Sirface (Lift Me Up) Live @ Rock 'N The Fort III from Surreal Records on Vimeo.
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ROCKIN' IN THE REGION: Sirface: Loud, fast, honest, broke
By: Emma Downs Published: November 20, 2008 3:00 a.m. The Journal GazetteAudio: "Break Me Down" by Sirface Notes See: Sirface performs at 10 p.m. Dec. 12 at Rex’s in Warsaw; cover is $4
Listen : New music by Sirface is available at www.journalgazette.net and www.myspace.com/sirfaceBuy :
The band’s still-untitled new release will be available next month. Until then, the back catalog is available on iTunes, Rhapsody.com, Napster.com, Emusic.com, Groupietunes.com, Amazon.com/mp3, Garageband.com and Freemp3.com.
The members of local hard rock band Sirface are learning to collaborate. And it’s like “pulling teeth” – in a good way – they say. The proof, naturally, is in the music, a layered and aggressive brand of rock that is both emotional and fast enough to rattle your teeth.
“We fight,” vocalist Jared Pagan says. “Horribly. But collaborating makes everything more musical, more accessible. And at the end of the day, what sounds best makes it onto the album.”
“And just because you don’t dig something doesn’t mean it’s not good,” bassist Matt Hopkins adds. “You can’t be right all the time. … Well, I can.”
Let the tooth-pulling begin.
Next month, Sirface will release its first album in five years, an as-yet-untitled opus (currently boasting 16 tracks) that balances nicely between stomp and swagger and lyrical balladry.
“This is the first band I’ve ever been in where everyone criticizes each other and nobody ends up mad,” drummer Jason Hatzell says. “And that comes across in the music. It’s honest music.”
The band members – Pagan, Hopkins, Hatzell and guitarist Denny Getrost – hope the album brings them success, of course. More shows. More fans. But a little money wouldn’t hurt, either, especially for a band that describes itself as the “broke-est band in Fort Wayne.”
“We’re musicians, not businessmen,” Hopkins says. “We’re in debt. We owe on top of the owing.”
A handful of years ago, Sirface was the darling of the local heavy-rock scene, opening for national touring bands such as Saliva, Taproot and Static X.
Since then, they’ve derailed slightly, preoccupied with lineup changes, bad financial decisions and failed attempts to break into major-label success. The majority of the money derived from their earlier success was funneled into touring – gas and hotel bills.
“We’ll play anywhere,” Getrost says. “We’ll play a Laundromat. It’s true. Sudsy Malone’s in Cincinnati.”
When gas hit $4 a gallon this summer, the band began to re-evaluate its commitment to touring.
“We were traveling to South Bend to play a show for $30,” Hopkins says. “When gas cost us $80.”
Recently, the band decided to stop performing in Fort Wayne temporarily. The band members live in Warsaw, Garrett and Antwerp, Ohio, so playing small regional clubs made more sense, Pagan says.
“It’s hard to get out in Fort Wayne and generate a following,” he says. “When it comes to hard rock, there’s no place for it in Fort Wayne. We focused for years on trying to make a name for ourselves in Fort Wayne. But the bars aren’t paying and the people aren’t showing up.”
“The market is too saturated,” Getrost says. “There will be 50 shows in one evening, with four or five bands playing at some of them. People don’t have to drive across town to see a band, when they can just go to their neighborhood bar or club.”
Sirface is as devoted to their music as they ever were, continuing to kick out live sets without ever losing their energy.
“Bartenders say they always know when we’re playing our set,” Hopkins says. “Because no one is buying drinks.”
“Our live shows are where we shine,” Pagan says. “And it doesn’t matter if we’re playing for five people or 150. We want the crowd to feel what we’re playing. We’re not there to play a few songs and go home.
“We want to pull the audience forward. We want to be able to watch the crowd and see all eyes focused on the music.”
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