Central Phoenix swooned to the rapturous rhythms of Austin's American Analog Set Wednesday night inside The Modified. The small club, a remodeled house with a low-level stage, offers a distinctive intimacy between band and audience.
"When a venue is smaller, there is ultimately more socialization with the audience," said vibraphonist and percussionist Sean Ripple.
Unique to many concerts, the majority of the audience sat cross-legged on the floor and listened intensely as if it was story time.
American Analog Set generates a meditative sound through repetition punctuated with the introduction of new musical ideas. Their heavily layered sound pieces together through subtle rhythms forming a whole. Much like a jazz musician, lead vocalist and guitarist Andrew Kenny turns and gestures to other members to progress or follow a musical thought.
"Ken is the skeletal structure behind our songs' mellower sounds," said Ripple.
Kenny's velvety vocals nicely stew in with the rest of the ensemble. Unlike many bands, the Analog Set does not fear simplicity or silence. By playing slowly or at moderate volume, they demonstrate that rock is not just a dynamically bipolar music genre.
The band started in 1995 in Fort Worth, Texas and moved to Austin in 1997. While they retain a consistently tranquil sound, not all members of American Analog Set closely identify with each other's music.
"Ken comes from more mellow stuff than Lee and myself," commented Drummer Mark Smith.
Bassist Lee Gillespie and Smith draw from punk rock and hardcore roots. Influenced by older bands such as teen straightedge leader Ian Mackay's "Minor Threat," Smith's taste in music creates diversity within the band's sound. To boot, Ripple's musical preference creates further contrast.
"I listen to post-punk and mid-1990s rock," said Ripple. "Really, our musical tastes are all over the place."
Although Analog Set members individually indulge in a broad spectrum of music, their sound together is natural.
"It's just how it came out," noted Smith. "There were no preconceptions. This sound just developed as we played together."
American Analog Set does not strive to enter the capricious industry of mainstream music.
"We aren't interested in going into the mainstream," said Ripple. "The music business is suited more for profit, not music making."
Much of the modern music industry caters to those that shoot for consistent chart toppers. This means that bands in the mainstream must write for profit and for appeal to the masses if they want to make it big. American Analog Set writes for itself, to create music it like and to play it.
"We do what we want," said Smith. "We don't pander to anyone because it's not about money."
Their goals as a band are modest and self-fulfilling.
"We just want to write, play, and record our music," noted Smith. "After seven years I still get a kick out of seeing our records in stores. If I stop getting that feeling, it's time to quit."
To kick off its newest album, Promise of Love, Analog Set embarked on a six-week tour. They rocked the United Kingdom and swept across the United States. Though fatigued, they enchanted the audience, mimicking the dim resonation of The Modified's stage lights. Tempe was the third to last stop on their tour, which will conclude Saturday at The Mercury in Austin, Texas.
Chris Kark is a reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at christopher.kark@asu.edu.
