The Scarecrow Show wins Battle of the Bands

View fullsize

The Scarecrow Show, a local rock band, won The Battle of the Bands on Thursday March 30. Its three members have been playing together since childhood and plan to continue to grow their local popularity. (Annalee Bainnson/Assoc. Photo Editor)

This year’s Battle of the Bands winner, The Scarecrow Show, intertwines self-taught musical talent with a strong sentimental connection of companionship. 

Hailing from Delevan, NY, the band consists of Ray Cook III on guitar, accounting major junior Benjamin Juchniewicz on bass guitar and Juchniewicz’s older brother Jon Juchniewicz on drums. All three contribute to the band’s vocals. 

The trio titles their sound as a “high energy rock and roll with a punk attitude and a bluesy twist.” The group performs both originals and covers from bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica and ACDC.

The Scarecrow Show has grown their bond—as well as their band—since childhood. The chemistry and work ethic between the band members is an “organic process,” according to Benjamin Juchniewicz. 

“My brother and I have been jamming since we were 10 years old,” Benjamin Juchniewicz said. “My dad hooked us on Black Sabbath by the time we were four. I started playing bass, [Jon] picked up drums … it was a natural thing.” 

The Juchniewicz brothers have been friends and musical buddies with Cook since they were around 12 years old. 

“We pride ourselves on the chemistry within the band,” Benjamin Juchniewicz said. “We say we can be in different rooms playing the same song and still be note-for-note spot-on because we just have that natural chemistry that comes from playing together for 10 years.” 

Although the three members have been playing together for quite some time, The Scarecrow Show was just recently established in 2015. After years of playing together, things just “fell into place” to make their band official, according to Benjaminn Juchniewicz.  

They spent their first year as a band working on their debut album, self-titled The Scarecrow Show. Available on Spotify, the band members are enjoying local fame. They have had 40 shows within the last six months and have even more lined up for the summer.

In fact, the band performed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls just two weeks ago. Sponsored by radio station 107.7 Alternative Buffalo, the band was joined by the local Geneseo-based band Ponder the Giraffe at the event. 

Benjamin Juchniewicz described the Hard Rock performance as incredibly unique. 

“We went in and the place was packed; everyone loved us, and it’s so cool—the legacy of playing the Hard Rock—everyone wants to play there, so it was a lot of fun,” Benjamin Juchniewicz said. 

In the future, The Scarecrow Show aims to expand their horizons and grow even further as a band. 

“I think for all of us, the number one priority is the band,” Benjamin Juchniewicz said. “We all have our backup plans, but I think any musician is in it to win it. You want to become big, and you don’t want to just play in local bars for the rest of your days. But at this stage, we realize that’s what we have to do.”

To spread their music locally, The Scarecrow Show hopes to open the 2017 Spring Concert for Catfish and the Bottlemen—which has been the privilege of previous Battle of the Bands winners.

For right now, though, The Scarecrow Show’s main objective is to continue making music. 

“The reason we do it, even if we don’t become famous, is for the fun of it,” Benjamin Juchniewicz said. “We’re definitely in it for the long haul.”

Rock band The Scarecrow Show to release debut album featuring original songs

Based out of Delevan, New York, rock band The Scarecrow Show will be releasing its first album and EP within the next few months, per an independent recorder. The Scarecrow Show features Geneseo sophomore Ben Juchniewicz on bass. Making up the rest of the band are Ben Juchniewicz’s older brother Jon—who is the drummer and lead vocalist—and their longtime friend and lead guitarist Ray Cook III. The trio grew up with music-centric interests and began jamming together long before formally establishing the band.

Priding itself on its versatility of sound, the band upholds a hard rock foundation while remaining receptive to a myriad of influences.

“We usually try to steer clear from pigeonholing ourselves into a specific genre,” Ben Juchniewicz said. “We pretty much call ourselves hard rock with a lot of influences, including punk and blues, all coalescing into one sound.”

The Scarecrow Show has existed as a band for about a year. They played at Geneseo’s Battle of the Bands in spring 2015 under a different name—RC3. The band soon after democratically decided to change their name, ultimately voting on calling themselves The Scarecrow Show to better reflect the motif they wished to portray through their music and style.

Appreciative of its opportunity to participate again in this year’s Battle of the Bands on Feb. 4, The Scarecrow Show hopes to continue gaining local exposure.

