The Stepford Five

March 3, 2000

2012-03-03T06:44:00.004-05:00

Interview: Members of Stepford Come Home by Allie Jenkins of The Morning Journal-Arcade

When The Stepford Five, playing at Lakewood's Blind Lemon tomorrow night, tell their story to "Rolling Stone" someday, it won't be your typical boo-hoo "Behind the Music" drama. Instead, it's a simple story of a group of four (not five, despite the name) guys, two of whom have roots in Lorain and Amherst, who love music.

Long ago, two kids who loved the WWF "Saturday Night Main Event" and playing with G.I.Joes, first heard the sound of '80's heavy metal. Posters of made-up, big-haired boys - Motley Crue, Ratt and L.A. Guns -donned their bedroom walls. The bands' tapes blared from their boomboxes. They fell in love with rock 'n' roll, however dour and irritating it may have sounded.

Those two kids, Keith Jenkins (no relation to this reporter) and Jason Dziak, are now in their 20's and have been in a handful of quietly successful local bands. One of their bands, Missing Factor, formed at Marion L. Steele, Amherst, and had quite a cult following in the area.

After Missing Factor parted company following graduation, Dziak and Jenkins briefly went their separate ways musically, but remained friends. Jenkins had his stint of fame with Wallflower, most of whose members still make up the local band Lint. Two years later, the band 10watt came together while Dziak and Jenkins were attending Bowling Green State University.

However, the confines of Lorain and Amherst just didn't satisfy Dziak and Jenkins - they longed for the bigtime. Columbus. After graduating from BGSU in 1998, they both headed to our state capital, with friend and keyboard player Tim Minneci in tow. With a new atmosphere, so came a new band - The Stepford Five. With Dziak on guitar, Jenkins, vocals and guitar, Mark Kovitya was brought aboard to band on the drums, as Minneci moved to bass.

In a very short time, the band established a reputation amongst the Columbus music scene. The foursome became well known for their high-energy performances and guitar-driven rock songs. "Columbus is small enough that it's easy for a band to get off the ground quickly," said vocalist, lyricist and guitarist Keith Jenkins. "Being from Cleveland, I know that there may not be as many places here (Columbus), but it seems to be a better scene overall." Early last month, the band's debut album - appropriately entitled "MESH" - was released to rave reviews and pleased fans. "Everything has been really positive," said vocalist Keith Jenkins. "A lot of acclaim in the local press and all over the Internet."

"MESH" also has consistent airplay consistent airplay on Ohio State's radio station, The Underground (currently No.27 on the charts) and New Jersey's Hum Radio (No. 9 on weekly countdown). Some tunes from the album can be heard at Columbusmusic.com, Riffage.com, or MP3.com.

To purchase your very own copy of "MESH," visit stepfordfive.com. After playing around at Columbus digs (including the legendary Newport Music Hall) over the past year, The Stepford Five is heading home for their Cleveland debut. "It's exciting to be taking the music somewhere else besides Columbus," he said. "We'd like to branch out our sound and broaden our fan base."

February 26, 2004

2012-02-26T06:42:00.004-05:00

News: "A New Design For Living" Drops May 4th
Did we say March? We got our "M" months mixed up, we meant May, 4th to be precise. Our new full-length cd, "A New Design for Living," is 11 songs and about 40 minutes of the best guitar rock we've laid to tape. In the coming weeks, we'll be posting info about pre-order sales through Reverbose Records, album samples and tour dates.

February 23, 2002

2012-02-23T07:00:00.005-05:00

Gig: At the High Beck Tavern in Columbus, Ohio with Fetch

Gig Diary: Our first show at the High Beck, hard to believe since we've played just about every club in C-town, and our first show on the home turf since before Christmas. Working the new stuff slowly into the set, with a few more tunes to surface on the 15th (probably, don't quote me here). The stage at the High Beck is tall and bouncy, with the occasional hole under the carpet. A little scary. If you haven't been, the sound is great throughout the long, tall room - always a tough job getting the acoustics right. - Tim

February 21, 2001

2012-02-21T06:48:00.002-05:00

The Art of Self-Defense Studio Diary
All week I was preparing mentally and physically for Wednesday's session. It was like training for a big track meet. I worked on my breathing exercising that the girl at work taught me. Try inhaling for 8 seconds. It's not as easy as you might think. This is one of those things you can try anywhere like at work. The people around me kept looking at me like I was about to pass out. After awhile this does build up some endurance though. I also practiced the melody for Showing Through hours on end. Ok, maybe not hours but you get the point. This time planted in the studio chair in front of a random Electrovoice mic at the mixing console was the way to go. No pop screen or black foam box. No chatty band mates bantering in the room. No visitors of any sort. Just me, the mic, and the mixing board. The control I felt was great. I don't know if it was being seated or the fact that I could adjust what I needed to hear as I went but the performances were noticeably stronger. Who knows maybe it was those damn breathing exercises. I think this got me where I needed to be for the remaining vocal sessions. Before leaving I got to check out two new acquisitions of the Workbook gang. The first being an 80's model TASCAM reel to reel machine. According to Jon Chinn, "This is the stuff rock records are made of." The next thing, also built in the 80's, was Jon Chinn's sweet new ride. It's a red 85' BMW 5 series with black leather interior. It's not your yuppie white collar BMW. This thing has got character. It should be driven at 100 miles per hour... all the time. - Keith

February 19, 2004

2012-02-19T07:00:00.011-05:00

Gig: At Flannagan’s in Dublin, Ohio with Kopaz

Gig Diary: Been to Flannagan's before, but first time we've ever played there. Very big area in front of stage, and the tables are way far away, which doesn't encourage audience interaction. Kopaz broke out the strings in a test run for their CD release, they're so orchestrated, makes me want to play oboe or something. Spent a lot of time watching the World Series of Poker on the big screens. - Tim

Gig Review: By Swisschard on donewaiting.com
The place: If nothing else, Flannagan's (I learned from trying to find where the friggin' place is that this particular version is spelled with two n's) is spiffy as all get-out. It's pretty big, along the lines of Little Brother's and Skully's -- probably slightly smaller. I'd call it a sports bar (though I'm no expert), so the atmosphere is definitely not what I would consider that of a rock club. After all, it's fairly well-lit, well ventilated, clean, and has several big screens behind the bar tuned to various sports channels. They've got a nice, roomy stage, a big wooden dance floor to pack the people on, a separate space towards the back w/pool tables, and, from what I could tell (the mix and general lack of sound dampening material - people - didn't help my assessment), a pretty good sound system.

Overall, I'd say the place has a lot of potential as a mid-sized show venue. I know neither Flannagan's nor Skully's are built to be rock clubs, but I'd say that if Skully's modifies its practices a little bit (as some say they're doing) and Flannagan's sticks to hosting original music, the two combined could go a long way towards making up for the fact that Columbus doesn't really have another venue along the lines of Little Brother's. Just my take on it.

The show: Well, I'd have to say the turnout was a disappointment. I mean, here was an early show with a great line-up, only a $3 cover, and 25 cent wings. By my estimate, scarcely upwards of fifty people showed. Mind you, Flannagan's is big enough that it seems pretty dang empty with a crowd of fifty. On top of that, the tables are well back from the dance floor - about 30 feet from the stage - and very few people ventured any nearer to the music than that. I'd have to imagine that dampened the bands' enthusiasm a bit.

The Stepford Five and Kopaz, as expected, were excellent. TS5 ran through their new album (minus one "experimental" song) in its entirety. If I had any doubt before, that decided me; I'm picking up a copy of that s.o.b. the day it comes out. And, if I heard right, Tim said release date is May 4th. Meaning I've got to wait another two and a half months. Damn.

As for Kopaz, I absolutely cannot wait to see them again in a couple weeks. I'd only seen them once before, and they showed that what I heard was no fluke. They gave a sneak preview of some stuff they'll be doing at their release show at Little Brother's on the 6th; I have no doubt that anyone going to that concert will be impressed. I mean, I thought the mixes were pretty poor, and I still loved what I was witnessing. I'm still trying to figure out how those boys can throw in so many time changes and make it all sound so seamless. I could go on (and on and on and on), but I won't. Suffice it to say that you should check them out at their cd release. You'll be glad you did.

February 18, 2000

2012-02-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Gig: At Oldfield's on High in Columbus, Ohio with The Fabulous Johnson Brothers

Gig Diary: If you were at Oldfield's last Friday night, you might have noticed a slightly different Stepford Five. Aside from the fact that Mark was only playing half of his drum kit, the bands' set was filled with enough testosterone and frustration for being confined to a shrunken stage that it might have scared a few of the Johnson Brothers faithful in the process. Then again, the whole band donning all black threads and Cure-esque makeup might have contributed, who knows. Regardless, a blistering 45-minute set ended in restrained Who manner - Keith and Tim decided their instruments could finish the night on the floor while Mark and Jay let the noise ring.

February 11, 2002

2012-02-11T06:47:00.008-05:00

Review:

February 10, 2001

2012-02-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

Gig: At the Trolley Stop in Dayton, Ohio with Rhe, E-Y-E and other for 80s Night

Gig Diary: When something is described as a "Tribute to 80's Power Ballad's," it would seem that very little explanation would be necessary. Somehow, the majority of the performers seemed to miss the point Saturday night at the Trolley Stop in Dayton at the benefit for local Midwest 'zine Mutant Renegade. While TS5 did there part with the two covers/two originals in covering Kix's "Don't Close Your Eyes" and Faster Pussycat's "House Of Pain," a surprisingly large number of other acts either choose bands that didn't seem to fit that genre, or just ignored the whole thing altogether. Whatever, call us purists, but when you say "80's Power Ballads," big hair, spandex and plenty of make-up had better of been present at some point in the artists' career or we ain't buyin' it. The true highlight of the evening was local "rock god" E-Y-E, a who is truly to be believed only by being seen, and his renditions of "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Don't You Forget About Me" to a karaoke machine. Inspiring stuff.

February 6, 2004

2012-02-06T07:00:00.014-05:00

Gig: At Little Brothers in Columbus with The All Golden, Templeton, Red Dhalia, Miranda Sound, Silo the Huskie & The Last Hotel

Gig Diary: This was a great bill. Lots of people, great bands, we played a pretty inspired set, good response to the new material. Yeah, the album is gonna be out soon.- Tim

February 3, 2000

2012-02-03T06:46:00.007-05:00

News: In The News

Check out the Columbus Alive and Columbus Dispatch for articles about MESH through the information page. Thanks to Brian Lindamood at the Alive and Aaron Beck at the Dispatch for the positive press!

Review: Mesh CD by Brian Lindamood, Columbus Alive

The Stepford Five formed when bassist Tim Minneci and guitarists Jason Dziak and Keith Jenkins were in school at Bowling Green (drummer Mark Kovitya joined later). When the three graduated, they moved to Columbus, specifically because of the thriving rock scene they saw here. They said they were attracted by bands like Howlin' Maggie, Watershed and Scrawl.

Well I say, Welcome to town! If the chamber of commerce didn't drop a fruit basket at your door when you got here, they should have. The Stepford Five brought with them an inimitably big pop sound, and spent their first year in Columbus recording a great CD.
Mesh is excellently produced, by Neal Schmitt at Workbook Studio--the band also cites Pretty Mighty Mighty as an inspiration--capturing a well-defined, textured sound that ranges from gentle (the acoustic lament Misplaced You, the piano ballad Making Sound) to powerful (the driving rock anthem Strange Days).

There are some awfully catchy melodies at the heart of this skilled playing. At their best, The Stepford Five's writing approaches the best of J Mascis or Billy Corgan, creating well-crafted, tightly structured songs within a loose sheath of sonic anarchy. The adrenaline-fueled opener Contact Illusion and the fervent Need to Know are both great pop songs. But the stand-out on the disc is the charming Overcoming Eve, where grinding mid-tempo verses blossom into the chorus' soaring hook. In the ongoing tradition of the bands that attracted the quartet to the Capital City, The Stepford Five bodes well for the future of Columbus pop.

February 1, 2003

2012-02-01T06:40:00.005-05:00

News: New EP 'Six' out this April
Mark your calendars, April 15th will see the release of our new EP 'Six.' Yes, yes, yes, we are aware that the band is called The Stepford Five, there are only four of us, and this is another number in the equation. Well, in the immortal words of Frank Black, if man is five, then the devil is six, so take that for whatever it's worth. The disc will feature three new tracks: Are You Dreaming, Pinhole and Six (the title track, if you will), as well as a remastered version of Fair Is Fair, which was previously released on the Cringe.com/pilation Vol. 2 cd. Even while we're in the midst of preparing this release, we're already looking towards the next full length by taking time this month to visit Workbook Studio and record three more new songs. Hey folks, we're not the resting-on-our-laurels kind around here. If we had our prerogative, we'd bust out a new album every 8-12 months like KISS, but then you end up with crap like A World Without Heroes, and we ain't down with that, we want to give you all Strutter quality material. We'll be taking this EP to the people by way of the by-ways and highways of the midwest. Stay tuned to stepfordfive.com for all the dates.

