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Counter-Culture at the Cultural Center
Rich Howells
“Only in
Scranton” is all I can think when I’m watching the psychedelic
funk-rock quintet known as Felix Sarco’s Polar Power Manifesto Magnet
Supernova as they scream, writhe, dance, thrash, and just generally rock
their way through a tune called “Once Upon a Mountain Top,” which,
for the curious, is written from the perspective of a god of fire.
In this sea of
mediocrity known as the local music “scene,” there are about a
handful of bands that do not cover “Free Bird” and other karaoke
favorites during every set at whatever local dive of your preference.
One is the aforementioned self-proclaimed Supernova, who, for short-term
memory’s sake, simply go by Felix Sarco. I had the pleasure of meeting
these fine fellows in the early stages of their career as a band, just a
few short years ago through a friend-of-a-friend sort of dealing. The
drummer was the first to make my acquaintance, a fellow Marywood student
by the name of Ryan Placko. Usually found sporting jeans, a hoodie, and
a Yankees cap, one would not assume in passing that he would take part
in a band whose primary mission is to bring about the death of rock n’
roll. But once he takes the stage with a psycho named C.C. Psychotica on
synthesizer, fashion-savvy guitarist Justin Kraky, shockingly quiet but
extremely dexterous bassist Jeff Franklin, and a singer calling himself
Captain Cromley Legussa, your snap judgment snaps directly back into
your face. So I decided to sit down with Mr. Placko and try to unravel
the mystery that is this band of misfits while trying to get closer to
the inevitable question – who the hell is this mysterious sixth member
known only as “Felix Sarco”?
What
kind of music did you play previously to Felix
Sarco? What made you want to partake in this present
musical journey? How did you guys
meet, come together, and decide on the very
distinct sound you currently possess?
My three major projects prior to Felix Sarco were a progressive metal
band, a speed-funk quartet, and a jazz/funk trio called Whisper Not. I
was actually scouted at a Whisper Not show by Gavin Robb (the former
singer of the band and our current recording engineer and manager).
Felix was looking for a drummer who was dexterous in both heavy rock and
jazz, and those were the main influences on my style at the time. The
band had been playing in Wisconsin before I joined, and moved to
Scranton after rumors started to float around in Wisconsin about
Felix’s true identity. I was the last member to be found after Gavin
got Captain Cromley Legussa to replace him on vocals and Justin Kraky
for guitar. Our music has evolved quite a bit since I joined the
band. When I started to play with them, their sound became much more
dynamic and intense. Then about six
months after I joined, Felix brought in a synth player, C.C. Psychotica
(who joined and is still playing because of a debt he owes to Felix).
His use of electronics has made the band about as unique as anything
you’ll hear.
So
Felix Sarco has begun a war to bring down rock n'
roll. Why does rock need to bite the big one, and do
you see any hope for music's
future?
Well, the rock n’ roll destruction was Felix’s idea, but I think we
all sincerely believe in the cause now based on the proverbial nosedive
music has taken since we’ve been playing together. Cromley puts it
best when he calls rock n’ roll a gold-shitting Terri Schiavo. It’s
something that people want to keep around not for the sake of what it is
or its functional capability, but as a tool for future brainwashing down
the road. For the easily offended, new rock music is like taking a
Polaroid of a mediocre picture and making tons of money off of it. I
don’t know if anyone in the band believes in our cause more than I do
as I generally hate rock music, save for a few great bands here and
there or a band that helps me achieve as a musician. I believe that
rock music has whittled away little by little at American music, and
will continue to do so until everything sounds like Nickelback. So, in
conclusion, we fight rock n’ roll with our own bastardized version of
rock n’ roll.
As far as music’s
future, it’s not looking so good. Realistically, killing rock really
won’t fix all of music and entertainment’s problems. I also shudder
to think at what would happen if people started to try to emulate us.
Not
to pry then, as to give away trade secrets, but what is the songwriting
process like for the band?
Do you all have an equal say in what the songs develop
into?
It depends on the song really. Sometimes Cromley writes lyrics and that
influences how a song develops, but other times it will be a riff from
somebody or a beat from me. Some of our songs take months to write. The
2nd song off of our new album, “Q&A,” took us about 6 months of
writing until we were satisfied with it. Others we have together in a
few practices.
What
do you hope people take away from a Felix Sarco
performance? Are there certain messages within the
lyrics you hope audiences grasp
or is it all left up to personal interpretation?
You’d probably get five different answers if you asked everyone in the
band. Personally, I just hope people leave feeling a little better about
life. So much of music and popular culture now focuses on how shitty
life is and apparently the only way to improve that is to put on a
sweater and whine about the girl that left you for the jock. We have two
“self-help” sessions in most of our sets that are the polar opposite
of that. “Self Image” and “Multifaceted Super Sexy Beast” both
promote self-confidence in a sarcastic, in-your-face kind of way. In
general, we like when people get more out of a show than just the music
or the on-stage antics. But if you just dig the music or the transgender
frontman, that’s cool too. As far as most of the lyrics go,
Cromley doesn’t even really know what he’s talking about half of the
time, so it’s up to the listener for their interpretation.
How
has the local music scene reacted to the band?
What is your opinion of the scene in general? Has it
helped/hindered progress of the band?
