Terminate Any Expectations
semi-one-off free-jazz/noise-rock trio make it weird
When local musicians Dave Power, Ben Hinz, and Pat Kuehn got together a couple of months ago, none of them knew exactly what the end result would be. What happened was the formation of a new experimental noise-rock band called Terminator Jeans. You might not be surprised that these guys, whose musical résumés boast the names of groups like Adelyn Rose, Ronald Raygun, Aero Flynn, Meridene, and more, started another project for themselves, but here’s the deal, the music of Terminator Jeans is all improvised.
“We didn’t discuss anything before we started. In fact, on the first recording you can hear Dave ask if anybody has any notions of ideas, and we just said nope, and started playing.” – Ben Hinz
Their first record, named 1970 Whatever Trip is a progressive exploration of genres that is not easy to describe. The album is split into six songs ranging from a three-minute ambient intro to a nine-minute climax of heavy guitar, drums, bass, and electronic elements that allude to some krautrock and jazz influences. Hinz, who plays guitar and synth in the group, talked a bit about the recording process of the first record.
“We didn’t discuss anything before we started. In fact, on the first recording you can hear Dave ask if anybody has any notions of ideas, and we just said nope, and started playing.”
The group also recently played a live show at The Mousetrap. The set, as you might have guessed, was also all improvised. The idea of improvised music might be a difficult thing to wrap one’s mind around, but for Power, who plays drums in the band, the style comes somewhat naturally.
“The concept is challenging at first, but it turns out being very easy to play with such good musicians as Hinz and Kuehn. We meld incredibly well together, and have turned into a pretty tight unit, which is very refreshing. The music kind of ends up happening on its own,” Power said.
Not only are they in-tune with one another, but they’ve been busy too. A follow-up record to this month’s 1970 Whatever Trip should be coming out in the near future.
“It’s recorded, and I’ve been mixing it in bits and pieces. I think we dug deeper into the jazz element, there’s a lot more rhythmic interplay, and we kind of improvised a punk song for no good reason at all,” Hinz said. “I’ve also done some pretty drastic edits, which nobody has heard or approved yet. I don’t consider it cheating to put some audio treats in an improv album.”
Be on the lookout for more psychedelic improv-rock soon, and in the mean time, check out the debut record 1970 Whatever Trip at www.terminatorjeans.bandcamp.com.