January 31, 2001

2012-01-31T06:42:00.003-05:00

The Art of Self-Defense Studio Diary
Upon returning to the studio to tackle the next vocal track for the future Stepford cd I tried not to put to many expectations in my head about what I would get done in the four hour session. I wasted no time heading back inside the big black box of foam and microphones. All stragglers in lurking about the studio vacated early and I got right to work. Throwing down a couple loose tracks for Continental Drift. At playback we found most of it was usable so we spent the next couple of hours rewriting some parts to and fixing things hear and there. People who know the song will be surprised to find there are some changes, primarily in the second verse. We were trying to avoid that whole "second verse, same as the first" syndrome. I think the end result was more dynamic. With less than an hour left I thought I'd try to throw down one last track. The dreaded Foot Soldier was next on the list. I channeled all the demons I could in that small cold room and belted it out. Most of it came out pretty well. A few adjustments here and there. Mark snickered in the control room because this time I had to cue my vocals on his drum parts instead of him waiting for me. With all the pauses that song is all about timing. That's ok, I'll get him at the next live show. - Keith

January 29, 2000

2012-01-29T07:00:00.006-05:00

Gig: At Andyman's Treehouse in Columbus, Ohio with Billy Peake (of Miranda Sound), Christian Hurd (of Templeton and Howlin' Maggie) and John Riccardi (of Ribcage Houdinis)

Gig Diary: The Stepford Five played their final warm-up show for the February 4th CD release show at Little Brothers. The snowy night started out with John Riccardi of Cleveland's Ribcage Houdinis, who played a few originals and then ended his set with an inspired cover of Big Star's "Kangaroo." Next up was Billy Peake of Columbus' newest rock sensation, Miranda Sound. Billy tore through a number of originals and also a rendition of Van Halen's "Women In Love." Christian Hurd of Templeton rocked the mic next, playing a number of songs off the Templeton release "Trash To Treasure," some unreleased originals, and, continuing the cover theme, what turned into a sing-a-long of Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl." Last up was the full Stepford crew, stripped down and half acoustic. The band played a number of tracks off the album MESH, some unreleased old and new tunes, and closed with John and Billy joining the band on stage for an extended version of The Afghan Whigs "66." The night ended with various musicians and spectators joining in for a couple of messy covers of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, and like those all-star jams at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame each year, nobody cared about singing the right line or playing the right chord, it was all about the rock and roll moment.

January 25, 2000

2012-01-25T06:55:00.011-05:00

News: Five Go Underground
The Stepford Five album MESH has been added to the playlist of The Underground 91.5. You can check out their website and request a track at request@underground.fm or call 614.699.4287.

January 22, 2000

2012-01-22T06:48:00.008-05:00

Interview: with Matt Toledo, Athens Musician Network

Last week I received a press kit in the mail from a new Columbus Based band calling themselves The Stepford Five. After looking at their photograph, I knew these guys were musicians, not mathematicians. I gave the CD a whirl at work and about half way through it I noticed that I was taping my foot. Not only had the band's self described "sexy, guitar-driven" riffs manage to get my extremities mobile, but I actually found my self humming "No Chance" yesterday in the shower. Sorry for the mental image, but my point had to be made.

Over the past few days, I conversed with the band via e-mail. The following is the first in what I hope will be many more AMN Interviews with local bands and musicians.

AMN: How long have you been together?
TS5: The current lineup has only been together about a year. Mark joined in January of '99. Keith, Jay and myself (Tim) were in another band called 10watt at BGSU from fall of '97 to spring of '98.

AMN: How do you describe your music style?
TS5: The only category that seems to fit us is just good old plain ROCK. Like any good rock band though, we draw from many different styles, metal, glam, r&b, blues, pop, whatever, but we don't let any cliché from any style work its way into our music. For example, we all like the blues, but we're not going to write a song with a blues progression in B, because it's been done to death. We're not trying to be blatantly anything, just picking and choosing bits and pieces to arrive at our sound: big guitars, big drums, and hooks.

AMN: Did the desire, artistic expression or the chance to have female groupies inspire you all to become a band?
TS5: All, but mostly the enjoyment of being in debt and the constant need for attention.

AMN: Are you all planning on playing Athens any time soon? Which bar?
TS5: We just played Athens for the first time January 15th, 2000 at Baker's Hall with Templeton. We are planning on returning to the area soon.

AMN: What bands, if any, do you think have inspired your musical style?
TS5: The Afghan Whigs, Catherine Wheel, Jeff Buckley, The Cult, Howlin' Maggie, Pretty Mighty Mighty, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Hellacopters, Shawn Smith of Brad, Satchel and Pigeonhed, The Rolling Stones, the list just goes on and on...

AMN: What's the goal of the band? Fame fortune and a record contract or just the ability to support yourself by playing music?
TS5: The dream is to have control over your own destiny, if that means a record contract, then so be it, but we've gotten along fine without one so far. If we can continue to just write good rock songs, act out our childhood fantasy of being rock stars a la Kiss "Alive" on stage, then we're fortunate.

AMN: Do you all get along? How long have you all known each other?
TS5: We get along so well it's scary. Keith and Jay have been friends since 6th grade, and I've been friends with the two of them since college. When Mark joined the band, we were on the same page about everything from music to life in general, so it was like finding a new brother. Of course, since we're like family, our arguments sometimes turn into childish shouting matches, but for the most part we're lucky.

AMN: Where did you record "Mesh", your new CD? Would you recommend them to other bands?
TS5: We recorded at Workbook Studio in Columbus, which is owned by Neal Schmitt and Jon Chinn of the band Pretty Mighty Mighty. We had a great time and are already talking about going back for the next record, so I guess that's the best endorsement.

AMN: They've done a lot of great Columbus bands. If I'm not mistaken, they recorded the Templeton's and even Athens own Cactus Pears CD. Who did the mastering for you guys? Are you satisfied with it?
TS5: Joe Viers at the John Schwab Studios did it. We told him we wanted a big loud rock record and that's what he gave us. Our CD was mastered just a little bit louder than most... the Spinal Tap "turn it to eleven" mentality, I guess. We love it, it embodies everything this band is about.

AMN: How long did it take you to make your CD?
TS5: We started recording in July of '99. We could only get into the studio for a couple hours a day once, maybe twice a week. I think the last mix session was in October. It took about a week to get mastered, and then we had to finish up the artwork. We finally sent it off to get reproduced right before Christmas and got it back just after the new year.

AMN: What is your band's opinion of MP3's? Do you think people swapping your MP3's for free helps or hurts your group?
TS5: MP3's have been our friends. People have downloaded off of the various sites we've posted songs, like Columbusmusic.com, MP3.com, Riffage, Rollingstone, etc. and we actually gotten feedback from people who may never had listened or even heard of us if it had not been for MP3's.

AMN: Are you on MP3.com?
TS5: Yep.

AMN: Who is your favorite Ohio based band, besides yourselves?
TS5: The Afghan Whigs

AMN: What equipment do you use? Any equipment you'd like to get?
Keith - 1991 Fender Stratocasters (yellow/white pick guard), 1991 Fender Stratocaster (silver/white pick guard), Peavey 5150 half stack, Marshall JCM2000, Crybaby Wah Wah,
Jay - 1997 Fender Telecaster (red/black pick guard), 1998 Fender Telecaster (Dark sunburst/black pick guard), Peavey 5150 cabinet half stack, Sovtek MIG 100 head, Dunlop Rotovibe, Roland keyboard.
Tim - Fender Jazz Bass, Hartke 410 cabinet, Hartke HA3500 350watt head.
Mark - Five Piece Black, Pearl Export, Cymbals: 14" Avedis Zildjian New Beat Hi-Hat, 12" Avedis Zildjian Splash Medium, 16" Sabian AAX Stage Crash, 18" Zildjian A Custom Crash, 20" Avedis Zildjian Medium Ride, 20" Zildjian A Custom China, Hardware: Pearl Gibralter, and Pro-mark sticks.

AMN: Your press kit looked real professional and I read your article on the Columbusmusic.com web site. Do you guys have a manager to publicize you guys?
TS5: We don't have a manager. The responsibilities are broken up like this: Tim - Promotions/Public Relations, Jay - Graphic Design, Keith - Booker, Liaison, Mark - grunt.

AMN: How important do you think a good manager is to a new band?
TS5: Quite honestly, I don't think they are that important. Any band with enough will power and brains can do everything themselves.

AMN: This is kinda a stock question, but I like to ask it nonetheless: Where do you see yourselves as a group in five years?
TS5: Hopefully releasing our 3rd or 4th record, possibly our double live album, not having day jobs and touring constantly.

AMN: Good answer. But hopefully when you guys are big you won't forget the little people. Who has helped you out the most in your early years? You can list several people if you like.
TS5: Jay's fiancé Courtney helps us in so many ways it's ridiculous. It's like having a built in consultant/critic/referee. She's not a Yoko Ono trying to break up the band to start her own. Sometimes when your friends don't necessarily like something, they won't tell you. Courtney will, and bluntly, which is the way we need to hear it. Too many bands are isolated and don't take into account so many things, like stage presence, because they're used to hearing "yeah, you guys rocked." Courtney will give us feedback like "I think the verse in such and such a song was shaky, you should work on that," or "I don't think spitting blood is appropriate in a ballad," stuff like that.

AMN: What was the inspiration for your lyrics on your new CD?
TS5: Life, relationships, and everything that goes on in both of them. There is definitely a lot of room for interpretation in the lyrics, which gives people the chance to attach their own meaning to the songs as opposed to locking down a single interpretation or definition of what a song means.

AMN: I liked a lot of the songs on your new CD. I'm curious to know, what is each band member's favorite song?
TS5: Keith, Jay and Mark - Contact Illusion, myself (Tim) - Broken Skin

AMN: Which national or local band or musician do you think deserves more attention and why?
TS5: National: Jeff Buckley, Shawn Smith, The Afghan Whigs, Catherine Wheel, Manic Street Preachers, Jawbox, Howlin' Maggie, London Suede, Hellacopters. Local: Pretty Mighty Mighty, Tiara, Miranda Sound, Stonevelvet, The Pop Quiz, The Marbles

AMN: Yeah, I like the Marbles and Pretty Mighty Mighty myself. I actually got to gig with the Marbles in Columbus. We had a horrible show. I don't think they'd remember us. Or maybe they do. Oh well. Anyhow, are any of you guys married? How does that dynamic affect the band? Practices, levels of commitment, time etc?
TS5: I don't think it legal, but Keith and Jay claimed to have married their new half stacks. They really, REALLY like them.

AMN: I told you guys what my worst gig was. What has been your favorite gig so far? Where was it and why was it so great?
TS5: The last show we played here in Columbus at Oldfield's was incredibly fun. People were up out of their seats shakin' their asses, having a good time. So many gigs, people just plant themselves in a seat and give a polite applause when the song is over, and that does more to kill a rock and roll show than anything. This last show was pure energy from start to finish, everybody had a blast and nobody got hurt.

AMN: Have any good road stories?
TS5: We played a benefit at BGSU last spring, and when we got there Jay realized he forgot all his cables, wires and pedals. That was bad. We borrowed a cable from another band, but we lost the keys and effects.

AMN: Yikes, that must have been stressful. Do you have a tip for new musicians (besides follow your dream)? Equipment tips, manager tips, CD production tips, stuff like that.
TS5: Don't be afraid to put your ass on the line. If you truly believe in what you're doing, no amount of criticism should matter. Push the boundaries, see how much you can get away with, if someone tells you it can't be done, do it, and if you failed, at least you tried. Also, please stay away from crappy equipment. For the love of god, ante up the money and buy a decent guitar that stays in tune for more than one song.

AMN: You guys don't have a web site. Do you think web based promotion helps young bands or does it make little difference in your opinion.
TS5: stepfordfive.com The web site gives us the opportunity to say, "if you like the music, or want to see what we're about, check this out." With Jay being a graphic designer, we got lucky in that he has the knowledge and skills to create something that enhances what we're doing.

AMN: Now that I notice it, you're right. You guys do have a web site. It even says so on your press kit and CD. I guess I didn't have enough coffee in me when I asked you that. Moving on, about how much per day does it cost to keep you guys touring?
TS5: We haven't really toured, just a few out of town shows. It's something we're working on with the CD release.

