My Body Sings Electric - Riot Fest

My Body Sings Electric Interview + Win Riot Fest Denver Tickets

Note: Riot Fest provided tickets for this contest and MBSE provided their insanity.

Guess what. Riot Fest is fast approaching and it is going to be awesome. The lineup is filling out and just this week it was announced that Denver bands The Epilogues, Wiredogs, In The Whale and The Dendrites have been added to the bill along with headliners The Cure, Weezer, The National, Social Distortion, Flaming Lips, Primus, and Rise Against. Several locals were already playing, including one of my personal favorites, My Body Sings Electric. I honestly have no idea when I met these guys; they feel like they have been our friends forever. I know they played my former school fundraiser in 2012 with no questions asked, and people still talk about their performance.

In the photo above, they are (L-R): Brandon Whalen (vocals), Nick Crawford (guitar), Ben Scarboro (drums), Jeff Fedel (guitar), and Jason Bower (bass).

Jason recently took time off from arguing with me on Twitter to answer burning questions about the band.


Not sure I have ever heard the story of how the band was formed. Care to share?

Before we all knew each other we were all unknowingly dating the same girl at the same time. We inevitably found out about each other, and immediately felt enraged by the betrayal of our so called “loving” girlfriend. We all broke up with her and decided to meet one another so we can violently confront the issue as ape-like men. Instead of fighting, we struck a friendship and started making music together. The rest is history. We have all since cut off all ties to that particular girl, except Brandon, who has married her.

(Aimee’s note: I know Brandon’s wife, and she is worth fighting over.)

Do each of you have different roles on the band? Like one is the organizer, one makes everything fun, stuff like that?

There is a lot of work that goes into being in a band, so we try to share the responsibilities the best we can. Nick, for example, handles the bitching and complaining while Jeff usually handles the majority of the drinking. Ben is responsible for being on the receiving end of all of our insulting jokes and Brandon is in charge of being late and providing the laziness. I handle everything else.

What bands have influenced you in the past? Favorite bands now?

I think if you asked all five of us you would get seven different answers. We have extremely wide tastes and influences in music and they are always changing and evolving. I’m forever influenced by some of my favorite bands like Minus the Bear and As Tall as Lions. Nick and I are huge fans of Limp Bizkit. No, I’m not joking.

You now have a radio show, The Awful Truth, on Idobi –  how did that come about?

A few of us are big fans of various podcasts, so we decided to start our own. We hooked up a few mics in our practice space and started recording ourselves having fun while talking about music and things we think are funny. We also started having guests from other Denver local bands join us. Eventually we did an interview with Eddie, Jason, and Chris from the appropriately named “Eddie, Jason, and Chris show” (which airs on Idobi radio) and they mentioned that there was an hour-long spot open on Tuesday nights, so we got asked to fill it. The timing just worked out I suppose.

Awful Truth Idobi Radio - My Body Sings Electric

Which Riot Fest band would you most like to have drinks with?

Personally, I would LOVE to have a drink with Ken Andrews from Failure. I love that band and Ken has done some really cool things with his producing career over the years. And he is SO COOL. OMG.

You guys are more adept at social media than a lot of bands I know. Do you have a strategy, or just have fun?

I think I can speak for everyone in the band by saying we just like to have fun. Brandon has a background in marketing and stuff like that, so he goes a bit further than the rest of us. (Follow us on Twitter plz.)

Do you prefer the studio or the road?

That’s like asking me to pick between playing an Orc Shaman or a Troll mage in World of Warcraft… I CAN’T BECAUSE I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH! We love being away from home to play music. It’s basically like having a Friday night every single night of the week. If it were financially viable, we would constantly be doing it. Who says we can’t have both? We stayed at Interlace Audio in Portland for three weeks to record “Changing Color” and I would love to do something like that for every record.

(Aimee note: I had to google the WOW references.)

Best and worst thing to ever happen on tour?

That’s a hard question. I think the worst moments are when we find ourselves playing a very small show in a very small place to a crowd that will most definitely NOT like us on something like a Monday night. Times like those make us question “what the hell are we doing with our lives?” The best thing to ever happen is when Brandon finally admitted he was wrong for once in his life. Hands down.

You have said that Jeff doesn’t wash his feet and thus can get pretty stinky. But really, who is the most stinky of the five?

———————————–>    Jeff.   <——————————————

Most unusual fan request?

Someone wanted Brandon’s socks after a show once. I think he actually gave them to her. I honestly don’t think we have gotten many odd requests other than that though. Usually it’s us making the odd request of our fans to clap or jump or “throw their hands up in the air.” But Lorde has since put a stop to that. So there.

The last time I saw you, it felt like your crowd is changing. True? Or was that just the liquor you guys passed out to everyone?

Liquor has a way of changing people. My grandpappy was the most gentle, sweetest, loving, caring soul you would ever meet. Until he sobered up. I think you experienced something similar at our show.

(Aimee note: The last time I saw them was UMS and the crowd was so raucous, I got huge bruises – that I texted the band photos of for weeks.)

Hidden talents of the band? I read somewhere that Brandon can juggle.

Brandon can juggle about a million excuses for why he is late everywhere. It’s pretty impressive. Nick can juggle like six girlfriends at once time. I don’t know how he does it. I can barely handle one. And Jeff just so happens to be the best bullshitter west of the Mississippi river. He literally has a few merit badges for “bullshitting” from back when he earned his Eagle Scout. (The Eagle Scout thing is actually true.)

(Aimee note: Jason forgot to mention Brandon’s confetti skills. Also impressive.)

