If you’ve been to a show in Vegas in the last 15 years, then there’s no doubt that you’ve seen Brian Cantrell. As far back as the late 90s and middle school, Cantrell has been making music, first gaining attention for Jr. Anti-Sex League and keeping it going with bands like Burning Agrestic, where he provides vocals, and Same Sex Mary, where he’s in charge of riffage. During that time, Cantrell started Bee Movie the Band and after a five year absence, Bee is back with a new name (Bee Master) and a new, self-titled album. So we thought now would be a good time to ask Brian five questions.
I first heard your music while you were in Jr. Anti-Sex League, and you’ve amassed quite the impressive resume since then. Can you give us a rundown of the bands you’ve played in and tell us how you got into music?
My Father bought me a strat copy made by Cort and a Crate practice amp when I was 11, but not until after my Grandpa taught me to play G, C, D7, and Emi on his guitar. He wanted me to show I was serious about wanting to learn.
There were three major influences in my early musical development:
1. Rich B. Matta, my band director at Johnson Jr. High, knew when and how to praise his students and when and how to push them harder. When they showed enthusiasm, he echoed it double-fold. He is one of the greatest musicians and mentors who currently inhabit this planet, and I doubt you will come across anybody who will tell you otherwise.
2. Kevin Lyon, my private instructor at Today’s Music, is a phenomenal jazz player with a passion for continuous learning. In two short years, he showed me everything I needed to know about chord structure, scales, modes, and arpeggios to make or fake my way through any jazz charts I would encounter in the years to come.
3. Internet guitar tablature, although not always accurate, could reveal the riffs I couldn’t learn by ear at the time. I could learn to play “Master of Puppets,” “Black Dog,” “Iron Man,” etc., which was crucial to my development. In fact, the inaccuracy of the tabs even helped strengthen my ability to learn by ear.
By the time I hit 8th grade, I had little interest in anything but playing guitar. When I was in middle school (1998-ish), I used to play guitar in the quad before school and during lunch. Cory Johnston, a drummer from band class, approached me about starting a band with friends, David Yoder and (later) Keith Hardin.
We started off playing covers, but ended up writing a lot of original material. Eventually, Cory introduced Jason Parker into the situation, who already had a grip of songs written. This was the birth of Jr. Anti-Sex League. We played our first two shows at the Legends Lounge and the Boston Bar and Grill.
I’ve played in:
1. Nox (guitar, vox)
2. Jr. Anti-Sex League (guitar, vox)
3. Red Light School District (guitar)
4. Bee Movie the Band (guitar, vox)
5. Rewrite Dept. (Drums)
6. Burning Agrestic (vox)
7. Same Sex Mary (guitar)
8. Bee Master (guitar, vox)
I’m curious how you alter your approach to suit each band. Do you specifically set out to write a song for Bee Master, then a song for Same Sex Mary and so on, or do you get a feel for which project it would work best for after it’s written?
The songwriting dynamic has always been different in every band I’ve been a part of.
In Jr. Anti-Sex League, I always co-wrote with Jason. He was more of the structure/lyrics guy, while I was more of the chord progression/riff guy.
In Bee Master, I typically approach the guys with guitar parts, lyrics/melody, and skeleton. Then they hash out their own parts and we complete the arrangement as we feel fit at practice.
In Burning Agrestic, the guys would have entire arrangements ready instrumentally before I would start writing lyrics and vocal melodies that I thought would best suit the song.
In bands where I just play guitar, I have little to do with the writing. I pretty much just add a dash of harmonic richness and a dash of chaos.
Vegas venues often have short lifespans and with so many bands and so many years playing under your belt, you’ve pretty much played them all. Do you have a favorite? How about a favorite gig? Do you prefer all-ages or 21+ gigs and why?
A lot of my favorite venues were temporary – cafes, parking lots, houses – pretty much wherever you could get away with playing. I also have fond memories of playing at the Castle and Huntridge. More recently, Bunkhouse (both old and new) has been a pretty big staple.
The Bike Rack Battles and Mercury Music Showcase at the Huntridge are definitely favorites of mine. First Friday Jr. Anti-Sex League shows at Iowa Cafe, the Same Sex Mary Albuquerque date on our Abominable Tour, and the most recent Bee Master show at Bunkhouse are definitely contenders as well.
Although I have become pretty far removed from the all-ages scene as of late, I have been feeling eager to get reacquainted. I admire the enthusiasm of the youth (both performers and spectators), and have a lot of fond memories of shows I played when I was younger.
I currently attend and play mostly 21+ shows, because most of my friends tend to play and attend them. Drinks and good music with good friends is a definite recipe for good times.
You mention your first show fronting Bee Master. Bee Master was previously known as Bee Movie the Band and the show Bunkhouse show marked the end of a five year gap between shows. Why the name change and why the long gap in the project?
Around the time of our last show [June 19, 2010 with Geographer], we had begun to feel a bit burnt on playing the same songs too often for too long. The intention of the break was to write and record a grip of new songs to put on an album with a grip of old songs from our set.
Although this took much longer than originally projected, we are back with a new album to release and another set of new songs to reveal shortly thereafter, as well as a new name.
With a name like Bee Movie The Band, it’s hard to get people to even check you out, let alone get people to take you seriously. We came up with Bee Movie the Band during a 4 Loco fueled brainstorm session. It made us laugh the hardest, so we went with it. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t trying to come off like we take ourselves super seriously, but there are limits.
We saw this break as an opportunity to tone down the silliness/weirdness a notch, while maintaining A Link to the Past.
It’s my understanding that you played all the guitars on the Bee Master album. Can you tell us who else played on the album (drums, bass, backing vocals, etc) and what challenges come from recording this way, versus having a full band in studio. How do you plan on replicating this sound live?
Being the only guitarist in the studio was a big challenge, but was also quite fun. A lot of layers in the arrangements were improvised, and we had a lot of time to experiment with different guitars, amps, and pedals. These sessions were a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, as we will probably take a much more focused approach in the future.
When I was in high school, I was listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Queens of the Stone Age, and Radiohead with headphones. This is where I learned about the use of layering for the purpose of dynamic contrast and harmonic complexity. Recording with Ryan Ray (former Bee Movie guitarist) at Digital Insight was great, because he encouraged this type of madness. When I would say, “I think that part needs a harmony..then I’ll harmonize that part! Then, I’ll harmonize the harmony,” he would just laugh and say, “Hell Yeah! …then we’ll double them!”
With our live show, note for note replication of the recordings is not our aim. The goal of the live set is to capture the spirit of the recordings in a leaner, rawer adaptation. Covering all the important parts with a four piece line-up is a challenge, and requires a lot of, um, “interesting” guitar playing…and a lot of amps.
Bee Master is:
Brian Cantrell (guitar, vox, keys)
Brett Bolton (drums)
Mike Montoya (bass)
Guests on the record:
Eric Zellner (better keys)
Brendan Scholz (vocal harmonies/backup vox)
Brock Frabbiele (vocal harmonies/backup vox)
Ryan Ray (backup vox)
Thank you, Brian! For more Bee Master, the band will be doing an album release show at 11th Street Records on June 6th. Three songs from the upcoming self-titled album are available now via bandcamp. You can also catch them at the Boulder City Block Party on May 16th.
Brian Cantrell/Burning Agrestic photo by Seven Matview
One Comment