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12 Local b track tc Aiiki i i. ivmn liww music; cuuur Somewhere between the Doors and the Stooges, there are the New Jack Rubies They are one of several Columbia bands who came together as a complete unit in the last year and a half, but the members have been part of Columbia's music scene for so long they don't seem like a "new" band. The four members got together at guitarist Jaime Brailsford's home on a Sunday afternoon recently and chatted with The Gamecock about their music, the Columbia scene and things in general. The band sat around a table covered with stray items, an ash tray and beer cans, and the collection of better than a hundred records stacked in the corner served as unspoken evidence of their love of music. Drummer Darren Grey, wearing a very worn Ramones T-shirt, explained how the New Jack Rubies differed from previous projects the members have worked on. "It's the most straightforward," he said. "If s really streamline. I don't know how to say it, but it's just really good." Bassist Jim Taylor, sitting beside him on the couch, quickly added, "It's very minimalist. Everybody has their own parts that they throw in, and I think that everybody is competent enough to come up with their own parts and throw them together nicely." Dlntrmrf nff ToitIa^o /vwnmnnt crmmot* x Laying UUL wi xayiui o wiiuiiciii, ouigw Ray Jicha stressed the way the band works together. UP T( Your Quality Alternative to Bookstore Exclusiv 1609 Blossom St. phone orders with Mastercard or Vis free parking or walk from campus When you! talent of lea with Vivarin" And it's jus CS1 SmithKIme Beecham ?1995 &13 Consumer Healthcare Use only as directed. I and on > future "I don't really like to categorize oui other people hear in it." "If s really like four voices," he said. "I mean, thafs the main difference from anything Fve been in before. Ifs almost like a barbershop quartet." The New Jack Rubies may work together like a barbershop quartet, but their sound is nothing like that. The band members admit to being fans of early New York punk, and their music has been compared to the New York Dolls and the Stooges. But the deep, rambling quality of Jicha's vocals gives the music a slightly different edge and has brought comparisons to the Doors. Jicha said he's heard many comparisons about tne Dana but tnat they don't ever intend for a song to sound like anyone else. "I don't really like to categorize our music," he said. Tm more interested in what other people hear in it." Jicha writes the lyrics for the songs, but Taylor said the music is a group effort. He said, "Whoever's got an idea comes and presents it. We just ramble through it." Brailsford said, "It kinda happens real spontaneously." When writing the music the four members rely on the years of experience in other bands and on late night jam sessions. Taylor said, "On a lot of practices, maybe me, Jaime and Darren will get ) $75 D1 ? $50 Discc * $25 Discc J *75 D1 | mm Omthfioi VlUI |M !-?' stay awake in class, you tend rning through osmosis.) So t One tablet has the same a t as safe. Hey, anything is pi The Gamecock ^ vMLi the fast success I r music. I'm more interested in what Ray Jicha, singer for New Jack Rubies together. We just hash it out and throw j it down and record and present it to Ray | and give him something to work off of." I What comes out of these sessions is basic rock with a hard edge. The music is somewhere between standard garage rock and early New York hard core. While the four members of the band I handle the instruments and lyrics, Grey | admits "We're not producers." Jicha added, "We definitely need help on the technical end." Their three song demo tape was produced by John Furr, who is the guitarist for Danielle Howie and the lantrums. ^ Brailsford said the band doesn't have p any other direct ties with bands in Columbia but that the bands around o town tend to support one another. He said, "We're involved (with other a bands) in the sense of going to their shows o and standing up front." b All four members have been part of tl the Columbia scene for years. Grey said, "I haven't not been in a s band since I was 13." F They said the success of other local t bands hasn't really changed the music scene. ^ Brailsford said, "Really bands are just doing the same thing they were doing ^ before, and now MTV comes for two 8 days and then they're gone." tie said tnere is a strong sense 01 - [SCOUN >unt on gold cla Hint with paym 5COUNT! I H I I I SK|, fl JKk; v^^Hr & your folks. I to learn more. (Unless you ha lon't let fatigue get in the way mount of caffeine as about two ossible, if you're up for it. ^ i i ! Revii i | Monday, April 22,1996 lew Jack Rubies, a Columbia band, lay on the USC Horseshoe the weel ommunity among the Columbia bands. "That's one thing that I've noticed bout Columbia," he said. "There's lots i people who you don t really like their ands that much, but you really like hem and you want them to do good." He said Hootie and the Blowfish's uccess hasn't had the impact that many leople believe it has but admits that hey have done some good. "You really wish you could hate them," ie began. And finishing his sentence for him, irey said, but tnen they turn around ind give your sister a liver or something. One thing that distinguishes the New tack Rubies from other bands with a M 1 lss rings ent in full 11 L | ve an uncanny &: of your A, Revive cups of coffee. SJZSSZl ^ i /e with Vivarin! i '1 ? \ will not only be featured on a Cart k before the beginning of the fall a similar sound is the lyrics. Jicha said, "I take ideas from wherever I can get them. Usually these guys will suggest an alternative way of singing the rhnnis nr inst. crive me an idea nr a line to get started with. But if s hard for me to sing anybody's but my own lyrics. "That sounds pretentious as shit, but really, I know what I mean, I know the feeling I'm going for, and if s a lot harder to look at someone else's stuff and find it." He said he tries to avoid making his songs too personal. "I try not to write in first person that much," he said. "The lyrics may say T,' but it's not T as in Ray. I don't know, I \That1 .'i- ' /? firk^ /2LM GAMECOCK BOWUNl 1. Robert "Happy" Walt 2. Steven "Truman" Buj 3. Ethan "Professor X" ! 4. Adam "Big Red Turk 5. Tina "Captain" Morg 251. Sports "Didn't-Eve Professional Typing t "For excellent i Term F Database Resu T .aspr P Image scanni Disserl and mucl Faj New Location* You can send us i Suite 104 cha 1427 Pickens St. Phone:(803)765-2444 Fax:(803)765-9060 **~_2?~2?~ C ? 2~L. Degmmug apdiiiMi June 17-: 12:00 pm For children enterin] Please register by M Humanities Cla Registratio For more information call the Department of Portuguese a r^E" ? SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK >lina Productions CD, they will also emester. just don't really find my own problems that interesting." All four members of the band have full-time jobs but they hope to continue putting more time into their music. Jicha said, "We do this because we love it. And we try to be successful so we can do it more." The New Jack Rubies will be included on an upcoming compilation of Columbia bands that is being produced by Carolina Productions, and they are scheduled to play a show on the USC Horseshoe the week before fall semester begins. Sj? ' Mm' ^7*: UlWCXiZ B FINALS on -ritt Myerson ey" Snyder rf an jn-Show-Up" Staff ind Office Services mpressions " 'apers Services Lmes rinting ng/Graphics tations i more ( vork by fax at no r^e 100 Executive Center Drive Phone:(803)798-1502 Fax:(803)798-7700 I S B IS AT WW i lessons for kids! 28 M-F 1:00 did e 3rd or 4th grade. [ay 7 in room 202 issroom Bldg. n is free. or to register, please | Spanish, Italian, and t 777-4884 iiiMitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiiJ