Thursday, April 23, 2009
When Alex Ward isn’t working as substitute teacher or census worker, he’s singing, playing guitar and keys in The Noise FM. The Noise FM is a local trio that was spawned in Fort Scott in 2005. The band has had some success in the Midwest with the single, “Circles.” Its new EP is available for free at www.thenoisefmmusic.com. The band will be playing at the Replay Lounge Friday at 10 p.m., $2 to $3 at the door. Ward gives Jayplay some insight on the worst gigs, odd jobs and the vanity of musicians.
How would you describe your music?
Noisemakers: The Noise FM is from Fort Scott and will be playing at the Replay Lounge Friday at 10 p.m. Band member Alex Ward is also a substitute teacher and has come across a few fans in the classes he has taught.
There aren’t any pretensions; we’re playing accessible rock and roll. We had prog-rock tendencies but over the last year and a half we’ve switched to dancier music. It’s fun, but it’s not dumbed down by any means. We’re trying to do fairly intelligent dance rock.
What’s the most memorable gig you’ve had?
The most memorable ones are the extremely awkward performances. We did benefit concerts that were fashion shows in Kansas City. We were playing for runway models, I use that term loosely, and tried to be serious about it, but you just feel goofy when people are modeling wears in front of you. It was a lot of men modeling underwear—scantily clad men moving to our music.
Have you ever had a gig that was so awkward that it just turned bad?
I’d say about 50 percent of the shows are like that (laughs). Southeast Kansas will always be interesting, like a dive called Lurch’s Bar in Parsons, Kansas. We played on the floor; the sound system was terrible. It’s a biker bar and we’re just a bunch of kids. It’s known for Lurch burgers, which are two pounds of grease and a guy named Lurch makes it and brings it to you. And he looks like a Lurch. He’s a sweaty, tall guy. We thought the burgers and drinks were on the house, and about a week later we got an e-mail from someone saying we skipped out on our tab. Evidentially those burgers are how Lurch makes his money.
Have you had any fans in a class you were substitute teaching for?
One of the first times I subbed in Eudora I had a kid recognize me from a show. I’ve had a couple instances where kids recognize me from a show. One kid has a sticker on his binder in the class I was subbing. I’m trying to be strict and play the teacher role but the kid was cool and had bought our CD.
Why do you make music? What does it do for you?
I just naturally started doing it because my dad was in bands all of his life—my brother and I were just born into it, I guess.
Obviously there’s a creative release that any musical artist gets through expressing themselves through their music. I feel like I’m a fairly modest, laid-back guy, but there’s a certain degree of vanity if you’re a musician. You want people to hear your songs. You get some sort of satisfaction from people hearing what you’ve created. I want people to hear it.
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