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.
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