Making Quirky Cool - High Country Press Feature

by David Brewer 

Bassist and keyboardist Daniel Michalak talks about making music like eight-year-olds talk about going to the candy store. His unbridled excitement in discussing the use of odd South American instruments and new songs about soldiers marching through the woods is nearly as contagious as the music made by his band, Triangle-based quartet Bombadil.

Having been called “the Napoleon Dynamite of indie rock,” and “a drunker, circus-reared version of The Band” by various media outlets, Bombadil’s jaunty circus folk pop has generated quite a bit of curiosity while garnering the band a growing fan base all over the East Coast.

On Thursday, May 31, the band will return to town for a show at Boone Saloon. Also on the bill is local band Good Fool, Loose Broom.

A listen to Bombadil’s 2006 self-titled EP for Concord’s Ramseur Records finds the band in a wistful, almost whimsical mood. Piano and drum-dominated songs such as the nostalgic “Jellybean Wine” and dark but fun “Johnny” became standout tracks among the disc’s five original songs. However, in the wake of a whirlwind year of creativity fueled by live shows, the EP is old news according to Michalak.

“I feel like that stuff is so old now,” said Michalak. “Some of those songs are two and a half years old years old now. We had started the band with this idea of being more quiet and folky. It’s gotten a lot more full blown.”

What began as a duo recording demos in dorm rooms has now inadvertently bloomed into a four-man traveling cacophony that, during the next three months, will play venues and festivals in seven different states.

“Sometimes I go on our MySpace and look at the tour schedule and just say ‘wow,’” said Michalak.

The last several months have seen the band hitting the road hard, writing and recording even harder and holding down day jobs. Wanting to perfect their vision, the band’s full-length debut won’t be released until spring 2008.

According to Michalak, Bombadil’s live act is still a work in progress. In addition to the standard guitar-drums-bass-keyboards, the band regularly uses a glockenspiel, kazoos, bells, horns, whistles, harmonicas and just about anything else they deem necessary to successfully paint their sonic pictures. The odd characters that inhabit Bombadil songs simply require more than the average rock band.

“I still feel like we’re far away from where we want the live show to be. The energy is good but we can’t always control it,” said Michalak. “We’re adding a lot more different instruments and just trying to explore. We really do think about images a lot for our songs.”

More than anything, Michalak and company are simply trying to get a hold on their creativity and channel it into their new material. With luck, the band’s live show will soon reflect Bombadil’s exciting and quirky recorded output.

“We’re just trying to make music that we enjoy and that hopefully other people will enjoy also,” said Michalak. “Right now, I see myself doing this forever, but you never know. We just want to make a living, not be on MTV.”