Thursday, May 28, 2009
By John Benson
In the music world, addition by subtraction is the great paradox that often results in the opening of new avenues of creativity.
For Youngstown-area band First in Space, a reduction from quartet to trio has Johnny Stanec (guitar, bass, vocals), Dolus McCormick (guitar, bass, vocals) and Beau Basement (drums) excited about the future.
“The move was more like a necessity,” said Stanec, a 2000 Canfield High School graduate. “We were going through members that didn’t fit. It’s nothing against them personally; it’s just musically it wasn’t a fit. So we decided to go down to two guys out front because we all know we want to be in the band. We had a guy here or there that didn’t fit and didn’t have the passion, so until we find the right fourth member we’re going to stay as a three-piece.”
With unquestioned passion and commitment, First in Space is moving forward in the form of its sophomore effort, “Geronimo.” Due out next month, the new album finds the act not so much changing up as honing its style to a certain blue-collar sound.
“On the first record it was a little bit more expansive, where we were trying a lot of different things and trying to find our identity,” Stanec said. “Now with our new drummer, everything will be a little bit more straight ahead. It’s like a bigger rock ’n’ roll record. It kind of has some old sounds to it, giving it a more of a vintage sound comparable to [Bruce] Springsteen or Tom Petty records. Before, I’d say we were maybe like an Oasis with a very big British sound.”
He added, “I think our new drummer, too, is more of a straight-ahead type of player. He played in punk bands before, so it kind of brings like an element of more simplicity to the band, things being more stripped down and focused instead of meandering going out of different time changes.”
New tracks that have Stanec excited include the Hammond-organ dominated “They Won’t Catch Me Now” and the gritty bar-rock sounding “God Damn Shame.” As if the new album doesn’t provide enough momentum behind First in Space, the act has spent the past few years laying its foundation by touring throughout the Midwest and beyond. This summer the trio will be hitting the road, with gigs lined up from Detroit to New York City.
While First in Space, which plays Saturday at Cedars Lounge, continues to expand its fan base, it appears as though the trio feels less like a Youngstown band. And for any musical group hoping to make it big, that’s probably a good thing.
“We live in Youngstown, or in the suburbs, but we don’t know if this is like our home base,” Stanec said. “We did play here quite a bit at the beginning, and that kind of died off over the last year, with this May 30 show being our first show in Youngstown in over a year. So this is definitely our home and we love the people, but Youngstown has a very specific identity to it at times. It’s tough to get the people’s attention for whatever reason. That’s why we decided it was time to start focusing on some other cities.
“That’s what we want to be, a working, touring band. That was the goal from the beginning for us, and we’re starting to see that come true.”