Thursday, December 3, 1998
The Antics drive mainstream listeners crazy with mix of
genres
MUSIC: Up and coming quartet presents stereotype-defying style
through radio-friendly tunes with other Bruin groups at The Gig
By Cyrus McNally
Daily Bruin Contributor
What might you call a band whose average set list includes so
many musical genres that two hands are needed to count them? What
might you call a band that molds jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythm, grunge,
blues, hip-hop and a dash of Ani Difranco all into a palatable form
of pop?
Call the band The Antics, and call it anything but static. The
Antics (whose name will soon change to "Skinny and The Diggs")
makes its debut as a quartet today at The Gig. They will be joined
by three other UCLA student-run bands: Love Ruckus, Jenni Alpert
and Thick Sliced Bacon, and Left of Zed. Best typified as
radio-friendly pop for a generation that has seen more cultural
intermingling than ever before, The Antics take modern rock to a
new dimension.
Though sometimes daunting, the band pulls off the task of
musical hybridization with a distinctive finesse. Excessive
weirdness is kept at bay with instinctive pop-format sensibilities,
and the band strives to maintain cohesion at all costs.
"It all comes out as one big groove ball," says drummer Salar
Saleh, of the band’s ever-morphing sound. "We’re always working on
branching it out and diversifying it."
Saleh, a fourth-year communications student, is one of the first
members of the band, which has been around in various forms for
more than a year. Originally a duo with Saleh and current guitarist
and vocalist Gavin Bellour, a fourth-year theater student, the band
is now a foursome featuring two guitarists, a drummer and
bassist.
The duo got started playing gigs at the Westwood Brewing
Company. As they near the end of their undergraduate careers, both
are considering playing with their current lineup
professionally.
The quartet is rounded out by bassist John Classick (who prefers
to be called "The Electric Puma") and guitarist Mike DeLarez. The
two recent additions (both non-students) have fairly extensive
resumes as far as "college band" members go. Classick has played
professionally in various recording sessions, including on a recent
recording of the musical "Hair," and DeLarez is a proud veteran of
a Neil Diamond cover band.
Considering the possibility of getting caught up in
commercialistic pitfalls of the music industry, Bellour sticks to
his primary motivations. He remarks that above all, it is most
important to "just have fun, and not take ourselves too
seriously."
The Antics measure potential long-term success by its inherent
chemistry, which seems to be abundant when it comes to songwriting.
There is a certain gel which binds the band together, and Bellour
describes their first efforts as a four-piece "clicking right off
the bat."
"We love each other," says Classick.
Such enthusiasm, however, does not always arise from sharing
similar interests. When asked to name some of its respective
musical influences, the seemingly simple question unlocks
paragraphs of printed word. Names range from Afro-Cuban king Pancho
Sanchez to blues legend Muddy Waters to the eclectic Grateful Dead.
It’s safe to say that there are no grounds The Antics won’t try
touching.
"I think we can throw out country and opera," says Saleh. The
declaration, however, is quickly shot down by the others, and the
conversation disintegrates into a rare argument.
Vowing never to give in to the inflexibility of modern radio,
the quartet offers the public something different from the many
redundant alterna-bands saturating today’s music scene, but remains
pleasing to the ears; not an easy task by any means.
MUSIC: The Antics play at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Gig, located on
11637 West Pico Blvd. The cost is $5. For more information, call
(310) 444-9870.
CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin
Salar Saleh and his band, The Antics, practice at his
apartment.
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