CMI RECORDS"Intermission is Over for The Moviees"
Like a fine wine, the vintage style of garage rock The Moviees venerate only gets better with time. The same may be true of The Moviees themselves.
The veteran garage rock band based in Rochester is slated to release their first album in five years by summer. The bands worldwide fan base has only expanded during their long hiatus though, thanks in part to the success of their out-of-print debut record, Become One of Them, which was released in 2001 on CD (and vinyl, sans the hits Come On and You Got What I Want, which had already been released on a vinyl 45 in 1998).
The record got out there, really far out there, guitarist Hank Borchers said. The out-of-print album is traded regularly on EBay by sellers as distant as Spain, Germany and Italy, he said. Drummer Ryan Kemp and bassist Jim Hanson noted that it is still played regularly on radio stations like WITR and quite frequently on the Little Steven Van Zandts Underground Garage show, which is heard globally on Sirius satellite radio.
The bands popularity remains high locally despite its low profile since the hiatus began in 2001, according to Borchers.
The tight-knit nature of the worldwide garage rock scene and the word-of-mouth communication it depends upon has been instrumental in raising the bands stature, according to Kemp.
We have a little bit more of a cult following, he said. I think weve saturated the garage rock market in the time weve been asleep here.
Their patient fans may be rewarded for enduring the drought in the new album, in which they may expand on their unique, edgy style (which Borchers has termed primitive cave) while remaining true to their garage rock roots.
It was sort of like we were in a musical prison before, Kemp said, then added that the expanded sound may include the use of keyboards and a Farfisa organ.
Borchers said the new album may be a little more early 70s-sounding, maybe with a few songs in the vein of Humble Pie and added that he is looking forward to expanded roles on lead guitar and vocals. Hanson is likewise anticipating a little duty on guitar and lead vocals.
Im excited to have another record come out, because I think theres enough momentum to keep up from the first one, Hanson said, then added with a laugh that the eye candy of the group hasnt changed a bit since the release of the last record. I got a haircut and thats about it.
Cutting Room Floor, the tentative title of the new record, is a play on both the cinematic moniker of The Moviees and the type of material that will be included. Kemp said the members will try to bridge the gap between the old and new Moviees by updating older, unreleased material previously recorded on 8-tracks and reel-to-reel and adding about three or four new songs.
Were jazzing them up, putting them into digital format and re-recording parts, Kemp said. The band will probably record 16 or 17 tunes and take the best 13. We definitely have enough material for a full album.
Reworking of the old material is set to begin next month and the band may even release a single for radio promotions in the next two or three months if all goes well, he said.
All of the members agree that they still enjoy the same opportunities to tour to the ends of the earth that they had to pass up on back in 2001. The keys to their enduring popularity are the strength of the first album and the distinctive Moviees sound, which sets them apart from many other garage acts.
Hanson said The Moviees developed into a psych. outfit with a great r & b backbeat and managed to record what really sounded like a lost mod record because they didnt just pay tribute to the great garage rock bands of the past. They went one step further by listening to the little-known artists that the pioneers themselves got started on.
You have to go back to the early stuff they were listening to, Hanson said. You put yourself in that frame of mind and then you can write a great album.
Engineer and producer Cash Mattock has the same high expectations. The new album will be distributed worldwide and will also be available for purchase at his website, www.cmirecords.com, the home of CMI Records.
I think its really going to be one of the best releases CMI Records has ever done, he said. Ive always been a big fan of the band and am really excited to work with them on this project.
