Silver Medals are a brand, spankin’ new outfit here in Tulsa. They are made up of David Bynum (Bass, Keys), Sterling Williams (Drums) and Stuart Dervish (Guitar). They had their debut show at Free Tulsa, and I just happened to stumble across them. Boy, was I happy I did. Their sweet-but-articulate brand of electro-pop is fun, dance-y and heartfelt.

I felt kind of like a dope for thinking about the similarities between Silver Medals and Aqueduct. Turns out, Medals’ frontman David Bynum is a former member of the ‘duct. I’m not sure who learned from who, but this sound is working for them both. The Medals’ lyrics are quippy and sometimes happily unexpected; “She starts to blush when I touch her face, but the girl’s got every single hair in place / Nothing’s complex with her complexion, Girl’s headed in the right direction.”

Catch them if you can for a dreamy, electronic love story. Keep it up boys, you’re headed in the right direction.

“Like” the Silver Medals here for updates on shows and recordings.

Photo by Jeremy Charles

Last night marked the last show for one of Tulsa’s longest living bands, Wighead. Founding member Chris Rusk is moving to

Chris Rusk and Evan Inman-Butts

New York City, and leaving his band of quirky musical miscreants behind. Rusk and band co-founder Evan Inman-Butts started Wighead when they were 14 years old. By my estimates thats about 11 years of rock’n'rolling together. In the world of musical collaborations, 11 years is nothing to sneeze at. The band has had many incarnations and several members can say they shared the name Wighead.

One of the hallmarks of a Wighead show has always been fun. Props, confetti, spaghetti, costumes, and bullhorns; this band has never shied away from spectacle. The audience never knows what to expect from a Wighead show, and in fact, they may leave covered in glitter. It’s certain that Tulsa will miss it’s quirk-rock quartet, but hopefully fellow remaining members will find other ways to express their musical creativity. Their last show was a fun reminder of why they will be missed. Rusk and Inman-Butts serenaded the audience with the first song they ever wrote together, Banana Flavored Apple Pie. It was a nice way for the band to come full circle. Good luck to Chris as he embarks on the Big Apple, and good luck to all the other members of Wighead. You will not be soon forgotten!

That being said, about 10 years ago, when I was a wayward teen, I wandered into a coffee-shop/venue called The Loft. It was on 18th and Boston, and is now known as Doubleshot. I had never been, but a friend brought me to watch an Emcee battle with the infamous Johnny Polygon. There wasn’t, and still isn’t, a huge pool of talented rappers here in Tulsa–but the packed venue and swaying patrons told me that there was something to this “Polygon” character. Now, more than a decade later, Johnny has several albums and is being produced by DJ Green Lantern out of LA. Last May, Johnny had his birthday party at none other than the Cain’s Ballroom.

Johnny’s music varies from rap dominated tracks, to melodic singing laid over dance beats. There are a lot of 80′s inspired, synth parts mixed in with Johnny’s quippy, over confident yet self deprecating lyrics (“I’m sayin’ that I’m different, normally conformity’s the bain of my existence, If you’re a label you’re my enemy, actually I’m just thankful that you’re into me”). Johnny walks a fine line between cocky and self conscious, which makes him a really likable narrator.

When reading an interview with Johnny, I found it interesting that he credits Tulsa for making him the Emcee he is today. He says, “it gave me a lot of identity from jump street. It was one of those things where the confidence came through because there were not a lot of people that were really good at rapping so as soon as I started rapping I was the best rapper around, so it was just really natural.” It’s true, many Tulsa bands find its easier to get noticed here before they move to a bigger city, and performing to adoring hometown crowds can boost your confidence before entering the national stage.

Johnny’s newest album, Rebel Without Applause, came out in March of this year and its available on iTunes. Here’s Johnny’s video for ‘The Riot Song,’ to give you a taste of his hip hop/indie/electro sensibilities.

This is Fiawna’s first video release off her new album Transitus. Directed by Sterlin Harjo.

