Happy New Year and safe travels for all those taking a J-Term. I hope the first two weeks weren’t too hard and that the last week goes off without a hitch. Welcomes and wishes aside, the Dog dug up something special for you this week. The Des Moines local band Soulcage reached out to do an interview. I never pass up the opportunity to cut my frankly long enough break short and get back to work, so I headed back to the great state of Iowa to make their performance at xBk Live on Saturday, Jan. 4.
I got to the venue early, stepping out of the from the blistering cold of the dry Midwestern night. The lineup for the night was stacked with three local bands, the first of which, a band called Parabola, was, like me, warming up.
As I was waiting to go speak with the band, Jayden (one of Soulcage’s guitarists/vocalists and a friend of mine I met after a show at the Theta Chi house my first year) waved to me as he came from backstage to the front of the venue. After a few more minutes I went to talk with the band before heading to the green room to conduct the interview with all five members. When I emerged back out from behind the stage, the venue was full of people and the audience was still growing. By 7:50 p.m. the venue was so packed that I had to leave my bag with the audio engineer and post up on the turn platform up to the balcony.
– Side note: if you ever see me at a show or event don’t hesitate to come say hi. Contrary to the name, I don’t bite.
Parabola took the stage at 7:59 p.m. and just like that the show had begun with the band hooking the audience immediately with an infectious guitar riff from their song “Typical Tuesday.” The band’s influences of 90s and 2000s rock, grunge, punk and alternative is heard in their music and seen in the styles of the members, specifically their lead guitarist/vocals standing front with his look of long blonde hair, ripped jeans, a flannel and sunglasses that reminded me of Kurt Cobain. What stood out most was their song “No One Else,” specifically the slower tone of the song and the female bassist’s vocals on the track which added an air of freshness to their performance. They closed out their set with their song “Fearless” which unexpectedly starts with their lead singer shaking his head back and forth to create a unique vocal tone akin to yelling into a fan which completely caught me off guard. Their set wrapped at 8:40 p.m. Surveying the crowd, this is easily the most people I’ve ever seen packed into xBk. Jayden tells me this is a direct product of Soulcage’s footwork, handing out flyers after shows.
After a brief strike of the stage, replacing the drums and tuning up their instruments, The Crust starts to play with a fast pace and a thick and booming bass tone. The three-piece band composed of guitar, bass and drums is anything but your normal classic rock band. While they have the stage presence of a standard garage band, their sound is so much more, with guitar waiting to be set loose, taking a back seat to the ridged, fast-paced drumming intertwined with the versatile and groovy slap basslines that highlight the set. When finally let loose, the guitarist bursts into a classic rock breakdown straight out of left field, calling all attention to him. Midway through their set, the guitarist and drummer switch instruments. Instantaneously, the guitar is fully unchained from its enclosure and given free rein, entirely changing the band’s sound and stage presence, fully actualizing the band. As they continue onto their last two songs of the night, the guitar screeches into the heavy drum and bass lines. They finish off their set by all three letting completely loose onto the canvas of the stage finishing their set at 9:49 p.m. The one thing that didn’t absolutely blow me away about this band was their vocals as all three of the boys took turns singing. But it’s easy to overlook when everything else about them is so memorable.
Not 15 minutes after The Crust leaves, the stage Soulcage calls attention with the drums, and the five-piece high energy, old-school rock band starts to play.
The members of Soulcage first started playing together in 2020 after their bassist Ace had a conversation with member AJ’s dad as they were working for a liquor delivery subsidiary.
“He’s telling me that he’s got this kid drummer that rules,” said Ace. “I was like, ‘Yeah that’s cool, I play bass here and again’ — which just means I had a bass guitar.”
So Ace went over and started jamming covers for a couple of months in AJ’s basement with him and a couple of other guys. As people came and went, they started looking for another guitarist and reached out to Jayden, who at the time was 15 years old.Ace describes Jayden as a “prodigy.” The three performed with a couple other people in a cover band for a few years around the state of Iowa, which led them to winning a talent show at the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame. Afterwards, the band started writing their own songs and creative differences led the three members on their own looking for a singer and a guitar player.
