Homunculus Finale

By Dan Dreifort - 9/14/2004

I first learned of Homunculus in 1998 when my band Flying Mantra opened for them at the then much smaller Casa Cantina. In 1999, my band Martizatic! shared the Mama Einstein's stage with them. My band ran. opened for Homunculus at the Union in 2000. In 2001 I hopped on stage with Cactus Pears to warm things up for Homunculus, and etc. - up to this year when me and the Vellumn crew shared the marquee with them at the Gator.

Homunculus, ribbed for your pleasure one last time.

The remarkable facet of that paragraph is neither the demonstrability of my band whoreness, nor its profound semblance to biblical genealogies; it's the amazing staying power of Homunculus. Sure enough, in that span they lost a "lead" guitar player, gained and then lost a percussionist, lost a bass player, and then gained one of the best bass players money can't buy, but they became and then remained a cohesive force in the regional, nay, dare I say, national scene.

So while I'm whoring around like a two-bit harlequin in no less than ten marginally successful (at best) bands, these scruffy motherfuckers somehow keep it together. All I can figure is that their longevity is a symptom of some intense… mottled… mettle. (Say it like William Shatner and it sounds better.)

Homunculus's music is of the same derivation: Their rock, (so many catches and hooks they were once sued by the Velcro® assholes,) more blast than pop; their funk, (somehow both urban and rural, classic yet contemporary,) melting the mildew from the cinderblocks in your basement…

I can't help but be a little bitter though. Those soon-to-be way-of-the-dodo bastards stole Martizatic! bassist Adam Schoen from right under my nose! (I now keep a much closer eye on bassists and refrain from telling that joke that starts, "How'd the bassist get stuck in the car?")

Regardless, I've swallowed my humility long enough to interview Mr. Schoen and Homunculus band-mate Kevin Shima for one last peek at the most marvelous mensch musicians to hit Athens in the past decade.

You bastard. How could you leave me?

Schoen: If you love somebody, set them free?

Okay. How does the typical Homunculus song come to fruition?

Schoen: The most recent way was to bring in a song idea - and then let the entire band take it and work with it together as a whole. I found it to be very fulfilling… unique and different.

Is the process any different now than when you joined the band?

Schoen: Kind of . When I joined in 1999, I think we all came in with a more specific idea of what we were looking for, then threw it to the others. Where as the latest technique had us bringing in smaller bits.

So how do you describe the evolution of the Homunculus sound over the past few years?

Shima: We took our idiosyncrasies and magnified them. As we collaborated more and more, you could hear both individual songwriting styles and the moments where we were creating something that transcended those styles. Our desire was to move away from the individual style towards the group style, although our results were usually shades of gray between those two extremes.

Schoen: I think the band was labeled a "jam band" early on. I wouldn't say that was always an untrue label necessarily, but some people find it to be a bad word and probably never came to really see what we were about over the years. I think it is IMPOSSIBLE to label homunculus' sound. There are times in a live set where there are some improvisational sections - though this is certainly more derivative of the Jazz music that we all love, than say of the Grateful Dead or Phish.

We did less and less of this as the years went on - as we instead started, (without really thinking about it,) trying to write interesting, concise and tight pop songs that highlighted melody, rhythm and voice. There are still improvisational areas, but that's more so we can show off Ben's awesome Hammond organ licks! (whoa, I just said organ licks).

Cool. Organ licks. Does that pertain to reworking older songs too?

Shima: As time went on and different idiosyncrasies emerged, we found we could apply those new traits to the performance of older songs. It was mostly a game of making the older songs fit in with the new songs so that it wouldn't feel as though we were becoming a Homunculus cover band.

Schoen: Most of the reworked ones were songs that were written before I joined the band - so for me personally, it gave me a chance to put a little "adam flavor" into the mix.

Adam flavor organ lick? Right. What ever happened with [Homunculus's last CD] 'Words'? Was it a success? In what way?

Schoen: It was a success and it was not a success - notice I didn't say failure. It was a success in that we put the collection out ourselves - we sold a large amount of copies for a band in our position. Then it was picked up by a new label - started by 2 A&R vets that had worked with and signed They Might Be Giants, Flaming Lips, Phish and some other very cool bands. We had a handful of record industry folks say that it was the best "homemade" recording they had heard - which was an enormous compliment as we did record it ourselves. This was all terrific.

