Making out to DRUMATTICA leads to harder stuff.

You know when your friends give you copies of their latest musical efforts and you give it a listen because they're your friends? All the while you're praying that the thing doesn't totally suck ass so you'll have to come up with some bullshit to say to them about how it's not really YOUR thing, but you're sure it's cool for SOMEBODY.... Well such was the case when Brian Lehfeldt (Drumattica co-founder, TV616 drummer and a big Sweaty Nipple) dropped off his latest from Drumattica for my perusal.

Well, I love Brian. I actually love everyone in Drumattica--Keith Brown (Drumattica's other co-founder and TV616 man), Rob Wynia (Floater) and the delicious Jen Folker (Dahlia). [DJ Slowburn and Brandon Mikel I do not know, but no doubt I'd love them, too.] So I played it while I cleaned my kitchen. By the time I had finished pine-sol-ing the floor we were at track five and I found myself filled with hate and disappointment. The music was excellent, and these people were clearly more talented than I was.

The record, from top to bottom, is the best local effort I've heard in ages. The content and production are brilliant and beautifully sculpted. It's like landscape--shifting, rising jagged and smoothing down into warm salty water while you fly around the world on a magic carpet. I called everyone in the band at ungodly hours to curse their brilliance and the fact that I couldn't stop listening to the damn thing .

My favorite tracks are the duets between Wynia and Folker. They sound like someone snuck a microphone into their sleeping bag while they're slow fucking on mushrooms in the desert. My hate melted into a bright and prickly aroused state. This was a fantastic makeout album and I loved it. Damn.

I swallowed my pride and met with Keith Brown in Southeast Portland to talk about why it took Drumattica three years to release A Part Of Something.

STORM: How did Drumattica happen?

Keith: Brian and I had been talking about two drummers playing live to taped dance music, kind of jungle-y and electronic.

STORM: How long ago did Drumattica start?

Keith: Our first show was opening for Floater at the Aladdin for the Millennium New Years show, so four years ago.

STORM: Why'd it take you so long to release this, your first, record?

Keith: Well, all the people involved are in other bands, so it's really tough to coordinate everyone. Plus, people in the Northwest are seasonal. In the summer we tour, go camping, play a million shows and get very little else done. In the winter we pack up and head inside to go crazy and write. In the spring we come out and release our new stuff.

STORM: You should do what I do--systematically destroy your band members' personal lives so they only have you. So, how did you get all these busy folks to write for the record while they were hibernating?

Keith: I would write the music, sometimes Brian would come in and do some drum adjustments before we'd send it to Rob, and though he's fairly busy, Rob writes really fast, he's amazing.

STORM: When did Jen hook up with you guys?

Keith: A little over a year ago. Sometimes Rob would be on tour with Floater and we would be playing Sinferno Sundays at Dante's once or twice a month and we needed a vocalist. I've been friends with Jen for about ten years and I love her voice. It was a no-brainer.

STORM: Rob is a sexy bastard, but put Jen in there and you've got a serious makeout record on your hands. You're gonna be responsible for folks getting knocked up listening to this damn thing.

Keith: Not me. Making out isn't fucking anyway. It's very intimate--long slow kisses, fondling, getting off on the closeness and intensity.

STORM: It totally becomes fucking, though. I've NEVER made out with ANYONE and not gone down on them or ended up screwing them. I get too turned on.

Keith: Sounds like you have intimacy issues.

STORM: Whatever. What would you be doing if you weren't making music?

Keith: Pitching in the minor leagues. I used to be a really good baseball player, I'd like to see if I could still do that.

STORM: That's awesome! I could hit and throw, but couldn't catch to save my life. Speaking of baseball, what do you consider first base?

Keith: Tongue kissing.

STORM: I think it's anal--goin' straight for the ass.

Keith: What's a home run?

STORM: Hiding the body.

Keith: I really think you have intimacy issues.

STORM: Oh, whatever.

****

Don't overdo it on Halloween, because Deflower, Drumattica and TV616 will be playing Saturday, November 1st at Dante's for the Last Match Records showcase. Bring breath mints and condoms!