By Kristin Fiore
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Musicians have many idiosyncrasies  biting the heads off
of chickens, wearing shoe polish on their face during shows or
making stage hands pick out all the brown M&Ms  and let’s
not even get into Perry Ferrell.
But few have the quirk of underestimating their own appeal. If
anything, they outwear their welcome (Hootie? Courtney? Nirvana
clone of the month?). Though L.A.-based The Sugarplastic are far
down on the list of bands that ever need worry about such a thing,
songwriter and frontman Ben Eshbach takes every precaution.
"We play short sets most of the time. I don’t think we’ve ever
gone over 30 minutes  35 if I make stupid jokes. I’m afraid
the audience is going to get bored. One of the reasons we don’t
like to headline is because it’s, ‘here comes the band and they’re
off in half an hour.’"
Hopefully this won’t be the case when the band takes the stage
at Spaceland in Silver Lake tonight.
They keep the set at half an hour by subtracting a song from the
set whenever they add a new one. This makes things very convenient
for those in the audience who are tired or really need to use the
bathroom and don’t want to miss a song, but why else keep things so
short?
"I really think people would lose interest, not that they would,
but because I would. I like Fritos more than I like (seeing bands)
play live… I can’t put myself on that pedestal,"
Eshbach says, as though playing for an hour would insinuate (in
his mind) that his band is twice as listenable as those he sees
live. Which is probably true, anyway, but we’ll concede the
point.
Insecurities aside, he does enjoy playing live and assures that
the band is equally confident in the studio and onstage. Musically,
this is obvious, as the band sounds so solid live that you begin
looking around for little red lights flashing "quiet please–
recording." It’s that darned audience thing that keeps getting in
the way. But Eshbach is coping.
"I’m getting used to it. But I don’t have any encores, pretend
spur-of-the-moment songs." The Sugarplastic doesn’t like the stage
antics other bands often pull to attract the average club-goer,
such as encores (which are now all lamely written into the set
list), endless stage chatter, special effects or bombastic
performances.
One can picture a teenage Eshbach cringing in the back of a
Queen or a Poison show his (now former) friends dragged him to,
lowering in his seat with every fireworks explosion or cry of, "Are
you ready to ROCK?"
"I’ve never been mesmerized by rock performers," Eshbach says.
"I just feel totally silly." The only problem with his live show
theory is that he’s not alone in his desire for a no-frills show.
And though he may enjoy his bag of corn chips, most of us would
rather be sweltering in one of those over-priced, cigarette-ridden
joints on Sunset Strip.
This is a fact Eshbach is slowly learning. "On this tour, we’ve
realized that longer sets are necessary. People were complaining,"
he says. Those of us who fork out eight bucks, walk three blocks to
the club and pay eight bucks again for a watered-down drink really
do want to see a show that lasts longer than a Brady Bunch
episode.
Part of the band’s hesitation is due to the fact that they "make
a bad bar band," according to Eshbach. In other words, he feels
their music requires more attention and thought than the average
beer and pizza band, which it certainly does. And in order to be
fully appreciated, it requires repeated listenings to unearth all
of the layers of sound and meaning, like all good music.
Songs are like members of the opposite sex (or the same sex for
some). If they reveal everything all at once, you lose interest in
them and move on. Many of The Sugarplastic’s songs, while
immediately intriguing, are a slow burn. They play hard to get, but
it’s worth the wait.
They have many darker moments that employ irony and sarcasm, "a
really important element in The Sugarplastic’s music," Eshbach
says. "If you listen to it in the background, it’s light stuff. But
there’s darker stuff in it, like (there is in) nursery rhymes,
witchcraft and superstition. There’s a macabre element in it, but
it’s not obvious," he says. Those elements do catch you by surprise
and belie the crisp, whimsical sound of the guitars and even the
tone of the voice itself.
Despite his attitude toward live shows and the blacker tone of
some of his music, Eshbach insists he is not cynical. Though after
six years of playing around L.A. and releasing two albums, a
healthy amount of cynicism would be understandable.
"I’ve been interviewed by folks who haven’t even heard the
music," he says. Such snags notwithstanding, The Sugarplastic have
had a great time performing in L.A., waiting until this mini-tour
to venture outside the area.
"From the very first show on, we had a ball. Everyone was doing
grunge, heavy metal, imitating the Red Hot Chili Peppers," he says,
remarking that The Sugarplastic offered something different Â
specifically, guitar where you could "hear the notes."
Their name dates back to their very first show, though they went
through a thousand names prior to this one. It just so happened
that they were The Sugarplastic that night, and so the name
remained.
"It seems to fit the sound and philosophy of the band, or we
have come to fit it," Eshbach says. The band’s style has remained,
as well. They wore suits that night, and though they wear shirts
and shorts at times, they wear dark suits in places like New York
and L.A.
When asked about this tour, Eshbach waxes contradictory
(surprise). The band is looking forward to coming home-out of
relief and homesickness, but they also had a wonderful time.
"It’s one of the best vacations I’ve had," Eshbach says of the
tour, which was, ironically, exhausting. He hasn’t done much press,
but touring the country for the first time must be taxing in
itself. Consequently, the band will take some time off before
recording the next album, which is Eshbach’s favorite part of his
job.
"My first love is definitely recording," he says.
They also may make a few videos, possibly for "Soft Jingo" or
"Transworld Modal Operator," two of Eshbach’s favorite songs off of
the band’s excellent DGC debut, "Bang, The Earth is Round." In some
strange way, it all seems to fit together  the sound, the
suits, the self-effacing comments and musical confidence. Eshbach
is as inscrutable at first glance as his music, and equally as
interesting.
The Sugarplastic, led by singer/ songwriter Ben Eshbach, plays
tonight at Spaceland, located at 1717 Silver Lake Blvd. The club is
21 and over, so dust off your fake I.D.s. For more info, call
Spaceland at (213) 413- 4442.