Local bands marry Motown and garage pop for show

Garage pop and Motown might seem like an odd couple, but at the Warhol this Friday, it might just be a match made in heaven. The Warhol’s Pittsburgh Garage Pop Revue

With Meeting of Important People, Neighbors and New Shouts

The Andy Warhol Museum

Friday, March 18 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $10 for students and CMP members, $12 for general admission

412-237-8300

warhol.org

Garage pop and Motown might seem like an odd couple, but at the Warhol this Friday, it might just be a match made in heaven.

With local rockers Meeting of Important People as the hosts, the Warhol’s Garage Pop Revue will feature newcomer bands Neighbors and New Shouts, as well as radio personality Allan Skeeze as the host, a rock and R&B concert film and go-go dancers.

After working with the Warhol for both the release of its EP Quit Music and opening for Dean and Britta, Meeting of Important People decided to suggest the idea of, according to lead singer Josh Verbanets, “a humorous twist on an old early rock ’n’ roll theater show.”

“[It’s] the kind of thing where you see girls fainting in balconies, influenced by the old Motown revues or the famous [Teenage Awards Music International] show,” Verbanets said. “Bands will be running on and off stage, with quick change-over.”

After getting the approval, Verbanets pitched the idea to Neighbors and New Shouts. “We … have known each other a while, and I guess we, along with New Shouts, fit his idea of the vibe he wanted for the show,” said Andy Mulkerin, drummer of Neighbors.

Although all of the bands are not exactly the same, they all have retro sounds.

“Meeting of Important People has that more stripped-down, simple Kinks vibe, New Shouts have a dance thing going on, Neighbors range from soul shouters to what might almost count as power pop. But we’re all gleaning from older sounds for our inspiration, and we’re all interested in having fun with these bands,” Mulkerin said.

As far as the actual ’60s rock and Motown sounds that the event is based upon, all of them have some influences, but at varying degrees. Host band Meeting of Important People thinks it sounds the least like it. “We all like nice songs and harmonies, which could be seen as a strong ’60s/Motown influence,” Verbanets said.

Mulkerin, meanwhile, thinks that Neighbors gets a great deal of inspiration from its predecessors. “We like the classic, analog sounds and pop songwriting, and I think we try to emulate those qualities of popular rock and soul music from the ’60s, hopefully without it being stale.”

The members of the bands are all similar ages, but Meeting of Important People has a few years on the other two bands. To Verbanets, however, this doesn’t matter.

“Even though our band has been around for a long time, all these other gentlemen are veterans of all genres of Pittsburgh music,” he said. “This will make the show run smoothly and allow for wonderful ego clashes all night long.”

Mulkerin said that the ages of the bands add to the fun of the show.

“I’ve known the guys in MOIP a long time, and the guys in New Shouts have been in other bands in the past, but this show is sort of significant in terms of putting together a few bands that are doing similar stuff in town right now and hopefully raising the profile of this particular sub-scene, or whatever you want to call it,” he said.

He also thinks the fact that the show is all-ages was a nice idea. “I have a great time doing latenight over-21 bashes at Howlers and Gooskis and Thunderbird, but rock music is a youth-culture thing, and it’s always been important to me to have some shows that the under-21 crowd can check out.”

While the show is the big event in the future of these bands, there are other things on the horizon. Meeting of Important People’s debut album will be re-released as vinyl on garage-rock label Get Hip, which might open overseas opportunities for the band. It also has new songs and a full-length album in the early stages.

Neighbors, meanwhile, is recording a five-song EP with Derek White of New Shouts that will likely have a release in late spring, as well as some Pittsburgh show dates, and New Shouts is producing songs for a later album and dates in Pittsburgh.