Published: June 30, 2008 10:10 am         

Ides of Night

Joshua bandmates express themselves through music

A bedroom, though it could just as easily be a basement or garage, filled with amps, instruments and posters transformed into a makeshift hang out and practice space. The time could be 1965, 1977, 1981 or 10 years from now, and the place could be anywhere. It just happens to be 2008 in Joshua.

Like kids have done since Elvis swiveled on the scene singing about some hotel called heartbreak and will no doubt do for years to come, members of the Ides of Night saunter in, plug in, and let rip a joyous barrage. Where they’ll end up is anybody’s guess, but right now they’re young, half serious and all the way having fun.

Rhythm guitarist Josh Braun belts lead vocals while lead guitarist Lance Vaden and bassist Josh Hardville chime back up. The drummer, Stephen Garay, brings the beat bongo crazy except for to today as he’s otherwise engaged elsewhere. All the members are 18 save Garay who’s 17.

The foursome formed friendships at Joshua High School, added and subtracted members as all nascent bands do, and changed names from Ascending Legacy — because they got tired of it — to the Ides of Night. A name that appears to be a riff on Shakespeare given that the band’s second CD is titled “Montagues, Capulets, and the Indifferent Legacy.”

“Actually, it stands for midnight,” Vaden said. “Which is when we write most of our songs.”

The songs mix alternative, metal and driving rock with scattered melodic sensibilities.

“Just write down weird music,” Hardville said when asked to describe the Night’s music.

Live, they sprinkle a few cover versions into their set of mostly original material just to keep the audience entertained, Hardville said. Band members cite the usual suspects of ’60s through ’80s classic rock bands along with mentions of Mozart and Bach. More recent influences include Fort Worth band the Toadies, Bright Eyes, Dashboard Confessional, Switchfoot and As I Lay Dying. None of the members much care for rap or the popular music of today.

“It’s very monotonous and boring,” Vaden said. “Basically, if it requires a thought process, it won’t be played on the radio. Unless it’s older music.”

Braun and Garay started the band two years ago with Vaden and Hardville coming aboard by and by.

“I used to play in the school band,” Braun said. “I’ve been playing guitar about six years. Singing for as long as I can remember.”

Vaden said he began playing guitar five years ago. Before that, he took piano lessons for two months, got bored, quit and taught himself.

“Seven years on guitar, two months on bass and three weeks screaming,” Hardville said of his musical experience.

The band and friends congregate and practice two to three times a week at Vaden’s house. Far from being annoyed, their parents have been supportive, band members said, to the point of helping financially with costs of demos and T-shirts.

“But we bought all our own equipment,” Vaden said. “Some we built ourselves.”

Among the manufactured axes sit several homemade guitars including a funky white number covered in handwritten names, lyrics and slogans. Band members said they take practices seriously to improve their live shows.

“We hardcore prepare for live shows,” Vaden said. “You can listen to our CDs in your car, but we want our shows to be the thing that sticks out and grabs your attention.”

The hard work appears to have paid off. The band plays live about twice a month, usually at Fort Worth and Dallas locations such as the Ridglea Theatre, Curtain Club and The Door. Members bemoan the lack of opportunities to play live in Johnson County and call the novelty of hailing from a town not really known for producing rock ‘n’ roll bands a blessing and a curse.

“Wanting to put a band together, it was really hard to find other musicians around here,” Braun said.

“That’s somewhat of a pro too,” Hardville said. “Because there’s no other bands in the area that can show us up.”

The band’s live shows are fun they said but not without problems.

“I’ve got a Gypsy curse,” Vaden said. “Every show my equipment breaks, always. And it’s not cheap equipment.”

Hardville continues the story.

“Yeah, at one show he got his guitar caught up in Josh’s mike stand,” Hardville said. “And instead of fixing it, he runs all the way across the stage to me to say, ‘Look what I’ve done.’”

Local response to the band varies, members said.

“We’re known as that band from Joshua,” Braun said. “We’ve got a group of girls that love us, most guys are indifferent. But we have a group of probably 10 people that come out to see our shows.”

The band both works hard and has fun, Braun said.

“We’ve always loved music,” Vaden said. “It’s all we ever do or talk about. But we also spend a lot of time together hanging out.”

Outside of music, the guys said they play video games, eat hot dogs and, in Vaden’s case, seek political office.

“That was worth a laugh,” Vaden said. “We were at CiCi’s [Pizza] and a friend said, ‘Dude, you’re 18; you could run for mayor.’ I was sitting around the house and got bored one day, so I went to city hall and filed.”

Vaden’s candidacy attracted plenty of media attention and soon became bigger than he ever dreamed, he said. Nonetheless, Joshua’s incumbent Mayor Merle Breitenstein secured re-election by a 110-38 vote margin.

“If I run again, it will be solely to publicize the band,” Vaden said.

Matt Williams, a friend and occasional player with the band, suggested that all the members should run for mayor next time. These aspirations aside, the Night’s plan to write more songs and play more shows, including a Saturday show at Best Buy in Burleson and a July 27 appearance at the Curtain Club in Dallas.

Unfortunately, the Nights now face the slayer of so many young bands seeking garage-rock glory: high school graduation. All but Garay graduated in May. Braun and Vaden begin classes at the University of North Texas soon, with Hardville heading to Stephenville to attend Tarleton State University. The future is a new, uncertain chapter, band members said. But they hope they will be able to get together enough to keep the Nights a going concern.

“Our love will keep us together,” Hardville said.

For booking information, call Preston at 817-372-3969.

On the Web: myspace.com/theidesofnight.

     

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