Jared DuBach
Daily Egyptian
Producing a fresh sound and creative songwriting formula are components of music that Luke McNeill and The Copyrights say are a must for staying positive in an ever-changing music industry.
The Copyrights, which play at 10 p.m. Thursday at Hangar 9, consists of Luke McNeill and Brett Hunter on guitars and back-up vocals, Adam Fletcher on bass and lead vocals and Jake Pfaff on drums.
Fletcher and McNeill started the band two months ago. The two had played together in the Carterville-based punk band Moloko Plus, which later changed its name to Last Laugh before it broke up earlier this year.
According to McNeill, he and Fletcher had discussed the idea of forming The Copyrights while Fletcher was living in Delaware and playing with another punk band called The Reaction. Fletcher moved to Delaware last January to start the band but recently moved back to the area after The Reaction failed to fulfill his expectations.
"Fletcher and I were talking before he got back about doing something. Last Laugh had broken up, and The Reaction exploded," McNeill said.
According to Fletcher, The Copyrights' sound is a lot less complicated than that of some of his and McNeill's previous projects.
McNeill said the story behind the band's name goes back to when McNeill and Fletcher's first band, Moloko Plus, was being tormented by another band of the same name. The other band had the name copyrighted. Even though Moloko Plus chose Last Laugh instead, the name "The Copyrights" always stuck in the back of their minds.
Hunter and Pfaff were asked to join The Copyrights because of their experience with playing in punk rock bands and their ongoing involvement with Carbondale's music scene.
McNeill and Fletcher said The Copyrights' main influences are the bands Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales and the Groovie Ghoulies. As for the style of music The Copyrights play, Fletcher describes the band's sound as "posi-core" or "posi-punk," which refers to the band's upbeat style of punk rock that is free of political ideologies, yet still conscious of local social issues.
"We have a couple of girl songs," McNeill said. "But we're trying to stay away from the 'I love you; chew bubble gum with me' type of thing. I try to write more serious songs actually."
McNeill said he has not only changed the subject matter to which he has become accustomed, but he has also altered his style of songwriting.
"There are a lot of metaphors in my lyrics, but they're not really deep metaphors like I tried to write in Last Laugh. I've been trying to write songs that are more like Screeching Weasel," McNeill said.
The Copyrights has a set of 12 songs that they are currently planning on recording for a demo at Revolution Room Studios in early August. The group then plans on shopping the demo to a few select record labels, and eventually, they plan on touring.
According to McNeill, The Copyrights is relatively straight-laced in comparison to typical punk rock bands.
"We're definitely the most likely to read a book while we're on tour," McNeill said.
"And we're also the most likely to show up on time," Fletcher added.
Regardless of whether the band sees stardom or not, McNeill said members of The Copyrights intend to have a good time while they're together and will continue to play the type of music they love regardless of changing trends.
"We just decided that we wanted to do something fun for a change," McNeill said.
The Copyrights will be performing at 10 p.m. Thursday with Kick In Emergency and Big Fat Nothing at Hangar 9.
Reporter Jared DuBach can be reached at jdubach@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
