On Saturday, Be Here Now will host a show featuring local acts Mid-American, Cool Dad and Pittsburgh natives 1,2,3.
Comprised of Nic Snyder, John Sickels, Mike Yamamoto and Chad Monticue, 1,2,3 released their album "New Heaven" last summer on Frenchkiss Records, which represent bands such as The Drums, Passion Pit, Local Natives and The Hold Steady. The band list R&B from the ‘60s and ‘90s as heavy influences and describe their sound as "soul." Vocalist Snyder was lured into the world of music from his father, a piano player in Iron City Houserockers, a band deemed "should've been famous" from the late ‘70s to early ‘80s. Snyder attributes his love of Neil Young, Roy Orbison and Motown from the music his father created.
After their appearance at Be Here Now, they will travel to Boston for a show on March 3, and will perform at the SXSW musical festival in Austin, Texas, March 14 through 18.
Mid-American will make a repeat appearance at Be Here Now, having just reached its $2,500 goal to print its new album, which should be released in April or early spring. The band created a Kickstarter account to help fund the album, giving themselves 30 days to reach the goal. The band met their goal on Tuesday with 62 supporters. The fund is open until Thursday at 7:50 p.m.
If pledgers donated a certain amount of money, they received different gifts, such as a digital download of the album or a Mid-American T-shirt. If $125 was donated, for example, one could even go on a date with a band member as well as receive a personalized recorded Mid-American ringtone. The band consists of Ball State students Parker James, Philip Johnson and Tyler Varnau. Purdue's Dan Varnau and Indiana University's Austin Gardner and Alex Pantos round out the group.
Mid-American recorded their album themselves, spending eight to nine hours a day in order to make sure that the end product was perfected.
"It was really nice recording it ourselves," Tyler Varnau, sophomore journalism graphics major, said. "We could spend all the time we needed on every instrument, really fine-tuning every sound until it sounded exactly how we wanted."
Varnau added that the band will now record vocals and rerecord guitars in the Ball State studios, as James, auxiliary percussionist in the band, has access to the studio because of his major.
"I'm really stoked for people to hear this album," Varnau said. "We just want to put something out that we're proud of."
James, sophomore music technology major, said he is also excited for fans to hear how the band has evolved since its last release.
"We've grown a lot and our sound has definitely matured," he said.
Also performing Saturday is another local band Tyler Varnau is involved in: Cool Dad. Formed in 2010, Cool Dad is made up of Varnau and fellow Ball State students Joe Hadden, Drew Siner, and Ben Peterson. The surf indie band wasn't originally going to stick with the moniker but they said because fans enjoyed it so much, they kept it.
Varnau said the band is planning to release an album in "the very near future."
As for the show, Varnau said to expect a solid lineup and a first listen of some of the band's new album.
"I'm really excited to play with and see 1,2,3. They're the real deal," he said. "And Mid-American will be playing mostly new songs off of our new LP, so I'm excited for that."
The show will begin at 11 p.m. on Saturday with a $5 cover for all ages. Be Here Now is located at 505 N. Dill St.
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