Grover Stewart Jr., Jay Summers, Jesse James Gannon and Donald Williams.
If you break down the construction of Superhero Killer by the use of old-fashioned, freehand diagrams, it becomes apparent that the group’s pretty rooted in a family tree with Donald Williams at the core, but with branches shooting off in a variety of directions. A bassist and songwriter around town since the days of Sinister Dane in the 1980s, Williams has fronted two bands since the demise of the Dane, Sugardaddy and Getaway Car, before a very brief appearance a few years back with the short-lived Johnny Bliss.
But with that band not sticking around beyond a handful of shows, it’s really been about 10 years since the songwriter and bassist played out on a regular basis. He’s planning to change that in a serious way in coming months, with the new outfit, Superhero Killer. The new group includes former Dane guitarist Jay Summers, the constantly gigging Grover Stewart on drums, and Jesse Gannon on keyboards. Having played two shows together so far, the group’s planning on making a more official debut at Cicero’s on Friday, January 20, when they release a five-song EP, one that comes on the heels of a single track on the STL Loud: Volume 3 release, which stimulated their earlier than expected live debut.
“We had to learn a set of songs for the STL Loud show,” Williams remembers. “We learned maybe seven songs, total, for that. Then we played a second show a week later, opening for Kings Go Forth at the Firebird. We weren’t looking to do a show, yet, but we did those two, and they went pretty well.”
After some additional time woodshedding, Williams feels that the next round of gigs will put the band firmly back into the local mix. And he’s doing it with a group that slowly, steadily came together by both plan and coincidence.
Williams started playing with Summers going on two decades ago, when Sinister Dane plucked the young guitarist out of his rhythm guitar role with Soul Funktion. Stewart had actually been in Getaway Car at the time of its dissolution, which came, in part, because of Stewart’s hectic, most-nights-a-week gig schedule. Gannon, meanwhile, came aboard at the suggestion of Stewart, a few years after he and Williams first, randomly met at a barbecue thrown by The Urge’s front man, Steve Ewing. By hook and crook, they all eventually fell into place around Williams, who admits that he always wanted to get a band back together with Stewart, even he didn’t plan on that taking a decade to pull together.
“I got married, I bought a house,” Williams says, ticking off life’s responsibilities. “I truly didn’t care if I played out or not, having done it for so long. Just creating songs in my basement was more fun. There, you can change a song a million times and it doesn’t matter.”
Because he’d taken up drums as a serious ambition during the brief Johnny Bliss run, he basically had all the instruments needed to rough out demos. And with songs dating back to about 2004, he eventually called on Stewart to add his own impressive drumming to the tracks. Gannon came aboard, fitting in time around his solo piano work and monthly gig as The Truth at The Delmar Lounge. Summers had been playing a few cover gigs with a relative, but was otherwise not spending serious time playing. Though, like the rest, he was able to seamlessly blend in when called.
It’s no knock to suggest that Superhero Killer plays to a similar vibe as Sugardaddy and Getaway Car. The three elements, as tossed out by Gannon: “soul, funk and rock.” And it’s that trio of sounds that all the members excel at playing. (You can listen for yourself, here, on SoundCloud.)
“We knew we needed a keyboard player, one who could really play,” Williams says. “And Grover said he was positive that Jesse could do it. We needed a guitar player and one day I called up Jay; now Jay’s been my favorite guitarist the whole time that I’ve been playing music with him. He can play naturally, as opposed to imitating anything. With Jay, we listen to a lot of the same music and if I say ‘play it like Jimmy Womack,’ he knows what I mean. I can reference this, or that, and by the next rehearsal, he’s got that down. He plays with a lot of soul.”
Stewart’s an interesting wildcard in the equation, too, as he’s busy with a host of original and cover bands, in addition to working a full-time job. As noted, his schedule may’ve given Williams the slightest amount of pause, but he also knew he was “getting a quality drummer, without any attitude.” Stewart’s heard in a variety of different settings, but has been largely known for playing with the roots-plus Brothers Lazaroff over the last year, as well as gigging side projects with that group’s keyboardist, Mo Egeston. “Grover’s very busy,” Williams admits. “He works his ass off, but he’s doing well.”
For Williams, he knew that pulling a band together today would be different from his earlier bands. He figures that today’s players are more like those on either coast. Which is to say: if you’re good on your instrument, you’re going to be in-demand and that might mean two, even three acts being balanced intermittently. He also appreciates the fact that as he’s hit his 40s, there’s a different mentality at work today, for himself and for his bandmates.
“It’s not the same kind of camaraderie you know at 22, going in-and-out of punk rock clubs all night,” Williams admits. “But it’s worked out well for us. Since I’ve been out, I know the whole game’s changed. Everybody used to have their band. But as I’ve watched Jesse and Grover, everybody does a lot of different things. You might have several projects, or you’re just out gigging. That’s never been my mentality. I see Grover looking half-dead, halfway through the week. That’s why I work a job. To be able to play the exact music I want to hear. But Grover knows everybody in St. Louis, so it’s completely different for him. When we approached Jesse, I said that it would be only the four of us. No subs. If you can’t do a show, then there’s no gig.”
Even as he sneaks in a jab at Williams, Gannon agrees with him, saying, “It’s nice to be onstage with these guys. I wish I had a real gig that paid, but... it’s nice to not have the subs,...We’re all there for the same reason, to express ourselves and put out a good product: to be a kicking-ass band.
“With shows,” he continues, “you find out what’s most important, what’s most effective. So far, everything still needs to be there. But whenever you’re onstage with dudes that are there to make the gig happen for stuff other than the pay that night, when you have more invested for the longer time, it makes the stage energy a whole other thing.”
The other place where that cohesive energy is crucial is in the studio. R&R Music Labs, run by Ryan Lewis and Ryan Albritton, added Superhero Killer’s “Smile” to the STL Loud 3 release; in turn, R&R’s in-house imprint, The Loud Label, will handle the release of the band's debut EP. Initially, they got to know Ryan Lewis more, having recorded with him. Ryan Albritton, a real pusher of local acts, helped seal the deal.
“When it was Ryan Lewis, me and Jesse in the studio, we really developed as friends, along with our working relationship,” Williams says. “Ryan Albritton wasn’t around as much at that time, but when we were done recording, he was back full-time. At first, I thought he was kind of shy, but now we go out and drink, and he’s really cool. He’s got a lot of ideas on what we can do. We asked him to help, and he’s doing that. He’s got a lot of energy.”
The next steps, as of January 20, are to get the EP into people’s hands, then create whatever buzz available.
“The plan is not ‘let’s be the biggest local band we can be,’” Williams says. “We’re going to use any relationships that we can make and see what we can do with it. We can definitely play, as good as most. We want to take this out as far as possible...”
“And convey our music to the most people possible,” adds Gannon.
