Check out this awesome interview with Robert Edgar of local band Fourteen Bindlestick Frank:
The band’s background story:
I played in bands through junior high and high school and then studied electronic music composition for 5 years in college - splicing tape and razor blade composition using a roomful of Moog. I met Tom, our electric guitarist and keyboardist, in a bluegrass band in Palo Alto and met Roger, our bass player, in our world music project Ragamala, with Purna Prasad and Shuba Gunapu. Robin, our drummer, is my son so we’ve known each other for a long time.
Frank’s story is laid out in detail on our website (www.14bindlestickfrank.com). How much of it is true is kinda up to Frank.
Describe the first impression a new listener is likely to have of your music:
People tell me they like it, and that it doesn’t sound like anyone else’s. I compose and play some strange music sometimes, but our gravity is more popular than strange. Maybe bits of Wilco, some Neil Finn, some Don Van Vliet.
A summary of your sound would be:
Electro-acoustic compositions with tasty lyrics.
What’s your favorite song to perform live?
Ah, always our latest one. Right now our song “Lullaby for Stardust” is fun to play. It’s a song with lyrics by the local writer Ethan Place, about a satellite on its way back from capturing dust from an asteroid that is put to sleep so it has enough energy to return to earth. I use some looping in a break or two in it…all acoustic. Works well for staring at stars over the ocean.
If the band was a San Francisco landmark, it would be:
The way SF looks from the air, at night: like an ocean rock encrusted with barnacles and glistening seaweed.
Favorite SF venue:
Haven’t been to Specs in a while. Is it still there? I like the music at the Luggage Store Gallery on Thursday nights.
Other SF spots where you can be found:
Cha Cha Cha’s. And Brainwash Café…they’re great to musicians trying to play around, trading music for food. That just seems like an honorable trade.
Where do you want to be a year from now?
I have three music projects: Frank, a computer-performance project with the Berkeley artist Sonya Rapoport, and ragaphonia. I hope they all are successful, and have an audience that knows how to feel with their imagination.
If there was anything that you could make sure your fans knew, what would it be?
Art is how you learn with your senses.
Where to learn more: www.14bindlestickfrank.com, www.robertedgar.com, www.myspace.com/fourteenbindlestickfrank