We always laughingly operate on the assumption that all of the local
bands hate us, but there are lots of people from local bands that are
doing really good things for area music and support us every show. There
is a small contingent of unconventional bands right now that really seem
to be doing something different
in the area and people are really about it. To name a few, Alien Red,
the Reigning Toads and Tevis are all doing very creative things and
attracting a lot of attention. As always, though, there are lots of
scenesters who ruin everything. Those are the same bands whose fans are
stabbing each other and shutting down great local venues.
The area scene has been really good to us for the most part. There
are a lot of area venues that are afraid of bringing us in but we
don’t really like to overload one area with our presence anyway. The
infrequency with which we play in Scranton makes the shows we do play
even better and I think our fans appreciate that. We haven’t played in
the area in a while, and our CD release show at the Cultural Center on
March 11 should be great.
We’ll
definitely get to that in a little bit. As you
mentioned, you guys have quite the cult
following, but there's got to be those people who
just "don't get it." What do you say to
them, or those that may be intimidated by the
non-conventional performances you have become known
for?
We are really fortunate to have the great fan base that we do. I wish we
could have more shows for the under 21 people but there aren’t many
all-age venues around any more. (Refer to my comment about the
stabbings.) In general, people all over are cool and are entertained by
what we do. It takes some of them
a few shows to get the hang of what’s really going on and the fact
that we’re not serious about anything, but it’s rarely an issue.
Every now and then Johnny Meathead asks Cromley why he’s in a dress,
but that same guy usually ends up in a pool of his own vomit by the end
of the night. As far as the people that are “intimidated,” I
guess I’d just tell them to read some books or maybe disconnect the
cable TV for a while. Of course, C.C.’s daughter did punt her
newborn baby into the crowd at our Halloween show. I guess that’s
intimidating.
Apparently
not to Marywood. You have quite a few fans from there, myself included.
Has it surprised you that you
were so well received on campus?
The response has been shockingly good. We are consistently the 2nd
biggest draw for a SAC event at Marywood. 2nd only to Bingo,
I think, but they give away money. All we’ve got is dudes in dresses
and loud noises. A decent amount of those people aren’t Marywood
students though so I’d like to see more MU people come out. When
Cromley and I toured the campus in the fall to promote a show, we had
people tell us that they were going to check their Myspace instead of
coming to a free show. When the revolution comes and its time to recruit
brick-throwers, those people won’t be first on the list. Nonetheless,
a huge portion of our loyal following is Marywood students or graduates
and their support is extremely appreciated.
You're
one of the less…let's just say "obvious"
members of the band when it comes to the spectacle
that is Sarco. Does that give you
a greater advantage onstage when you let loose
during your solos, for example?
Not really. I play like everybody is watching me even if we’re
playing a small venue where I’m virtually invisible. Our new stage set
up puts Cromley away from me so the crowd can see what I’m up to, and
just being able to see them helps me play better (or maybe just more
enthusiastically.) A lot of our new music features the drums so
we’ve adjusted to that, I guess. I do have a big obnoxious drum solo
coming at the CD release show though, which I am looking forward to. I
find them to really help my on-stage confidence. I think people
enjoy them a lot too.
You
being the drummer means that you get the
hottest groupies, I assume?
Actually Fandango the Bandana is the ladies man in the group. He’s a
substitute for Kraky when he can’t make a show. Chicks dig guys who
make up their own language and communicate through a plush devil toy
that hangs out of the front of their shorts.
I don’t think I
have a possible segway there, so let’s just talk about that show. I'm
sure there's a lot of excitement over putting
out a new album. What makes this self-titled album
special and what kind of plans do
you have for the CD release party? How does it
compare to your previous release, and where do you
see the band going in the future?
Is this a "on the side" sort of thing or is
there hope that it becomes a
monster all its own?
Yeah, there’s a lot of excitement because we really feel this album
gives people an idea of what we do. We also did the recording, mixing,
and mastering ourselves. The last album didn’t have C.C. on it, it
wasn’t well recorded and it has a whole bunch of songs that we don’t
play any more because our new material has surpassed them. The first
album came off as way too serious, too. There’s really no question
about the feel of this album. We have a song called “One for the Earth
Girls” that is the Sarco equivalent of a sugar pop song about a
hormonally overextended astronaut that’s spent to much time away from
home. “Self-Image” also advocates urinating on people because you
are better than them.
The CD Release show
will be at the Scranton Cultural Center on March 11th, also known as
parade day in Scranton. We will be selling copies of the album for
$2. The cost doesn’t reflect the quality though. We just think it
makes more sense for a band at our level to get the music out to as many
people as possible and
not worry about making a profit.
Our music is really
why we’re all here. After everyone has graduated from their respective
colleges by the fall of 06’, we’re expanding our operation quite a
bit. We may move out of the area so trips to the Philadelphia area are
shorter, but we won’t be deserting Scranton. We’ll definitely be
back for shows.
While we’re thinking big here, this “Felix Sarco”
guy is really Michael Jackson, isn't he?
I hope so. Either Michael or James Brown or George Clinton. I’ve never
met or even talked to Felix so I’m open to any ideas. Your idea makes
sense since Felix requested that Cromley say “shamoaney” at the end
of every line. I thought that was a bit odd.
If you go, be sure
to open your mind first and leave those inhibitions waiting at the door.
And don’t try looking for this “Sarco” character. Believe me,
I’ve tried – he never seems to show up.
The "Felix Sarco" CD release show:
Saturday, March 11 at the Scranton Cultural Center
Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8:00.
Opening act Heavens to Metroid from Baltimore, MD.
$6 cover charge, all ages, 21+ to drink.
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