 Exit 159
by Jason Meier
The last of the pop rock bands playing the Spirit Fest hit
the stage at around 6:00 on Sunday - Kansas City's own Exit 159. What's unusual about Exit
159 is that they call Kansas City home, but none of the members are originally from there.
In fact, the band's name comes from the highway exit to Hayes, Kansas, which is Kristie's
home town.
The members of Exit 159 are: Kristie Stremel - guitar and vocals;
Byron Human - bass and vocals; and Rob Vanbiber - drums.
The band was formed after Kristie left Frogpond. Jamey
Wheeler was the original bass player, but left the band after about nine months. It was
about that same time that TV 50 decided to call it quits, so Byron was the perfect choice
for a replacement. Needless to say, the choice has paid off.
"Getting Byron to join the band was a great
move," Kristie Stremel told me."The difference between Jamey and Byron is night
and day. We love Jamey a lot and wish him the best... this is a move that ended up being
for the better. Besides that, the gear all of a sudden took on a major improvement when he
joined us as well," laughed Kristie.
"The biggest thing about having Byron in the band now
is the danger factor," adds Rob Vanbiber. "We simply never know what Byron
is gonna do next, and that can be kind of a scary thought."
The music of Exit 159 is pop rock with a punk edge to it, and their live show projects
lots of energy. The music is a bit mellower on the CD, but it definitely rocks live.
Influences for the band range from rock bands like Van
Halen to Brit-rock bands like the Beatles to punk rock groups like the Ramones. Other
definite influences include strong female singers like Joan Jett.
Set highlights included nearly every song set to be on
their new disc, as well as a very nice quiet version of "Lost on Earth," the
title track of their highly successful EP. Other highlights included the songs "In
Your Bedroom," "Face My Day," "Almost," and "I Like
You."
The thing I liked the most about their set was the way it
started nice and quiet with "Lost on Earth," and then all of a sudden, broke
open and rocked hard.
The lyrics are quite insightful, and Kristie not only has a
great voice, but is also a very solid guitarist.
"My lyrics tend to be about relationships and stuff
like that," said Kristie. "The guys can usually tell when I'm seeing someone or
not cause it greatly affects my lyrics."
The band has been busy this summer playing lots of shows and working on recording their
first full length CD, which is set to come out in October. (Yes, Synapsis will be
reviewing it as soon as we get a copy, so look for it soon!) The CD was done at Mercy with
Robert Rebeck at the helm. The recording sessions are complete, and they are just waiting
for the production stuff to get finished.
The band also got to open shows this summer for bands like
Fuel, House of Large Sizes and the Matt Wilson Band, as well as play with a lot of the
bands on the Spirit Fest bill, including The Glitter Kicks, Ultimate Fakebook, Crutch and
Outhouse. They have also played shows with Sufferbus and The Creature Comforts.
While they hope to play with bands like Danger Bob, The
Getup Kids, and Kristie's old band Frogpond, the band admits they don't care who they play
with, as long as they're playing.
"Simply put, we want to play shows," said Byron.
"We don't care who with or anything, we just want to play as much as possible."
Once the CD is released, they want to start doing more
regional shows. They want to branch out and build up their fan base.
For more info on Exit 159, make sure to stop by their web
site at http://godot.simplenet.com/exit159/.
|
