What I like about St. Louis is... Julio: how everything seems connected. Cherokee Street seems like some sort of temple and after three or four shows, you feel like you know everyone. There's a really tight connection between all of the underground artists and that's always cool to see. Antonio: diversity. Even when not widely accepted or fully understood, it is present -- for observation, discussion, and admiration. It's there. Joe: the attitude and people. It seems like everyone else in every other non-Midwest town is mean-spirited or stuck-up on the idea that they have to seem like someone cool. People here are just chill and themselves. I love it.
My favorite aspect of being in a band is... Julio: being in this band. Ever since we started, we have developed a really tight chemistry that has allowed us to connect on each rehearsal really easily and work out new songs like it's nothing. It's nice to start a band and develop a connection that quickly. We've been Kenshiro's for about 4 months now but it feels like a lot more time. Antonio: having the opportunity to experience the greatness of live shows with close friends with whom you can share the stage, not to mention the convenience of three-way gas money divisions. Joe: there isn't any set scene here, so what we get is a lot of different bands with a lot of different styles sharing the same stage. You get variety and lots of creativity that way.
I've learned the most from... Julio: Eric Peters, the drummer from Volcanoes. He's a really close friend of all of us and he has helped us all the way with everything, even lending us his gear when we were a bunch of broke immigrants with no amplifiers. He has also introduced us to the St Louis scene and really helped us propel ourselves into that stream. We will always thank him for his help. Antonio: Joe Bayne. Don't drink more than you can handle unless you trust your band-mates with your instruments. Although even when you confide in them completely, don't pass out: pieces of the drum set WILL be lost. Joe: Pabst Blue Ribbon and talking to homeless men after lots of it.
The St. Louis music scene could use... Julio: more drive to get outside. St Louis is great but I feel like it needs a different approach to making it nationally. There's so much fantastic music being made in the city, I wish I could see So Many Dynamos headlining Coachella or something like that. I've gained a lot of respect for the scene because I discovered that I actually enjoy the music quite a bit, so I would like to see those bands propelling themselves into the national territory so that the country starts looking at St Louis and realizing the scene is worth a lot more than what people think. Antonio: immense free expanses of square meters, along with the metric system and empty warehouses for shows to flourish wildly around the city. Joe: more and more basements shows. Every show is great when it is in a basement that belongs to some music lover.
Continued on the next page!
