Fayetteville’s music scene has never been one to be judged at face value. Dickson Street, in all its glory and history, is but just one piece of the puzzle. Anyone who spent countless nights in the basement of JR’s Lightbulb Club on Block Street or who was fortunate enough to ride the wave of the first incarnation of Clunk Music Hall can attest to that.
With both of those venues a thing of the past, however, the DIY scene and as some would argue, the more creative of this area’s musicians seem to have been stuck in limbo for a few years now as it anxiously moves from house to house in hopes of finding the next Chris “Clunk” Selby – someone who’s willing to risk a little (OK, a lot) for the sake of Fayetteville’s underground music scene.
Saturday night shows at Cheers on College (courtesy of David’s Pegasus frontman Barry Brinegar) are the latest in the series of attempts in the past few years at a Clunk-era revival here in Fayetteville. Just read the Booking FAQs on the Cheers Myspace page to get a better idea.
Tonight’s show at Cheers is the CD release of an album four years in the making by TIMBER!, a project by current KXUA 88.3FM station manager, Stuart Feild. The album comes with a pair of 3-D glasses and features all 3-D artwork. In other words, Stuart isn’t effing around.
Also on the bill is the debut by Brian Wolf (Kicker Knot) and John Gardner as Unit Ed.
We asked Stuart some questions. He answered:
Fayetteville Flyer: What’ve you been listening to lately?
Stuart Feild: I just started doing a show on KXUA on Saturdays from 4-6 called After The Fact. It’s all post punk and new wave music from 1977-1984. That is the kind of music I listen to now almost exclusively. My favorites are Liquid Liquid, A Certain Ratio, Bush Tetras, EGS, Pere Ubu, Y Pants, and pretty much anything else off Factory Records, or 99 Records.
FF: Are you from Fayetteville?
SF: I’m from Little Rock, but I have lived in Fayetteville since 2002. I moved here a week after Clunk Music Hall closed.
FF: What do you think of the Fayetteville music scene as compared to a couple of years ago?
SF: Anything that is worth seeing is done DIY now, no one really wants to make a decent investment in our music, all the money is in terrible frat boy cover bands, rip off bands clawing at what was going on in the rest of the world 3 years ago, and karaoke. Tons and tons of nauseating karaoke. House shows dominate the real scene. The music you hear in the bars of Dickson does not represent the true creativity of Fayetteville. If you want to see real artists you have to be in someone’s basement or living room, and there is always the fear that the cops will shut that down any minute. The real scene in Fayetteville is rebellious renegades operating at a loss, for nothing but the passion for something new and innovative.
FF: How long have you been working on your album? Your whole life?
SF: I have played music most of my life, been in lots of different bands and involved in more porjects than I can remember. TIMBER! is about four years old and that is how long I have been working on the new CD.
FF: What do you use to make your music? Any specific software you couldn’t live without?
SF: I primarily use outdated software because it is the easiest to trick and use in ways that weren’t intended. I primarily use Cool Edit Pro and an ancient version of Fruity Loops. But most of my music I make with just a microphone and whatever is at hand, and then just layer as many tracks as I can. A typical song has over a hundred.
FF: Where’d the 3D art for your album come from?
SF: I created it using digital photographs and a special layering technique in photoshop. You can find it online pretty easy. It’s called an anaglyph, and usually used for arial photography.
FF: Do you ever play your own music on KXUA? If so, is that weird? Just mentioning my own band here on the Flyer is kinda strange.
SF: It’s strange, but I have to suck it up and admit to myself that it’s one of the few venues available to me. I try to keep the two separate as much as possible though.
FF: What other local musicians should people check out?
SF: I’d say in general just about anything that isn’t habitually on Dickson Street. The Local Show Fridays on KXUA is the best place to find good local music because it stays away from the horrible stuff that seems to dominate around here. Specifically I like The Kicker Knot, The Memphis Pencils, An A+ Set Up, Fire Don’t Care, Egyptr, Color Party, Dustin Krien, Dr. Blaine S Mosley, and anyone else making music for themselves. The only music worth checking out on Dickson is that dude that wails on the steps of the Walton Art Center. He rocks me to sleep every night.
Click below to hear “The Way We Touch” by TIMBER!
[audio:https://fayettevilleflyer.com/mp3/timber_thewaywetouch.mp3]
