Touted as "the best rock band in America that nobody knows" by author Stephen King, Marah just wants to write songs that have meaning — something that is missing from today's music, said Dave Bielanko, vocalist and guitarist for the band.
Bielanko, his brother Serge Bielanko (guitar/vocals), Kirk Henderson (bass/keys), Dave Peterson (drums) and Adam Garbinski (guitar) make up the quintet from Philadelphia, whose first record debuted in 1998. The State News talked to Dave Bielanko about Marah and its future plans.
State News: How did the band form?
Dave Bielanko: My brother and I have always been together, and I started the band just a little bit before I asked him to join it. I don't really know how bands get together. I guess everyone just wants to be cool at that point in your life.
SN: Where did the name "Marah" come from?
DB: The name means "bitter." It's from the Old Testament. We saw it on some Catholic school quiz. We thought it looked good on a T-shirt.
SN: How would you describe your sound?
DB: It's rock 'n' roll, but we've always tried to play it in a not-exclusive sort of way. It's not aimed at anyone, like people who wear this or that. We've concentrated on writing songs and actually saying something and throwing down and putting on a great show.
SN: Who were your early musical influences?
DB: I remember having a Little Richard album and someone giving us a Johnny Cash album. Kiss was huge — we used to paint our faces like Kiss. In high school, it was The Ramones. Bob Dylan. Everything is a part of you at some point.
SN: How does "If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry" compare to your earlier albums?
DB: We look at them as sort of chapters in a book. They're all different but have a cohesive thing that they share. One inspires the next one. This record, when we recorded it, we wanted to capture the spontaneous things that are missing from music. We put it together very hastily to capture the essence of rock 'n' roll.
SN: What do you hope listeners get out of your songs?
DB: That's up for interpretation. We'd just like to reach as many people as possible and give them the option to hear it.
SN: What's your live show like?
DB: It's pretty wicked. We sweat a lot, really care about it. It's very exciting, very much in the moment. It's confusing sometimes because people aren't used to seeing it. Usually shows are a rehearsed, nervous kind of affair. We're very comfortable and good at what we do and have fun doing it. We're doing it with our best friends — it's a real rock 'n' roll show.
SN: Any good tour stories?
DB: My whole life has become a tour story.
SN: How do you feel about coming to The Temple Club on Friday?
DB: We've never been to Lansing, so it should be kind of exciting. A lot of people will probably travel from Detroit, so that'll be cool.
SN: What is your fan base like?
DB: They tend to be people that music means a lot to. They're not people that music is background to their lives. People that pay to see us play and buy our records are people that are usually passionate.
SN: Who are your favorite artists right now?
DB: I can't really answer that. I'm just so immersed in our music usually that I don't have time to listen to new stuff. One we're off the road, I can usually catch up. I love Frank Sinatra though.
SN: What's the coolest thing you've done so far?
DB: Just getting to travel. I've seen so much of the world and stuff. Right now, we're going to Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. We just got back from Spain. That was amazing, being with the only people that I truly care about. The rewards are great: You pay a high price, normalcy tends to get away from you, but it's a pretty amazing life. That in general is the reward.
SN: What do you plan on doing next?
DB: We're going to go to South By Southwest (a music festival in Austin, Texas). From there, we'll go again to Europe and play through Germany and Italy. And then when that's done, I'm sure our booking agent will have booked us another tour. We definitely will be making a new record in 2006. We're working on all the songs now. We're trying to start it very soon in the little breaks that we have that are usually only about a week long. Busy bees.
