When I spoke to Eddie Baranek, the 20-year-old singer and guitarist for Detroit's Sights, he told me that only half their songs are about girls. But one glance at the titles on Are You Green? shows it's really almost all of them. When I told Eddie I thought the Sights captured that pop energy bands like Weezer and Superdrag had when they started out, he assured me he's never listened to either group and prefers Traffic and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Much like the Greenhornes, the Sights definitely nod to 60s garage groups, with a goodtimey sound that makes you wanna shake your ass, and catchy tunes you'll be singing long after the album stops. I spoke with Eddie before the Sights' first New York show.
I recently saw a writeup in Magnet. Was that the band's first real interview?
Yeah. Well, actually Chris Morris, who writes an independent music column for Billboard, did an article on us too, so maybe this is the third.
There's a lot of music coming out of Detroit right now?the Detroit Cobras, the Dirtbombs, the White Stripes, the Witches, the Go?how do the Sights fit in?
We don't. A couple of years ago I took some of my cues from them, but now we're starting to learn more on our own. We don't really follow what these bands do, not that we ever did. And we're not afraid to do the pop thing.
What bands do you like to play with?
The Pop Project from Ann Arbor. They're our age and I consider them our brother band in terms of bouncing ideas off each other. And the Greenhornes. They never disappoint me live. After our show with them in Wisconsin our new drummer came home and wrote a song influenced by them. It's tentatively called "Waste My Time."
Do people have higher expectations for your band because of the aforementioned groups getting recognition?
When we go to other cities it's often extremes like, "Wow! You're from Detroit!" and we get a great amount of respect, or other times it's, "Oh, you're from Detroit. There's nothing going on there. It's a bombed-out shithole." That doesn't annoy me, but the thing that does annoy me around here is the lack of support for local music. A lot of times when you go see a show it's only bands supporting other bands.
I think that's particularly true in larger cities. NYC is a prime example. About people's reactions to the Sights being from Detroit?it's comparable to when friends from other cities ask if I've heard the Strokes. You can try to be removed from the scene you're associated with, but you're always a part of it.
Right. You don't want to initially bring it up, but if someone does you have to react and comment on it. Like the Strokes are playing here on Saturday and everyone's talking about it. I don't really care.
When I talked to the singer of the Cobras earlier this year, she told me there really isn't a Detroit scene.
I actually remember reading that article. I understand what she was saying about there being this rock 'n' roll scene, which is an extension of the 60s stuff. And there's this whole other scene where they give out awards. It's basically bullshit. It's called the Detroit Music Awards.
What about your music? Where do all the pop hooks come from?
It's just what we want to do. We're not looking to pigeonhole or mold ourselves into something. We're not a power-pop group. We're not looking to be an indie band with an alt.country twist, with a pop/rock edge or whatever. Mark [Leahey, bassist] and I like to play whatever we're into at that moment. We've been playing together since we were 15?our style changes every six months. Right now, we're playing more extended blues jams. We're young and we don't care because we don't think we have an established sound yet.
What groups motivate you to write songs?
When I was 16 I was all into Paul Weller, Motown and Northern soul music. I was really into the mod scene then. Now, it's me not listening to bands that sound like us. I'm not going to listen to the Beatles to be inspired. I look further. I'll listen to Nina Simone to get an influence, then twist it a bit.
What records do the other guys like?
Mark is into Mott the Hoople, early 70s rock and early Paul McCartney. He has an undying passion for him. Dave Shetler, our new drummer, is the pop Nazi. He's into anything Beatles and Beach Boys. He loves the three-part harmonies.
Your earlier writeups compared you guys to the Buzzcocks and the Jam.
We do have a Buzzcocks and Jam feel, but live there's a little bit of a snotty feel to me. Not the angry-young-man thing, but I'm very energetic.
Your lyrics are sweet and humorous. Like on "Talk to You" you sing, "I finished the story I was telling/Now I know you understand/I wanna talk to you?when it comes down to it/Please don't think I'm a liar/I only wanted to see us naked." Is it a conscious effort to be funny?
It's just us being 17 and 18 and making a record of songs we've written in our basement. We really don't think in terms of people interviewing us about it?at least at the present moment. We're just a laugh for our friends. We're just having fun.
Have you toured much outside of the Midwest?
About a year ago we flew out to California to play a couple shows in San Francisco and L.A. Then this past August we did a two-week tour down to the South, through the Midwest, out to the West Coast and back.
Do you like music from the South?
Yeah. I personally love the Oblivians' stuff, the current music out of Memphis that Jack and Greg Oblivian are doing. I like the American Death Ray and Tyler Keith and the Preacher Kids outta Oxford. I'm really intrigued by the South, but the whole warm cheesy Southern hospitality is a little twisted.
Most of the bands that I'm into have a blues-driven rock 'n' roll sound. It goes back to Motown, Southern blues and Led Zeppelin. And it's gotta have soul. So what can we expect from the Sights live?
Our live show is very different from our recording. We're gonna extend some songs, try to work a song within another song, maybe a seven-minute song. Not rock 'n' roll operas, but definitely stretching the live limits. Sweaty, loud, energetic, intense, emotional. I guess if music lacked all that then I wouldn't know what good music would be.
Are you gonna pull a Led Zeppelin on us?
Um, yeah, complete with the Robert Plant bulge in front.
The Sights play Sat., Dec. 8, at Don Hill's, 511 Greenwich St. (Spring St.), 219-2850.