January 21, 2005

2012-01-21T07:00:00.007-05:00

Gig: At Andyman's Treehouse in Columbus, Ohio with Ryan Smith, Bel Auburn and Seven Deadly

Gig Diary: Wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who came out to the last few shows in columbus. It was our first time out of the practice space in a while and we had a good time playing some of the new songs. Also be sure to check out our new project The Summer Set and download the first song Disguise. More songs will be posted shortly so stay tuned. - J

January 20, 2001

2012-01-20T06:47:00.013-05:00

The Art of Self-Defense Studio Diary

With all the major music being completed for the first five songs it was up to me to head in to finish up some vocals. With a four hour session booked I figured I'd get at least a couple songs done. I was wrong. After a night of rock music at the Alrosa Villa let's just say my vocal chords weren't feeling up to par. Cigarette Smoke and late nights = bad singing. (Unless you're David Lee Roth) The studio for most part was a revolving door for band members, patrons, reporters, and passer's by. Doing vocals for me is kind of like taking a big dump. You just want a little privacy so you can concentrate on the task at hand.So have a I made enough excuses yet? I decided to tackle "Expectations" first because that song is the oldest of the bunch and I just wanted to lay it to rest. The trick is trying to capture the energy you have onstage while singing and putting that on tape. After having a pair of huge headphones slapped on you, being pushed into a big foam box it makes it a little hard. After all my complaining and bitching I'm happy with the end result. We'll still add a few more backing vocals later on but overall I feel it's a good start. I had more fun doing guitars in some a couple of the previous sessions. I got to put my Marshall JCM 2000 to the test in the studio and I was really impressed with the tones and diversity I had with that head. For you guitar geeks who want to know what was used it was all straight in, no effects. Why would anyone want to distort a tone that pure? I used John Chin's red Epiphone for a different sound on "Showing Through" and my yellow strat for "Foot Soldier" "Pretty Exit" and "Continental Drift". Very hot sound. For "Expectations" I used my telecaster through my Music man 2x10 amp for that warm retro vibe. - Keith

January 18, 2003

2012-01-18T06:35:00.003-05:00

Gig: At the High Beck Tavern with the Jive Turkeys

Gig Diary: An hour and a half set, that's what faced us. We're not really a long distance runner-type band, we're more into sprints and dashes, so we had to pace ourselves. Needless to say, with all that time staring us down, we broke out the old and tried out a few new ones, including an untitled piece I affectionately refer to as My Bloody Real Estate (or, Sunny Day Valentine if you prefer....you get the picture). After thoroughly exhausting catalog and energy, the Jive Turkeys got up and showed everyone why they're one of the best bands in the land. They simply know how to play that loose, soulful Stones style rock with the craftsmanship and cool that most bands can never achieve. - Tim

1. Contact Illusion
2. The Fall
3. Aquarium Blues
4. Pinhole
5. The Valley
6. Failure to Communicate
7. The Company We Keep
8. Ted Hughes
9. Are You Dreaming
10. Design Lines
11. Fair Is Fair
12. Showing Through
13. Continental Drift
14. Foot Soldier
15. Recognition for the Lonely Ones
16. Sink or Swim
17. Six

January 17, 2002

2012-01-17T06:34:00.007-05:00

News: TS5 Needs Your Help
Hey everyone, we have some very sad and disturbing news to report. Yesterday, the beloved ts5 Pontiac Trans Sport was stolen from Tim's apartment complex in Westerville. Adding insult to injury, the vehicle contained Keith and J's guitar cabinets and Tim's bass cabinet. Needless to say, we are upset about not only having the van ripped off, but also our gear. At this point, we know as well as anyone that finding the van is like finding the proverbial needle in a hay stack, but I'm going to relay this info to you anyway:

1990 Pontiac Trans Sport mini van - white with gray trim, license plate # CGQ-3816. Identifying marks - on the back door/hatch, there are four stickers - two small ts5 stickers, a small Afghan Whigs 1965 sticker, and a Tragically Hip Phantom Power sticker.

If you see this vehicle, please call the Columbus Police.

Also in the vehicle were the following items:
2 - Peavey 5150 Half Stack guitar cabinets w/o wheels (identifiable by the several nicks and scrapes on the front side of both)

1 - Hartke 4x10 bass cabinet
If you happen to be in a pawn shop or music store and see these items, please call us and we will try to identify these items. Do not try to acquire these items on your own, and do not make a big deal about the items, pawn shop owners will more likely than not try to get rid of the merch if they believe it is stolen.

Thank you for your help.

January 16, 2002

2012-01-16T06:33:00.003-05:00

News: The Reviews Are In - The Art of Self Defense Lets Down It's Guard
Well, the reviews are in, and after all the trials and tribulations of making the new album, the fears of the dreaded 'sophomore slump' and the realization we had mined every Afghan Whigs and Catherine Wheel comparison possible, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Even some of the people who reviewed the first record and didn't like it have has positive things to say, like Ben Ohmart of MusicDish.com, who said of Mesh, "Here's a guitar-heavy group of 4 men who are ruining my eardrums with the damn cd player on minimum volume." Ben definitely gave us the biggest ass-kicking on the first record, but on TAOS-D, Ben opines, "I remember these guys from...Mesh. They were shouting from deserted window tops then, and they are still honing their impressive, rock-indie talents now, growing up more, and keeping the cap tightly on the bottle, while shaking, shaking..."

One of our earliest reviews for Mesh came from Heidi Drockelman of Indie-music.com, and she took a listen to the new album and had this to say, "with the release of The Art of Self-Defense, I’ve found something much better than a great sophomore album, I’ve found a reason to be hopeful for the next wave of progressive, solid, aggressively confident songwriting...I see a shining beacon of sonic light burning brightly within the confines of this album." Wow, we're feeling warm and fuzzy inside, Heidi will be getting a nice Stepford Valentine from us.

There are a whole bunch more new reviews to check out in the Press section from local papers like The Columbus Dispatch, The Other Paper, Columbus Alive, Tastes Like Chicken, Idiotpress.com and Entertainment Columbus, as well as national publications like Splendid E-zine, CityBeat and Action Attack Helicopter, with more come!

January 13, 2001

2012-01-14T06:43:00.004-05:00

News: Man Down
On Thursday, January 11th, our beloved guitarist/keyboarder/noise creator Jason accidentally impaled himself with a very sharp knife while trying to cut a tie off of a set of guitar chords. The brand new three-inch Leatherman blade went through his left thumb near the base and turned our normally tranquil Land of Sugar practice facility into a bloody mess. Jason was treated that night at the Ohio State University emergency medical center, and on Friday was in surgery for several hours to repair the severed flexor tendon and nerve. Prospects for a fully recovery are very positive, but Jason will be seeing limited action on stage for the next six weeks while his wound heals. After that, he will be doing rehabilitation to strengthen the area and return to his post anchoring the left side of the Stepford stage on guitar. That's right folks, our very first band member going into rehab, somebody call Behind The Music. We have decided, as a band, that we will not cancel any shows, and in fact Jason will be with the band onstage to play keys during all of our upcoming scheduled shows. We will also be continuing with our recording of LP2 at Workbook Studio, and will probably be spending the remainder of January and February laying down Keith's lead guitar and vocal tracks for the first five songs.

January 12, 2002

2012-01-12T06:48:00.011-05:00

Review: The Art of Self-Defense by Heidi Drockelman at Indie-music.com

Opening this package and popping The Stepford Five’s new disc into my player has proven to be a very therapeutic and uplifting experience. Perhaps not “uplifting” in the sense that many of you may be thinking… you see, I’ve been waiting for a good guitar rock record to come my way for quite some time. And after having taken a short hiatus from reviewing, I’ve found the perfect CD to get my motor running again.

With the release of The Art of Self-Defense, I’ve found something much better than a great sophomore album, I’ve found a reason to be hopeful for the next wave of progressive, solid, aggressively confident songwriting to come from the Midwest. I’m not going to kid ya, there has been little more than lackluster showings going on here in the cornfields, but like any fertile breeding ground for malcontent rockers, I see a shining beacon of sonic light burning brightly within the confines of this album.

It’s no secret that their last album, MESH, is housed quite snugly within my permanent collection of rock discs, but this latest effort, bears a more polished, focused attention to detail that puts many other releases of 2001 to shame. The Stepford Five’s approach on this disc is very confident, and while there are still some nods to their predecessors—Afghan Whigs, Catherine Wheel, the Replacements—some new noise has popped into place and given this band a sound all their own. The “polish” isn’t all studio tricks and production work (although that particular element is well crafted and only adds to the total sound of the band), there is simply a cleaner, sleeker feel to the whole offering and an obviously attentive touch to maintaining the raw energy that keeps this band’s sound fresh. The guitars are a little less raunchy, replaced by a crunchiness and bright glint that reels off of the melodies and leaving ‘80’s and ’90’s sounds far behind.

This more modern version of the band feels very comfortable, and their comfort and confidence in their performance shines clearly through the material. “Pretty Exit”, while it does throw back to SubPop/Whigs’ (think “Turn on the Water”), seems to serve as a reminder of what the band is all about while making the transition into a new chapter of their progression as artists. I could easily say that I stumbled into something great when I listened to this record over and over and over again, but I honestly waited and wanted to hear what came out of the studio next. Boasting a tighter sound with songs like “Continental Drift”, “Foot Soldier”, “The Fall”, and the closing track, “Showing Through”, I have reason to anticipate that The Stepford Five will be ready to show their audience, and anyone who will listen, what it means to rock the joint in the future.

Their style is heavily influenced by their favorite artists, like many musicians, but their ability to draw inspiration from, rather than imitation of, a varied landscape of musicianship, and then twist it up like a lightning rod to spark their own sound is a key ingredient to their current and future success. They will have a long career in the music business, at any level, if they wish it so. Talent, songwriting ability, ingenuity, and appreciation for rock music will help any band ascend the boundaries placed upon them—whether geographic (c’mon people, Bjork and her Sugarcube mates are from Iceland!), sonically speaking (take a page from Bowie and Radiohead), or simply having the balls to strike out of the “mainstream sound”. The Stepford Five aren’t the second coming, I realize I was building up to something quite enormous there for a second, but they’re a damn good start. One of the best releases for 2001—LONG LIVE ROCK!

January 11, 2002

2012-01-11T07:00:00.009-05:00

Gig: At the Southgate House in Cincinnati, Ohio with Fetch, Crosley, Eightfeet and Downside Up.

Gig Diary: I love playing the Southgate. It's a nice big stage and huge PA. Nice big bass drum sound and an overall pretty cool vibe (the red curtains behind the stage are a nice touch). This night was even cooler because we had the chance to meet a lot of nice people, specifically the guys in Fetch who we'll hopefully be doing a show with soon. Their singer guitar player Brian is also a Sovtek Comrade, I had fun picking his brain about his guitar rig. Now I'm itching for a real tube overdrive pedal. Special thanks to Steve Gattermayer for putting together the night and doing something cool for independent music. - Jason

January 10, 2007

2012-01-10T06:46:00.003-05:00

News: Myspace - We're Not Dead...Really
So, things have been quiet here at Stepfordland because we haven't been playing a lot, er, any shows lately, and we haven't put out a record in about two years. From time to time, people have asked "are you guys broken up?" and "is your drummer available?" Alas, we are still together, practicing weekly and writing new tunes. In fact, we have a bunch of new songs, more than we've ever had going into the recording of any of the previous albums.
With the move to our new practice space a few years back, and our decision to start recording ourselves, we've been taking more time to experiment a bit with writing and recording. The fruits of all this isolation and labor will hopefully start to produce some recordings for public digestion soon, as well as some live performances.
Stay tuned,
Tim

January 8, 2003

2012-01-08T06:34:00.003-05:00

News: New EP Due Spring '03
Details are still a bit sketchy, but sometime after March we will be releasing a four-song EP. The three new songs we recorded in October at Workbook will be on it, as well as the tune from the Cringe.com/pilation cd that came out last year. This will be a limited edition with special packaging and no reprint after the initial run sells out. Snazzy, huh? We can promise you this, our butts will be on the road hard this Spring, so all the cheap hotels and greasy spoons betta watch out, we're comin' for ya...

January 6, 2001

2012-01-06T07:00:00.005-05:00

Gig: At Joey G's in Madison, Indiana with Rhonda Everitt of Rhe (from Dayton)

Gig Diary: Timing, they say, is everything. When you're in a band, timing can mean a lot of things, one of which is planning shows. Some things that we've learned from the past weekend at Joey G's in Madison, IN: if you're in a college town, wait until college is in session to book the show, and, weekends after major party oriented holidays are not big weekends to go out. Those two things combined to reduce the crowd to a very, shall we say, intimate (re: small) setting. Heck, we even stripped down half the catalog to ease people into our brand of loud and obnoxious guitar rock during the first half of the set. Actually, we learned a few things: Get Yourself Together sounds really good played slow and bluesy...Tim needs to practice clavinet if he's going to play it live...the Tuscan's make a mean liquor...breakfast bars at Big Boy are the big man upstairs way of saying "have a nice day"....and the words "all original band" won't stop people from requesting Doors covers.

January 3, 2000

2012-01-03T06:43:00.010-05:00

News: Hot MP3 Action
MP3's of "Contact Illusion" and "Need To Know" are now available for FREE download from the following sites:www.mp3.com, www.riffage.com, andwww.columbusmusic.com. We are currently the featured band for January on ColumbusMusic.com. This site also features real audio versions of the song as well as some great music by other Columbus bands. Visit the songs page to get further insight into both of the these tracks.

The Stepford Five on Live Wire! Podcast

2012-01-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Live Wire! Podcast out of Adeliade Hills in South Australia for playing The Stepford Five track "This Christmas" on their Christmas episode.

If you have a podcast and are interested in using TS5 music, visit our Music Alley page for available free music.

December 30, 2003

2011-12-30T07:00:00.007-05:00

Gig: At Andyman’s Treehouse in Columbus, Ohio with The X-Rated Cowboys & Miranda Sound

December 28, 2000

2011-12-28T06:29:00.014-05:00

Article:

December 22, 2008

2011-12-22T06:43:00.001-05:00

News: Myspace - Believe it or not, we’re still going
Final mixes of songs are slowly being completed. New tracks will probably be emerging soon. Stay tuned...or not.