Ace brought in Anthony, a guitarist he’d been friends with since middle school. Afterwards, they asked Erdy to audition after meeting through Facebook. Ace (who runs all the band’s social media accounts) thought his facebook account was made by Jayden to get away from his parents at first as the two share the same name and he had a Pearl Jam cover photo. Soon after Ace sent Erdy some demos of some thrash metal songs they had done, and they had him audition with the song “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” by Van Halen. While the band was entirely not his style, Erdy was in, completing the lineup. Their first rehearsal all together was April 1, 2023, and they’ve been playing together ever since.
“These guys came to me at a very important time in my life,” said Erdy. “It was cool to find the comradery and the brotherhood in this and to make music with a group of like-minded individuals is really awesome.”
After their first song of the night, it’s incredibly evident that the band I first saw play the basement of Theta Chi – at the time called Monstrophy – has grown immensely over the past year, mixing the sounds of grunge, metal and rock and roll, to create a unique sound that had me involuntarily tapping my foot through the entire show.
The band takes influence from all over with all five of them having some radio-rock influences combined with their own independent niches spanning multiple genres like grunge, classic rock, hardcore and more..
“There’s not a lot of actual rock bands here,” said Ace. “Luckily we were able to find Parabola and already knew of The Crust beforehand because they had won the same competition we did the year prior. There’s a couple of other good rock bands in the scene, but Des Moines has a good metalcore scene, a good hardcore scene, that heavier metal kind of stuff that we don’t quite fit into when we show up and play a song like ‘Echos’ or ‘Clouds.’ You also have a really good punk scene here that we don’t quite fit into when we show up and play something like ‘Smog’ that’s really slowed down and heavy. It’s like ‘How do you balance that and where do you find your spot?’ It’s tough.”
Anthony chimes in with the line, “You make your own spot,” which the other members of the band agreed.
Through their set, the band ebbs and flows through different tempos and songs with clearly different influences from one another, which only make it that much more interesting to listen to.
The band plans to finish recording their first album around January or early February and is thinking of calling the album “Monstrophy” as an homage to their old name. Each band member contributes to the writing process, working together and incorporating one another into the sound.
“I’m extremely thankful that [I] get to be in a group of five guys where there’s no ego issues,” said Ace.
Soulcage wrapped their set around 10:45 p.m., reaping all the benefits of their practicing and labor to make this performance one of the best I’ve seen at xBk Live.
Now, for the first time since the last time, onto the Brief.
J-Term Fitness Classes
If one of your resolutions coming into the new year is staying active, then you’re in luck! On Tuesdays and Thursdays during J-Term, Drake Wellness will have classes from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the Bell Center taught by Gail Witte. Tuesdays are going to be what they’re calling “FUNctional Fitness,” and on Thursdays, you’ll be using kettlebells (a weight with a handle).
Kickstart the Sun – Doc Bullfrog – Mango Soul
On Friday, Jan. 24, the Des Moines/Ames based indie alt rock band Kickstart the Sun will perform at xBk Live with other local talents, Doc Bullfrog, an indie band akin to the Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, and Mango Soul, a seven-piece R&B/funk fusion band. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets will cost $15.24
Favorite Poem Program
On Saturday, Jan. 25 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. the Des Moines Art Center will be hosting Poetry Palooza’s Favorite Poem program where 11 community leaders will read and share about their favorite poems. To learn more, visit their site.
Beach Bunny
Last but certainly not least we have the alternative indie band Beach Bunny performing at Wooly’s on Sunday, Jan. 26. With their take on the pop rock/pop punk sound combined with their brutally honest and emotional lyrics, this is certainly a show you won’t want to miss. Delaney Bailey will be opening for the band with her acoustic originals and angelic voice. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. with tickets costing $38.76.
