Shepherdstown trio The Demon Beat comes to The Boulevard Tavern this Saturday night for a show with Tofujitsu, The Nanker Phelge and The Shaw Brothers.
A: "Not a major label, no. We do everything ourselves. We work out of our house. Adam [Meisterhans, guitarist and singer] records people. Our drummer [Jordan Hudkins] is a graphic designer and has a screen-printing studio in the basement. I handle publicity and booking.
"We've got our own thing with Big Bullet Records, which we started."
Q: You played Austin's South by Southwest last year, which is usually a place bands go to get noticed by a record label. How was that?
A:"We've done that two years. It's kind of hit or miss. It's a good networking experience, that's for sure, but every band in America is there. It's hard to get noticed when all that's going on. We're glad we did it, but we're not going back this year.
"Last year, our van blew up. There was some kind of a recall about the undercarriage. It could come loose and drop the engine. We ran over it and had to rent a car from Louisiana to Austin, then get back home. This year, we're just going to tour during South by Southwest."
Q:What about those 22 days on tour?
A:"That was pretty great. It was 25 shows spread out over 22 days. It was like 25 shows in 14 states. We got as far north as New York, as far west as Chicago and were in Mississippi and Atlanta. We did a lot of in-store appearances and college radio.
"One of the places we played was our favorite record store, Joe's Record Paradise, in Silver Springs, Maryland. That was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people in during the day buying records, and there we were being loud in the corner."
Q:There's a self-effacing side to the band in some of its lyrics, like "You only love me when you're stoned." Where does that come from?
A:"Adam kind of puts himself out there and is always looking for creative ways to write about it -- and a lot of that stuff is tongue-in-cheek. There are a lot of bands out there that take themselves way too seriously. We're not one of them."
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
WANT TO GO?
The Demon Beat, Tofujitsu, The Shaw Brothers and The Nanker Phelge
WHERE: The Boulevard Tavern, 806 Kanawha Blvd.
WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Saturday
TICKETS: Advance $7, at the door $8
INFO: 304-205-7951 or www.theboulevardtavernwv.com
On Saturday,
The Demon Beat visits Charleston for a show a
The Boulevard Tavern that also features Charleston's
Tofujitsu and
The Nanker Phelge and Columbus'
The Shaw Brothers. It's a night of garage-band heavy music with the ragged rock guitars of The Demon Beat leading the way.
With the year winding down, the gazz spoke to Tucker Riggleman, bassist for the Shepherdstown-based trio, about the band's experiences in 2011 and its hopes for 2012.
Q:How was 2011 for The Demon Beat?
A:"Really good. We put out a full album in July, toured 22 days in support of that, sold all the albums and had to do another press. We've been recording, and we're getting excited about the stuff we're going to put out next year."
Q:Is The Demon Beat signed to a label?
A: "Not a major label, no. We do everything ourselves. We work out of our house. Adam [Meisterhans, guitarist and singer] records people. Our drummer [Jordan Hudkins] is a graphic designer and has a screen-printing studio in the basement. I handle publicity and booking.
"We've got our own thing with Big Bullet Records, which we started."
Q: You played Austin's South by Southwest last year, which is usually a place bands go to get noticed by a record label. How was that?
A:"We've done that two years. It's kind of hit or miss. It's a good networking experience, that's for sure, but every band in America is there. It's hard to get noticed when all that's going on. We're glad we did it, but we're not going back this year.
"Last year, our van blew up. There was some kind of a recall about the undercarriage. It could come loose and drop the engine. We ran over it and had to rent a car from Louisiana to Austin, then get back home. This year, we're just going to tour during South by Southwest."
Q:What about those 22 days on tour?
A:"That was pretty great. It was 25 shows spread out over 22 days. It was like 25 shows in 14 states. We got as far north as New York, as far west as Chicago and were in Mississippi and Atlanta. We did a lot of in-store appearances and college radio.
"One of the places we played was our favorite record store, Joe's Record Paradise, in Silver Springs, Maryland. That was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people in during the day buying records, and there we were being loud in the corner."
Q:There's a self-effacing side to the band in some of its lyrics, like "You only love me when you're stoned." Where does that come from?
A:"Adam kind of puts himself out there and is always looking for creative ways to write about it -- and a lot of that stuff is tongue-in-cheek. There are a lot of bands out there that take themselves way too seriously. We're not one of them."
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
Get Connected