Even days after the show, the gentlemen responsible for the profound and strangely fulfilling static in my head are none other than The Arm, an Austin post-whatever-rock four-piece unwaveringly administering listeners with a straight shot through the head.
Emo's was shoulder to shoulder as the band sent lazy nods to the sound man confirming that things were in order. A few minutes later the band had ripped through the first breathless and perfectly chaotic song, confirming more importantly that this was their house we were in and that things were about to escalate out of our control.
From then forth, The Arm deconstructed the club and all in it continually more forcefully with the deep rumble of urgent basslines, sharp jagged guitar attacks, lingering shrieks of the organ, the complex dance drum equations, and the baptism-in-the-river-of-flame vocals preaching that no one is yet saved – but that the time to act is now.
With the last trails of guitar feedback fading, I realized that I was now allowed to move and I stumbled out back in search of some calm to wash the last 35 minutes of total annihilation down with. Seemingly, most of the band (with the exception of guitarist Alex Lyon who was already en route to another gig) had had the same idea and I joined Alex Ramirez (bass), Kevin Bybee (drums) and Sean O'Neal (keys, vox) to try to figure out what in the hell these outbursts of genuine bitch-slap music were all about.
You have four words to define your music without explicitly making sound references. Go!
Sean: Now more than ever.
Kevin: We will kill you.
Alex: Black comedy black comedy.
How can such a big sound come from such skinny kids?
Kevin: I squeeze every bit of myself into each performance and pay the consequences later. Hopefully that comes across.
Sean: We use amps. It's sweet that you think I'm skinny.
Alex: Sean and I really aren't that skinny... but more importantly the kids and I are really not kids anymore and it's not that our past endeavors "failed"... they more or less missed the radar or imploded.
In regards to The Arm, i think our sound is a projection of our collective contravention with our respective pasts.
What scares you and how does it manifest in your music?
Sean: Living an unremarkable existence or slowly slipping into quiet desperation scares me. So I try to make my desperation very unquiet and that's where the music comes from.
Kevin: Not soliciting an opinion scares me. If I'm up there destroying myself and somebody is bored, then somehow I have failed and that is unacceptable.
Alex: Myself. Playing music helps over come it... slightly.
Let's talk a little about your plans to infiltrate America. How has the band and the sound moved forward and what do you hope to achieve with it?
Sean: We regrouped and rebuilt and I think the songs we've been writing are more mature and less one-note. We know at least three notes now. My personal goal is to make a little noise this year and expand. I feel like we've been on a powderkeg for a while now and it's about time that it exploded.
Kevin: I think we finally sound like only ourselves, without any preconceived notions in our songwriting.
Alex: I think we'll be as successful as Guy Fawkes was at his own revolution.
You have an anticipated new record "Call You Out" coming out in April... who do you think will appreciate it?
Kevin: Since we're in the middle of being really noisy and fairly accessible I think we write songs that are catchy in their own weird way but i'm not sure we hear things the way the public as a whole does.
Alex: Muppets, cowboys, karaoke buffs, rabbits but not hares.
Sean: Vaguely bored people with an itchy feeling of dissatisfaction they just can't describe.
What mandatory warning label should accompany your music?
Sean: Trace amounts of peanuts.
Kevin: May cause idiotic comparisons.
Alex: Underwhelming if listened to at low levels. Do not drive or operate sharp instruments.
Name a local band who deserves more attention.
Kevin: Without a doubt, Lomita. You are going to hear about them.
Alex: Lomita, if they live long enough...
Sean: There's a ton of them that already get twice as much attention as we do – and deservedly so – but the ones who could use it are Lomita and Attack Formation.
How do you wish to be overwhelmed in the future?
Kevin: With the adoring praise of the entire planet, doye!
Alex: With time. Time to write music and time with my family.
Sean: With kisses.
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