Sadly, as with many Tulsa bands that have potential, they felt they needed to move to a bigger city to really get noticed on the national stage (See also: Black Swan, Cheyenne, and Aqueduct). Not all the band’s members could commit to a move, so that was the unofficial end of Ester Drang. Jeff Shoop and James McCallister went on to play on Sufjan Stephen’s album Illinoise, and McCallister was a frequent stand in for Pedro the Lion.

Well, good news is afoot for Tulsa fans of Ester Drang. The band will be reuniting for one show coming up this summer. Ester Drang will play their first show under that name since 2007. There are no official plans for the band to reunite for good, but they are playing the FreeTulsa festival on July 30th and 31st. It’s a great opportunity for them to play some old favorites, remind their old fans of why they loved them so much, and introduce their music to a whole new generation of Tulsa music fans.

Stay tuned to www.okkle.com for an official schedule of the bands playing FreeTulsa, and make sure you catch Ester Drang while you’re there, you won’t be sorry.

Open/On/Start/Live – This second track introduces our story, but also has a catchy hook. It is here you begin to get a feel for Damian Shade’s complex vocal meter and tone. His voice is smooth and deep, but under the layer of effects sounds distant and shielded, much like the overall tone of the album.

“With the highways and forest between them / Josh would not just turn out like his dad. / But his mom said, son you look just like him / then she turned to her boy and she said, / but you’ll be much better someday my son.”

My Father’s Son – This song is heavy on the synth part, which is accompanied by an echoey drum beat. It gives the song a spacey feeling, which becomes grounded at the chorus, with the introduction of cymbals and additional elements. These few stanzas embody the feeling of being unable to escape the roles our parents put us in, causing us to mirror their behavior as we get older.

“I remember you said you wanted someone / to love you like your dad did. / A man who’d never be this staggering sick / slurring I don’t mean it.

Broken glass on the floor / your name on my lips / I thought that I’d be like him.

well I wish I was. / I wish I was, / but I am my father’s son.

I feel his hands on the back of my brain stem. / I am my father’s son. / I hear his words in the back of my throat all night.”

Ithica – This song has a much lighter melody, due in part to the acoustic guitar and the absence of vocal and drum effects. Not that I don’t like effects, but they have their time and their place, and this is not where they belong. As the album progresses the songs get more personable, and more exposed. This song, I think is the pinnacle of that, as Shade croons,

“Quentin Tarantino films are washing over Julie’s glasses, / reminding her that she is growing cold.

All the other film school drop outs made remarks about detachment, and / how our culture is slowly getting old. / they say she’s better off this way.   …

All the ATMs and the Coke Machines / Don’t give us what we need.”

This album is available on iTunes, and through Ithica’s Website. Buy the whole thing because this one, as well as its creators, are a keeper.

You would be at a loss to miss Bruder, not only are they great to listen to, but they understand the value of transparency. I feel like I know them from their Bio, and because I know them, I want them to succeed. Well done, gentlemen.

Elecro-New Wave Dance band Guardant (pronounced Gar-Daunt) has been on the scene in Tulsa for a few years. Sprouting out of the French Connections came this fun-filled synth band.

They’ve garnered quite a following of fans, and you’ll have a hard time finding room on the dance floor at any of their shows. They cite their influences as Devo, Cut Copy and LCD Soundsystem, but you wouldn’t be hard pressed to find a little Bloc Party or maybe some Justice and MSTRKRFT tossed in. In my favorite tune Discovery, the carmely too-cool tones of the vocalist swoon, “Feel as far as I get is everywhere but anywhere / And as far as you let me go is not near.”

You can catch Guardant this Sunday with La Panther Happens at Yellow Brick Road (YBR). This unlikely hole in the wall bar across from Oz on 15th street has begun hosting fun music on Sunday nights. You will boogie, you will shake it, and you will probably find some very cheap beer. Cheers!

RSVP here.

Fiawna Forte at the Independent Cause Launch Party

Ever wonder what separates good from great? What makes people come back for more? If there’s anyone in the Tulsa music scene right now that has unlocked that secret, it’s Fiawna Forte. Fresh back from her stint at South by Southwest, yes she was one of 23 Oklahoma acts that were in official showcases, Fiawna dishes about her heroes, her love life (ooh la la), and what the future brings for her and her band. Catch her Album release (over 2 years in the making) show at the Marquee on May 14th with Panda Resistance and Bruder!

