Stefan Grant and bassist Martin Morales rock the Devil at SFTV Unplugged.
By Kat Renz
A year ago, local guitarist Stefan Grant wasn't sure how he'd continue playing live shows. The drummer of his alternative/metal band, Kinetic Chain, moved to Chicago, and the tribe was further split after he and the lead guitarist suffered a falling out.
And then, as so often happens in those bummer times, epiphany struck: what if they took a different direction from the guitar riff-driven, crashing drum sound they were so used to and went acoustic instead? "Let's strip it down to what it is," Grant said, adding that he wanted to create an opportunity to play and see live music that's easy on the ears but still rock, as opposed to jazz or pop - a sweet space he considers relatively rare in the city. Thus was born SFTV Unplugged.
It's not a novel approach - remember how killer those episodes of MTV Unplugged were back in the '90s? "I think there are a lot of 30-plus people who liked Unplugged a lot," Grant said, as we proceeded to rail off a list of our favorite performances. Alice in Chains. The Cure. That legendary Nirvana performance with Kurt Cobain sarcastically commenting on everything from harp-tuning to Leadbelly's for-sale guitar amid a stage buried in star-gazer lilies.
"There's acoustic Green Day. There's acoustic Violent Femmes," he said. "With electric, you get this blend of delay and effects, and with acoustic you hear every note. It's the same kind of emotive musical experience without the super loud crunch, and I've found that the audience latches on to it way more that way."
If crowd turnout is any indication - 120 people have come out for each of the three shows he's organized so far - Grant's right. At his last show earlier this month on June 6, six bands performed - get it? 6/6, six bands, and at the Red Devil to boot? - to an audience of 145.
Local artists are into the idea, as well: Grant's first shout-out for participants garnered 17 responses (his lineup is always made up of six acts). And no wonder. His project offers local bands a bare-bones way to showcase their talents aside from being just loud. Bay Area acts who've performed as part of SFTV include Dirty Orange Sun (who sound a lot like Alice and Chains, for all of you missing Layne Staley's rich warble), Crimson Cloud, and Resistant Me.
As Chris - the vocalist of Neurotrash, a punky powerpop band that played SFTV Unplugged in January - put it: "Even though we go on as Neurotrash, we play a completely different set from the band's full on, jump around and act foolish set. The lyrics have a greater presence in these acoustic sets, and you can't distance yourself from the crowd.
"It gives people the opportunity to hear some of the very talented musicians living here without having to wear your earplugs."
Just as significantly, without a wall of sound and rock star pose to hide behind, the bands end up projecting a sense of intimacy and sincerity. Dee Kennedy is the frontwoman for think13, and her June 25 performance was her second time with SFTV Unplugged. "I love to see my favorite bands change up their usual style and show a softer side to themselves," she said. "Bringing back versatility and honesty to the music scene is so long overdue."
Grant wants to build on the success of the past year, saying there is enough homegrown talent to easily put on SFTV Unplugged shows several times a month at different venues around the city. And what about filling the front row with models, as MTV reported would? "Not yet," he said. "I keep posting on Craigslist but nothing so far."
SFTV UNPLUGGED
July 30, 8 p.m., $10
Red Devil Lounge
1695 Polk, SF
(415) 921-1695
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