The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks,
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The Copyrights know they are not the first punk band to come out of Illinois, nor will they be the last. They know that the Land of Lincoln, the unofficial punk capital of the Midwest, is home to a slew of indistinguishable acts that make it easy to get lost in the shuffle.
But they also know that they have the key to standing out from the rest - a fresh sound. Well, sort of.
"I'd say we're more of a throwback to the mid-'90s punk scene, kind of along the lines of Green Day," bassist and lead vocalist Adam Fletcher says as he brushes his jet-black hair from his eyes.
And it is that fresh/retro sound that The Copyrights will bring with them to Hangar 9 at 10 p.m. on July 31, along with Lookout! Records' punk veterans Squirtgun and Chicago-based acoustic punk group Even In Blackouts.
With a diverse range of musical influences that includes both the Ramones and the Beach Boys, The Copyrights are not the prototypical punk rock group, although they may give that impression on first glance.
On the surface, The Copyrights' sound is similar to that of most other punk bands - it's simple, catchy and hook-laden. But what sets them apart from their peers is their unique style of songwriting that has become their calling card.
"Our lyrics are really about everyday things and good storytelling," says drummer Luke McNeill. "We basically just complain about things instead of preaching like some other bands have a tendency to do."
With their exclusion of the self-aware ideologies that have long been a punk rock staple, The Copyrights' songwriting is devoid of political agendas, yet still conscious of pertinent social issues.
"We don't try to force any of our political beliefs on people," says guitarist Brett Hunter. "Instead, we prefer to keep our lyrics more personal."
But their introspective lyrics and the accompanying sounds didn't exactly develop overnight. Fletcher and McNeill originally came up with the idea for The Copyrights last year, but as the former Last Laugh bandmates soon found, it wouldn't be an easy idea to get off the ground.
While Fletcher and McNeill were collaborating on how to form the group, Fletcher was also toiling away in Delaware with the fledgling punk act The Reaction. After The Reaction failed to explode the way he thought it would, Fletcher came back to Southern Illinois and continued working with McNeill on putting together the as-yet-unnamed group.
But it didn't take them long to come up with the perfect moniker for their new band. They remembered that their last group, the Carterville-based Last Laugh, had been forced to switch from its original name, Moloko Plus, when they discovered another group already had the name copyrighted.
Thus, what was originally a letdown for Fletcher and McNeill ended up providing them with the name they carry today. And after experimenting with different combinations of musicians, they eventually settled on their current lineup.
They added two guitarists that, between them, carried years of punk rock experience in Hunter and Ken Clifford, who also happened to be a former member of Last Laugh.
Since then, The Copyrights have made the most of their talents, keeping a schedule that has them either on the road or in the studio much of the year. But in between tours, they recently found time to record their first full-length album, "We Didn't Come Here to Die," which will be released by Insubordination Records on July 29.
The 13-track debut, which the group describes as "catchy and upbeat," has already been generating early buzz on college radio, especially the album's first single, "Talk Bomb."
"The album's only 27 minutes long, but I think that's good because there's really none of the typical filler," Fletcher says. "Even the songs that might not be our favorites we think aren't too bad."
But even with the confidence they have in their new album and the doors that its release could open, they insist they are only focused on the near future.
A future that begins with a month-long tour starting Aug. 1 that will be highlighted by the band's first trip to California, which will mark a milestone for Hunter.
"I've never been anywhere west of Missouri before, so I'm really excited to see what it's like out there," Hunter says.
But before they head west for the fall, The Copyrights will play one more date in the town they were weaned on. And even though the band may be moving on to bigger things and, as McNeill says, the punk scene in Carbondale is not quite what it used to be, they are looking forward to it.
"It's odd because it kind of goes in waves, but there's a lot of good music out there that people just need to look around and find," McNeill says.
With the show on July 31being the last show in Carbondale before their album is released, the group is also savoring their last moments of anonymity. But whatever the future holds for them, The Copyrights are ready for it.
"It's really strange to think that we're no longer the band playing Carbondale every weekend," Fletcher says. "But right now, we're just ready to go everywhere."
For more information on The Copyrights, go to www.insubordinationrecords.com.
