Synopsis

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I sat down with Joe in the very colorful but chilly ICE-Nine Studios in Mid-December, to talk about the upcoming release of The Boomchasers CD--'Signifying Nothing.' We sipped hot rum punch and listened to a few tracks of 'Fiskodoro' a band emerging from the deep south of Brazoria County, Texas. We then spoke casually of the mysterious circumstances surrounding The Boomchasers; a band that dropped out of sight at seemingly the height of their existence; their breakthroughs, the breakup and the CD that almost never saw the light of day. --Rufus Ahnphire

The Boomchasers broke up in June of 2004. Why is ‘Signifying Nothing’ just surfacing now? Why is it being released at all?  

When the band parted, I was just sick of us, of what we were and what we had become.  It wasn’t fun anymore. Though we had all the basic tracks recorded, I couldn’t stomach mixing them down and putting out the CD right away. I wanted to distance myself from it for awhile.  It’s being released now because I thought we owed it to those dedicated fans that supported us for so long. Not to mention the others in the band who put so much of their time into it, and the guest musicians who contributed.  It also allowed me to develop some producing and engineering skills. We had a lot of tracks laid down, so I had an enormous canvas to work with. Once I got back into it, the music became precious to me again.    

That was some exile…over a year.  

The finished project took about a year and a half, but I started seriously working towards completing it the summer of 2005. The break was good, because the music was fresh again. I felt a creative freedom to experiment a lot production-wise, so I let myself go completely wild.  

So you’ve altered the signature ‘Boomchaser’ sound?  

Not at all—I just expanded on its possibilities. I thought some layers would really compliment our style. On stage we were the epitome of economy— it was practical and we liked it that way. Easy set up and take down.  In the studio, it was just the opposite. We brought in steel guitars, cellos, keyboards, piano and liberal amounts of rhythm guitar. Not to mention the sound effects laced throughout.  

So what led to the demise of the band?  

It’s a cliché’ to say so, but honestly it was creative differences. The Boomchasers were always struggling internally with what direction each of us wanted the band to take.  In the beginning this was not an issue that divided us, but over time it eventually took it’s toll.  As hard as this is to admit, we were slowly conforming into one of the very bands we were trying to distance ourselves from—the traditional classic rock cover band. It became very sterile. Tim was happy to play cover material, the rest of us were not interested in that. It ended up becoming a breaking point.  As a band we had run our course—it was as simple as that.  But I felt like we left our mark.  

In what way?  

The Boomchasers started out as ‘all original American rock’ in a local market dominated by cover bands. It was our intention to make a place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for original music. Bars and clubs didn’t want to book us because we were up front about that, but we showed a majority of them that original music can stand up on it’s own.  This was our goal from the very beginning and without a doubt we were successful in doing that. This area is rife with cover bands. Original bands don’t get much respect in the live music scene around here. They have to fight for gigs and accept lower pay than cover bands.  I don’t know that we changed all that; it’s still much the same today. So if we didn’t knock the damn door down, we certainly shook the hinges loose.  Crowds in these bars weren’t used to hearing original music all night long either, so that too was a challenge. But we never packed up our gear without winning a good majority of them over. Looking back, it feels great.  

Initially then, where did the breakdown within the band occur?  

 It was when we started headlining clubs that it first began— we simply didn’t have enough original material to play the 3 plus hours that the bars demanded from us. Oftentimes we invited other original bands to play with us, to share the stage and thereby divide up the time. This worked for awhile, but also came with it’s own problems; money, stage time, sharing of the PA and equipment, etceteras. We lost some friends that way. It became unmanageable, so we resorted to having to play all three sets ourselves— and that was when the issue with cover songs began.  It ultimately became our downfall.  

People who know of your other band, the Trailside Rangers, say The Boomchasers are just an extension of that band. A Trailside Ranger ‘cover band’ some have said. What are your thoughts on that?  

I disagree completely. Being a Trailside Ranger ‘cover band’ would imply that The Boomchasers were trying to sound like the Trailside Rangers, and that’s not true. I don’t even feel I need to mention the fact that we were lacking 2 of the driving forces that made TSR so special. Rowan and Jason are irreplaceable, style-wise. But we had 3 hours a night to fill, so pretty much everything in my catalogue of songs was considered.  It was either that or lean towards (as Tim suggested) more cover songs. Eventually, the latter won out.  And the more cover songs we learned, the less important the band became—not just to me, but to the community of original music we were trying to fortify.  

But there are cover songs on the new disc! Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?  

Despite our dislike of cover material, this disc represents a true Boomchasers playlist. We had laid down these tracks, I saw no reason to exclude them. Without at least a few covers, it would not have been an accurate representation of what we were.  

What about the inclusion of some previously released Trailside Rangers material on ‘Signifying Nothing?’  

