ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS-(Atlanta) Creative Loafing's "Pick of the Week"The Liberator Magazine issue 5.3SHOUT!MBSensory Overloadblowupthisartist @ mypsace- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
RADIO STATIONS-WMNF 88.5FM TAMPA -
www.wmnf.orgWSLR 96.5 LPFM (Sarasota Local Radio) -
www.wslr.org- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BIO-Bursting onto the indie rock scene with the reckless abandon reminiscent of a young Iggy Pop, The Slack Republic seem dead set on becoming the new standard for work ethic amongst unsigned bands. Adopting the Earn-It-Yourself philosophy of friend and fellow musician Sarah Saturday, The Slack Republic seem unaffected by the limitations placed on bands lacking label support. They do what they want!
For in the 6 short months The Slack Republic has been a band, they have managed to make quite a name for themselves. From their very first show, opening for HR (of Bad Brains), to more recently closing out a show at the Knitting Factory NY, precedents for what a new band can and can not do are being set. And in true slack form, The SR continue to break the rules with their upcoming summer tour, scheduled to include select dates on the Vans Warped Tour, CBGB's New York (July 4th weekend), as well as Toronto Dates.
According to Meczilla, the band's singer and spokeswoman (by default), "[The Slack Republic] is arguable one of the hardest working bands on the scene. We're not trust fund kids. We haven't had anything handed to us. The Slack Republic works very hard for every accolade, opportunity and criticism we receive.
We've earned these stripes."
Fortunately for the band, there isn't much to criticize on The Slack Tax Tour sampler. The unofficially released, six song sampler serves as much more than a sample to the unassuming listener. They coat classic genres such as rock and punk with a shiny new lacquer of modern aesthetics, derived mostly from Indie Rock, Post-punk and drum & bass. Their driving guitar riffs, danceable drum beats and catchy, sass soaked (sometime caustic) lyrics are constant throughout.
So as they head into the studio this summer, for what may very well become their first official release, The Slack Republic have much to live up to. When asked about meeting the expectations of their fans, Mec smirked and replied "It's a challenge, but the challenge is not besting ourselves as much as it is satisfying everyone, which we all know is impossible. If we put forward our best calculated effort, it will rock, period. Anyone who isn't satisfied with that, is likely never satisfied with anything"
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RANDOM BLURBS-Formed: April 1st, 2005
First Show: Dec 15th / April 17th (w/ current line-up)
Line-up: Mec on vocals, Pierre on Guitar (2 amps), Michael on Bass & Lane on Drums
Genre: Indie Punk Rock/Post-Modern Punk
Influences: The Buzzcocks, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, System of a Down, Oueens of the Stoneage, Bad brains, Blondie, Nirvana.
The Slack Republic is many things to many people. Best describe as "what happens when people truly stop giving a shit", The Slack Republic represent to some, a society worn out by the modern day existence, fighting to preserve itself. To others The Slack Republic is a band, discontent with the order of things; forguing a path, for both themselves and all that may follow.
The Band-
Meczilla (of Brooklyn, NY) and Pierre Moore (of Jackson, MS) met by chance on a popular Internet community called myspace.com, in late March of 2005. Their brief correspondence, turned into an instant message conversation that spanned all of 2 days and ended with the two deciding meet in person. Mec recalls drinking hot tea to nurse the cold she had caught just days before while performing at the Winter Music Conference, while Pierre threw back straight black coffee to combat the effects of the sleep deprived nights that had accumulated since the disbanding of his wildly popular Jackson Mississippi band, IZM.
They discussed politics, musical aspirations, and ramen noodle recipes way into the early morning hours, not sure what would become of their meeting. One can only assume that the conversation Mec & Pierre had that morning was of the life changing and all inspiring kind. For the moment they reached their respective homes, they were back at it; this time, discussing a song that Pierre had composed. It was later that early morning (thanks to the advent of the internet) that the two recorded their first song together. "Not Ready" was a spur of the moment effort by Mec to denounce the idea that the masses could be receptive to new sounds and ideas. In her mind the world simply could not be ready.
