When Nick Gordon was trying to gather local bands for a compilation of Lawrence music, he didn't have to look too far. That's because the drummer, who pounds the skins for two area bands Ugly Boyfriend and Chebella! has made a few friends in his eight years in town. Members of The Get Up Kids, Proudentall, Reflector and The New Amsterdams join area heroes like The Appleseed Cast, Everest and Panel Doner on the recently released project, "The Soundtrack For Moments." The result of Gordon's labor is a collection of experimental tracks and outtakes from some of the city's best-known musical minds that underscores the breadth of talent here.
"I don't like compilations in general," Gordon says, phoning from Austin, Tex., where he's attending the South By Southwest conference. "They're usually unlistenable. You like a few songs and there's no continuity. I want to put out really good singer-songwriters, Lawrence rock and whatever else. There's no better way to start than to put out a compilation with all my favorite Lawrence bands. I really wanted to capture a small part of the scene instead of trying to capture all the little subgenres of Lawrence and Kansas City. So I just picked my favorite bands, which happen to be all my really good friends."
Gordon, whose distribution company Artist's Workshop puts local bands in area retail outlets, helped form two new record labels. The hip-hop and beat-based We Sell Soul Records focuses on that end of the regional music scene while Braintree Foundation has a more diverse, eclectic nature. For Gordon, who's as much a hip-hop fan as any other kind of music, starting a couple of record companies was an organic process.
"I've been a musical part of the community for some years now," he says. "There's no way I ever would've been interested in ever putting out records if I hadn't been a musician. It provides a foundation for everything I do. I think I've been lucky enough because I've had the opportunity to have my own companies and kind of be in charge to sort of put them all together. So it's kind of all connected and I like it that way."
One interesting aspect of "Moments" is the decidedly experimental nature of many of its tracks. Rather than pounding listeners over the head with "The Lawrence Sound," artists submitted songs that dared to go beyond the usual. Thus, Shawnee a band featuring Proudentall's Matt Dunehoo (billed as "Dunahue" here) showcases a different side of the sonic spectrum, focusing on nuanced harmonies and introspective lyrics instead of raucous riffing. Tijuana Crime Scene a supergroup of sorts boasting members of The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams and producer Ed Rose contains thick slices of "Cortez the Killer" guitar and swelling harmonies set to a steady, grinding beat. According to Gordon, the record's off-the-beaten-path dynamic wasn't planned.
"Ninety percent of the bands had a song done," he explains. "I asked them to be on the record and they picked the song. The cool part of the process was that, when I went into it, I thought it was going to be a totally different record. I thought it was going to be much more rockin'. It turned out that all these bands have kind of evolved and turned in songs that were a little bit more mature sounding and textured and intimate."
To celebrate the release of "Moments," several of the included bands will gather for a two-evening festival at The Bottleneck. Wednesday's show includes The Appleseed Cast, Everest, Tijuana Crime Scene, Shawnee and host T.K. Webb. Thursday's (March 29) show features Danny Pound, The Ugly Boyfriend, Redbones and a special "surprise guest from out of town." For Gordon, and for Lawrence, the release party helps usher in a new era for area music.
"The evolution of the scene has been really awesome," Gordon enthuses. "I came from Minneapolis, so I came from a really proud rock scene and one of a different nature. It's less of a transient city. Here you have lots of bands come and go because people come to school and leave. When I came to Lawrence, it was during the post Paw and Stick getting signed, we're-the-next-Seattle thing. I knew it was a really good scene but I didn't know what to expect. I've seen the scene change. It gets big and then there were a few years where it didn't seem like people weren't coming out to a lot of local shows. Then The Get Up Kids and The Anniversary getting really big those bands toured their asses off and became successful. All of the sudden people are coming out to shows more."
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