In its eight months together, Oblique has accomplished more than most groups in four years.
It had one of the largest followings at last semester's Battle of the Bands at Dill Street, winning close to 90 percent of the vote during its initial performance on Nov. 4. But the group feels the need to move on. Oblique recently signed with a talent agency and is looking beyond Muncie.
"Here we're just wasting time," lead singer Chad Leathers said. "We want to do this (music) as a career. We've tried, but for this to work, we need to get out of here."
The band's dreams can barely fit in its basement, where the musicians practice several times a week.
The noise is deafening in the cramped space and nearby homes feel the sound, but fortunately the neighbors are tolerant.
The floor is strewn with cables, and the tables with aluminum cans and cigarette butts. During practice on Tuesday nights they take swigs of Miller High Life, the "champagne of beers." They all hold part time jobs, but only guitarist Tanner McCracken is a full-time Ball State student.
The band, which consists of Leathers, McCracken, bassist Nick Whetsel, drummer Ross Locke and guitarist Ryan Lee, got its start while Whetsel and Lee were attending Ivy Tech. They played hard, Limp Bizkit-like rap, before recruiting the current line-up. The band now describes its sound as emotionally charged modern rock. The musicians cite Tool as a primary influence but incorporate a variety of styles.
"We have some punk riffs, some metal riffs, some Emo," Leathers said. "We have everything, which is what makes us Oblique. We're all different, coming from different angles. It all happens to blend well. "
Leathers describes every song as "a nice little story."
"I just find things that I need to get out, that I can't really say to anybody. I'm a personal guy but I can't really go up to the rest of the band and say 'we need to talk,'" he said. "But I feel with music I can do that - get out my raw emotion. There are thoughts about my family. My brother is in the military and there's a song about him leaving because we're pretty close. There's a song about my dad who's an alcoholic."
Oblique prides itself on doing mainly original material rather than covers.
"I just notice that when you play a song that you wrote and people cheer for you, it's a much better feeling," McCracken said. "They actually appreciate something that you did."
They've put together a demo CD that they've sent to local record stores. Prior to the Battle of the Bands, they also distributed 400 three-song CDs in local malls, bars and restaurants.
"Instead of charging three bucks, just give them away for free. No one will turn you down," Leathers said.
Their efforts paid off with the turnout at Dill Street. After stepping off the stage at the final installment of the battle, Leathers asked for a beer, and immediately had eight bottles in his face.
"All I needed was one," he said.
The Battle of the Bands stretched more than two months and included 32 groups from around Indiana. Muncie band Downfall won the grand prize of $1,000 and a headlining spot at August's Midwest Music Summit.
Oblique won a $50 gift certificate from the Music Room and $100 cash. The band enjoyed the exposure and the statewide connections it made.
"We got what we wanted out of it," Leathers said. " We didn't care about winning. We felt that our first night there was going to be our only night. We got the promotion, the people hearing us, the connections with shows in Indianapolis."
The band members saw some hope that the event would help revitalize the local music scene. But two months later they feel there is little in Muncie for them.
"The Battle of the Bands kind of brought something to the Muncie scene," Whetsel said. "It brought it to a high point, but now that the battle's over it's kind of died down."
Oblique's agency, Talent 2K, is currently shopping its music around to various labels. The band's major concern right now is continuing to get its name out.
"In a few years, I'd like to be on a bus playing somewhere," Leathers said. "Hopefully we won't be killing each other. We all want to do the same thing. We all have the same dreams and I feel if we all stick together we'll be able to push forward. We've been pretty much unstoppable."
http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Oblique/
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