Out With The Old,In With The Boom

March 2009

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Written by Joel Mora

Miles Davis stares at Darren Andrews, the lead singer and guitarist of Bang Bang Boom, as Darren practices with the rest of his band in a 12-by-12 bedroom. Davis seems to be wondering from his place on the wall what he can do with Bang Bang Boom’s sound.

Because it’s the only music poster on the wall, I ask if Davis is an influence.

“I like him, but he’s not a real influence,” Darren says. “It’s a cool poster.”

Although you can’t trace Bang Bang Boom’s sound back to Davis’ trumpet, they have more in common than meets the eye. Davis was known for rarely revisiting his earlier compositions, and Bang Bang Boom is trying to do the same. The band has been performing the same songs for three years and is looking to move on.

“I’m feeling trapped, like there is nowhere else to go,” Darren says. “There is a video of our first performance, which was under a different name, and we still play three of the songs we played back then.

Changes in the band’s lineup throughout the years and increased attention have made it difficult for the members to write new songs. The band started in 2005, but Darren considers the band beginning when bassist Travis Martin joined in August.

“The problem with moving on from these songs is that we’ll go play places in Gainesville that still haven’t heard us, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, it rocks,’” Travis says.

But Darren believes the band can now start moving forward.

“I feel that I’m getting to the point where I know how to write stuff that I’m going to like,” he says. “Before it was just experimenting and checking to see how stuff sounds bouncing off the wall of a venue.”

When I enter the room to listen to Bang Bang Boom practice, Darren offers me earplugs. I assume I will be fine without them, so I decline.

It was a mistake.

The power of Bang Bang Boom’s rock-and-roll sound is equivalent to placing an industrial-power vacuum cleaner to your face and flipping the ON switch.

Guitarist Ryan George’s shredding guitar leads, Travis’ pulsing bass runs, Darren’s ear-catching guitar and vocals and Chris Chaires’ (who is sitting in for Luke Thatcher) heartbeat-changing drums have a strong physiological effect.

And this signature sound won’t stray too far in the new songs.

If you close your eyes, you might think you’ve traveled back in time and are listening to a power rock band of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Darren’s British-tinged vocals only add to that sound, even though he is from Bradenton, Fla.

“Certain songs don’t work,” Darren says. “Like ‘Never You Mind’ has to sound a bit British. If not, it doesn’t sound right.”

Travis, imitating a British accent, interjects, “I think sometimes you just get carried away with your music so much that you just find yourself in this whole other character, and you’re just rockin’ and rollin’.”

The “rockin’ and rollin’” sound comes from the tightness and power of the drums. During practice, Darren, who started out as the drummer, spends most of his time making sure the drums sound right. Although he plays guitar, he won’t pretend that he is the next Hendrix. His style of playing is rhythm-heavy like that of the Arctic Monkeys, who are a strong influence.

With its new songs, the band hopes to go to the top.

“I want a record deal,” Darren says. “I want to record this EP and market the hell out of it and get a record deal.”

The only thing stopping Bang Bang Boom is time.

During practice, the members stare at the clock because they only have a few minutes left before most of them have to return to their jobs. Tambourinist and singer Lem Andrews isn’t even present because he couldn’t get off work. Known for its live shows, the band’s lack of time hinders its ability to go too far from Gainesville to share the Bang Bang Boom live experience.
The first time I saw them perform was at a house party, and a friend told me to watch out for the “crazy” tambourinist. But I couldn’t find him on stage.
Halfway through the first song, Lem jumped off the roof of the house, landed on stage and started banging the tambourine just as hard as the drummer was banging on the drums.

“He almost landed on our roommate,” Darren explains.

The live show can help the band get that record deal, but for Darren, the record deal is not the end.
“I want a record deal to be my niche in to the music world,” he says. “Ultimately, it will be nice to get into the upper echelons, the people that control music, and then I can just take it all back to rock and roll instead of all the pop and hip-hop crap. That’s the ultimate goal. I want to burn it down.”
Travis adds, “I’m always down for a revolution.”