December 19, 2002

2011-12-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

Gig: At Oldfield's in Columbus, Ohio with The Story Of and Asher

Gig Diary: Fun night all the way through. The Story Of are an insane bunch, combining '70s Bowie, SDRE and some wicked metal riffing. Do yourself a favor and pick up their self-titled EP. Asher, a young, new C-bus band hit the stage 2nd with some mid-tempo Brit flavored pop...think Travis and Coldplay. We played our brand of riff-raff rock third. I smacked my hand on my bass one two many times and cut open a few fingers, nothing big, but the white pick guard looked messy afterwards. No stories of closing up the holes with superglue like Flea, I'm not that hardcore yet.... - Tim

December 18, 2001

2011-12-18T06:35:00.002-05:00

Review: The Art of Self-Defense by Ben Ohmart, Music Dish

Not alt-rock, but ROCK. Rock with that old-time religion ingrained on its harsh, ciggie-smashing heels. Rock that increases muscle tension through loud, prolonged attacks on the most mundane functions, so that you can't love, can't sleep, can't toss 'n turn, can't take a piss without seeing the veins in your arms, forehead and dark meat of the legs.

This is The Stepford Five, a 4 man (that's right) band that is heavy, heavy on the guitar, but one of those promising young groups that lets you actually Hear the bass player through all the distortions and twisting tracks.

Listening to 'Foot Soldier' is like climbing onto hard rock without any shoes. The guitars blast, then disappear as fast as they insinuate themselves into your paltry psyche. But next up, finally, is what (compared to the others) could be called a cool down. Of course if 'Expectations' is a ballad, even those are hard to guess, considering the amount of sane but energetic drumwork swimming through.

Keith Jenkins - vocals, guitar
Jason Dziak - guitar, keys, vocals
Tim Minneci - bass
Mark Kovitya - drums

There's not a single underworked martial arts expert involved. Though the guitars bear the brunt of the battle (and battle is seems to be at times), this is unquiet, revolving door stuff that never fails to lick the envelope with a mad grin and stamp the indie stamp on with a bleeding, ashen elbow.

I remember these guys from their previous, debut album, MESH. They were shouting from deserted windowtops then, and they are still honing their impressive, rock-indie talents now, growing up more, and keeping the cap tightly on the bottle, while shaking, shaking..

December 16, 2000

2011-12-16T06:58:00.008-05:00

The Art of Self-Defense Studio Diary

Well we officially began tracking for the next record! Mark put in two 10 hour days (after playing back to back shows the two nights prior to the first studio day) and walked away with 6 drum tracks completed. That's the good news, the bad news is that we can only use 5 of them because we just discovered that "Distraction" is missing a section of the second verse. Anyway Marks drums sound huge and his performance is outstanding. He spent some serious intimate time with the metronome and it has really helped. The Epiphone Thunderbird bass sounds great running through the Sans amp so that's probably how we'll do a lot of the bass tracks. Can't wait to start putting some guitars down. Tim also put 90% of his bass tracks down also. On a side note it's amazing how much you learn about a song when you start recording it. You're forced to break it down into the tiniest little pieces and completely reassess all the performances, this is the point where a song can come to life or completely fall apart. - Jason

Recording an album is one part of being in a band that I do not particularly enjoy. Repeatedly performing a song over and over trying to capture a moment of excellence doesn’t really hold up to my ideal of fun. However, if one does happen to put a song cleanly to tape, it is somewhat rewarding to hear the outcome of all that hard work. Having already recorded five songs it is fair to say the kick drum sound is much thicker in comparison to the first Stepford Five album. Heading into the studio I wanted a kick drum sound that would shake your bowels and shrivel your scrotum. I would say that objective has been fulfilled. The tom sounds are equally bigger this time around and hopefully with some studio trickery will get even bigger. I also used three different snare sounds so far; two of them (with and without ring) come from a 14" steel snare and one of them from a 13" wooden snare. These sessions also brought their share of "on the fly" changes to songs that kept things interesting. Near the end of recording I put a huge crack in a relatively new crash cymbal, if anyone says there is not enough anger in this album, it’s not my fault. On a final note, this album contains no China cymbal, and if you just said to yourself, "hooray!" FuckYou - Mark

The studio is really the final step in deciding when you're done writing a song. Case in point, we were tracking the bassline to "Continental Drift," and I knew there was something off between my part and Mark's, but I couldn't get a grip on it. I had Keith put a scratch guitar track down, and then me and Neal just listened over and over again to one particular part of the song that was giving us trouble. Instead of just hitting on the "one," we discovered Mark was actually emphasizing the "one AND" of the beat, so we played around my bass notes and came up with a particular bassline that fit perfectly. As far as the tone goes, the approach was definitely in two different styles: the rockers and the groovers. For the rockers, I wanted grindy, snarling tone, along the lines of '70's rock bands like Thin Lizzy or Kiss, just something with teeth that when exposed with a guitar line had a lot of guts to it. For the more groove oriented songs, like Expectations but more so in the second batch of songs we'll do, I have to say my recent fascination with techno/dance/house music has come into play. I really like the fat basslines that move a lot of that music, and figuring out ways to play with and twist traditional bass sounds will make some of the songs we record in the next batch that are on the less aggressive/more mid-tempo side more dynamic. - Tim

December 14, 2000

2011-12-14T06:40:00.007-05:00

Review: Limbs and Light Benefit/Christmas CD by Aaron Beck of the Columbus Dispatch

The sticky sweetness of holiday songs getting you down? The Stepford Five has recorded a Christmas tune that's a bit more down to earth.

This Christmas speaks to the loneliness of spending the holidays alone. Singer/guitarist/sleigh bell maestro Keith Jenkins takes on a weary melancholy as he sings, "This Christmas, stop me from falling apart."
The CD also features two acoustic songs: Need To Know and Broken Skin, recorded live on-air in Otterbein University's WOBN studio. The album is destined to be a collector's item - the band only pressed 100 copies, and they're only available online or at the Five's shows.

Proceeds from the "Limbs & Light" benefit will provide support cash for Miles Smiley, a Canadian man who will be driving a truck filled with medical supplies and artificial limbs to Nicaragua to give to land-mine victims. Smiley is on his way to Texas for a New Year's Eve fund-raiser and then he's heading to Central America.

December 13, 2003

2011-12-13T06:40:00.004-05:00

News: Studio Update
We trekked back into Workbook this weekend to do some more recording for the new LP. We took a different approach this time and recorded live as band. For the first time we can actually say we have all of our songs recorded which is nice for that box set we're thinking of releasing next year. We had a lot of fun recording as a band, but Jay kept telling us to call him "Styles" for some reason. And he kept trying to get Mark to do a handstand on top of his van.

December 11, 1999

2011-12-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

News: On The Tube The Stepford Five will be invading your television sets throughout the next month. The bands performance at Ruby Tuesdays with Gigolo Skills and Sister Flow way back in September was taped by Out of Order for replay on Community 21 (Columbus) on the following dates.
Monday, December 13th @ 2pm

Tuesday, December 14th @ 6pm
Saturday, December 18th @ 6pm
Monday, December 20th @ 2pm
Tuesday, December 21st @ 6pm

December 10, 1999

2011-12-10T07:00:00.004-05:00

Gig: At The Oracle in Wheeling, West Virigina

December 7, 2001

2011-12-07T06:35:00.006-05:00

News: New album on sale everywhere, Top 5 albums of 2001 our new feature
With our exclusive sale at the Virgin Megastore now over, our new album, "The Art of Self-Defense," is now available in stores in Columbus as well as on-line at CDBaby.com. For a limited time, we have special offer - if you pick up the cd from Used Kids, Magnolia Thunderpussy or Sour Records, you will receive a free ts5 12oz. beer glass with your purchase. Get links to CDBaby and store addresses in the ts5 Store. Somewhere, Gene Simmons is very jealous right now.

Make sure to stop by the Features page and check out each band member's Top 5 for 2001, and our new category for this year, "Biggest Disappointment." Once you've become infuriated with our picks, stop by the ts5 message board (link here) and voice your opinion, list your very own Top 5 or discuss the Peruvian soccer team's chances in the World Cup.

December 4, 2000

2011-12-04T06:50:00.001-05:00

News: Who Will It Be?
We are running a contest here at Stepfordfive.com to win a copy of the single "This Christmas," as well a goodie bag of Stepford stuff. All you have to do is head on over to our Top 5 Feature page and read through our selections for album of the year. We will take our four picks for album of the year into a room beat each other senseless until one man is left standing... or something like that. Anyway, send an e-mail tocontest@stepfordfive.com with your pick for album of the year based on our four #1 picks. We'll take all the correct answers, throw them in a big box or something, and pick one. You can only vote for one album, so choose wisely.

December 1, 2003

2011-12-01T06:42:00.006-05:00

News: New Album, Holidays, 2004 Plans
'Tis the season to rock, or in our case, spend time recording the rock. Yes, that's right, while people are making lists and checking them twice, putting up miles of Christmas lights and shopping themselves into massive debt, we're going back into Workbook Studio to record two more songs for the ongoing saga known as "the stepford five's third album." Seriously though, we started playing some new songs, people liked 'em, and well, we wanna make the best damn rock 'n roll record we can. What this means is that sometime in early 2004 the new record will be done and out on Reverbose Records. Since we're working on this, our gig schedule is gonna be a little light for the next couple of months, but plans are to hit the road hard once the record is done. We're also hoping to acquire a replacement (finally!) to our long lost band van, that was taken from us in the dead of night almost two years ago. The emotional scars have healed and we're finally ready to move on. Also, once the new year rings in, our annual Top 5 list will go up, which is always a hoot.

R.I.P. Southgate House

2011-11-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of the month we were sad to learn about the closing of Louisville record store ear X-tacy, a place we had visited many times over the years during our trips to Louisville for gigs.

Unfortunately, the month ends on another sad note with the news the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky will host its last show on December 31st, 2011.

Among the myriad of music venues The Stepford Five played over the years, few match the greatness that is the Southgate House. Though technically on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, the Southgate House was considered the place to play when trying to book a show in Cincinnati.

TS5 managed to play the Southgate House in 2001 and 2002, and while the crowds were not fantastic for either show, small groups of dedicated music fans made it out both times. Maybe it was for us, or the other bands on the bill, or maybe for the incredible venue itself, which featured a sprawling multi-level Ballroom, the cozy second-floor Parlour room, Juney's Lounge and one of the best pool rooms ever.

This is not the first, and will surely not be the last, venue that has closed down in recent years. Columbus has lost Little Brother's, and until recently, Andyman's Treehouse, which will soon reopen as The Treebar. Since arriving in Columbus in 1999, venues like Chelsea's, Red-16, High Five, Oldfield's and others have either closed or been taken over by new management, renamed and refocused.

According to Cincinnati.com, there's more to this story than just a venue on the decline. Family politics is involved, which is never a good thing, and the Southgate House will probably still be around, but will definitely not be the same.

We wish best of luck to the Southgate House folks, who took chances on independent bands when they didn't have to, supported artists when it was profitable, and for thirty years provided a gem of a stage amongst a sea of mediocre to awful venues.

November 28, 2000

2011-11-28T06:48:00.008-05:00

News: Now Available
We are proud to annouce the release of our very own slice of Holiday cheer, "This Christmas." The single, available with acoustic b-sides "Need To Know" and "Broken Skin" recorded live on the air at WOBN, is for sale exclusively through this here website and at our shows. The CD-R single is limited to just 100 copies and will not be reproduced after that, so get it while you can by heading to the Mechandise page or coming out to one of shows listed on the Gig page. It's $5.00 for the cd and shipping through the website (write us a check, no credit cards) or $3.00 at shows. We are also making a special offer - if you purchase our debut album through us while the single is available, you will get "This Christmas" for free. You cannot get the album and the single deal through any store (online or in person), this deal is exclusive to STEPFORDFIVE.COM. So, spread some holiday lovin', buy some stocking stuffers and pick up one of our sweet new ringer tees while you're at it!

November 18, 1999

2011-11-18T07:00:00.004-05:00

Gig: At Oldfield's on High in Columbus, Ohio with Stonevelvet and Pfifer

Gig Diary: There are pinnacle moments in the life of every band. Bon Scott's death... the White album... Jimi lighting his guitar on fire... all these cornerstones of the last thirty years of rock and roll. The Stepford Five has made it's contribution to the cause of the rock. At Oldfield's on Thursday, November 18th, 1999, Keith Jenkins and Jason Dziak unveiled the new era of Stepford rock - a pair of half stacks, with matching Peavey 5150 cabinets, Jason going with the Sovtek Mig 100 head, and Keith with the Marshall JCM 2000. The world is now a safer place to rock. After a strong set by Stonevelvet, the band took the stage ready to unleash its new found power. Unfortunately, as many who were there will attest to, the sound was not exactly guitar friendly, and dominated by bass and drums. The band apologizes to anyone who was there and not able to fully appreciate the new found beauty of half-stack heaven. The band will be returning to Oldfield's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and this time the guitars will be cranked...

November 15, 2001

2011-11-15T06:31:00.005-05:00

Review: The Art of Self-Defense by Aaron Beck and Curtis Schieber, the Columbus Dispatch

On The Art of Self-Defense, the second album from the Stepford Five, the Columbus band grabs the baton from the broken- up Afghan Whigs and runs with it.

