This admission could not be further from the truth.
The fact is, SteerS have emerged as part of a relatively new Noise/Metal/Experimental scene that is consuming the Austin music underground. Along side bands like Brown Hornet, Oh Beast, Invincible Czars, Taft, and Assacre SteerS have pulled a virtual coup replacing the boring, stagnant white-boy nu-metal of yesteryear with something more noisy, chaotic, intelligent and refreshing declaring once and for all that frat boys need not be seen at Beerland or Emo’s after dark (unless they have taste).
By day they are normally dressed and as unassuming as Clark Kent—but once night falls on Red River, Patrick, Kevin, and Brian don camouflage uniforms complete with pink embroidered cow heads and become Ego-Macho, Bronc-Combo, and Octo-Horatio, who in turn make up SteerS. Night after night, show after show, SteerS churn out a disharmonious cacophony of violently heavy and abrasive instrumental songs to unsuspecting crowds all over Texas and beyond.
Guitarist/Keyboardist Patrick Turbiville touts, “Our newest song is called 8-2-2-9-4-5-3-2-7-3-2 because that is how we have to count to play it.” Immediately the band tries to drum the song on their laps, counting in the absurd time signature the whole time. They fumble, laugh, and move on. Bassist Kevin Livesay is quick to point out, “We have no limitations.” Turbiville follows that the band keeps things interesting by “adding something that is almost physically impossible to play” to every song.
Though they often draw comparisons to Lightning Bolt, Neurosis, Rush, The Melvins, and all things Mike Patton, the band is not simply blood and fury. Moments of serenity (along the lines of Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, or Austin’s own Explosions In The Sky) infiltrate the band’s sound leaving behind a unique dynamic one does not often find in a noise-metal outfit. Rhythms and structure are complex and oftentimes written with mathematical forethought. SteerS will tie the brain of the average music listener in knots and leave them asking, “How the hell did they do that?”
The band’s bio boasts of a predilection toward destruction and no one who has witnessed a SteerS show will disagree. Bassist Kevin Livesay has helped the band acquire a reputation as one of the most frantic and destructive bands in town, with shows often descending into the chaos of launching instruments across venues, screaming violently at crowds, and jumping into trashcans. “Sometimes bad ideas seem like good ideas when you are playing music,” Livesay asserts in his defense. But it is that very spectacle that has made SteerS an essential live act. “When we are playing really well we’re more at ease so we can act crazier,” says Guitarist/Keyboardist Patrick Turbiville, “and when we play really badly we are usually pissed off so we act really crazy too.”
Local venues, websites, and even the Austin Chronicle have taken notice, pushing the band harder than most acts and even running a feature on SteerS in an issue last year. “You are either going to fucking hate us or think we are great.” Kevin declares in his explanation of the band’s polarizing effect. “I would rather see people leave the room than just sit there calmly talking and ignoring us.”
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