IC: How long have you been performing?
ff: Pretty much since the doctor swatted my bum. When I was a kid, everywhere I went I usually was pretending to be someone else. My physical being was so engulfed in reality that I escaped with my mind. I guess it stuck. I started playing guitar at 7, sitting in my closet playing for thousands. But I didn’t really “come out of the closet” until I was about 15.

IC: What artists are you listening to right now?

ff: I’ve been exploring the worlds of some classical artists lately. There’s some intense melodies out there. I’ve been into Dr. Dog and Elbow recently as well. Then of course the usuals as in Elvis Costello, Billie Holiday, Bruce, The Who, Tom Waits, Kate Bush, Wilco…the list goes on.

IC: From which female front-women do you draw inspiration?

ff: Well the industry has come a very long way for females. There’s so many influences, I could spend forever on this one question. One woman, however, who broke down alot of walls was Odetta. She’s incredible. Then you have Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Then you have Wanda Jackson who opened the rock n’ roll door for us women. And of course a few who really proved that women can kick it with the guys..Ann and Nancy Wilson, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde. But for me, one woman who has really proved to stand on her own and run the entire show would be the brilliant Kate Bush.

IC: What is it like to be in a band with your fiance?

Editorial note: Bassist Phillip Hanewinkel and Fiawna are engaged.

ff: It’s the greatest thing on this planet. I can’t even really explain it. It’s just overwhelmingly amazing to be able to fulfill your greatest desires with the person you love more than anything. It brings me such comfort and confidence knowing he’s right there. It really just makes things a lot more lighthearted and fun sharing every moment with your best friend.

IC: What’s the best moment you’ve had on stage?

ff: Probably our first show as a full band. It took a lot to get myself to that point. And I was terrified the whole time that I was making a huge mistake. We got bumped from our scheduled set, so we begged to set up outside on the sidewalk in front of Shades of Brown. I figured no one would show, but as we played more people started crowding around. I eventually looked up at everyone and it was such a great moment. People you would never expect to get along were dancing with each other and just having fun.

IC: What about off-stage (but still band related)?

ff: Well, with the small handfuls of rehearsals we’ve had in the last 2 years as a band, they’re still always a lot of fun. It’s always lovely to be in the middle of a song and look over to discover a sweaty drummer suddenly in nothing but some daisy dukes. (Which belong to me, by the way.) It’s like a magic show. A very, very disturbing magic show. And of course our sloppy renditions of “Glory Days” with me on drums, Lance on Bass, and Phillip and Hank on guitars and vocals. “We get a lot done”, she says with great sarcasm.

IC: What are the next steps for the band?

ff: We’ve got our album release coming up on May 14th at the Marquee with fellow local bands Panda Resistance and Bruder. It’s been over a 2 year process of getting it all together and it’s a relief having it all in the wraps. Then….who knows? Wherever the wind takes us.

IC: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

ff: 10 years? Old…with a few rugrats running around. Ha. I’ll be making music until the day I die…and perhaps after, if I have any say in it. So you can still expect that. If we’re not playing full time be then, then I’ll most likely be selling a lot of material. Who knows? I also have quite a few non profit ideas I’d love to see come to be. It all goes back to that wind thing.

IC: What’s your advice to little rocker girls out there, in Tulsa specifically?

ff: Well..first, never let anyone or anything control what or how you do things. Be true to and trust what comes out of you. Especially the wonderful assortment of men who try to kick ya down. You CAN be just as good. And to not lose confidence. I’ll tell ya from first hand, as a female who plays rock n’ roll it’s extremely hard to gain respect. Any necessary decision you make to improve the band will get warped down the line making others call you a man-eater, and most likely worse. But don’t let it get in your way or stop you. There’s a fair share of dumbasses out there. But also learn to listen to your gut. Don’t feed into the bull that you’ve got to have a bottle of jack in your hand, a hit of coke, a fake british accent, and some skinny jeans to make you rock n’ roll. There’s a hell of a lot more to it than that.