Just like your favorite assigned English novel, you can get a half-decent summary of The Kim Basinger Band's Between Sin & Sanity by fast forwarding to the ending: "Rockcerto" starts slow with a bluesy trombone solo. Cue dim spotlights and pan slow--enter: vocals and guitar. "Think twice please, before you ever look back, before you think about the times we shared, think about the times we could've had here, think about the friends we could've lost here..." But in lieu of the scene fogging away and fading into a poorly-lit flashback, the guitar picks up a groove and gradually the rest of the force follows. Swinging between epic horn melodies and Olympic-speed vocals, the often dance-crazy song is motored by an intense agent-undercover rhythm section (keep an ear out for them, they sound like they're up to something).
This is bestseller-worthy ska, sonic gourmet. Pulling together slow and sprint, low-key and grandiose, Bosstones and Bizet, The Kim Basinger Band uses wide range and talent to generate complex, passionate, and energetic music worth more than a skim.
The Overcast: So starting with the basics, give us a little background on your band and how you began.
Scott: We formed at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach during the spring of 2004. We experienced some lineup changes since then. The group right now was finalized last September.
Travis: Tommy and Leo [Leo Teran, drums] are the newest members of the group. Shortly after they joined, we went into CMR studios in Wellington, FL to record a four-song EP. After releasing and promoting the EP we got a spot at the South Florida Fair Battle of the Bands in January. We won first place, and we started to get a larger following online. We wrote some new tunes, revamped some older ones, and then recorded Between Sin & Sanity down at Bieler Bros. Studio in Pompano, FL. It took 8 days to do all the recording and mixing, and we really had to work because our release show was only a few days after we finished recording.
Scott: Presently, we are playing shows, writing new songs, and preparing press kits to send out to labels.
Did going to an arts school have any effect on the development of the band?
Tommy: It's way easier to find talented and dedicated musicians. And to be in an environment that encourages artistic development...
Scott: It's funny cause your traditional local punk bands are always making fun of us for using terms like "C Major" and "harmony in thirds," basic music terms. We all come from a classically trained background...it influences the way we write our songs. "Rockcerto" contains an excerpt from the classical piece Farandole. Our bass player is actually going to a music conservatory for concert piano.
Travis: "Meeting You Again" is actually written in a J.S. Bach style. It's really weird. Classical music pops up everywhere in our stuff.
On that note, I'll move into the obligatory: If you had to name influences...
Scott: Streetlight Manifesto, Reel Big Fish, Mad Caddies, Suburban Legends, Five Iron Frenzy, The Toasters, The Specials. Plenty of Jazz musicians as well--Freddy Hubbard, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie to name a few.
Travis: Catch 22, Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, and Motion City Soundtrack. The Slackers, definitely. The Brian Setzer Orchestra, too. Gordon Goodwin.
Tommy: I Voted For Kodos, JJ Johnson, Five Iron Frenzy, Suburban Legends, Christian Lindberg.
What really gets you to write songs?
Travis: I write when something has to come out, and I can't just say it. Writing just to write is strange, because you'll write a song just to get something off your chest, and then two weeks later it's not relevant anymore, and the song goes in the trash. So for the few songs that really stick, many songs did not.
Scott: Sometimes writing comes from past or current experiences--your life, others' lives, anything that impacts us personally. Sometimes it's a subtle observation on society that brings about a song. Other times you could just be sitting around and a phrase or a string of words comes to your head and you work around that to create a song. Bass lines are always devised by Tom [Tom Wierzbicki, bass/harmony vocals], because only he can write lines so amazing. Jimmy [Jimmy Ammons, lead vocals/guitar] is the main song writer, though come to think of it, everyone usually writes his or her own part to the song. Except Tommy.
Travis: We're constantly changing things until it really, really fits.
You guys are recent grads?
Travis: I graduated last year, I'm getting ready for my sophomore year at FAU [Florida Atlantic University]. Everyone else just graduated though.
Tommy: Class of '06 off to Vanderbilt.
Scott: I'm a recent grad, heading down to the University of Miami.
How does this affect the band?
Travis: Well, Tommy is leaving us, unfortunately.
Scott: All the members except for Tommy will be together. Everyone else is going to school locally.
Who's Tommy's replacement?
Travis: We have a guy named Steve Provost coming in. He's a great player, classical background and all that.
Scott: Not as cute, but a fine trombone player. Has experience in playing in a ska band. Long-time friend of ours.
Tommy: And a lot of marching band, which usually makes for great ska.
Seriously, what's behind the name?
Travis: Well, it started way back when the band was in its first stages. Jimmy and his friend Danny found the name in a crossword puzzle. They just added "the" and "band" and wham--band name. Concerning legal matters, however, we are in no way affiliated with Kim Basinger, the actress.
Would it be completely awkward if you ever ran into Kim Basinger somehow?
Travis: Not really. I doubt she will have heard of us.
Scott: So long as a court case never evolved from it.
Tommy: It would be just like meeting any other hot actress, so most excellent.
So tell me about your hopes and dreams...
Tommy: I hope to be frozen, and then rethawed for when the world is made of candy.
Scott: We really hope to get signed to a label...to play music for a living is mroe than we could ever ask for, even if we won't make any money. And when all is said and done I know that a couple of us aspire to manage our own label eventually.
Travis: And, of course, we'd love to play shows alongside the bands that inspired us to do this in the first place.
What would you say has been the highest moment for your band so far?
Travis: Getting this album done. It was an absolutely amazing experience.
Scott: We did have the chance to open for our idols Streetlight Manifesto at one point but that was before Tommy, Leo, Travis, and Steve were in the band. So I'd have to go with the album.
Tommy: I'd say just getting to hang out with these guys all the time. I can't say I've had a high point. It's been great from start to finish.