Minkus decides to start changing its sound

The band will focus on recording the music and then decide how to play it live.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Less than three years into its existence, Minkus is changing its coat.
Normally a band's decision for a wholesale change of sound and direction comes well into its career, when numerous albums have resulted in pigeonholing and experimentation is the last straw before redundancy begets apathy and disbandment.
But the members of this quartet -- Dave Buker, Jamie Repasky, Dan Johnson, Eric Tharp -- noticed early on that sticking out in the Youngstown area scene required a change from its surf rock, punk angst foundation into a more progressive sound.
"We want to set ourselves apart," said Buker, a 2004 graduate of Poland High School. "Not to make it like we're being completely independent, but we want to step out of bounds."
The release of Minkus' 2005 debut album "Comfort in Strangers" found the band fitting more into the Vans Warped Tour mind-set, which has come into prominence of late. The foursome did tour it regionally, with shows in Youngstown, Cleveland, Oberlin and Geneva.
New approach
However, when it came time to start working on the band's next disc, which is due out later this year, the members decided to approach songwriting from a different angle.
In the past, tunes were written strictly with live performance in mind. This time, the group decided to challenge itself in a fashion more akin to major bands -- U2's "Achtung Baby!" and Radiohead's "Kid A" come to mind -- looking for change.
"The new stuff we've been thinking strictly about recording, trying to tape the songs, and then figuring out how we'll pull them off live," Buker said. "It's like before, we were writing songs to play for people, sticking to instruments that we were playing on stage instead of expanding into other things we can do with keyboards and other instruments."
While it's not at the same level of, say, Bob Dylan plugging in at Newport, Minkus' upcoming Youngstown date Saturday opening for Columbus band Red Wanting Blue at The Cellar will introduce fans of the band to its new direction. This means there could be some backlash from the group's followers.
"We definitely thought of that and aren't necessarily afraid of that," Buker said. "We're kind of more excited and that's a whole other change, to get those people interested again and get them intrigued in a new way instead of just feeding on the stuff that they're already comfortable with."
Buker added, "There is something about music where making people a little bit uncomfortable is a beautiful thing, and eventually that comfort starts to evolve into the music."