The Knew know no sad bastard soup

PHOTO by TODD ROETH

Balancing electric guitars with indie-pop signal tones from that cherished box of digital teeth, the synthesizer, the Knew invest as much energy into performing as they do recording. Be thankful for it: technologically-dependent music (which so often exhausts its life cycle on the laptop) is an art in its own right, but spewing methodical beats into the atmosphere can be tough on an audience, especially when the sustained digital bleeps are accompanied by endless projections of Kool-Aid colored lattices. So while it’s sad to think of all those electric guitars that have been bypassed for GarageBand-esque applications (guitars that once made homes in the hands of 14-year-old boys sweating through an idle summer—god, so Bruce Springsteen!), it’s always grand to know there are still bands out there, in the real physical world, forging forth with the sheer power of a few limbs and some live instruments.

In classic life-on-the-road style, romanticized by the Almost Famous aficionado in most of us, the Knew—Jacob Hansen, guitar/vocals; Tyler Breuer, guitar; Patrick Bowden, drums; Tim Rynders, bass—answered our humble inquiries from deep within a Colorado blizzard.

The District: Why rock ‘n’ roll and not some post new wave drone or effects-pedal neon-noise?
Tim Rynders: To date we have mostly written songs to be fun, entertaining and intended for a live audience willing to engage and have a good time with us. But people will always need sad bastard soup and all the other genres so well represented these days.

How does living in Colorado shape your songwriting if at all?
The Colorado scene is fascinating. It is diverse and enormous. Some questionable source once told me it is surpassed in per-capita rockers only by Austin, Texas. Denver does have a much more closely knit scene than most cities for two inarguable facts of reality: It is geographically quite isolated and has winter storms that have gained a reputation for stranding touring bands. There are more and more locals-only bills, even at some of the larger venues.

What does your ideal day entail?
At some point in the 24 hours there has to be some kind of water activity, whether it be swimming, floating, diving or wading—getting wet is really important. Also, it must be sunny out and there can’t be any lines. I’d like to laugh all day long and not have any kind of health concerns (upset stomach, allergies, blisters). The day will come to an end with a smooch and Mexican food.

Do any of you have a non-musical strange talent? Like, I can cry exactly like a newborn infant and walk like a tarantula (haven’t tried to do it at the same time yet).
We all can run incredibly fast, which is surprising because we apparently don’t have hearts.

What are your day jobs?
We probably are all going to get fired for going on tour, except Ty since he is on spring break. But he will get fired when he gets back because the USDA is showing up to inspect the cafeteria at his work.

I know you just started the tour but apart from the blizzard onslaught, do you have any raucous stories?
Not one. Instead of carousing and womanizing like most bands, we played 18 holes of Golden Tee after our set last night to stay out of trouble.

THE KNEW WITH WE BARBARIANS, WRITER AND THE FLING ALEX’S BAR | 2913 E ANAHEIM ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | 562.434.8292 | ALEXSBAR.COM | SUN 9PM | $5

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