H-Beam
H-Beam
Nashville, TN
Rock / Psychedelic
| Status | The weekend is here. Time to rock it out Beam style. |
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Bio
H-Beam's wild stage show pulls influences from a strong upbringing in the entertainment industry. By fusing aspects of theater and music, the band fathers a musical variety show resembling genes of Rocky Horror and Frank Zappa. Sweeping, psychedelic melodies and bizarre lyrical content propel their sets, as slews of props and masks add to their outrageous on-stage antics. With elaborate compositions pushed to the boundary by weird twisted humor, H-Beam captivates audiences by leaving them with a unique musical experience. The band harnesses the power of sheer sensory overload and imprints a lasting memory in the minds of those that dare to stray from the comforts of predictable rock formulas.
About
Wesley Hodges - The Deli
"One thing's for sure—there is nothing like an H-Beam show in Music City." Wesley Hodges, www.thedelimagazine.com/nashville
How does an everyday shoe-gazing jam band transform themselves into a must-see "theatrical experimental rock extravaganza"? Enlist a panda dressed as Lil' Jon, a saxophone-playing frog and center a hilarious rock opera around a fiddle-playing newfound lesbian (JANE) and the rest will kind of take care of itself. Local rockers H-Beam pushed the envelope at their recent mid-afternoon set at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring festival and debuted an oddly engaging and somehow well-produced (given the lack of rehearsal) rock opera called JANE. Many music fans cringe at the utterance of the rock opera concept, but H-Beam embraced the idea and had a great deal of fun in the process, endearing themselves to the early bird crowd who came to watch the production unfold. This week, Wesley Hodges of The Deli Magazine catches up with brothers and founding members of H-Beam Matt (guitar/vocals) & Topher Walberg (bass/keys/vocals) to discuss JANE, playing in Music City, and all things H-Beam.
Deli Magazine: Tell me about the birth of H-Beam. What did you guys do musically before H-Beam and what led to the birth of the band?
Matt Walberg: Out of high school, I did some coffee house gigs. Eventually I put a band together of the acoustic rock variety and we did some shows. I talked my baby bro into picking up the electric bass. In 2002, I moved from California to Tennessee and started The Hollywood Band with Kenneth Mount (who has produced Cartel, Jimmie Eat World and Ludacris), Marcus "Stix" Finnie (Space Capone, Wooten Brothers), and Dillon Smith (Happy Birthday Amy). Shortly thereafter, I picked up an electric guitar again. The Hollywood Band was no more and H-Beam was created. Brian Rosser on drums and we were a trio. A lot of player changes and an album recorded. From then to now, H-Beam has evolved from what I would call the typical jam band to a theatrical experimental rock extravaganza.
Deli: What do you love most about playing shows in Music City?
TW: Nashville audiences exude this notion that they've seen it all, granted this is Music City. So the expressions on their faces when we get on stage is priceless. That's what I love the most.
Deli: How did the concept for the “Jane” rock opera come about? Were the songs in place before you guys put it together or were some of the tracks written particularly for the Rites of Spring show?
TW: During the set, like usual, Matt and I were ad-libbing some banter between tunes and we both spontaneously began running with this theme for the remainder of the show. The meat of the banter was tied to our song "Jane & Jane", which is simply about lesbians. Once we returned home, we began scoring and writing the script for the opera which grew into "Jane". By show time, we had written two new pieces, several new arrangements for some of our material being toured currently, and we debuted the entire opera at the Rites of Spring performance.
Deli: How much rehearsal time went into putting together such a hilarious and strange performance? Do any of you guys have acting/drama experience?
MW: Our Mom was a figure skater with the ice follies back in the days of disco, where she met our Dad who was the musical producer at the time. He went on to be a head musical engineer for Jim Henson and his live Muppet shows. That might shed some light on things.
TW: It would be safe to say that both our daily lives are constant rehearsals for our strange stage antics. Joking aside, I was lucky enough to catch a break—a short one at that—as a child-actor. When I was seven years old, I was cast in the movie "Little Giants." I was also cast as a regular in the Nickelodeon cartoon "Hey Arnold!" as the voice of "Stinky." That was the extent of my career, a very educating one which has adapted well to our stage show.
Deli: What does H-Beam have going in the near future?
MW: A new album is in the works and it's about time. We hope to have a more steady flow of material via albums and online releases.
TW: We both work very spontaneously, which breeds immense creativity in every aspect of what we do as artists. Just as "Jane" was conceived with only a little more than a month before it's debut, you have as good a guess as I do when it comes to what's coming next.
Deli: Do you guys have any grand aspirations of doing something in a similar vein as "Jane" every show where it is somewhat of a production that fans can expect each time they come to an H-Beam show?
