Here's something to get right out of the way: "the Means" is a working title. This site concerns a band fundamentally different from "the Means" that were active in CT in 2002-2003. What's more, we were once notified - perhaps warned - that another band in Columbus had taken the same name. (I can't say whether they're still active, but they do still have a web presence on Reptilian Records. If you're out there, best wishes.)
Here's the thing: in 2005 everybody has a band, and most everybody belongs to two or three others. If you think you can name a band anything less ridiculous than "Eugene's Fluffy Mauve Dog Sweater" and not find a garage band or twenty with the very same name, then you're delusional. The whole point is moot until one band or another has gained national recognition. Approximately four days later, on average, it is moot again.
With that out of the way, I think "the Means" is a cool name and I will gladly pay a percentage of my no profit whatsoever to continue using it. (Any takers for a percentage of my losses?)
One band called the Means was formed in 2002 from the wreckage of two other bands, one of which was also confirmed to have a non-unique name: crankcase. crankcase really sucked but had fun doing so, in a dingy practice space so close to the train tracks the sound would drown out a Boogie MkIV at full tilt. (This was an upgrade from the practice space where it snowed inside.) crankcase was unmade by a premature recording session where we realized not only that we sucked, but also that we hated each other.
Meanwhile... a more promising band with a name so bad it can only have been unique - Infinity Point One - had been rehearsing forever in a basement outside New Haven. I joined them briefly only to find that they too hated each other. I had been hunting for a collaborator at that time, and when things came apart I was already angling to pick up a stray musician or two for my own project. Dave Doyle, their Chapman Stick player, offered that we work together. After all, we didn't seem to hate each other too much. I introduced him to crankcase drummer jef wilson, and we began rehearsing together.
the Means - this Means - finally started playing short sets at various open mics. A string of feature performances at bars and clubs throughout CT comprised our "glory days". But not being the most prolific of writers, we fell prey to the doldrums of rehearsing and performing the same songs week after week. It seemed the playing was getting worse instead of better. Our decline was marked by a disturbing series of "unplugged" coffee house gigs, for a band poorly suited to the challenge: the Chapman stick inherently electric, the three-piece arrangements reliant on big drums and loud guitars, the vocalist prone to be a gloomy bore in all but the best of circumstances. Our last gig was presented to me as just such an acoustic affair. I arrived with two Ovations, jefe with his hand percussion, Dave with Stick and a tiny monitor. The opening band arrived with a full guitar stack, a drum kit, a keyboard with PA... I felt like I'd brought a knife to a gunfight. It was the end of the Means.
Or was it?
Looking back on the Means, and listening back to the Means ca. 2002, I hear a very interesting, sometimes good band. So much potential, but such uneven execution. The guitarist was quite good on the whole, despite his being inclined toward performing catastrophic errors at random. Sadly, the singer was nearly deaf. I'd have fired him, were he and the guitarist not the same person, and if both of them weren't me. The drummer was excellent, and the Chapman Stick made the band instantly unique. I knew all along that that was the reason half the audience were there - what was this strange, 10-stringed implement? If only Dave had settled on and tamed a solution for amplifying it, we'd have had a devastating sound. All told, I enjoy listening to the Means '02 now more than I ever could then, when the parade of clams was so painfully and personally embarassing to me, the least competent contributor.
So what happened to the Means after we got "unplugged" in 2003? If you've read this far, then perhaps you're curious. Dave Doyle left to renovate a new house, then continued to perform and record with The Elsewhere Band . I believe other former members of the aforementioned Infinity Point One are now involved as well. I am a big fan of their music.
El jefe continued his life in music in more of a recordist/ producer capacity, at his own East Rock Studio . As he is again a part of the Means, I will leave it to him to provide more, in his own words.
I have continued my personal work as a guitarist, much of this revolving around my studies in Guitar Craft , and more immediately my part in the Yorktown Guitar Project , an acoustic guitar sextet. But I miss being in over my head and louder than [necessary], so a renewed electric rock effort is in order. Therefore: here again is a band called the Means.
To be clear, as much as the Means '02 are deceased, the Means '05 are still somewhat prenatal. For the moment only jefe and I are fully on board, and we are aware that we'll need a third leg, at minimum, to make this table stand. The purpose of this web site and its contents is to present the process of resurrecting the band, complete with our half-formed ideas and bare-naked optimism. Be welcome, read between the lines, listen similarly, and feel free to contribute your feedback by way of e-mail.
See you soon,darc