I had no reservation about that.  The Trailside Ranger songs The Boomchasers played, were played well. A few we even played better than the Trailside Rangers did. And vice-versa: The Boomchasers couldn’t touch many of the Trailside Rangers standards. ‘Flamingo Johnny,’ for instance—we wouldn’t, couldn’t even attempt it.  The important thing was that the songs we did do, we did differently; especially those on the CD.  We tried to distance ourselves and play on our strengths. It’s evident when you listen to ‘Opaque.’ The Boomchaser version expands on the foundation laid down by TSR on ‘Promise and Prayer.’  And ‘Unfurl My Soul’ has become the epic I always felt it should have been. The Trailside Rangers never had a grasp on ‘Angel @ the Door’ or ‘w/out the Sin.’ The Boomchasers own those songs now.  And excluding material from ‘Signifying Nothing’ just because TSR recorded versions is silly.   

‘Unfurl My Soul’ is now multiple parts and clocks in at around ten minutes…that’s quite a departure from the acoustic version on ‘Promise and Prayer.’  

Exactly. For whatever reason, in the Trailside Rangers, we never sunk our teeth into that one.  

How did that song grow into such a juggernaut?  

From the beginning I had in mind some cellos and a long break during the middle of the song. And it just grew from there, I really had no idea where it was going—but I felt the creative freedom to let it take its course. Once it took off, it was hard to reign in.  It had a life of it’s own.  The inspiration, Faulkner’s ‘As I Lay Dying’ is one of my favorite books of all time. There are plenty of characters. Maybe one day it’ll bloom into a concept album or a rock opera! Hmmm… 

Talk about the special guests for a moment.  

We had the awesome Marty Letz come in and play steel guitar on a few tracks.  I’ve admired his work for some time and he was great to work with. Locally here in Iowa, he’s a legend. I’ve always told him that I wished we could’ve had him play on the Trailside Rangers recordings. So when we began cutting this disc I called him up. The searing choruses he scorched into ‘Dusty ol`Towne still give me chills; and he took one of the lead solos in ‘Powderfinger.’ ‘218’ was a natural for him. That song has craved a steel guitar part forever. Marty is the only reason we even put that version on the disc.  

I worked with Annette Clark-Triplett on ‘Portrait of the Artist’ and other miscellaneous projects. She is always diligent about making time to rehearse and record, even with her hectic schedule. She played great—I have such an affinity for the cello.  

Pablo Unidos came to us from the Groovy Times Records camp down in the Brazos of Texas—He was formerly in ‘The Spies,’ and currently leads the dub-influenced trio, ‘Pablo Unidos and the Sound of Revolution.’ He’s actually the younger brother of Clash producer Jose Unidos (Mustapha Dance). He was only in town a couple days— I was working on ‘Powderfinger’ at the time. So I asked if he wanted to rip a solo on it. And did he ever! Be sure and watch for the Sound of Revolution release on Groovy Times.  

I’d also like to throw in what a great job our bass player Duane Larson did. I did less f `ing around with his tracks—they simply didn’t need it. True to form, he played and recorded very well. Duane was Duane—rock solid.  And Don too—not just for the terrific drumming, but his belief that the CD would turn out sounding great. There was a point when I wasn’t convinced of that. He never let me throw in the towel on this project. Because of that, he’s a major factor in the CD being released at all.  

Name a few significant Boomchaser milestones.     

We did a Lymphoma cancer benefit gig that was one of our finer moments—and for a great cause. ‘My Waterloo Days’ – When we cut through the sludge of all those Nu-metal bands. The promoters of the concert sure thanked us for that.

I remember in the very early days, we were known as “The Reconstruction” and we played a barn party in Norway, IA. Kids backed their pickup trucks around the stage, and watched the show sitting on the tailgates. Farm animals roamed freely about. It was a riot—a real Midwest homecoming, for sure.

And there were a string of gigs we did at a bar called Chester’s where we really cut our teeth. The owner at the time was one of our big supporters. Those were good times.   

The new CD will be available at no charge in a limited edition hardcopy and also available to download for free online.  What was the deciding factor in that?

This release is not about money. It’s about getting the music out there to those who may want it, nothing more.  

What’s with all the hidden and bonus tracks?  

I used the hidden tracks (which are not really hidden at all since they appear in the track listing) as ‘spacers’ between the extra material. Silence has its place. I wanted to distance the official tracks from the bonus tracks—since they are really just thrown in because there are no plans for a future release of BC material. The extra version of ‘218’ is from our 1^st demo, so we have both extremes of that song—from alt country to punk rock. ‘Kick out the Jamz/Rock for Light’ was my remix of ‘Like That.’  Oh—and don’t adjust your CD players, ‘Across Your Echo’ is supposed to sound like that. Check out the lyrics and see.  

The title—‘Signifying Nothing’ – is there any significance to that?  

We had tossed around a few ideas before the band broke up and I remember that was one of them. After we split up, it seemed to be the most fitting. Especially when you insert the rest of the Shakespeare quote.  

What about the power-lines pictured in the artwork of the disc? 

Duane and I are huge fans of Twin Peaks…and David Lynch in general. You can take it from there, I’m not giving away all the secrets. Things are not always what they seem…