MW: The whole act is always evolving. The past year we played 71 dates, which helped us get way more comfortable on stage. Why not make a gig into a wild and crazy time with the help of some lights, a fogger, songs about lesbians, a masturbating panda, and whatever else we think would make a few people laugh out loud? We just really need a budget…and a van. Paper Mache, hot glue guns, cardboard, and Hertz rent-a-van will only get us so far.
TW: Our stage antics and visuals will always be an integral part of what we do. I constantly joke, "It's all over when we get a budget."
One thing's for sure—there is nothing like an H-Beam show in Music City.
"One thing's for sure—there is nothing like an H-Beam show in Music City." Wesley Hodges, www.thedelimagazine.com/nashville
How does an everyday shoe-gazing jam band transform themselves into a must-see "theatrical experimental rock extravaganza"? Enlist a panda dressed as Lil' Jon, a saxophone-playing frog and center a hilarious rock opera around a fiddle-playing newfound lesbian (JANE) and the rest will kind of take care of itself. Local rockers H-Beam pushed the envelope at their recent mid-afternoon set at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring festival and debuted an oddly engaging and somehow well-produced (given the lack of rehearsal) rock opera called JANE. Many music fans cringe at the utterance of the rock opera concept, but H-Beam embraced the idea and had a great deal of fun in the process, endearing themselves to the early bird crowd who came to watch the production unfold. This week, Wesley Hodges of The Deli Magazine catches up with brothers and founding members of H-Beam Matt (guitar/vocals) & Topher Walberg (bass/keys/vocals) to discuss JANE, playing in Music City, and all things H-Beam.
Deli Magazine: Tell me about the birth of H-Beam. What did you guys do musically before H-Beam and what led to the birth of the band?
Matt Walberg: Out of high school, I did some coffee house gigs. Eventually I put a band together of the acoustic rock variety and we did some shows. I talked my baby bro into picking up the electric bass. In 2002, I moved from California to Tennessee and started The Hollywood Band with Kenneth Mount (who has produced Cartel, Jimmie Eat World and Ludacris), Marcus "Stix" Finnie (Space Capone, Wooten Brothers), and Dillon Smith (Happy Birthday Amy). Shortly thereafter, I picked up an electric guitar again. The Hollywood Band was no more and H-Beam was created. Brian Rosser on drums and we were a trio. A lot of player changes and an album recorded. From then to now, H-Beam has evolved from what I would call the typical jam band to a theatrical experimental rock extravaganza.
Deli: What do you love most about playing shows in Music City?
TW: Nashville audiences exude this notion that they've seen it all, granted this is Music City. So the expressions on their faces when we get on stage is priceless. That's what I love the most.
Deli: How did the concept for the “Jane” rock opera come about? Were the songs in place before you guys put it together or were some of the tracks written particularly for the Rites of Spring show?
TW: During the set, like usual, Matt and I were ad-libbing some banter between tunes and we both spontaneously began running with this theme for the remainder of the show. The meat of the banter was tied to our song "Jane & Jane", which is simply about lesbians. Once we returned home, we began scoring and writing the script for the opera which grew into "Jane". By show time, we had written two new pieces, several new arrangements for some of our material being toured currently, and we debuted the entire opera at the Rites of Spring performance.
Deli: How much rehearsal time went into putting together such a hilarious and strange performance? Do any of you guys have acting/drama experience?
MW: Our Mom was a figure skater with the ice follies back in the days of disco, where she met our Dad who was the musical producer at the time. He went on to be a head musical engineer for Jim Henson and his live Muppet shows. That might shed some light on things.
TW: It would be safe to say that both our daily lives are constant rehearsals for our strange stage antics. Joking aside, I was lucky enough to catch a break—a short one at that—as a child-actor. When I was seven years old, I was cast in the movie "Little Giants." I was also cast as a regular in the Nickelodeon cartoon "Hey Arnold!" as the voice of "Stinky." That was the extent of my career, a very educating one which has adapted well to our stage show.
Deli: What does H-Beam have going in the near future?
MW: A new album is in the works and it's about time. We hope to have a more steady flow of material via albums and online releases.
TW: We both work very spontaneously, which breeds immense creativity in every aspect of what we do as artists. Just as "Jane" was conceived with only a little more than a month before it's debut, you have as good a guess as I do when it comes to what's coming next.
Deli: Do you guys have any grand aspirations of doing something in a similar vein as "Jane" every show where it is somewhat of a production that fans can expect each time they come to an H-Beam show?
MW: The whole act is always evolving. The past year we played 71 dates, which helped us get way more comfortable on stage. Why not make a gig into a wild and crazy time with the help of some lights, a fogger, songs about lesbians, a masturbating panda, and whatever else we think would make a few people laugh out loud? We just really need a budget…and a van. Paper Mache, hot glue guns, cardboard, and Hertz rent-a-van will only get us so far.
TW: Our stage antics and visuals will always be an integral part of what we do. I constantly joke, "It's all over when we get a budget."
One thing's for sure—there is nothing like an H-Beam show in Music City.
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