By Lydia Melby, Arts Editor
Are you looking for something fresh and a little different to listen to? Tired of the same old indie-rock metaphysical self-pity that’s so popular in live music today? Want to check out a show just to enjoy the music without feeling out of place wearing something besides skinny jeans and a beret? Well, look no further than ACU’s campus, because Swing The Lead is shaking things up on the local live music scene.
Swing the Lead, a self-styled pop/punk band comprised of four ACU students, with lead-singer Stephen Munoz, lead guitarist Zak Zeinert, bass player Matt Tate and drummer Andy Munoz, made its explosive debut last year at Jamfest 2008. With its energetic sound and tense, swaggering lyrics, the band brings something unique and new to what has become a drifting genre.
Swing the Lead will play a five-song, all-original set Saturday at The Door venue in Dallas as the final for a state Battle of the Bands competition sponsored by The Door clubs. Swing the Lead competed in one of four qualifying rounds last November, and is one of eight bands chosen to advance to the final round. Winners of the Battle of the Band receive a prize of $1,000, various pieces of musical equipment and even studio time with The Doors own recording studio.
Although the band is generally considered to be a sort of pop music and punk rock cross, the members don’t try to identify with a specific genre.
“I guess pop/punk would be the genre we’re closest to, but we really just play music we enjoy playing,” said Matt Tate, junior graphic design major from Arlington, who also provides secondary vocals. “When we’re writing songs, we don’t try to go for any genre, we just write stuff we like and want to play. We just kind of blend in all of our own musical influences and do what we want.”
Stephen Munoz agreed and said, “We’re trying to do something kind of different. We aren’t super, super poppy, but we also aren’t grungy and hard-core either.”
Swing the Lead’s style is reminiscent of the earlier days of bands like Blink 182, Brand New, Relient K and Taking Back Sunday, but as a whole, its breed of performance is something that hasn’t been available on the local musical scene for a while.
“Each of us [band members] have similar style and musical tastes, but we also each bring something different to the table,” Munoz said. “You know, there’s a lot of indie bands out there right now, and a lot of hard-core bands and even a lot of Christian worship bands, but there aren’t a lot of punk rock bands right now, especially at ACU. and I feel like we’ve gotten a pretty good response so far.”
Fan attendance is always a vital factor for success in any kind of musical competition. Although Swing the Lead, which started at the end of May 2008, was a new enough band that it wasn’t able to bring the number of supporters it hoped for last November in the qualifying round, it still was able to sway the audience and the judges to its favor, over more established bands.
“We couldn’t get that many people to come, but the judges said we outplayed one of the other bands that had brought more fans, so they let us advance instead,” Tate said. “That was pretty cool to hear.”
Since then, the band’s fan base has only grown.
“We’ve gotten a really good turnout at our shows; sometimes we’ve had kids coming up onstage and sing with us,” Munoz said. “We’ve gotten some pretty good feedback from the fans. They connect with our music and seem to like it. They’re pretty cool kids, and we like hanging out with them too.”
As for the prospective turnout Saturday, Munoz said he was hoping for at least 30 people.
“More would be awesome, like 50 or 60,” Munoz said, “but 30 would at least put us in the running.”
For more information about Swing the Lead’s performance Saturday or to check out what all the fuss is about, visit the band’s MySpace page at www.myspace.com/swingtheleadmusic.
