Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
At the dawn of the 2000s, a host of original bands burst onto the St. Louis scene, playing now-defunct, 18-and-up rooms like the Hi-Pointe, the Galaxy, and the Creepy Crawl. These venues offered a home to young groups like Berlin Whale, Say Panther, Target Market, In Medias Res, and So Many Dynamos, the most notable act to survive from that era. Not that there weren’t plenty of challenges along the way.
As of this year, the Dynamos are a five-piece, having added guitarist-keyboardist Stephen Inman and percussionist Alison Arida. They join guitarist-keyboardist Nathan Bernaix and the two remaining founders, keyboardist-guitarist Aaron Stovall and drummer Clayton “Norm” Kunstel. Though we’ve assigned an instrument or two to each member in this list, each is a multi-instrumentalist, bouncing among tasks in the live setting, all checking in on percussion at some point. Expanding to a full five-piece unit was meant to lessen each member’s busy, even frantic responsibilities onstage.
The core of the group’s sound, in fact, lies in its deep love of percussion. As Stovall and Kunstel discuss the group’s varied history, talk revolves around their favorite players and groups—artists with ’80s roots, like Sheila E., New Order, and Talking Heads. Finding a sound that reflects those varied influences, while keeping danceability at the fore, has been a challenge.
“I think we’re always discovering new music,” says Stovall. “I started listening to an Art of Noise record last night and thought, ‘Where’s this been?’ We’re always finding new stuff. Also, we’ve had the member changes, so many over the years. That keeps things fresh, but always having to teach…”
“…can mean quite the opposite,” Kunstel finishes. “We’ve had to spend quite a bit of time freshening things up, which can be helpful… Aaron and I have to cycle through these ideas so much, we’ve really been able to learn the value of a good idea that we can use later.”
Stovall concludes the riff: “We have more of an evolved filter now.”
The band will showcase its new sound on an album that’s been recorded and mastered for months now. Safe With Sound checks in with 10 songs, altering what Stovall and Kunstel believe was a slightly too jagged approach to songwriting on the last full-length, 2009’s The Loud Wars.
“We’ve just sorta moved past that songwriting structure,” Stovall says, employing his hands. “How we’ve described it is that in the past, we took a lot of quick, sharp turns in the songs. Now, it’s more about veering into sections.”
With The Loud Wars, the group still used the talents of founding member and songwriter Ryan Wasoba, now a busy recording engineer and producer; it was also affiliated with the well-regarded indie label Vagrant Records. That relationship proved a less-than-great fit, however, and the band’s in the process of figuring out who’ll release the work this coming spring or summer. Even with that project on hold, songwriting continues.
“The Loud Wars was an unbalanced writing experience,” Kunstel figures. “It happened too fast. Now, we really value hearing everybody out, everyone’s voice in the group. We want the best combination of anything that’s possible.”
While the group hasn’t had a full release since ’09, there have been plenty of projects, including a digital-only EP, delivered in the form of a refrigerator magnet; a residency at Foam; lots of collaborative shows, featuring horn sections, emcees, and multiple backing vocalists; and a series of a short tours around the Midwest. A recording of home demos could also soon see the light of day. With band members pushing a still-young 30, jobs and other responsibilities have infringed upon the extra time that used to be spent on the band alone.
But So Many Dynamos seems to have a good understanding of where it is now, in terms of finding a creative place in the world. And the stage is a place where the members feel they’ve finally got all the elements in place for a nice renewed run.
“We were really stressing ourselves out as a four-piece,” says Kunstel. “Nathan would be playing guitar and sampler and percussion and singing at the same time. Not that he wasn’t killing it—he was. But once we split his role, it allowed him to focus on his strengths a whole lot more. His attention came back to what he’s really good at. And it’s just fun to have more body heat onstage.”
So Many Dynamos plays Off Broadway on Friday, December 13, with Hawthorne Headhunters and DJ MAKossa. For more info, go to dynamos-music.com.
Now Hear This
Burrowss, Get Scary: Available as a six-song download, this series of short tunes is a perfect introduction to the quirky, twisting, punky rock that Burrowss serves up to local audiences on a too-infrequent basis. With influences striding across several decade, the young group’s sub–20-minute offering touches on all the elements that make it so promising. burrowss.bandcamp.com.
Pretty Little Empire, Pretty Little Empire: A group with a bit of history in St. Louis, PLE shares members with other groups, keeping its light under the proverbial bushel more than might be expected. This 10-song album on Extension Chord Records showcases the group’s efforts, with a well-recorded, focused, yet rangy work that Eleven magazine calls “one of the most anticipated albums of the St. Louis scene this year.” prettylittleempire.com.
DinoFight!, Run for Your Lives: In another short, sweet blast of local pop-punk available for download, DinoFight! returns with a five-song EP release featuring tight, loud, brash compositions and a host of supporting scene luminaries. The core trio pulls together clever lyrics, punchy rhythms, and catchy hooks. There’s nothing wrong with that combination. dinofight.bandcamp.com.
