liam?

L: I’m not very good at swimming W: I’d probably say either Liam or me S: are you not a very good swimmer Nelson?

N: I know uh, doggy paddle S: I like to swim, I don’t think I can though S: Liam’s the most buoyant, he’s the smallest. I think that’s how it works You can challenge anyone in the music industry to a fight and they have to accept, who do you each pick?

S: Steve Albini, imma beat his ass W: I’d fight drake N: maybe like, Dave Grohl. I don’t know if he’s done

FELON CLASS anything wrong personally but I’d still fight him

S: I’d say our most fun show was at Rocky’s

Ok, follow-up, you as a band can fight any other band, which band would you all choose?

Was there a lot of moshing at that one?

W: probably some old band so it’d be easy

W: you got dragged into the bathroom

N: the black keys What’s the best compliment you guys have received?

S: our friend Zack from Drow writes a blog called rather be forgotten and he featured our EP. I’d say our biggest compliment was just him raving over Liam’s guitar playing on that album and our live show at Pyramid Scheme.

S: it’s cool when people mosh at our shows too W: yeah its a lot more fun to play when people are clearly into it

S: oh yeah, we broke shit at that one

L: there was broken glass, chairs were getting dragged around and shit

listen to Hardcore but he has a lot of good ideas L: we recorded it in like two days, Wilbur laid down drums one take pretty much I guess that’s about all I have, any last things you want to share?

S: yeah, shoutout Life Loss W: shout out Stormo too

N: the microphone broke W: a cable broke, Sam was climbing around on the stairs So you just released your first EP, “Circus Tricks” do you want to talk about that whole process?

Check out Felon Class: https://felonclassfunny. bandcamp.com

S: we recorded it at The Moon, with Chris Ryan.

He’s great producer and he was a delight to work with. He doesn’t really

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WORDS & GUITAR

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Wellspring Church SW Grand Rapids

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Words & Photos: Mick Rutowski

WORDS & GUITAR

FRIENDSHIP, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and MCGRIDDLES 20

STORMO

Ben F: vox, guitar Jonah: vox, guitar Dr. Barton: bass Ben D: drums

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WORDS & GUITAR

I pulled my car up to the GRCC Science building about five minutes late. The two lobes of Stormo’s creative brain, Ben Ferrell and Jonah Craker, were waiting for me in a Ford Windstar. “The building’s closed so we’re just gonna do the interview in the car if that’s ok with you” said Jonah, still in his Cabela’s uniform. I took a few snapshots while there was still some good light and then got in to begin the interveiw.

Stormo isn’t a typical indiepop band. On the first listen, their music is reminiscent of artists like Duster, Helvetia, or Elliot Smith. It is very guitar driven and bursting with contagious grooves.

Further listening reveals some very unique influences, like Motown and surprisingly, classical music. When you go to a Stormo performance, you quickly realize something about this band, they’re good, like really good. These are all trained musicians, they know their scales to say the least.

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Jonah and Ben are both classical guitar students and mentors. The aptly named Dr. “Licks” Barton is the Choral director at GRCC when he isn’t laying down irresistible basslines for Stormo.

Drummer Ben DeWitt is also a music student at GRCC, and his pocket is so deep, light couldn’t escape it. When they all come together they craft a special blend of music of a caliber that you don’t get to hear often at a humble basement show.

Stormo’s mix of original songwriting, virtuosic musicianship, and pure friendship, make for a live performance that is consistently fun. Something a lot of other live bands can’t always capture, even at a professional level.

That’s because when Stormo plays, at the bottom line it’s all about having fun.

These musicians love what they do and it shows at their performances. For what it counts, I’ll say that I don’t remember ever being at a Stormo show that didn’t end with the crowd asking for just one more song.

STORMO

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WORDS & GUITAR

You’re both music students at GRCC right?

J: I’m a student at GRCC yeah B: I was but Im at Grand Valley now What are both of your musical backgrounds?

J: I got started playing guitar in my dad’s church band, he taught me the pentatonic scale because I didn’t want to play the chords, I was just bored. he was like, “well if you don’t want to play the chords the you should play this” and I was like “woah this is sweet I can just make shit up?”

B: When I started I was just self-taught, I got an acoustic from my friend’s mom and I was just teaching myself for like 6 months. Then my Dad passed away and so my mom decided to sign me up for lessons. I learned a bunch of Grizzly Bear songs and some Jim Croce, but then I got sick of that so I just caved and started to play classical and I’ve been doing that ever since.

When did Stormo start?

B: August, 2 years ago J: Our first show was August 2018 but, we were at a party in FebruaryB: This wasn’t at the party, we talked about it at Moods, this GRCC music event called Moods, and then I think at the party we solidified it over some beers

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J: I think it might’ve started earlier than that though because we had been jamming together and kind of hinting about it for a long time

B: then after it just turned into a whole 7 or 8 months of just jamming a lot, and not really finishing ideas ever I think in my experience that’s still a really productive thing to do as a band though, just to get used to playing together even if you aren’t really writing anything B: yeah, it’s fun and it’s organic. I think that’s how bands get really tight.

