More than a dozen local bands will be playing the Fall Semester showdown at the Canopy Club on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. In case you’re not familiar with some of them, we’ll be running capsule interviews with as many of them as would respond to our emails over the next few days.
Next up: Arkansas Dogjaw, who will be playing on Thursday night as part of a five-band bill also featuring Empyrean Soul, Audiac Arrest, Kilroy et. al., and Jet W. Lee. Cover is $7, and the show starts at 10 p.m.
Smile Politely: How would you describe your sound to a person who you don’t think will like your music? Is there anything your music has been compared to that you don’t particularly agree with?
Arkansas Dogjaw: Our music does not really fall into any one genre, we have many musical influences, resulting in a sound with a good energy that people from many different genres can appreciate. After hearing about our sound, a girl that thought she only liked indie music was really able to get into our music.
Smile Politely: Are there any non-musical influences that one might not expect?
Arkansas Dogjaw: We have been compared to classic rock, blues, jazz, and funk; however, no one of these styles exclusively represents us because we don’t limit ourselves to any of these genres. We influenced by these styles and others, but we have made a sound that is our own.
Smile Politely: What are the primary factors/influences/motivations that keep you doing what you’re doing?
Arkansas Dogjaw: We have different influences depending on the song, the subject matter of the lyrics usually determines what we sound like. We killed many giant, freaky grasshopper things and the pain of the battles still lingers on and motivates us to write music.
Smile Politely: What is the best (or worst) thing happening in music today (either local, national or international)?
Arkansas Dogjaw: Formulaic, cookie-cut music made with main intent of making money. This type of music is safe, people will like it, but it wont endure, and wont really do anything for music because nothing innovative comes out of it. People like it, but if they never hear other types of music, they’ll never find out what they really enjoy.
Smile Politely: Tell us about the worst show you have ever played.
Arkansas Dogjaw: One time we had to play at a circus. There was a giant fire started by indoor fireworks, three giraffes died, and the sound guy stubbed his toe. It was intense.
Smile Politely: What do you have coming up on the horizon?
Arkansas Dogjaw: In 2010 we are going to start recording our demos and first album. We are also going to try to get shows in St. Louis and Chicago.