However, Homunculus had been working independently for a LONG time - we had no outside management or outside booking agent helping us out. So after the several thousand fans of ours, and many others, bought the original self released version, not many wanted what was basically the same album, minus two songs, plus a re-recorded older song, that was re-mastered and included different artwork - and frankly, none of us could blame them! So, we basically got the album into the hands of our fans and many many others on our own, but the re-released copy didn't sell nearly as many copies as some had hoped for. Frankly, without the right people working for you to go above and beyond - we really did everything we could have done to get the album out when we put it out ourselves. To sell 20,000 copies, I think we would have needed to be on tour with a bigger, well known act and had some strong management in place. As it was, we self managed, self booked and we were happy with what we personally were able to do. Though certainly, we had wished it got to more people.

I think both versions are stellar. Let's bring it back to Athens, yo. How is an Athens show different from a NYC or Cinci show?

Shima: People in Athens are less afraid of dancing than people in New York. But the pre and post show pizza is much better in New York.

Schoen: Well, to be honest, the crowd is smaller, right off the bat! BUT, our core group of Athens fans who have been coming for seven years or so, have a TON of energy. Playing most of our shows in a smaller venue like Casa, I have been told by some fans that a lot of walk-ups don't want to even come in during the set cause there is a large group of sweaty, enthusiastic fans right up at the front of the stage - singing and dancing and having a good time. Maybe they are intimidated?? So yeah, this group of people, even when it's only 80, is VERY enthusiastic and into the "event" and it's been something that we as a band have appreciated in a major way over the years. So, now that Casa is bigger, there is no excuse and we hope that everyone who has thought about coming to a homunculus show will come and bring friends. It is our last Athens show, but we hope to make some new fans. The music will always be there.

Shima: Let me just tell you a story. The first time we came to Athens was in 1997 and it was during fall daylight savings weekend. The bars got out early and there was rioting in the streets with cops on horses and beautiful co-eds flashing the crowd. A few girls kept buying us shots all night, and Cupcake and I got so glad in the rhythm that we began throwing each other against the walls of the bathroom as a way of showing our mutual affection. We ended up staying in town that night with people we didn't know and I can't remember if I dreamed all this or if it actually happened…

Enthusiasm in the bathroom and bad pizza. Got it. What were your favorite and least fave venues in Athens?

Schoen: Well, as an OU guy who graduated in 1999, I remember The Dugout - NOT Mama Einsteins, but the REAL Dugout and that place was a fucking riot! It was so nasty, but it was so fun and I always had great nights playing there. That was before I joined homunculus. As a homunculus member, I really enjoy playing Casa and I was thrilled we were able to book our FINAL ATHENS show there. We always preferred that venue and as someone who's been waiting YEARS to finally see that place expand, I cannot wait to play our last show and look around and see that it's finally been done!

Least fave? I don't think I have ever had a bad experience (besides some sound issues) at an Athens venue.

Shima: Favorite venue for me would be the old Swindlefish by Magic Video, and the Casa Cantina. Least favorite would be the old Dugout because of the sound system and shocks coming from the microphones.

Much better. What's in store for the Homunculoids after the fact?

Shima: Marriage, children, solo projects, side projects, new bands, grammy awards, music for film and television, and hopefully a Homunculus box set and DVD.

Schoen: We've demoed about sixteen songs and then there are about thirty-plus song ideas that we haven't worked out yet. People have asked about releasing those tunes but it's not something the band has really discussed yet.

We'll all continue to make music - it will just arrive in some form other than Homunculus. What other questions should I ask?

Schoen: God, I am so drained, this is plenty.

Yeah. It was good for me too.

Both Homunculoids in unison: Oh wait… the show! FINAL HOMUNCULUS ATHENS SHOW FRIDAY 9/17/04 @ CASA w/ Tony Xenos. 10pm sharp! Tony is warming up for the Cactus Pears reunion gig this fall. I'll be there. (Thanks for the plug!)

Schoen: Oh right. And we'd like to specifically thank, in no random [sic?] order: Frognet, Casa, The Union, The Blue Gator, Dan Dreifort, Chip "The Gentile", The AMN & Matt Toledo, Sarah Laubacher, The ANews, Junebug, CPA, all the bands we have played with and especially all the fans and gig-goers!

Thanks Adam.

Schoen: Word.

Thanks Kevin.

Shima: Our pleasure.

Poke around on the AMN and the rest of the intraweb for more Homunculus biographies, reviews and music.

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