{image1}Part DNA, part Flipper, part Pere Ubu (there, we've covered the East, West and Midwest), and part Pharaoh Sanders, IfIHadAHiFi is an experimental rock-and-roll outfit that matches adventurous musical trips with melodic songs.
The group's fine second disc, "No More Music," was released on Contraphonic earlier this year and followed 2001's "Ones and Zeroes," released on Contraphonic predecessor, No Karma.
With some upcoming gigs on the books, we talked with drummer Dr. Awkward (aka Mr. Palindrome) about the band, and its music, which some describe as "no wave," much to the disgust, it seems, of others.
Not on hand were bassist Mr. Alarm and guitarists Yale Delay and Reno Loner, who were, apparently, busy hanging salami.
OMC: While the band's music defies classification, people will undoubtedly ask what you sound like. How do you respond when asked?
Dr. Awkward: Yes, this is any band's favorite question to answer. Thank you. The toughest place to answer this kind of question is in the workplace, because when people find out you're in a band, they immediately want to ask you about it, and depending on the person asking the question, you may get anything from "what do you sound like?" to "So, do you play '60s-'70s variety, or is it more '80s Top 40?" So, I try to tailor the answer to the audience.
Generally, if the person asking me was just talking about how country music's really come a long way since the old twang days -- something I DID actually hear in my office the other day! The shock! The scandal! Clearly, this person was not a hipster! -- saying "we're broken disco-punk with a no-wave pop sensibility" will likely win me little more than a blank stare and a "so, um ... you like music ... who do like in this year's 'American Idol'?"
So, I find myself often saying, "we're loud, noisy and borderline unlistenable, but we have lots of catchy hooks that you can sing along to," which tends to result in someone saying, "you mean like a metal band?" to which I inwardly slap my forehead. Apparently "noisy" just equals "loud" in many people's minds, whereas my operational definition of "noisy" is "shrill feedback that could peel the mucus membrane off the inside of your nose." I guess it's all about semantics, really.
OMC: The songs sound very collaborative, how does the band approach writing?
DA: Wow, they do? That's incredibly perceptive of you, because songwriting at HiFi HQ is a collaborative effort. Basically someone starts playing a riff, a drumbeat, or -- most often -- a random noise, and we start to "jam" around it, much in the tradition of String Cheese Incident or O.A.R. or whatever the hell that hippie band is called. We'll play around with it for a practice or two and if it sticks, then great! We flesh it out in the next few practices, add lyrics sometime in the next year, and eventually we have a song.
If the riffs don't inspire a maddening urge to play the song five times each in the next three practices, we tend to get impatient and ditch the idea, figuring that something better will come along and be more deserving of our attention. Yale is fond of saying that we probably wrote and discarded a whole 'nother album in the time it took to write and record "No More Music," and he's probably not far off. Which is fine with me ... I don't ever want to be one of those bands that holds onto every lame demo and second-rate throwaway song just so they can cash in with a sad "b-sides and rarities" comp. If it's not good enough for an album, it's not good enough to ever play again.
This makes it very frustrating sometimes, because all four guys need to be excited about whatever riff or part gets introduced, or the whole song tends to get chucked.
OMC: IfIHadaHiFi has a very unconventional sound, do you have a weak spot for anything conventional as a music fan? Are there Nelly discs hidden in the closet?
DA: Well, I don't think any of us own any Nelly CDs, but I can guarantee you they wouldn't be in the closet if we did; they'd be right out in the open. Really, our "unconventional" sound is a result of four music geeks listening to anything and everything possible and mashing it all together. Well, sure, most of it is early-'80s post-punk and noise bands, but still. The "hidden" track on our CD -- listen really close! Can you find it? It's hidden! Hidden immediately after the last listed track! Whoo, we're sneaky! -- is a cover of Stevie Wonder's classic "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and I assure you that the song was covered with no ironic intent whatsoever. We were accused of that once, which made me want to pick a fight, or at least speak very sarcastically and incredulously in the accuser's direction.
We're all suckers for classic pop music, punk, metal, what have you. My favorite acts growing up were Debbie Gibson, Huey Lewis and the News, Tiffany, Def Leppard, 10-armed and Motley Crue, and I still think they're all great. But I could be looking back on Tiffany with the rose-colored glasses of her 2002 Playboy spread, objectively speaking.
OMC: What's the significance of the title of the new record?
DA: Yale came up with it. According to him the song of the same name deals with the concept of destroying music and musical conventions and reducing it all to cacophony and racket ... which we have been accused of in both flattering and unflattering contexts. We've also often been fond of using the word "no" in our lyrics and song titles for years, because we have a friend who plays in a really great no-wave band who can't stand our band and often bristles when he hears people refer to us as "no-wave," so we like to imagine him having a minor seizure whenever he hears us say the word "no."
OMC: If you had a hi fi ... then what?
DA: I guess we'd have to change the name of the band to "Go Hang A Salami, I'm a Lasagna Hog" or some other cumbersome palindrome. Of course, then some interviewer would just ask us "What if I DID hang a salami...then what?" And then we'd just break up out of frustration from having to pick more new band names, like this band we know who decided to quit rather than deal with finding their fifth drummer in three years. Slackers, all of 'em.
Find IfIHadAHiFi on the Web at ifihadahifi.net.
See the band live at Onopa Brewing on Tuesday, Dec. 14 and New Year's Eve with Modern Machines at Twitch House in Riverwest. Email hifi@ifihadahifi.net for more information.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
