vee device Incorporates Versatility, Humor In Music
Band uses eclectic mix of bluegrass and indie rock
www.collegian.comCall me a fickle music fan, but I can name the exact moment that my ears failed to tell one song from the next during the barrage of bluegrass emanating from the Mountain Avenue stage last Sunday, the final day of a particularly notable Bohemian Nights. I was semi-excited to see these bands all week because while I personally would never purchase a pure bluegrass album, I do find the musicianship consistently astounding, and frankly I just love to watch those guys pick. Local favorite Head for The Hills just took the stage as a spirited hippie equipped with a large hula-hoop shimmied and whirled his way through the entire 45-minute set, as fellow fans clumsily hoed-down in front of the stage. I loved it - having been to their record indoor-attendance show at the now-defunct Mishawaka Amphitheatre, I expected Head for the Hills to provide a magnificent soundtrack for such blissful abandon.
After checking out some of the other acts on the various stages downtown, I returned four hours later to witness the same young, shaggy, bearded man swinging the same over-sized hula-hoop as, to my utter dismay, what my ears instantly decided was pretty much the same exact song playing earlier offering itself from the stage. Although I am not audacious enough to swear it was indeed the same song as before, the point is moot. Different band, completely identical sound.
My heart sank.
I want to love the music, I really do. I wanted to be excited to watch such free-spirited gyrations continue indefinitely. But I cannot help but wonder what else is going on when these bands are playing. Who out there is doing something different with the same instrumentation? Honestly though, I will enjoy anything as long as it has some sort of integrity and something that makes it stand out, and, of course, it is pleasing to the ears - even country, even polka, even bluegrass, you name it. But for crying out loud, give me something new, something fresh...
Fortunately, the Mountain Avenue stage was also blessed with a mini-stage placed behind the main sound pit, designed to showcase some local artists as the larger, more popular acts set up behind them. One highlight of the day, folk-chamber-pop outfit vee device, had the opportunity to play at this quaint little stage.
The Fort Collins four-piece had struck up their set 30 minutes before popular radio-friendly folk-grass act Nickel Creek (not to be confused with Nickelback, Canadian suck-rock outfit with the lead singer akin to Jesus). Here is a local band that, dare I say, is truly doing something different.
Straddling some bizarre line between bluegrass and indie rock, vee device (who indeed spell their name in the lower case) tore immediately into "Abductalized" from their most recent release, Autobiography of a Dying Band. The songs swing, the whirl, they tell mammoth tales, and thank the lord it doesn't last 4 hours. Mandolins, banjos, fiddles, double bass, accordion, and guitars all smattered the music throughout the thoroughly original 15-minute set. Indie-music fans should rejoice at such musicianship, while bluegrass fans should rejoice at the innovation.
Asked what they thought of their performance opening for Nickel Creek, vee device frontman "vee" joked with an ever-present smirk, "We were probably the best band playing in Colorado that day." The humor of the band is obvious from the moment you speak with them or as you delve into the microcosmic world they have created over the years. Autobiography of a Dying Band's dichromatic album artwork even features a fake review printed - get this - right on the cover: "'Astounding... the vee Revolution has reached a fever pitch.' - David Goliath, UWAPOM." Besides the humor, the band has set its sights extremely high. While enjoying some of the exposure from opening for a band like Nickel Creek, the band is currently finishing post-production of the first act of a three-part rock opera about the life of Russian author Isaac Babel, set to be release in late October.
"We also are working on a project involving 100 30-second songs," says the bassist/multi-instrumentalist, who prefers the moniker "&roid." The project, however, is actually not a joke, and illustrates the ambition of these seemingly unimposing musicians. The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs immediately comes to mind, and after an advance listen to their upcoming rock opera, as does Pink Floyd's The Wall and the Decemberists' Her Majesty the Decemberists.
On their website, www.veedevice.com, you will find an array of strange, long-winded yet oddly hilarious biographies of each band member, as well as an array of short stories, pictures, media files and more. My personal favorite biography on the website is for violinist and sole female presence, "The Cannone." It reads, "Fast Fact: Recently, she purchased Paganini's soul from a thrift store in Hell, Norway. Devil only knows how it got there." Also included is a story of their desire to build a robot that will undoubtedly take over cello duties, aptly named "Cellonator 4000", alluding to the possible origins of &roid's clever sobriquet. It may be wild, but is incredibly interesting nonetheless.
While I was only able to catch two band members, vee and &roid indeed cite among their current artistic influences the Decemberists, as well as the Mountain Goats, Alexander Scriabin, Bela Fleck, Dimitri Shostakovich, and John Cage. While vee mainly leans on indie and folk in his songwriting, the other members bring their own influences into the mix. &roid "speaks" (as he likes to put it) classical music while the G-Man, who plays mandolin, guitar, and bass for the band mainly "speaks" jazz. The Cannone's degree in violin performance rounds out the sound while she also provides the sensibility to actually get out of their downtown Fort Collins home studio and enjoy the fresh air on occasion.
This is what I appreciate the most about vee device, and is also what I appreciate about any artist today, whether they are local or nationally-recognized: the imagination, the versatility, and the ability to never take their music and themselves too seriously. Without the imagination, versatility, and humor, this overly-critical cynic will be left deaf over the stagnant state of so much music today. I do understand that maybe it is the tradition and the same-old same-old that many are looking for. However, I would implore any die-hard fan of strictly bluegrass, or country, or hip-hop, or rock, or any genre, to take a look around, see what else is out there, and what else is bridging a gap between what you thought you hated and what you currently love.
There is something out there that will change your mind.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian -- Thursday, August 24, 2006
By Thomas Plassmeyer