Who else is in storm that couldn’t make it today?

B: We got Steve “Dr. Licks” Barton He’s a professor at GRCC right?

J: Yeah he’s the Choral director at GRCC, and a self-taught bass player.

He’s studied music his entire life so he’s got a pretty good understanding of where the bass is supposed to go. But i think most of it comes from Bass Player Magazine.

B: Crazy story about him, he taught Victor Wooten, I don’t know if you know him but he’s like, one of the top ten bass players ever. The Wooten family went to this high school in west Virginia and Dr. Barton was their music teacher. He can call him and he’ll still pick up.

And who’s your drummer?

J: Ben Dewitt, he’s the official drummer. He’s really busy so he can’t make it to every show but like he’s the one we need on drums.

And he’s also a student here?

J: yeah

STORMO GRAM courtyard NW Grand Rapids

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WORDS & GUITAR So are you two the main songwriters behind Stormo?

J: yeah we don’t write the drum or bass parts but we write the guitar parts Who would you say are some of Stormo’s biggest musical influences?

B: I’ll count it down, 3 - 2 - 1

Do you just look through the guitar hashtag on instagram?

J: no it just shows up in my feed now B: yeah you just see it and keep rolling through and sometimes you see some really sick shit

(both together)

J: that’s just a small influence though for sure

J: Ted Greene

B: tiny

B: Bach

J: honestly, two bands I really like are Oliver Houston and Ghost Orchard

You said Bach?

B: yeah Bach is straight up a huge influence on our music Who’s Ted Greene?

J: he’s this solo electric guitar player from the old days, he was a really sought after guitar teacher at this little guitar shop but he just became a legend because he had the teaching sauce. He was also a gigging musician. He only made one album but its so good.

B: But Ted Greene would improvise Baroque music so in a way he’s kind of like Bach as well, so its double Bach J: so i’d say Bach and as much as I don’t want to admit this, Instagram guitar Instagram guitar?

J: Theres all this R&B guitar stuff on instagram, they just do this crazy flashy stuff, its like everybody who has a guitar instagram account is playing all this stuff.

Some of its kind of cool and I think just due to the amount of it i’ve 26

seen, some of that has to have influenced me

Those are some GR classics J: I think a lot of the stuff I write you can trace back to those two, and Bach B: I’ve always liked Elliot Smith so there’s probably some of that coming through in my music J: oh and Weezer B: Yeah Blue album Weezer J: my dad just had that on our computer and I remember I put it on my mp3 player. I was 12 and listening to Weezer so of course I’m gonna be influenced by that.

Theres a song we have that has the same melody from the opening to Only in Dreams, we’ll probably play that one at our next show When is your next show?

B: November 23rd at Trouble House Who would you say are some of your favorite bands out of MI? B: Hold Person, they’re so sick. and Harvey Waters of course, Oliver Houston and Ghost Orchard. Oh and Choral Reef, I think they might be my favorite

STORMO

Ted Greene

“MY DAD TAUGHT ME THE PENTATONIC SCALE AND I WAS LIKE, WOAH THIS IS SWEET. I CAN JUST MAKE SHIT UP?” J: yeah that’s some good shit.

J: I like this one guitar player named Joe Messina, he played in the Funk Brothers who were the studio musicians at Motown, oh and James Jamerson, he’s another Detroit guy. All these Detroit jazz musicians who became the session musicians at Motown, they’re all dope.

I really admire them.

You’ve been playing a lot of shows around Grand Rapids, where’s the farthest you’ve played from home?

J: We’ve done shows in Kalamazoo and Mount Pleasant B: yeah Mount Pleasant is the farthest we’ve been Do you plan on doing more touring?

B: we want to but we’re in a weird spot, our record’s 27

WORDS & GUITAR not out yet and we want to get that out and then kind of build up our social media presence before we start touring. We’re trying to secure a release through an actual label too So you are working on a new record?

J: yeah, we’ve been playing the same songs at shows for a while now and we just got all those tracked so those will all be out soon B: and then we’ll be working on another album like immediately after those are done J: yep we’ve got some new stuff on the boiler too B: a bun in the oven Does that means we can expect this first Stormo release pretty soon?

J: we don’t have a solid date but definitely really soon here

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B: early 2020 probably or maybe even late this year. But these songs that are on the way… yo.. These are the most Stormo sounding songs for sure.

J: we’re gonna be jamming a lot more soon too which is like, fertilizing the soil you know?

B: yeah and we’ll reap the harvest when the time is right How would you describe Stormo’s sound?