Now rated by myspace.com as the ..1 unsigned indie band in Georgia, "Not Ready" stands as a fan favorite, proving that if given enough time, the world may one day be ready for The Slack republic.
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ROUGH TIMELINE-(Year 0)
Feb 2005- Of all the things they owned, Mike and Pierre sell whatever they could not fit in their car and drive 6 hours to atlanta in search of new prospects.
March 2005- Mec continues to experiment with producers such as Wale Oyejide and Chris Brann. She performs with The Ananda Project at the winter music conference in Miami at the tokion.fm launch party. March 30- Pierre and Mec start an internet conversation that spans 2 whole days. Pierre send Mec a few song Ideas he had been working on.
April 2005- Pierre and I meet on April 1st. We sat in my room sipping caribou coffee and tea (respectively) and talked to the early hours. Pierre went home, leaving the hint of something promising behind. It gets late so we retreat to their respective homes. My mind still racing by the time he got home, so we talked online some more. Despite the fact that I was completely horse and quite sleep deprived from trip to wmc that year, early that morning we record their first demo (Not Ready) over the internet. We met on April 1st, by the next afternoon he was sending me a mixed version of our first song and I was sending him vocals for the our second demo. April 2nd. We played with the idea of a band... called ourselves the OOkies for almost 2 weeks, ran a poll to find a new name and on April 17th, we joined myspace.com as a The Slack Republic.
Dec 2005- We had continued to make music and upload it to myspace, all the while auditioning drummers. At the end of november we were asked to open for HR (of Bad Brains) but still don't have a drummer. Chris Henry of the band Republik agrees to sit in with us and we accept the invite to play.
Feb 2006- We drive 6 hours to Crystal Springs Mississippi to record with a childhood friend of Pierre's. We record 9 songs in 3 days. Steven Roberts fills in on the drums.
(Year 1)
April 2006- Less than 2 weeks before our scheduled 6 show, 7 day outing up the east coast Lane Anderson is dubbed our new drummer. Our most notable show being The Knitting Factory gig with Stars of Track and Field, Land of Talk and Cloud Cult in New York. One year (to the day) of the anniversary of joining myspace.com
June 2006- We go out on our second tour, a 3 week adventure up the east coast. Our most notable shows include, playing select dates on the Vans Warped Tour, playing the Afro-Punk Independence day weekend festival at CBGB's to a packed room, playing with with our friends The Carps in Toronto and with our friends J*Davey and Nouveau RIche at the 5 Spot in Philly.
Sept 2006- Began recording of the the debut release, Mec & Pierre & Mike & Lane
Nov 2006- Interview Published in the November/December issue of Toronto based Liberator Magazine.
Dec 2006- Played our last show of the year with Seven Envy and The Close with was listed as Creative Loafing's Pick of the Week.
Note worthy shows-
12/15/05 @ Lenny's Bar Atlanta, GA w/ The Despised & HR (of Bad Brains)
4/17/06 @ Knitting Factory NY w/ Stars of track and Field, Land of Talks & Cloud Cult
5/27/06 @ The Handlebar w/ Culture Prophet & Something About Vampires and Sluts
6/27/06 @ The Alltell Pavillion Raleigh, NC- Van's Warped Tour
6/28/06 @ Hi-Fi Buys Ampitheatre Atlanta, GA- Van's Warped Tour
7/01/06 @ CBGBs New York w/ The Cultery, Cipher & Tamar Kali
7/08/06 @ The Gypsy Co-Op Toronto, ON Canada w/ The Carps
7/10/06 @ The 5 Spot Philadelphia, PA w/ Nouveau Riche & J*Davey
7/17/05 @ The Skatepark of Greenville, SC w/ VCR and more
12/29/06 @ Lenny's Bar Atlanta, GA w/ Seven Envy & The Close.