Uprooting Trenchtown to Our Town
Trenchtown plays Brixton’s “Skadondo 2” event Friday night on a bill that also features Fishbone, Starpool, and The Untouchables. Photo by Alain Vasquez
While tourism isn’t the primary local boom of the South Bay — bereft of a Disneyland, Staples Center, or Universal City — our freakishly long-sweeping white sand beaches, island views, beautiful women (and men), temperate climate, and jovially centered beach culture all collude to attract an incredible influx of residential transplants. Often, that brings new music.
“We’re all originally from Michigan, and grew up in the same area called Jerome,” says Ryan Wagler of local band Trenchtown. “Now the band is based here in Hermosa… the South Bay has been a great home base.”
Trenchtown is a high-energy punk-rock-reggae outfit that has become a local fixture in the South Bay.
They are: Ryan Wagler (vocals, congas), Mike Nichols (guitar), Eric Wagler (bass), Greg Bolenbaugh (guitar), Mike Burlett (drums).
“Four of us joined forces in Kalamazoo, Michigan,” recalls Ryan. “We played for about 7 years as a four-piece called Maryz Eyez… We relocated to Hermosa Beach around early 2008 and added Greg ‘Bo’ (me and him were in the same high school class, and in junior high we were actually in a band together…). The four-piece project had not been very active… We decided we wanted to get back into it, and began what we are doing now: Trenchtown.”
With a name like Trenchtown, in a “town” like the South Bay, one might automatically picture three little birds perched upon Jah’s doorstep, awaiting admittance to a kinky reggae party. But for this punk n’ rock oriented band, it holds a different meaning, which exemplifies the transcendent nature of music and song.
Ryan says, “We wanted a name that defined why we love and play music, but couldn’t find one word to define it. So we searched for songs whose lyrics could help define us. The [Bob] Marley song ‘Trench Town’ did that well; in particular, the line, ‘Can we free the people with music?’ Music has been my main escape for as long as I can remember.”
As for defining their sound, Ryan says: “When we set out to play music, what brought us together was our shared love for fast, high-energy, melodic punk rock… This style is apparent in our sound now; however, being fans of all music in general allows us to draw influence from more mellow music… oldies… reggae… and incorporate them into the mix, but never losing the high-energy, pure rock.”
He continues, “One review labeled us as ‘If Bradley Nowell [Sublime] was the fourth member of Green Day.’ That’s cool… some songs, yes… a bit more skate-punk than that, I would say… but I understand, considering the songs as well as the incorporated guitar upstroke themes.”
A review in Disarray Magazine also suggested they could be described as the lovechild of Green Day and Sublime. While comparisons can fall short, the band does combine the elements of punk, rock, reggae, and pop; while drawing influence from Green Day, Social Distortion, Bob Marley, The Beatles, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, and good music in general.
As for defining their sound further, Ryan says, “Our music was meant to be played live. It’s supposed to be extremely loud, and usually fast. Sometimes it can be hard to translate this onto recording, especially when you have catchy pop choruses. A lot of bands fail miserably at that, and when you see them live, you’re like, ‘That’s what it’s supposed to sound like? What happened on the record?’”
Trenchtown collectively has an EP, a new single, and a fresh LP under their belts, as well as a few albums from the Maryz Eyez days, ranging from 2004 to 2007 and being re-released on iTunes under Trenchtown. As Trenchtown proper, they’ve released an eponymous EP debut (2010), the single Waves (2011), and most recently an LP titled Against The Sun — engineered and produced by Biohazard guitarist Billy Graziadei (2011).
“Having his metal mentality really helped us keep the edge throughout the album and convey how we are live,” says Ryan.
Whether in live performance or in the studio, Trenchtown seems to be getting along fine. They’ve been a part of the famed Van’s Warped Tour twice, and just returned from a national coat to coast tour with the band Authority Zero. Their video for the single “Waves” was premiered on the Myspace Music home page, they’ve placed 2 Top Five songs on XM Radio’s Unsigned Channel, and receive solid exposure on KROQ 106.7 FM Los Angeles. One of their most interesting and prominent achievements to date was being included in the video game soundtrack for Major League Baseball 2K11, alongside the likes of Pearl Jam, Joan Jett, and We Are Scientists.
“We noticed a nice jump in Japan iTunes sales from that one,” says Ryan.
If you’ve been good all year, perhaps you’ll find a little piece of Trenchtown under your Christmas tree next month – in the form of MBL2K11 for PS3 or what not. Otherwise, your last chance of the year to catch a show in town is brought to you by Brixton in Redondo Beach, at their second ever SKAdondo event on Friday, Nov. 25. After that, the band will be touring the midwest throughout December, culminating in a New Year’s Eve bash in Detroit, before heading out on tour again in 2012. They’re sure to set up a tour kickoff show in the South Bay/LA area, but nothing is confirmed at this time.
Trenchtown is performing at Brixton’s SKAdondo 2 event, on the Redondo Beach pier tomorrow night Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. They”re sharing the bill with LA legends Fishbone, Starpool, and The Untouchables. Tickets are $15 presale, $18 at the door. Contact Brixton at 310-406-1931 for more information. To inquire about Trenchtown, or purchase thier music, visit www.trenchtownmusic.com, or look them up on facebook.