“We got a great reaction from the crowd at Battle of the Bands this year. Everyone swarmed the stage and was singing along or dancing to the songs they knew,” Juchniewicz said. “We didn’t win, but that’s alright. We exposed our work and got ourselves out here. People know us now and seem to like us, so it’s a foot in the door.”

While the band hasn’t played any full shows in Geneseo yet—its primary sites are in the Buffalo area—the band hopes to start soon and gain more recognition locally.

During shows, The Scarecrow Show sometimes plays its original music, while other times they exhibit their vast dexterity of covers. The album and EP include a profusion of the members’ own work.

“We’re mostly an original band,” Juchniewicz said. “We write a lot of our own stuff, but in an area like this, where there isn’t a very strong music market, it’s often necessary to play shows where we’re covering songs people are familiar with.”

He added that the band first recorded 12 songs for their album and then decided to add more. “I think it’s up to 19, including the EP,” he said. “Now, we’re just mastering them in the studio.”

Passionate about their music, The Scarecrow Show members are adamant about their organic process of creativity, doing only what comes effortlessly to them rather than molding their songs around the limits of society’s expectations of rock. Sometimes, they write songs separately from one another before bringing them to the band, while other times they join together and just play, building sounds off one another that gel and eventually become distinctive songs.

“We’re not doing it to make money—we love our music and we want other people to love it as well. We do what feels natural to us,” Juchniewicz said. “We don’t try to cater ourselves too much to what people would like to hear because we hope there are enough people who like what we’re doing enough to hop on board and come along for the ride.”

The band’s plan for the foreseeable future is to try to play about three shows each month, especially after its album is released. Between recording, getting shows, networking and pursuing exposure, The Scarecrow Show currently has a lot in the works—and its members wouldn’t want things any other way.

“We love what we’re doing. We love the music we make, the people we’re working with and all of our fans,” Ben Juchniewicz said. “We’re excited to see where this whole thing takes us.”

Ponder the Giraffe brings indie-pop to local music scene

Geneseo isn’t exactly known for its exceptional studio or musical art scene, but the community’s handful of successful bands is astounding. One such group—Ponder the Giraffe—has been making serious waves lately; playing both local shows out of their house on Main Street and having their music played on radio stations throughout the state. Ponder the Giraffe is an indie-pop, funk band made up of all juniors: vocalist and guitarist Gabriel Birkby, drummer and percussionist Aaron Murphy and bassist Justin Fischer. The three began playing together last winter when Birkby accidentally signed up for Battle of the Bands. Realizing he didn’t have a band to play with, Birkby called Murphy—the two shared a mutual friend—and Fischer, who Birkby had known since his freshman year and had casually played with before.

As the band’s chief songwriter, Birkby described the band’s musical sound to be mostly indie-pop. He added, however, that everyone’s musical tastes merge together when creating the final product. Birkby, for example, leans more toward underground indie music and bands such as Walk the Moon. Murphy, on the other hand, likes to listen to mellower music, but prefers to play heavier rock songs when drumming. Fischer noted that he listens to “everything on the face of the earth.” As a result, each member personalizes their respective instrumental parts while Birkby writes lyrics that are inspired by real life experiences.

Five of the band’s released songs have been played on radio stations such as Alternative Buffalo 107.7. The most recent song to be played was “Out to Dance.” Murphy recalled gathering together in his dorm room when the band’s first song was played on the air, as they patiently waited with the radio on full blast to hear their own tune. Birkby emphasized the excitement and pride he feels whenever he hears his band on the radio—the band records all of their own music with no studio.

Ponder the Giraffe has been busy this semester, playing a gig about every two weeks. Murphy’s basement on Main Street is the usual spot for their shows, bringing in about 100 excited listeners. In addition to house shows, Ponder the Giraffe performs for school events and in off-campus social venues.

Ponder the Giraffe takes a leading role in fostering the local music community here in Geneseo. They support other new local bands and performers such as Donner Dance Party—whose unique instrumental sound and improvisational technique has started to turn heads—and host them at their own shows, giving them the opportunity to play.

All three members admitted that scheduling can be hard at times, as each member is involved in a host of other commitments. But Birkby, Murphy and Fischer are all committed to the band. They always find time to work on their music—whether it be together or separately. The men unanimously agreed that the most important thing is that their authenticity resonates with their audience because, as Birkby emphasized, Ponder the Giraffe’s songs are written with the band members’ own feelings and experiences in mind.

Big things are in the works for Ponder the Giraffe. Their first full album will drop this winter as they embark on a mini-tour that will take them from Oneonta, NY to New York City.