Hard-driving, menacing music played by bassist Tim Minneci, guitarist Jason Dziak and drummer Mark Kovitya is the layer upon which lead singer Keith Jenkins addresses lovers past and present.

Throughout the disc, recorded during the past year with Pretty Mighty Mighty's Neal Schmitt at Workbook Studio in Columbus, the band fluidly incorporates farfisa organ, timpani, drum loops, backup female vocals and goofy time signatures. The result is a sturdy next step in the band's ascent to heavy FM rotation.

November 14, 2002

2011-11-14T07:00:00.005-05:00

Gig: At Oldfield's Columbus, Ohio with The Vague and Underhero.

Gig Diary: A month and a half never seemed like such a long time off. 'Off' is a relative term anyway, since we were busy writing and recording tunes. Back at Oldfield's, which is like an annoying little brother. I mean, you love 'em, but sometimes they drive ya nuts. Oldfield's is warm and cozy, but the stage step up is maddening. Hopefully we've got something workable now, at least we'd better since we'll be playing there the next couple of months. Music? Oh yeah, we'd played mostly new stuff, including the debut of 'Design Lines,' which, I shite you not, has a breakbeat solo for Mark, or something resembling that. William Orbit already called us about doing a remix. Sweeeet. We played with The Vague for the like millionth time. They also played some new stuff, which was a bit more rockin' for them and provided some nice spice in the power pop stew. Underhero opened up and played some quirky rock, but what is more quirky is that the band is made up of four brothers. They are a hoot, check 'em out if ya can. Thanks to the new and old faces who checked us out. - Tim

November 12, 2001

2011-11-12T06:37:00.008-05:00

In the first week of release, The Stepford Five album The Art of Self-Defense charts #41 at the Virgin Megastore in Columbus, Ohio.

November 11, 2000

2011-11-11T07:00:00.007-05:00

Gig: At Andyman's Treehouse in Columbus, Ohio for “Acoustic '80's Power Ballad Night" with Rhonda Everitt of Dayton's Rhe, Billy Peake of Miranda Sound, Wolfgang Parker, Quinn Falon, Bobby Cloyd, Chuck from The Vague and Rick from Pfifer to benefit the Andyman-a-thon

Gig Diary: If there is one universal truth in life, it is this - people love power ballads. Argue their merits if you wish, but nothing so swift and absolute explains the turnout at Andyman's Treehouse Saturday Night. To call it a standing room only crowd for the "80's Acoustic Power Ballad" night is an understatement. The small room which houses the live performances was filled to the roof with eager ears, ready for the next Bon Jovi or Motley Crue sing-a-long. The evening started with Bobby Cloyd, joined by Jeff Tamya (Born Digital) on guitar with a couple of soft rock faves from REO and Journey. Next up was Quinn Falon of the X-Rated Cowboys with renditions of Kiss's "Beth" and Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye." Rhonda Everitt of the Dayton band Rhe followed with a duet with Keith, the first of his many collaborations during the evening, for a stirring rendition of the Lita Ford & Ozzy Osborne classic "Close Your Eyes." Rhonda then threw everyone a curveball with a torch-song-esque rendition of Billy Idol's "White Wedding." Chuck from The Vague retained the help of Keith and Rick from Pfifer to tackle Mr.Big's "To Be With You," and then solo'd on Bon Jovi's "Silent Night." Rick then jumped up with Warrant's "Heaven," and moved to the keyboard for Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home." Billy Peake of Miranda Sound, a longtime Tesla advocate, led everyone in a sing along of Tesla's "Love Song," and then showed his range on Heart's "Alone." Keith started out the Stepford set with Mark on guitar for Guns 'n Roses "Patience." Mark then got behind the drum kit as Tim and Jason joined them on stage for full band renditions of Kix's "Don't Close Your Eyes," Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool," and Faster Pussycat's "House of Pain." After a 10-minute recess, the first six performers repeated the two-song rotation, which included such highlights as Billy and Keith on Bon Jovi's "Wanted - Dead or Alive," Rick and Keith on Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn," and Rick and Chuck closing the evening with Skid Row's "I Remember You." The best part about the evening was that the profits from the door raised almost $500 for the Andyman-a-thon, which helps out children's charities like the Ronald McDonald House. With the success of the night, another could be soon to follow.

November 10, 2001

2011-11-10T07:00:00.008-05:00

Gig: At the Virgin Megastore in Columbus, Ohio

Gig Diary: Wedged between the graphic novels and clearance book racks we strapped on the acoustic guitars for a rare and exciting performance in Columbus' largest record store. The three sets seemed to be well-received by shoppers and were a testament to the drive and dedication that this band has to getting it's music out there to new audiences. I think we achieved that on Saturday. There was a directness to the performance we weren't used to, and as people walked by you had a chance to look them in the eye and try to win them over, that was a very different experience. We also met many new friends, thanks to all involved. - Keith and Jason

November 8, 2001

2011-11-08T06:32:00.009-05:00

Review:

November 5, 2003

2011-11-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

Gig: At The Melody Inn in Indianapolis, Indiana with The Fuglees and Rockstar Club

Gig Diary: Like any trip we make outside of Columbus the weather forecast was calling for snowstorms. Strangely enough it wasn't the snowstorms that made us late for our show at the Melody Inn. We'll just blame it on a run in with the Australian Women's Basketball Team. Once we made it to the club, owner Dave Brown's new fiance treated Mark and I to a free tour of the "secret bar" behind the Melody Not sure what really goes on in this room after hours but I can say we didn't really stick around to find out. Speaking of sticking... the stage was covered in marshmallows . I had flashbacks to the Peep incident at the 6 EP release last spring. - Keith

R.I.P. ear X-tacy

2011-11-03T09:14:00.000-04:00

Taking a break from our historical posts, The Stepford Five were sad to learn about the closing of Louisville record store ear X-tacy earlier this week.

The band made three trips over the years to Louisville for gigs, and every one of them involved a stop at ear X-tacy to sift the racks of new and used cds. It had a massive import and indie section, and none of us left without finding more than few gems to bring back home.

The music landscape has changed drastically since our first trip to Louisville back in 2000. While Napster and MP3s existed, digital music was not as prevalent as today. Cell phones weren't integrated with MP3 players, the iTunes store was three years away from opening.

To put it in perspective, vinyl records were the dominant music delivery form from 1920 until the 1980s. In the '80s, the compact disc slowly took over. Vinyl ruled for almost 60 years, supplemented by compact cassettes in the '70s and '80s for portability.

In the 1990s, the compact disc ruled thanks to it's cheap production cost and high profit margins. Going to the record store to check out the latest new releases and search for unknown gems has been in the blood of music fans for decades. In the '90s, with better distribution channels for independent releases and physically smaller product, record stores thrived, especially resale stores that specialized in low-cost used cds, usually provided by over-serviced college radio stations.

It seemed like CDs would dominate for decades, but once the iTunes store opened in 2003, it was already ending. Throughout the 2000s, digital sales climbed every year while sales of physical product dropped, and with it, revenue for stores like ear X-tacy disappeared as well.

That, unfortunately, is the very nature of not only the music industry on a local level, but nationally as well. The biggest bands break-up, giant labels filled with talent shut down and once dominant radio stations switch to talk and easy listening. There is plenty of carnage to go around, but some record stores, labels and radio stations are surviving, even thriving, as they adjust to the rapidly shifting landscape.

Ear X-tacy isn't a cautionary tale. It is what it is - life happening, change happening. But that doesn't mean we're not sad about it.

November 1, 2001

2011-11-01T06:37:00.005-04:00

Review: The Art of Self-Defense by Rob Harvilla, The Other Paper

"All I want is somethin' beautiful," declares Stepford Five vocalist Keith Jenkins a few minutes into The Art of Self-Defense, the much-hyped sophomore disc from four guys committed to expertly crafted guitar rock ugliness.

Self-Defense is a tightly wound, creatively produced and relentlessly murky-affair. Wrapped in emotive, twin-guitar indie rock, it'll coat your immediate visual world view in thick, murky blacks and grays. Picture yourself trudging through North Campus late, late Saturday night, penniless and freezing, mulling over the day's events: Your girlfriend left you, the Bucks lost by 20, your car's on fire. This record replicates drab, cruddy Ohio weather with astounding clarity.

That's a compliment. The Stepford Five bristles with grungy, discordant rock energy, well represented here by tunes like Pretty Exit and Foot Soldier. All this ain't pretty, but it's got unmistakable drive, and the five-star Workbook Studios production treatment suits it well. Weird guitar effects, random patches of aural weirdness, disembodies backup vocals, cool drum sounds - it's almost too much, to the point where you wonder if Self-Defense would sound very different (and very plain) without all the hoo-hah.

It very well might, but it doesn't have to, and the tunes resonate accordingly. Expectations is a slow-burner that avoids dragging on, thanks to a huge vocal assist from Miranda Sound hootmaster Billy Peake. The Fall is a well-placed bomb in the album's second half - 2:36 of less complex pop sensibility with a melodic outro that hits the bullseye and gets the hell outta there. In fact, Self-Defense works best after the hook's buried and the lyrics dealt with - the set ending Showing Through starts slow but ends on a similar instrumental high.

Neither the structure nor the vocal matter here rates as particularly transcendent - basically the Five are a roughed-up, pissed off hybrid of Goo Goo Dolls-style guitar rock. But this time out, they're very much in their sonic element, and committed to making the most of it. The Art of Self-Defense is quite high art indeed.

The Art of Self-Defense went on sale today exclusively (dude!) at Virgin Megastore in Easton. Buy it there or online at Stepfordfive.com. The band's next show is Friday Nov. 9 at Bernie's.

October 31, 2005

2011-10-31T06:43:00.006-04:00

News: Myspace - Happy Halloween - 3 New Songs
Decided to post a few new tunes. Promise is from the Workbook Studio 25 Hour Grand Prix released last winter. We're re-recording it, but here's the original versions. There is a demo of "The Offer" we recorded at Workbook's recording class in the spring, this is also being re-recorded. Last is an early mix of "The Rest of Us," one of the new tunes we recorded at our practice space with mixing by Neal at Workbook.

October 29, 1999

2011-10-29T07:00:00.015-04:00

Gig: At Little Brothers in Columbus, Ohio with Gigolo Skills & the Cheeba Groove, Electric Porn and 50 Watt Alarm Clock

Gig Diary: The Stepford Five marked a personal milestone Friday night at Little Brothers, playing their 20th show in seven months, and celebrated in seasonal fashion. Taking a cue from the Halloween weekend, the band went full out glam with glitter make-up, eye-liner, a sweet pair of red cheetah pants and a cowboy hat (you can figure out who was wearing what), and a set that rocked from start to finish including a cover of Motley Crue's "Piece of Your Action." Veteran Columbus rockers 50watt Alarm Clock opened the evening with an inspired set highlighted by a wicked Black Sabbath cover, followed by funk/rockers Gigolo Skills, whose frontman made a dramatic entrance through the front door as the band took the stage. Electric Porn closed the night out with a quick set of punk influenced rock and enough leather to start a PETA protest. Special thanks to Montie Temple for providing a night of great sound, and to the small but enthusiastic crowd that rocked all night long.

October 27, 2001

2011-10-27T07:00:00.008-04:00

Gig: At Easy Street Cafe in Bowling Green, Ohio with rain42 and Trip Cut Shorty

Gig Diary: Back in BG with the same line-up (rain42 and Trip Cut Shorty) as September 29th, the crowd seemed somewhat larger and more into this set than our last show at Easy Street less than a month ago. Some people even tried to get up and dance to our music. Feel sorry for them - trying to dance to us is like trying to have a rhythmic seizure, it just ain't happening. Don't worry, in an album or two Mark will program beats, then we'll be all dance rage. Watch y'er arse Roni Size, ts5 dropping mad beats... - Tim

October 26, 2000

2011-10-26T06:36:00.010-04:00

Interview: Cock rockers - The Stepford Five forges the perfect combination of smarts and glam by J. Caleb Mozzocco of the Columbus Alive

Two things become apparent when The Stepford Five take the stage.

First off, there's only four members of the band, a fact that's repeatedly pointed out to them. Critics reviewing the band's self-released debut album Mesh more than once noted something along the lines of "Despite their poor math skills, The Stepford Five can really rock," which kills bassist Tim Minneci.

"I mean, here we have a future rocket scientist in our band, and they say we can't count," Minneci smiles, nodding to drummer Mark Kovitya, who is majoring in aerospace engineering at Ohio State University.

For the record, The Stepford Five got their name from a friend of guitarist/keyboardist Jason Dziak. Aside from rhyming with The Stepford Wives, the 1975 cult film about eerily perfect suburban housewives (and sounding sort of cool), the band's name reflects its background. All four hail from suburban towns not unlike Stepford.

The second thing one immediately notices about The Stepford Five is that they rock. They really rock.

There's a good reason for the chemistry they share both during their live performances and on their CD. Dziak and guitarist/vocalist Keith Jenkins have been playing together since sixth grade, when the two 12-year-olds lip-synched a Van Halen song for their school's talent show. Over a game of Mike Tyson's Punchout at a friend's house, the young Dziak and Jenkins discovered they had a shared affection for such rock bands as Poison, Kiss and Van Halen.