Brandon Whalen - My Body Sings Electric

You often use the hashtag #bestfriends. Can you explain that philosophy as it relates to the band and your fans?

There’s honestly no big philosophy here. We are all best friends and we had used the bestfriends hashtag a few times before we realized that maybe our “bestfriends” can be the label we put on our fans much like Slipknot uses “maggots” and Insane Clown Posse uses “Juggalos.” Both awesome groups by the way. So if you are our #bestfriend, you are literally admitting to being a juggalo. It’s really that simple.

In the past few years, things seem to be on the rise for you guys. How are you handling it?

To be completely honest with you, not well. A few of us have really kicked up the drinking a few notches, almost to a seriously unhealthy level. (I just cracked open another beer before continuing my response.) Brandon has been starting to have constant and massive weight fluctuation in both directions that he never wants to talk about. Also, Ben has been letting it go to his head lately. We heard he got into a huge fight with his mom about “being the next big thing” and he didn’t show up for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner last year. He’s starting to pull away from people in his life and I think it’s something we are going to have to discuss and confront as a band soon.

(Aimee note: Here is Ben. Like the BIGGEST asshole EVER.)

Ben Scarboro - My Body Sings Electric

Plans for the rest of 2014 and into 2015?

Nothing is confirmed yet but we plan on a few tours coming up for the winter of 2014. Of course, we can’t wait to play Riot Fest, which will be incredible. We are also currently writing a lot of new stuff for the follow up to “Part One: The Night Ends.” So, then we would release Part Two and tour a whole lot in 2015. Other than that, we will continue to play shows, release podcasts, do some cool music videos, and be #bestfriends!


Pretty awesome. You know what else is awesome? Winning Riot Fest tickets.

Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below and come out to Mile High Stadium from September 19-21st to see your new friends My Body Sings Electric live. I will be photographing the festival and nursing all my new bruises. GOOD LUCK!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This article has 41 comments

  1. Melissa

    This was a really good interview!

    • Aimee

      Melissa – you were right there with me for those bruises!

  2. Gretchen

    This was a fun read. They seem like so much fun, although I feel kind of sorry for —————————-> JEFF <——————————

    • Aimee

      Gretchen, they all are super nice. I have never noticed Jeff’s odor before but I suppose I will be paying extra attention now.

  3. Joey Cirilo

    SLAYERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR at Riot Fest, and you guys’ rock too (not a Juggalo)

  4. Stephanie Alba

    Great interview!!
    Looking forward for Riot Fest!

  5. Courtney

    Thanks for the honest interview. Can’t wait to see y’all at Riot Fest!

  6. Aimee

    Oh man, good luck! Would be fun to have an out of towner win!

  7. E.J.

    Oh MBSE. You guys are too much. Lol I’m super super dooper excited to see The Used. I really hope I win some tickets soon. Haha

  8. Jennifer

    Come on I need this so much! 🙂 Now my BF is playing, making the weekend even MORE amazing! 🙂

  9. Phil

    Great read…now give me my tickets, dammit!

  10. Stevie

    I will do whatever I can to get to RIOT FEST!!!!

  11. Sam

    The hardest part about thinking about winning tickets is trying to figure out which kid would go if I only win 2 tickets.

  12. Amy Evans

    Just shared this everywhere. I WANT!

  13. Amy Evans

    And I just looked at their iTunes show – will check it out. When are they having YOU on?

  14. Mackenzie

    That was an entertaining break from work, thanks!

  15. Jessica

    This interview was great!
    Also, for Riot Fest it’s so incredibly hard to pick just one. There are like 20+ I’d love to see.

  16. Jenny

    Why did this interview have to end? The comment about the WoW characters made me laugh out loud, at work no less. Made funnier after their last Idobi show with Joe and Tyler.

  17. Amy Chacon

    Great interview! Love MBSE, its great to get to go from seeing them at tiny Denver venues to now have them touring and playing big festivals 🙂

  18. Jesse

    I would love to see die antwoord at riot fest!

  19. Pat

    “Liquor has a way of changing people.” Great read, and thank you for the contest!

  20. Ashley Kingsley

    Um… you guys were all dating K? Wow… I am so glad you all met. What a great story. Love you guys. Xo

  21. Georjean

    MY BODY SINGS ELECTRIC will melt you heart and your face off! MBSE is my pick at RiotFest!

  22. Nic Jay

    This is WONDERFUL!! =D

  23. Jennifer

    Oh I want to see Weezer and THE CURE so bad!

  24. Karen

    There are too many bands to pick. just pick me!!!

  25. Lisa

    That was so hilarious! Do more interviews like this. As for Riot Fest – I want to see Rise Against!

  26. Christina

    Love the MBSE boys!

  27. Sarah

    THANKS for the opportunity!!!

  28. Heather

    What a fun post!

  29. Shawna

    I would come in for sure! The Cure!

  30. Jeff

    You know I would love me some punk rock show!

  31. Danielle

    this would be so fun!

  32. Amy

    Entered 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity for tickets to Riot Fest.

  33. Janie

    I really want these tickets!

  34. Aimee Giese | Greeblehaus

    Good luck to everyone! It’s going to be so fun!

  35. Carrie

    I always love your little notes, Aimee. They definitely add to your already great interviews!

  36. Liz

    Excited to see so many bands! THE CURE! The National! NOFX! I Am The Avalanche! New Found Glory! The Descendants!

  37. Amanduhhhh

    I can’t wait for this concert and if I win I can take two friends who didn’t want to shell out the money.

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