Watch out Clarkston, there’s a new ‘Vyrus? in town; and two area musicians hope everyone catches the rhythm.
The Clarkston-based band Minu Vyrus ? a.k.a. Will ‘Billy? Clark, 20, and Josh ‘Deiter? Hockey, 18 ? recently produced the CD ‘My New Virus,? 11 tracks of unique rock songs.
Clark defines the music as experimental electronic industrial rock. He explained that many of the sounds are created with rhythm and Midi programming. The two artists also used sound sources such as the voices of different speeches, synthesizers, traditional musical instruments, and vocals.
The band’s goal was to create songs layered with multiple sounds and textures. The two musicians believe anything can be musical.
‘Actually, everything in this room in one way or another is an instrument, and everything in this room generates some kind of sound,? said Hockey during the interview at the pair’s Clarkston studio.
At that point, Hockey reached up and touched the wooden ceiling fan slowly rotating to produce a loud hollow percussive sound. Clark stepped up behind his bandmate and lightly touched the wings of the fan to create a continual rhythmic beat. The two agreed this is how many of the sounds on the CD originated.
‘We took everything in the room and struck it,? said Hockey.
Just one of their more unique ideas was to record the sounds of a turned-on electronic keyboard being destroyed. The distorted sound can be found on a hidden track at the end of the album entitled ‘The Last Word.?
‘We’ll take the sound of a keyboard dying and let it influence us in which direction we are going to go, but still there is a melody in there,? said Clark. ‘We are not trying to be so instrumental that its just for a certain crowd that likes to listen to tedious music. It is not like an intellectual music that you get lost in.
‘Music is meant to be enjoyable and you want the overall experience to be enjoyable; however, with some of the noises we use, sometimes they are not that enjoyable but still create an emotion. We try to make an overall, all around sound that people want to listen to. Hopefully, over and over again.?
The first song recorded for the CD, ‘Eva,? is the most representative of the band’s style.
‘It is by far the song that defined us. That was the first song we ever did,? said Clark. ‘We got together and kind of sat in the middle of the studio and recorded one part after another, and in three days we had our first song.?
When looking back over their inspirations, the duo credit Pink Floyd and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails with influencing their work.
‘It is really a Pink Floyd thing. They were the first to put just anything in an album and in a natural state,? said Clark.
However, the pair’s musical talents are rooted right here in Clarkston.
Clark, who holds an audio engineering degree from Full Sail College in Orlando, Flor., first met Hockey in German Class at Clarkston High School. In fact, Clark sold Hockey his first keyboard.
‘I got into music three years ago,? said Hockey. ‘That was the first time. I sat at home with a crappy PC to see what I could do.?
Clark however has extensive musical training including nine years on guitar and one year on piano. He earned his audio engineering degree this past winter, and has turned his musical passion into a profession.
‘I recently quit my job because I refuse to do anything else but my music. If it doesn’t happen, then I will keep trying,? said Clark. ‘I absolutely will not do something in life I don’t want to do.?
According to Clark, he returned home from college and immediately transformed his bedroom into a professional sound studio. The duo began work on ‘My New Virus? on Feb. 1 and recorded the entire CD right in the homemade studio. The completed CD was delivered on Aug. 1.
‘It is professionally engineered and mastered. You would not know that we did it in this room,? said Clark.
Currently, ‘My New Virus? is receiving air play at the Hot Topic in Great Lakes Crossing, where Hockey works. The band hopes the company will distribute the music to stores throughout Michigan and Ohio.
So what is in store for Minu Vyrus in the near future? Clark and Hockey agreed they plan to use the revenue from CD sales to purchase more instruments for a live stage show.
‘There is going to be a lot of equipment needed to go live,? Clark said.
Joining Clark and Hockey for live shows will be Erik Hall, on lead guitar, and Adam Postal, on percussion and electronic drums. Putting together the makeup and costumes is Ashley Bonneau.
‘My New Virus? is available on-line at www.cdbaby.com. For more information on Minu Vyrus, log on to www.minuvyrus.com.