Amid all the yelling and screaming, there is some semblance of theme to the music of the Omaha-based quartet Beep Beep, and that is: When you're stuck in a job that you can easily criticize, it can become the primary inspiration for your debut album.
Much of the lyrical content on Beep Beep's new work "Business Casual" is based on the experiences and observations from member Chris Hughes' five-year career in Nebraska's social welfare industry.
Founded in 2001 through the collaborating efforts of Eric Bemberger and Hughes, the band expanded from a duo to a foursome when drummer Mike Sweeney joined later that year and in 2003 bass player Joel Petersen joined after the original bassist Katie Muth left the band to pursue a master's degree in art.
The group still resides in Omaha where members have become a full-fledged touring act now on a 6-1/2-week nationwide tour. More importantly, Hughes was able to quit his job as a caseworker at the Nebraska State Department of Health and Human Services to pursue a career he considers as a bit more cathartic and interesting.
The Beach Reporter caught up with Beep Beep this week, and briefly chatted about the new album and life in Omaha.
The Beach Reporter: So what's the cultural/music scene like in Omaha?
Hughes: I don't think the cultural community of Omaha is really very significant at all. I think that it's pretty much an anomaly that there are these bands that have come out of there. A lot of it has to do with the fact that there is nothing to do in Omaha. That's why people are making this music.
Bemberger: I would say the music scene is big in that it seems to be that the community tends to support music more than a lot of other cities in Nebraska which, of course, isn't the best state to reference. I think it's a combination of there not being much else to do and it being a Republican state so there is no funding for art so you kind of create your own entertainment. People have been very supportive and because of 1% Productions (an Omaha-based booking agency), I think Omaha has changed quite a lot for the better over the past five years or so.
Is it a place where you plan on staying?
Bemberger: Sure. I don't think the music scene is a reason to move to Omaha. Every city has its guild of bar bands and L.A., of course, has no shortage of that, but I also have a hard time trying to think of musicians in as far as a huge collection of making interesting music currently living in L.A. I don't know though. I guess I don't have enough experience with the L.A. scene.
Did you and Chris co-author the songs for 'Business Casual'?
Yes, We both have a place where we can record on a computer. We, for the most part, create a structure and work together to map out vocals over it. Once that is kind of roughly laid out we take it to band practice where we work out the kinks, get input from the rest of the band mates, refine it and what not.
Is there some improvisation when fleshing out the song?
Absolutely. There are a couple of ways we approach writing. But as far as the actual music is concerned, a lot of times it's us just trying not to think about anything, playing whatever we end up playing, recording all of that and having these pieces that eventually fit together.
Since you are screaming on some of the songs on the album, how long can you play live?
There are certain songs that have to be at the beginning of the set for me to perform, otherwise my voice kind of goes out on me. We usually play between 30 and 40 minutes.
There seems to be a strong autobiographical element to the songs.
For Chris definitely. He was a caseworker and had to determine welfare eligibility. That was a job where it was Chris versus the loopholes of the state.
Have you guys always been in bands over the years?
Yeah, for the most part. We've both been making music for something to do. All of us in Beep Beep really like music to the point where it's not enough to just listen to it. We make it whether or not anything is going to happen. We've all been or tried to be in various bands and what not. At least for me personally, I haven't found anybody I work with better than Chris.
What was one of the more challenging songs to record?
We kind of had a dated approach to "Misuse Their Bodies" and that was a song we were least excited about recording because we had a change in perspective after writing. In order for it to feel like part of the catalog, we really had to reassess what we were doing with it. We changed perspective with lyrics. It really helped us re-present it and we actually ended up enjoying the outcome of that. We switched it from being a song judging another human to a song about a human confessing certain actions. Changing it to first person really helps. It removes the "preachiness" I guess.
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