"We come from a straight cock rock and glam metal background," says Dziak, who admits to once wearing a mullet. But he's glad his musical interests were piqued pre-grunge music--it was cock rock that fueled his and Jenkins' aspirations.

"There's this feeling you get when you're eight years old and you watch a rock star," Dziak said. "I mean, you watch Nikki Sixx and there are girls on their knees in front of him and his legs are on fire, and you think, `that's what I want to do.' And then you watch Eddie Vedder singing about butterflies, and he's just this guy in a corduroy jacket with his head down."

The two friends had their tastes challenged and expanded when they went to Bowling Green State University and got involved with college radio. It was there they were introduced to what Dziak calls "smarter music," and it was there that they were also introduced to Minneci.

The three became fast friends, and together they formed the band 10Watt. After graduation, they moved to Columbus and picked up a drummer in 22-year-old Kovitya. A name change later, they were ready to take on the Columbus music scene.

The four members of The Stepford Five share more than a professional relationship, however. They all share a passion. "We're all total music geeks," Minneci explains. "Napster is the best thing that ever happened to us."

The four act as a sort of musical exchange program, constantly introducing each other to new bands and new sounds. Though their tastes shoot off in four different directions, they've established a common ground which includes such influences as Afghan Whigs, Radiohead, Catherine Wheel, Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff Buckley.

Dziak and Jenkins eventually managed to convince Minneci that there was more than just makeup and big hair to bands like Poison. "They got me to see that yes, there is some real musicianship there," Minneci admits.

The band even went to see Poison the last time they played at Polaris, and Minneci can half-jokingly allude to details of Poison history, gleaned from an episode of VH1's Behind the Music.

So what's the sound of a band that attends a Poison concert and a Sunny Day Real Estate show with equal enthusiasm? As evidenced on Mesh, the result is a smarter song structure than three-chord progressions of some power pop, and lyrics that tend to take unexpected twists. And, as evidenced in their live shows, an energy and sense of showmanship which may even impress Bret Michaels.

The Stepford Five has the ability to rock hard like the cock rock Dziak and Jenkins grew up with, and to rock smart like band favorites Radiohead and Catherine Wheel. "We're the perfect combination of Motley Crue and Radiohead," Minneci says.

And those who think there's no such thing as a perfect combination of two such widely divergent bands probably haven't seen The Stepford Five yet.

The Stepford Five will be heading back into the studio this December to work on their follow-up to Mesh. The band will perform at Andyman's Treehouse "Acoustic '80s Power Ballad Night" on November 11 (is a Poison tribute in order?) and at Studio 35's "Rock 'n' Reel" on November 17.

October 20, 2002

2011-10-20T06:40:00.006-04:00

News: Jeff Buckley Tribute Nov 16 @ Workbook Studio & Recording...Again
As the Stepford Camp has seemed relatively quiet we've actually been quite
busy. As you may remember a few years ago TS5 performed at the 1st Columbus Jeff Buckley Tribute at Studio 35. Offering up our version of "Nightmares By The Sea", we joined with 9 other Columbus bands to celebrate the music that came from the short but brilliant career of Jeff Buckley. Due to our recording schedule and practice time being spent on the truckload of new
material we have the entire band was not able to commit this year but Keith will be participating with a side project called the William F's. This band features Neil Schmitt (producer extroidinaire and of Pretty Mighty Mighty fame) on drums, and bass and guitar duties being traded off between Dan Gerken (miranda sound) and Caleb Bandy (templeton). The one off band will close the night out w/ a performance of Jeff's "Sky Is A Landfill" and the MC5's "Kick Out The Jams", which was a favorite of Jeff's band to play live. Other great performers on the bill this year feature Kopaz, Miranda Sound, The Last Hotel, and Chris McCoy plus a host of others. The proceeds from the showwill go to a musician's charity known as Road Recovery. This charity helps find imployment for musicians who have overcome substance abuse of any kind. For more info on the show and the Road Recovery charity check out these sites: www.dreambrothermusicprocession.com andwww.roadrecovery.com. As mentioned earlier we are back to work at the newly constructed confines of Workbook Studio. With all this new material floating around we decided it was time to get some of the songs that have been around for awhile committed to tape. Last weekend we dropped tracks for Pinhole, Six, and ...Are You Dreaming? "Six" and "...Are You Dreaming" have been live staples for about the last 6 months or so. Like "Fair Is Fair" we went all analog again and the sound is HUGE! No definite plans as to what we're going to do with the songs yet but the idea of putting out a 4-song EP has been kicked around.

October 19, 2000

2011-10-19T07:00:00.005-04:00

Gig: At Merry Melodies in Columbus, Ohio with Feel, The Baxters, Myopia and Blatant Finger sponsored by Winston and 99.7 The Blitz

Gig Diary: In our never ending quest to play every single venue in the Greater Columbus area, last Thursday we headed to Merry Melodies on the east side to play the second of the Blitzfest local band showcases. Joining us on the bill were The Baxters, Myopia, Blatant Finger and Feel. What the venue lacked in signage (time to get that neon fixed people), it more than made up for in one of the most rockin' stages we seen in this town. The lights, smoke machine and drum riser all provided tasty treats for the Stepford live machine that churned through nine rockers. As the few that traveled with us to attend the show will attest to, the crowd was slightly perplexed by our brand of rock, with one particular gentlemen demanding a rendition of "brick house" that we were unfortunately unable to fulfill. Luckily, one of America's finest purveyors of cancer sticks (who shall remain nameless) was there to soothe the crowd with its' tobacco goodness, so we faced no beer bottle onslaught a la The Blue Brothers.

October 17, 2004

2011-10-17T06:47:00.006-04:00

News: We had a great time participating in the "24 Bands in 24 Hours" project at Workbook Studio this weekend. Here are a couple of photos of Pretty Mighty Mighty and A Planet for Texas during their sessions. We recorded a new song called "Promise" and we pretty happy with how it came out. I had the pleasure of being around for a bunch of the sessions and the Miranda Sound tune and the House of Heros track will definetly be highlights of the CD. - J

October 14, 2000

2011-10-15T06:50:00.002-04:00

Interview:

October 11, 2001

2011-10-11T06:58:00.002-04:00

Preview:

October 9, 1999

2011-10-09T07:00:00.009-04:00

Gig: At Ruby Tuesday's in Columbus, Ohio with Gigolo Skills & the Cheeba Groove, Eliot 12 Tree and Sister Flow

Gig Diary: After a rough performance by the band at Oldfields on Sept. 23, The Stepford Five got right back on the horse by putting together a tight and energetic set for a performance at Ruby Tuesday's on Oct 9. The band pulled out the "Win em' Over" set featuring live staples like "Broken Skin", "Need to Know" and "Overcoming Eve". The only new tune that was played was "The Blue Screen" which saw it's tightest presentation yet. The other highlights of the night were a interesting set by Elliot 12Trees featuring the amazing bass playing of Jim Rico (formerly Howlin' Maggie) and an incredibly tight set by Gigolo Skills and The Cheeba Groove who are now a four piece (minus a rhythm guitar).

Before Stepford: The Complete 10Watt Videos

2011-10-07T07:00:00.013-04:00

Before The Stepford Five there was 10Watt, which you can read about on the 10Watt page. This post is the complete video recordings of 10Watt.

March 21, 1998 @ The Symposium in Cleveland, Ohio with Lint

April 23, 1998 @ BGSU's Anderson Arena for the Beyond BG Celebration with Tito Slack and the Trashcan Sinatras

April 25, 1998 @ BGSU's Founders Hall for the WFAL Spring Concert BBQ with Fonix and Pacemaker Jane.

October 6, 2000

2011-10-06T07:00:00.004-04:00

Gig: At Little Brothers in Columbus, Ohio with Stonevelvet and Parker Ben Parker (from Dayton)

Gig Diary: Friday we hit Little Brothers for the first time in awhile, playing in support of Stonevelvet and Dayton's Parker Ben Parker. After roaming the big stage at Realfest, returning indoors gave us a cozy feeling. The crowd apparently was in the same mood, because the love was all around. A mixture of new tunes and old stuff seemed well received, and even got us a interview with the Columbus Alive (plug, plug) that will hit newsstands next Thursday, October 19th... in other news, the official Stepford Street Team has been created. Send an e-mail to info@stepfordfive.com with your name, address and age, and we will give you all the details, which does include a free sweet-ass official Stepford Street Team member patch.

October 4, 2001

2011-10-04T06:41:00.003-04:00

Article: Team Players - Record labels, local and national, help spread the word about Columbus releases (Part 4 of a 4 part series) by J. Caleb Mozzocco of the Columbus Alive

It's been about seven years since Pete Cline and his bandmates nearly ran over a husky puppy on their way to band practice, having just recently abandoned "Silo" as a possible name for their band. Since then, they've given the name Silo to the lucky little dog (and then named their band after him), went through some lineup changes and hooked up with San Diego-based label Cargo Records.

While inking a deal with Cargo was a good thing for the twangy Columbus rock band, it didn't fulfill all of Silo the Huskie's wildest dreams. The quartet, like many bands, have a rather modest goal-making a living from making music-and while Cargo has made making music a little easier, the simple fact is label support isn't quite the same as winning the lottery.

"You think that when you sign this contract, it will put an end to all your problems," Cline said. "But you really just replace old problems with new problems."

The Stepford Five have heard similar stories before. So although guitarists Keith Jenkins and Jason Dziak first fell in love with music while watching the cock-rocking hair bands of the '80s on MTV, the pair realizes that a record contract won't necessarily allow them to quit their day jobs and live like Mick Mars and C.C. DeVille.

"A lot of bands think a label is like a fairy godmother who's just going to wave her magic wand and solve all their problems," Dziak said. "Small labels are all different in terms of what they can do for you; some have money, some of them are mostly good at grassroots, street-level promoting."

Same with bigger labels. Cargo, home of MTV's favorite pop-punk band Blink 182 before MCA snatched them up, has given Silo the Huskie financial support, but has probably helped most by promoting the band.

The San Diego label first reached the band through the Internet ("We thought it was some sort of cruel hoax," Cline said, "but it all ended up being true"), and offered to re-release the band's album Fight, trimming it from 16 to 12 songs and re-christening it Silo The Huskie. Cargo re-pressed and distributed the album and provided tour support, spotting the quartet $50 a show.

After doing the road warrior thing for a while, the band headed back to Workbook Studio (aside from some four-tracked stuff, all of Silo's material has been recorded by Workbook's Jon Chinn) to work on Friends, Enemies and Neutral States, slated for an early 2002 release through Cargo, provided the current contract negotiations work out.

While the studio and engineer haven't changed pre- and post-Cargo, Silo the Huskie has noticed some definite differences in the recording process thanks to their relationship with the label.

"Time and money," Cline said, listing the two major factors. "When you're on a tight budget, when you're self-financed, you go in when you can, you go to free places like the Chillicothe Recording Workshop, and you kind of drag it out… When you're doing a nine-to-five job and trying to be a rock musician, the bills can rack up pretty easy.

"When you're not self-financing [because of label support], you can block as much time off as you need and make the best record possible in a short amount of time."

Aside from taking some of the financial pressure off a band going it alone-like, say, The Stepford Five, who've spent the better part of the year in and out of Workbook producing the upcoming The Stepford Five and The Art of Self Defense-a label can go a long way toward promoting the band around the world.

"There's been a surprisingly large amount of reviews worldwide, from Europe and Japan," Cline said.

"It's cool to sit down and go on the Internet and read about what people think of your record across the pond or across the ocean. They've helped us with that distinction, getting our name out there."

This brand recognition and band promotion can be the biggest advantage of label support-even if it's just the label down the street, like locals Break-Up! Records or Derailleur Records.

Break-Up! is pretty much a one-man operation, with Pat Dull serving as CEO (or whatever title he feels like assigning himself on a given day). Dull and partner Jerry DeCicca started the label as a bit of a vanity project, pressing a seven-inch single with Dull's then-band Pop Rocks! (exclamation marks are Dull's favorite punctuation) on one side and DeCicca's band on the other.

Dull had a taste for seven-inch platters, "the perfect format for music," and stuck with the label, releasing a total of 20 different hook-filled power pop records so far, among them Columbus' Media Whores (Dull's current band), Manda and The Marbles, 84 Nash, The Pop Quiz and Dogrocket, Big Hello from Chicago and The Heartdrops from New York. Dull's even "bowed down to the beast" a little, releasing the Media Whores' and Manda and The Marbles' albums on CD instead of his cherished vinyl.

Dull doesn't always have six grand to drop on recording other bands' CDs, but he does help financially with pressing singles, asking bands to kick in a hundred bucks and repaying them with 100 singles. But Break-Up!'s main function is often helping bands get their feet in the door with distributors or media outlets. "Distributors will look at my label and they know I was there in '96, and I'm still here today," Dull said. "I've got the tentacles out there."

Tentacles can be very helpful-just ask any octopus, or even a Turkey.

"We could have put our album out on our own label," Jive Turkeys drummer Justin Crooks said of the band's April 2001 release, "like Joe Blow Records or whatever, but that's potentially more work for us. With someone else's label, there's already a framework set up and someone else is helping you out."

The Jive Turkeys are being helped by Derailleur, which, like Break-Up!, started with a local music lover-in this case, Brad Liebling-wanting to help bands he liked get heard.

