If you’ve never ventured out to one of the many house show locations in Fayetteville, chances are you probably haven’t heard the Fayetteville band Egyptr.
It’s a shame, because that also means you are possibly missing out on one of Fayetteville’s most creative bands.
Egyptr is a three piece rock band that, outside of a show at the Smoke and Barrel last month, has for the most part gained attention in the Fayetteville underground scene by playing in the living rooms and basements of the Ameroplace, the New Deli, and the Scull Creek Dungeon instead of the bars on Dickson Street.
They have been playing in Fayetteville for less than a year, but Zack Wait (Candle School), Steve Lee (Fire Don’t Care), and Matt Friend (Onset of Winter) have been a part of the Fayetteville music scene in a wide variety of bands for years now.
Wait’s vocals and guitar work that vibrate between abrasive (in a good way) and melodic set the tone for the band. With Egyptr, Wait has even developed a completely unique guitar tuning system that contributes in large part to Egyptr’s unorthodox sound. Friend and Lee provide a solid rhythm section that holds it all together, while somehow still contributing to the frenetic tension that is Egyptr’s music. The result is some pretty bitching rock & roll.
This Friday, Sept. 25, Egyptr will be playing a house show at 616 Lafayette with Woven Bones (garage rock from Austin), and DJ Wolfenstein 3D.
We got in touch with the band, and they were nice enough to answer some questions for us.
Fayetteville Flyer: What have you been listening to lately?
Steve: KXUA college radio
Matt: MF DOOM’s newest album, and a lot of black metal
Zack: US Maple, Television, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler
FF: Who’s in Egyptr?
Steve: Drums
Matt: Bass
Zack: Guitar, Vocals
FF: How long have you been playing together?
Egyptr: Steve and Zack since September/Octoberish and Matt for about the last three months.
FF: What other bands have you guys been in?
Steve: Fire Don’t Care, Omi Palone, A+ Setup
Matt: Onset of Winter, Omega Red, Freewill Somnambulism, and the Helpful Carrot
Zack: Dora Maar, Candle School, The Fight Fire w/ Friendship
FF: What do you guys sound like?
Egyptr: Post-thought/avant rad
FF: What are some other bands in Fayetteville people should check out?
Egyptr: DEADBIRD, Auger, Perpetual Werewolf, The Kicker Knot, Last Chance, The Rox, Color Club, Fucktards, Brute Choir. Everyone else gets left off the list for no good reason.
FF: Your friend Steve is in town from Buffalo, and he wants to eat at the best restaurant in town. Where do you take him?
Steve: Art’s Place “best burger in the f***ing cosmos”
Zack: Petra Cafe
FF: Back in the day, if bands wanted to get the word out about a show, they had to print and hang a bunch of flyers around town. Lots of bands still do flyers, but has the internet
changed the way bands promote shows these days?
Egyptr: Yes. Online promotion is great but it often lacks an artsy-craftsy feel that paper fliers have; Mike Anderson (16drawings.com) happily has, in our view, completely out-innovated that problem with the amazing video fliers he’s created for us and for others.
FF: Are you guys working on any recording right now?
Egyptr: Yes.
Click below to hear The Heat Just Above Zero by Egyptr
[audio:http://fayettevilleflyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/11-The-Heat-Just-Above-Zero.mp3]