J: I guess i’d say Jazzy indie rock but that just sounds douchey B: yeah that just sounds weak B: I would say its almost like jazz-grunge, its a little bit grungy, or like pop, it’s definitely pop.

Jazzy indie grunge pop J: with diminished chords B: diminished pop

STORMO If pitchfork reviewed Stormo right now, what rating would they give you?

J: 10 B: Pitchfork doesn’t like anything that’s good so they’d probably give us like a 4, just take whatever Alex G got and subtract 3 and that what we’d get.

Cane Lane, probably our best work though B: I thought we had a really good show at Green Acres, that last Green Acres show J: that one was tighter than the Kalamazoo set, but the energy in Kalamazoo was just a lot better. we made a lot of mistakes but we had the sauce

What’s the most memorable Stormo show and why?

You definitely notice the difference when everyone’s having fun

J: the first one’s pretty memorable. We didn’t have any songs when we booked it and it was only 9 days in advance. Our friend was just like, do you wanna play at my place in like, 9 days?

B: yeah, we just played a Rocky’s show the other day, that shit sucked so bad. My guitar was like a half step out of tune by the end of it, i was going really hard to try to make up for how weird it was.

We had a different band configuration, Dr Barton was between me and Jonah and we were too far away so we couldn’t really hear each other

B: We had only just declared we were a band then, we didn’t even have a name yet until the day of.

We had no music but we were just like, yes we’ll do it.

J: we really didn’t have any songs until the day before and then we just forced out 4 songs, I don’t think we could’ve done it if we didn’t have that pressure.

B: I’ll never forget that one, that’s probably number one but there’s a few others that stick out too.

Like that one at Worm House where you got an encore?

B: yeah that one was really fun B: The Harvey Waters album release show in Kalamazoo was a lot of fun too, I played keyboard in Harvey Waters at that one

“WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY SONGS WHEN WE BOOKED IT AND IT WAS ONLY NINE DAYS IN ADVANCE”

J: The last show we played in Kalamazoo at Candy 29

WORDS & GUITAR J: and the mic kept shocking me B: the sound was terrible, our instruments were too loud and were just covering up the vocals. we’re gonna keep messing around to try and find some levels that work better for us.

Maybe we should just play quieter because we’re both pretty quiet singers and you can’t really have a loud band with quiet singing.

What are some of your hobbies outside of music?

B: fishing J: fishing B: that’s my second favorite thing to do after playing music Any fishing stories?

J: didn’t catch anything last time I went Is fishing season kind of ending now? do either of you mess around with ice fishing?

J: I don’t have anything against ice fishing I just don’t want to spend money on all that gear B: yeah its a completely different setup J: But you can catch steelhead in the winter, they normally hang out in lake Michigan but this time of year they come up into the rivers and hang out there until spring B: another hobby I like is skateboarding, I think that helped get me into the music I like now.

Skaters low-key have really good music taste.

Thats how I found out about animal collective and then it just snowballed from there.

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Have you ever been compared to any other bands?

J: CHON CHON, really??

B: yeah i’m a little embarrassed about that one, also the Strokes Is there one you felt good about?

B: Being compared to Duster was cool.

We’ve also been compared to Mom Jeans Ok, favorite breakfast foods?

B: eggs, eggs over easy and ramen J: it doesn’t get much better than the McGriddle B: I change my answer, McGriddle dawg If you could open for any band, who would it be and why?

B: man there’s a lot of bands id like to open up for. Duster would be cool. Alex G, Hovvdy. Or maybe this band Quasi J: Ted Green So what’s the story behind the name Stormo?

B: that’s an Adventure Time reference, he’s my favorite character from Adventure Time.

He’s this Griffintype animal with three eyes, and his entire purpose was to just stop this other creature who’s similar to him except evil. He had some of Finn’s DNA in him and that’s what made him so righteous. That episode hit home because he’s just living to protect the world and that’s it.

J: Frankie said we

should be called Stormo too B: yeah it was our friend Frankie’s idea What does Stormo mean to each of you? What’s the significance of this project?

B: It just totally represents friendship, and when I suck ass at classical guitar I can just remember that I started making music because I wanted to be a songwriter.

J: It’s about making

STORMO music with my homies, music that I like. I’m trying to make something that I enjoy. There’s a lot of good music out there, I’m just trying to make the perfect music for myself to enjoy, and if other people like it that’s cool too.

B: It’s hard to find music that you want to listen to for some reason. It’s hard for me to turn music on, even though I have so many go-to bands that I love, sometimes I just feel sick of it all.

So it’s about finding and boiling down the perfect music for you personally to enjoy B: yeah, right. And we’re also all busy. everybody’s busy as hell so this is a kind of way of making sure we all get together regularly.

I love when I meet bands and find out they’re all just best friends B: It really has to be that way

Find Stormo on Instagram: @stormo_

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WORDS & GUITAR

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Grand River under Bridge St. during construction NW Grand Rapids

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