Since its inception in 1998, Derailleur has released albums by The Velveteens, Pretty Mighty Mighty, Bigfoot and Bob City, and the label is currently pushing recent self-titled albums from Grafton and The Jive Turkeys. Next up are releases from Salt Horse and The Honeys.

Lou Poster, guitarist for Grafton, first got involved with the label when it released his album. By virtue of always asking what he could do to help out, he's moving more towards running things while Liebling becomes less involved to focus on his graduate studies and day job. Derailleur has evolved into a sort of collective where all the bands help promote each other's releases.

"It's really about who's got the contact info, who's stuffing envelopes, who's making calls and so forth," Poster said. "If we do fuck up a little bit, we're all buddies, rather than being strangers, so it's nice and easygoing."

Working with your friends can be nice and easygoing, and doing everything yourself-a la The Stepford Five, Miranda Sound, and tons of other locals-allows for a greater amount of control (as well as a greater amount of work and drain on your resources). Silo the Huskie could have taken either route, but when the opportunity of support from Cargo presented itself, the band didn't want to let the chance pass them by.

Cline said they've heard repeatedly from other local musicians that they didn't make the right decision, but they're glad they went for it.

"People say why would you sign a contract for almost no money," Cline said. "The way I look at it is, if there's an ice cream truck coming down the street, and it's the only ice cream truck that's been down the road for days-if not years-and if all they have is a rocket pop, you're gonna take the frickin' rocket pop."
As tasty as that rocket pop has been at times, Cline's practical about where Silo the Huskie sits in the grand scheme of things.

"Even at this level, it's still like playing in the minors," Cline said. "It's like playing for the Akron Aeros."

And if making rock 'n' roll is like playing ball, then label support-whether it comes from an A&R guy you meet at a music conference or the guy you met at Bernie's after your set-is like having someone else on your team.

October 3, 2003

2011-10-03T07:00:00.011-04:00

Gig: At The Note in Chicago, Illinois with Miranda Sound, Light FM and Woolworthy

Gig Diary: The interesting thing about being on the road is at almost every rest stop you see at least one other "Band Van" and some fellow hip looking indie rockers making their way around the midwest. Miranda Sound won the great race to Chicago through some serious wind and driving rain. We met up with Rob Duffy and Co. and the Note in the heart of Chicago's Wicker Park. It was another night of great performances from all the bands involved on the bill which featured Chicago's own Woolworthy and Light FM. Thanks to TANKBOY for all his help putting the night together. After the show we headed to Lakeview to engage in a serious gymnastics competition at our friend Marni's apartment. - Keith

October 1, 1999

2011-10-01T06:46:00.002-04:00

News: Studio Update
The band has commenced mixing their debut album MESH at Workbook Studio. All recording has been completed with the exception of the lead vocals on "Need to Know" and background vocals on "Contact Illusion", "No Chance", and "Need to Know". The band is still on schedule for a January/February 2000 release date. Guitarist Jason Dziak has also begun designing the CD artwork and promotional materials for the album. Stayed tuned for more news.

September 30, 2000

2011-09-30T06:42:00.008-04:00

Gig: At Realfest 4 in Lancaster, Ohio with Rubberband Racecar Go, Woosley Band, Porus, Zero Parade, Pasquali and Jerkwater Jive, sponsored by by the Athens Musician Network, Cow Town Music, Sound Exchange, Columbusmusic.com, Kroger and Cromley Music

Gig Diary: All we can say is, we've been home, and we like it. Don't know what we're talking about? Ladies and gentlemen, The Stepford Five have played the big stage, and we likey, we likey a lot. Saturday night in Lancaster, Realfest 4 saw seven bands play for over seven hours to about 75 people. No big deal, crowds will come and go, but the true milestone of the evening was the 25,00watt PA, the massive lighting rig, and the endless stage room. Oh mommy, how does one return to the compact confines of an Oldfield's or Bernie's after such an experience? If it wasn't enough that we got to live out our arena rock dreams just by playing on the stage, during Making Sound, our closest thing to a "power ballad," a few lighters even went up in the audience. Priceless. As our heads deflate slowly, big thanks to the fantastic Realfest organizers, crew and all the bands that we shared that massive stage with (I think all the bands could have played at once and there would have still been ample room to roam). Here's looking forward to No. 5!

The Lost Album: Demos, Live Takes and Alternate Versions

2011-09-29T04:00:00.001-04:00

Most versions of songs posted in the The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs section are the most recent and most complete. However, most of the songs have multiple takes and demo versions. This post completes what has been posted so far of those tunes.

Just Happened - 11.16.06 Demo
Just Happened - Tim 2006 Demo w/Keith Vocals
Trying To Start Something - 12.22.05 Demo
Always On The Table - 2.23.05 Demo
The Offer - 1st Jam
The Offer - Jason 2006 Mix
The Offer - Alternate 2005 Version
Wait - Tim 2006 Demo
Mistake - 7.30.06 Demo
The 13th Hour - Tim Home Demo

September 28, 2001

2011-09-28T06:43:00.003-04:00

News: New Album Update
Just a quick update on the new album, "The Stepford Five & The Art Of Self-Defense": the finished mastered disc and artwork has been sent to CDman in Canada for reproduction. We're looking at a November 6th official release date for the album, available here through our website, as well as local record stores and some websites.

September 27, 2003

2011-09-27T06:44:00.007-04:00

Gig: At Courtyard Cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio with Tenki (Chicago, IL), Senryu (Knoxville, TN), Swissfarlo (Cincinnati, OH) & The Apparitions (Lexington, KY) for the Midpoint Music Festival

Gig Diary: The music conference showcase experience is usally a hit or miss situation for this band. Usually ending up in the "miss" category. The cool thing that Midpoint did this year was keeping all the bands playing in venues that were all within the same block. The problem with this was that it left many bands playing venues that were not really set up for live music. Such was the case at the Courtyard Cafe. We were crammed in a corner with a makeshift PA and barely any room to move. Highlights of the night included running into our Columbus pals Denovo, and our old Dayton buddy Rhonda Everitt who performed the previous night with her band RHE. - Keith

September 26, 2002

2011-09-26T06:46:00.008-04:00

Gig: At The Cavern in Cincinnati, Ohio with The Common, Crosley, The Shazam and The Swarthy Band for the Midpoint Music Festival

Gig Diary: Back in the Queen City for the first Midpoint Music Festival, The Cavern was a sweet venue with a hipster vibe and hardwood everything. Due to our uncool day jobs, we were forced to exit and head home after checking out the next band, so we couldn't partake in all the MPMF's offerings. The remnants of Hurricane Isadore were creeping through the Midwest as well, so the entire trip was blanketed by a non-stop steady rain. Nothing like being in a strange part of town with the rain coming down trying to unload and load gear. People wonder why we went from lots of gear to a compact set-up - load-in baby, quick and easy load-in, that's why. Drive home wasn't bad, Keith and I b.s.'d about college for two hours, and god knows we can reminisce about that stuff for days, but most importantly it kept us awake. I think we listened to the Interpol cd there and back, and it continues to kick our collective ass. - Tim

September 24, 2004

2011-09-24T06:42:00.009-04:00

Gig: At The Cavern in Cincinnati, Ohio with Denovo, Chris Ryan (NYC), My Left Arm (Chicago) and Miggs (Oakland, CA) for the Midpoint Music Conference

September 23, 1999

2011-09-23T06:52:00.011-04:00

Gig: Oldfield's on High in Columbus, Ohio with Gigolo Skills & the Cheeba Groove

September 21, 2000

2011-09-21T06:44:00.010-04:00

Gig: At High Five in Columbus, Ohio with The Kingrods, Blatant Finger and The Baxters for The Rock 'n Riot Trilogy, sponsored by WOBN 101.5, Columbus Percussion, Rag 'O Rama and Body Stain Tattoo

Gig Diary: One of the biggest frustrations for a local band is getting the support of the community. Some of the best bands in Columbus have a hard time getting fifty people to go to Bernie's on a Friday night, so what's a band to do? Well, you can either give up or try a huge promotional blitz. John from The Baxters came up with the idea of having three bands play three consecutive nights at local bars, with each night a different band headlining and a special guest added to each night. Thursday at the High Five, it was our turn. Recently, Arturo DeLeon, a pillar in the Columbus music community, resigned his post as booker after just one year with the High Five. The High Five has a less than stellar relationship with most bands, and Artie's departure doesn't instill a lot of confidence in us or a lot of other bands. But, like most bands, we're open minded when it comes to the necessity of gigs, so we can't complain too much. Even though we wanted to believe their was going to be some huge groundswell of support for the Rock 'n Riot Trilogy, the first night proved to be a bit of a disappointment in the community and the High Five. For some reason, the front door was locked and patrons had to enter in the back door. This confused more than a few of our friends who weren't sure if there was a private show going on or what. While all the bands did their best to rock the house, the house was not exactly begging to be rocked.

Unreleased: The 13th Hour

2011-09-20T04:00:00.000-04:00

A new addition to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs page is The 13th Hour.

This is another song from the 2000 Land of Sugar demo sessions that was never officially recorded and only played occasionally during the first few years of the band.

September 19, 2000

2011-09-19T06:41:00.002-04:00

News: Mixed Bag
Some more press has trickled into Stepford headquarters for analysis. We've received our first live review thanks to Sergio at The Village Buzz from our September 8th show at Oldfield's with Go Robot Go! Apparently however, the Canadians don't like our brand of rock so much, which can be found in our less than stellar Spill Magazine review. Hey, we're not above printing bad reviews on our website, we can handle it. Lastly, we received a nice write up on the Midwestern Universe Entertainment News website (otherwise known as MUEN). Look for a interview with them to surface shortly.

The Lost Album: The Offer

2011-09-17T04:00:00.000-04:00

Another addition to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs page is The Offer.

There are several versions of The Offer. This particular recording was done at Workbook Studio in the Fall of 2005 live as a full band, one of the few times the band recorded all instruments live.

September 16, 2000

2011-09-16T06:47:00.006-04:00

Gig: At Baker Center, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio with Rhe

Gig Diary: Rock and roll has always looked for ways to become "stimulated" artificially, and Athen's Baker's Hall "Front Room" concert series provides a new option - caffeine. You see, the concerts are held in a coffee shop, complete with fireplace, couches and a coffee, juice and muffin bar. So let the rock begin! The band took along a secret weapon in the form of Rhonda Everitt, singer/songwriter/pianist in the Dayton band Rhe, to warm up the crowd in the sedate setting. Rhonda ranges from melancholy piano balladry similar to Tori Amos, to more upbeat acoustic guitar numbers, and pulled off a Billy Idol cover that would have made Billy proud. Slowly but surely, the intimate coffee shop confines warmed up and filled with people who were more interested than hearing the Creed covers down the street. TS5 faced a similar scenario as the previous show - a long set where things can and inevitably will go wrong. This time, the challenge was met head on, the broken strings and between song pauses became less a cause for concern and more an opportunity to interact with the intimate crowd, who actually stuck around for most of the night. The lack of apathy and appearance of sincere interest seemed almost surreal, and caused slight confusion within the Stepford ranks, who have cleared more than a few rooms in their brief history. Quote of the night came from Keith, who said halfway through the show, "I just saw a girl walk in the room, cover her ears and run out... now that's what we're used to." One by one, the tide continues to turn.

September 15, 2001

2011-09-15T06:54:00.003-04:00

Gig: At The Phantasy in Cleveland, Ohio with The Small Child Orchestra, Burnout Sun (from Toledo), Trip Man Dead, Bronwens Wish and Drowning Poet

Gig Diary: Back to Cleveland, but to a new venue...sort of. Saturday we played at the Phantasy, which is a part of the Phantasy Club/Phantasy Theatre/Symposium/etc. etc. complex on Detroit Ave. in Lakewood. A few years ago, a group of college boys who played under the name 10watt made their debut at the Symposium. Oh the memories, sarcastic soundmen, knocking over guitars, laughs all around. This time however, the well-oiled Stepford touring machine was in full force. The crowded bill (6 bands, starting at 8:30pm) didn't do much to help attendance, which was sparse, and once again, we traveled far only to end up meeting a Columbus-area band, this time The Small Child Orchestra. While the events of the week weighed heavily on everyone's minds, the 40 minutes each band spent on stage was probably one of best diversions for everyone who played or came out to watch. It should be noted that the decision for Keith and Jason to get half-stacks last year did not take into account carrying them up 3 flights of stairs. Oh, the days of a Fender Reverb 2X10...

The Lost Album: What's Killing Me

2011-09-14T04:00:00.000-04:00

A new addition to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs page is What's Killing Me.

This is a home demo of the song recorded by Keith at home in December 2005. A full band version does not exist.

September 13, 2001

2011-09-13T06:46:00.001-04:00

Article: Wheelers and Dealers - Distribution is the final arduous step in getting records from bands to listeners (Part 3 in a 4 part series) by J. Caleb Mozzocco of the Columbus Alive

When Manda and The Marbles were finishing their second album, 2001's Seduction, they weren't ready to be quite as DIY as they were for 1999's Rock's Not Dead. The decision had more to do with the rigors of putting together CD packaging than it did with punk politics or rock 'n' roll ethics, however.

