The Village is quite the scene for high school rockers
By Zachary Dzurick
happenings
Published March 1, 2006

Bay High students primarily make up the bands Electric Funk Banana, Elephant in the Living Room, Neptune & the Bermuda Sloops and Victory by Default.

In January, the 2006 High School rock-off featured four bands (Elephant in the Living Room, Electric Funk Banana, Victory by Default and Neptune & the Bermuda Sloops) formed primarily with students from Bay High School. Why this may be a surprise to some, it is not to the students of Bay that have created their own music scene across the village’s basements and backyards.

“Something that is important about Bay Village and maybe a reason there are a lot of bands is that the shows are easier to come by,” said Ben Morris of Neptune and the Bermuda Sloops. “You don’t have to leave the city. You can play a show in someone’s basement or backyard. It happens a lot. It helps that you don’t have to go downtown to book a show.

The band members credit the unique culture of the school as well.

“At some different schools to be in the marching bands is not socially acceptable but here it is,” Elephant in the Living Room lead singer Robert Rossman said. “ I am not in the band but it an honorable thing to be in.”

 Cale LaRiccia of Victory by Default agrees.

“The band is its almost own entity in the high school,” he said. “It is a big deal. Also we support each other. We all go to each other shows because we enjoy each other’s music.”

While 2005 Bay graduate singer-songwriter Kate Voegele has captured recent headlines, other music acts from Bay include Peter Laughner from Pere Ubu, the band Blazer, featuring Raymond Glenn ’96, Steve Begala ‘00 and Jay Glenn ’01, as well as Evan Wilhelms, a member of the local band, This is Exploding.

“One of the reasons for so many bands is we have such a good music program here,” said John Winzig, lead singer of Electric Funk Banana. “There have been so many students coming out of Bay High that have been extremely musically talented. Starting in the fifth grade, you are exposed to lot of kinds of music and as you progress through high school everyone picks their own style. It is a good community for music and it helps that (Bay high music teacher) Mr. Barry is very supportive of high school music bands.”

Not every former Bay resident has been supportive however.

Electric Funk Banana named a self made EP after a former Bay student’s whose photograph provided inspiration. This story was printed in the West Life and created a firestorm for the high school students.

“We had an EP called the Return of Tom Tallitsch,” Williams said. “But one day we got a letter that said cease and desist. He threatened to sue us because he is in the business.”

“It was really violent at first as he freaked out,” Doug Riebel said. “He could have been more low keyed. He took the time to find out all of our phone numbers and addresses. There were only like 10 copies of that CD anyway.”

The four current Bay bands however support each other.

“It is friendly,” Rossman said. “Everyone has their own unique season of style. If you go to see Electric Funk Banana, you know you will get insane awesome stage presence and a lot of fun. I saw Neptune and the Bermuda Sloops just once when they were starting out and it was enjoyable, feel the groove and all that stuff. Victory by Default is very good at what they do. Everyone has their own flair. We don’t talk crap about each other.”

“Well at least to each other,” Williams adds with smile. “Elephant in the Living Room has their own unique style. It is ethereal sound juxtaposed with a down-home groove that gets everything going. It is an excellent thing to listen to.”

Victory in Default formed in December of 2005. Neptune & the Bermuda Sloops has been together for about six months, Elephant in the Living Room for around nine months with Electric Funk Banana the grandfather of the Bay high school band scene since November 2004. EFB is particularly popular among the other bands.

“When I am stressed out, EFB is intense catharsis,” said Arthur Henke of Neptune & the Bermuda Sloops. “There is so much energy going on with the audience and the band.”

“I love going to EFB concerts because it is complete craziness,” LaRiccia said. “It is really fun.”

It is hard to have a high school band without supportive parents. Each band has found a willing parent to let them use basements for practice space. Some even use their own love of music to help the teens.

“My dad is big in the music thing,” LaRiccia said. “We have some nice stuff to practice on. He records our band and Elephant in the Living Room. It is pretty cool.”

The home of the drummer is also a popular location to practice at for practical purposes.

“We practice in our drummer’s basement,” Henke said. “It is cool, she feeds us. Unless you have cool Tom Waits junkyard percussion thing going on, you can’t move all that stuff.”

While some of the band members are considering pursuing music in some form in college, most are just trying to find a groove. Williams summed it up best.

“Music is a big part of my life and it is a great way to express yourself, how cliché is that, but it is true,” he said. “It is a great release from everything to play through some songs or write some music.”

Websites are the new age version of a publicist. Three of the bands have launched sites to get their music out there. Go to http://www.elephantinthelivingroom.tk/, http://www.electricfunkbanana.tk/ and www.myspace.com /victorybydefault00 to check out their music.