The trio of Columbus punk poppers copied, cut, folded and inserted the packaging material for all 500 copies of their debut album themselves, which amounted to a hell of a lot of work. And more work is something a band can do without when creating an album.

Once an album's been written, recorded, mixed, mastered and pressed, there's still more to be done-it's time for the band to make sure their work is heard, which means it's time to sell, sell, sell. Distribution is the final step in the process of getting music from the heads and hearts of musicians to the ears of listeners, and with this one more potentially arduous step in the recording process left to take, extra folding and jewel case stuffing is something many bands can do without.

The Stepford Five have distributed their own album once already with their 2000 debut Mesh, and they're gearing up to do it again with this fall's The Stepford Five and The Art of Self Defense.

As hard as recording the music can be, distribution can be just as hard for some artists. "Musicians don't all have the natural ability to wheel and deal," said Jon Chinn, guitarist/vocalist for Pretty Mighty Mighty and one half of Workbook Studio, where The Stepford Five have created both of their albums. "The type of personality it takes to make good music isn't generally the type it takes to make a deal."

Certain deals are easier to make than others, however. Like negotiating a CD sale with a fan at the merchandise table after your set.

Selling CDs at shows is probably the most effective way for a local band to get their records to their audience, and that's certainly the case with The Stepford Five, according to bassist Tim Minneci. "At shows your music has the most immediate impact," he said. "If someone liked what they just heard, they can just walk over and pick up a CD."

But rock bands, like prophets, are often without honor in their hometowns. If The Stepford Five can move one or two Meshes after a show in Columbus, it's considered an above-average night, while sales on the road are always much better.

"We'll play a show out of town, and there may only be 10 people there, but all 10 will buy a CD," Stepford Five vocalist/guitarist Keith Jenkins said. "We could play in front of a hundred people in Columbus, and no one will buy a CD."

Does familiarity breed contempt? Well, if not contempt, at least consumer apathy.

"It doesn't take long before everyone who comes to your shows has either already bought an album and they aren't going to buy another one, or aren't going to because they didn't want to buy one in the first place," Minneci said.

The Marbles have encountered the same phenomena. Hometown sales may be lackluster, but the band cleans up when they play for appreciative audiences at all-ages shows in under-entertained small towns.

The trio-bassist/vocalist Manda Marble, guitarist Joe Damage, and drummer Mark Slak-often take weekend-long tours of small Pennsylvania and New York towns like Meadville, Oil City, Jamestown and Warren, playing shows sometimes set up by teens at venues vastly different from the Columbus High Street bar circuit.

"We'll play township buildings and fire halls," Marble said, "and we always sell a lot of stuff, a lot more than at 21-and-over bars. I guess people at bars don't plan on buying music, while these kids plan on going there and buying things in these little towns where there's nowhere else to go and hear music."

Of course, selling CDs out of the back of your tour van or a suitcase in the back of the club, though effective, can be so 20th century. The advent of the Internet has changed the unloading of one's albums just like it's changed everything else. "The Internet has really fucked things up in a lot of ways, both good and bad," Chinn said.

Aside from obliterating the business plan bands needed to follow to be successful half a decade ago, the Internet has given every band a way to reach every potential fan in the world, and electronic access that equals that of the major labels.

"Our website takes up as much space as Warner Brothers'," Chinn said. "I tell [bands looking to record at Workbook], 'Don't even call me again until you have a website.'"

Homepages can serve as little merchandise tables in cyberspace, but local bands can also unload their albums on larger sites. In addition to dishing copies of Mesh from stepfordfive.com, The Stepford Five distribute albums on consignment through sites like CDNow.com, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.com. For an application fee and a small cut, the warehouse-type organization Orchard can hook bands up with

Amazon and CD Now, and CD Baby works similarly but features all independent bands.

Finally, there's your friendly neighborhood record store-"Your local record store can be your best friend, we learned," Minneci said-many of which carry the work of local musicians.

With various self-distribution avenues available, coupled with the scores of copies sent off for review or as demos (The Stepford Five mailed out about 200 copies of Mesh, on top of what they've sold), it's easy to avoid the situation all bands dread-filling their closets with 964 unsold copies of their album.

But just because a band gets rid of most of their discs doesn't mean they'll all be appreciated. "Our ultimate fear is that we'll go to somebody's house and find them using our album as a coaster," Minneci said.

The Lost Album: Mistake

2011-09-12T04:00:00.000-04:00

Another update to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs Page is Mistake.

This is a live demo at the practice demo dated 11.16.06 without vocals.

September 8, 2000

2011-09-08T05:41:00.013-04:00

Gig: At Oldfield's on High in Columbus, Ohio with Go Robot Go! and Billy Peake

Gig Diary: Now, we're not about to start making apologies for things we can't control, but Friday's performance at Oldfield's was hardly the end-all be-all of Stepford performances. Combine multiple technical problems, a little bad luck, and a long setlist, and you a recipe for a slightly less than perfect performance. The inclusion of many new tunes into the set is always a tricky proposition, because sometimes you're just not quite sure if the song is actually finished. A new song like "Showing Through" is a good example. Sounds like a winner in practice, but after the adrenaline and energy of a live set kicks in, the little mistakes that got glossed over can turn into major problems. Then, on the other hand, you can nail a tune, like "Continental Drift," the first time you play it and it always feels right. Whatever, we can't always explain these things, we're just musicians for christ sake, not Buddist monks. Anyway, Go Robot Go! gave an energetic and enthusiastic performance in support of their EP Super Vacation released on Bandaloop Records recently that is tearing up the CMJ charts. Billy Peake of Miranda Sound pinch-hit for an ill Ryan Horns and did what he always does, wow us. Check out Billy with full band in tow this Friday, September 15th at the Northberg Tavern.

The Lost Album: Wait

2011-09-07T04:00:00.000-04:00

Another addition to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs page is Wait.

This is also from Jason's 2008 mixes, and is pretty close to a finished version.

September 6, 2001

2011-09-06T06:46:00.008-04:00

Article: Mixed Up - Recording Tracks for an album is just a prelude to hours spent mixed and mastering (Part 2 of a 4 part series) by J. Caleb Mozzocco of the Columbus Alive

"Neeur, neeur, neeur."

Neal Schmitt vocalizes a guitar part, nodding and neeur-ing along to the music that plays through the mixing board in the back room of Workbook Studio.

In the next room, Stepford Five vocalist/guitarist Keith Jenkins is trying out his last couple of ideas-a pick scrape, a sonic burst resulting from guitarist Jason Dziak turning Jenkins' tuning keys while he plays, and a little bluesy guitar part which the other members of his band and producer/engineer Schmitt decide is just a little too bluesy.

And that's that. The Stepford Five has recorded everything they need to produce their upcoming second album, The Stepford Five and the Art of Self Defense.

But it's not time to break out the champagne just yet. Though recording is by far the longest, hardest part of the process for the band, it's still only a part of the process.

The 10 songs and one short noise burst that will eventually make up the album still need to be mixed and mastered, and then packaged for distribution before they'll be spinning in anyone's CD player. With the tracks all recorded, the next step is mixing, one of the easier parts of the recording process-for the band at least. "It's basically sitting and listening to a track over and over," bassist Tim Minneci said, "slowly figuring out what levels everything's going to be at."

The band left a lot of that figuring out up to Schmitt for their debut album Mesh. Schmitt definitely has the least biased ear, the band members agree, since he won't be mixing anything he himself played. "Whatever your instrument is, you're going to be like, 'Let's turn that up a little,'" Minneci explained.

"You don't want to have too many people in the kitchen," drummer Mark Kovitya said of mixing. The mixing process isn't a totally hands-off thing for The Stepford Five, however. For 2000's Mesh, Dziak took a week off work to sit in on the mixing, and for The Art of Self Defense, the band and Schmitt have been mixing tracks (and in some instances, remixing them) since last March.

As for mastering, the band was even less involved with that process for Mesh. At Schmitt's suggestion, they took the album to John Schwab Recording, a popular studio for local bands to have their mastering done. "We petty much just dropped it off [at John Schwab] and said 'We're a rock and roll band, here's our CD, make it sound like a rock album,'" Minneci said.

This time around, the slightly older and slightly wiser band will be having the slightly older and slightly wiser Schmitt master The Art of Self Defense for them at Workbook, giving them a little more control than they exerted last year. As tasty as the album ends up sounding-reflecting over nine months of work from four talented musicians, their producer and several guests, and boasting production values of about five grand-it's still not done.

Just because an album's self-published doesn't mean it has to look like a demo or a pirated and burned batch of Napster tunes. While some of their favorite bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley and Afghan Whigs have had the art departments of major labels sweating this stuff, The Stepford Five have only themselves.

Luckily, Dziak's day job as a designer comes in pretty handy when putting together their liner notes and packaging. For Mesh, he used some art he had lying around, coming up with a blue pair of lips on a gray field for the cover and a blurry woman in a swimsuit model pose for the back. The inside was fairly standard stuff-track listings, a band photo, credits and thank yous-along with a special thanks section listing the band's legion of influences. With that done, the band sent the layout and mastered album off to the cheapest place they could find to print and press the disc. The design for the new album, like everything else, will be more elaborate.

The band noticed a common theme of defending yourself on various levels in this new batch of songs (though the new album is not-repeat, not-a concept album), and thus decided to tie them all together with the title and packaging. The art for The Art of Self Defense will be something of a family affair for Minneci. His mother Coni will draw up some self-preservation diagrams (like what to do in the event of a plane crash, how to put yourself out if you catch on fire), based on pamphlets provided by his fireman father James (this isn't Coni's first design work for her son's band; she also designed a flyer featuring caricatures of the quartet).

After Jenkins' last little guitar experiment, the too-bluesy blues guitar burst, Schmitt turned halfway around in his wheeled chair and asked The Stepford Five if they were ready to break out the champagne.

But they're keeping a cork in the bottle for now, and Schmitt swiveled back to the board to begin mixing. Even once they get their 500 CDs, jewel cases and liners mailed back to them, they still have to get The Art of Self Defense to their potential listeners. Because until then, all of this work has been a tree falling in the woods (and any celebrating would be just a cork popping in the woods).

September 3, 2004

2011-09-03T06:48:00.011-04:00

Gig: At Flannagan’s in Dublin, Ohio with Burning Brides

Gig Review: By seansean on donewaiting.com
TS5 brought the rock. The new tunes are killer and at one point, I'm pretty sure that Tim's T-bird managed to hit the mythological "brown note." By the end of the set, they had managed to win over the the fickle Flannagan's crowd, even though they were sitting about 40 feet away from the stage.

Burning Brides: We played with them a few weeks back, but I unfortunately had to bow out before their set, so I was anxious to see what the hype (and mega-sized tour bus) was all about. I've got to say that I was not very impressed. While they may "rock" in the tap your foot, bob your head way, their set quickly grew boring for me as they recycled the same half-assed riffs over and over.

Fortunately, I managed to make it over to Oldfield's in time for Templeton/Evil Queens. Sweet Mary, neither band disappointed. The Evil Queens blew my head off. I left with my thirst for the rock, quenched.

The Lost Album: Just Happened

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-04:00

A new addition to The Lost Album and Unreleased Songs page is Just Happened.

This mix is from the 2008 batch that Jason mixed, which features some affected vocals during the verses.

The Stepford Five Complete Discography Package

2011-09-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

If you are interested in purchasing the music of The Stepford Five, we have links along the side of the page where you can buy individual MP3s and CDs.

For the readers of this website we are offering a deal: send us a crisp twenty dollar bill (or money order, no personal checks), and we'll send you:

MESH CD

The Art of Self-Defense CD

6 EP CD

A New Design For Living CD

AND

A CD-r with every available unreleased TS5 and 10Watt track, including those not yet posted on this website. These will be at the highest bit rate possible, not the lower bit rates we use for posting here.

If you are interested in this package, send an email to timminneci at gmail.com. You'll get an address where to send your payment.

August 31, 2000

2011-08-31T06:45:00.008-04:00

Gig: At Bernie's in Columbus, Ohio with Ultimate Fakebook and Hot Rod Circuit

Gig Diary: For the second time this summer, TS5 hooked up with Epic recording artists Ultimate Fakebook. As you may recall, the two bands shared the stage in Cleveland a few months back in support of Mars Electric as UFB was preparing to release their second full length album, This Will Be Laughing Week. Since then, the Manhattan, Kansas natives have received plenty of positive press (including from the notoriously stingy Other Paper here in Columbus) while continuing their non-stop touring schedule. On the road with Hot Rod Circuit, the boys from UFB made their second appearance in Columbus in just under a year, but this time at the revered and reviled Bernie's Distillery. The only previous Stepford experience at Bernie's was because of a last minute cancellation by the opener for A Planet For Texas and Lazy American Workers, two of the harder hardcore punk bands around. While the mission then was simply to survive, this time the members of TS5 took a win 'em over approach, busting out all the rock tunes and leaving the keyboards at home. The strategy seemed to work; from the MESH album rockers to newer material and the closing Motley Crue cover, the band ripped out a 10-song set like caffeine junkies even though the heat and humidity would have toppled a lesser man. Sweaty, dirty, rockin' and loud - just the way the Bernie's crowd likes them. Mission accomplished.