To check out their music, Ponder the Giraffe has songs on SoundCloud and is also available to book for a performance at the beginning of next semester.

Local Beat: Soft Cough LP debuts with positive response

Local band Soft Cough—made up of Geneseo seniors bassist and vocalist Tom Kohn, guitarist and vocalist Dan Pugh, drummer Ben Freiman and guitarist and vocalist Nick Koithan—gathered to discuss the release of their self-titled debut album and their plans for the future.

Their album was met with large acclaim from the Geneseo music scene and the surrounding area, reaching Syracuse, Buffalo and even down to New York City where the band will be performing this semester. The band expressed their happiness with the positive reaction to the first album, noting that this encouraging feedback has only made them more excited to release their second album.

“We just want to do another one,” Pugh said. “I think we’re chasing that high again.”

The typical songwriting process for Soft Cough usually involves band members recording a demo of what they think the song will sound like and then playing it for the other members. Normally, lyrics are inspired by interesting turns of phrase. One example comes on the track “Mouthbreather”—Koithan thinks that “mouthbreather” is a funny insult, leading to the group’s exploration of that idea in the song.

Soft Cough isn’t afraid to borrow from literature either. Pugh was inspired to borrow the line “unspeakable boilings and tearings apart” from Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.

The band is currently writing new songs even though they have a plethora of recorded songs that weren’t released on their first album. Soft Cough fans can expect to hear a version of “Trebuchet” appear on a compilation album from Indiana record label Headdress Records.

The biggest standout from the self-titled album is “Seadogs & Pyrite,” which has inspired several covers online and has been heard in basements all across Geneseo. The song also received a huge reaction at a recent show they played in Syracuse. Pugh—who wrote the song—explained that the band didn’t expect such an overwhelming reaction for the track, but he knew it was a special one.

“I wrote it differently than the other songs,” Pugh said. “[Since] I got the music done very early, [I figured] there’s a bunch of shit that I want to say, so I’m going to take this and however long it takes to say it, that’s when the song’s going to be done. Usually, I just have lyrics that match up coincidentally with songs I’ve written. It was the first song that I felt like I needed to write.”

Another huge hit from the record is “Jackson Pollock,” a song written by Kohn. Kohn admitted that the song came from an embarrassing attempt to impress a girl with his art history knowledge. “I wrote the song to keep myself in check,” he said. “I’m making fun of myself, essentially and that’s the most therapeutic way to do it.”

As for the future, band members agreed to continue making music together after graduation. “We made most of the first album across the state,” Freiman said. “I think we can keep doing that.”

Soft Cough was excited to promote the release of their upcoming tapes on Shammy Tapes. They also mentioned plans to record a live set in Syracuse. Things are looking bright for the local band and their fan base has a lot to look forward to in the near future.

Local Beat: Soft Cough makes big noise with sick sounds

Musically contagious but not quite a virus, Geneseo’s homegrown band Soft Cough is catching the attention of college students everywhere. The self-described “low-fi, janky-pop” band consists of a group of juniors: bassist Tom Kohn, guitarist Dan Pugh, guitarist Nick Koithan and drummer Ben Freiman, who all alternate singing. Collectively, the band has made its way from playing for friends around campus to playing for others at neighboring college campuses and more. Soft Cough’s dynamic is definitely a contributor to its laidback sound. “The way it works is someone will write a song and it will come to the band, we play it—jam on it for a little bit—and that person usually sings that song,” Kohn explained. “[My sound is] very funky cause I love funk music. Nick loves shredding cause he’s a dad and he likes dad rock. Dan’s stuff is very technical, which comes into play a lot in his songs. And Ben is the workforce that keeps us all on track.”

Each member has such a distinct persona that one has to wonder how an agreement on a type of style comes about. “It’s cool because we all have very different tastes in music but we [also] have some overlapping interests,” Koithan said. “We play sort of like whimsical songs that are very catchy. You can throw someone through a window when they listen to our songs or you can pat them on the back,” Kohn said.

Having just come back from playing a show at Syracuse University, the members have made an impressive effort to reach audiences beyond Geneseo. “I have a friend in Syracuse who’s involved in the music scene there and the radio station and he’s in a band, so Dan and I played there last semester—just the two of us—and earlier in the semester we tested the water [there],” Freiman said. “And [we] played a radio launch party for them in a college basement, and then this [past] show was at Spark Art Space—a multipurpose art space [where] we played with a band called Toons.”

Despite the loyal fans and friends from back home who followed Soft Cough to Syracuse, the band did observe a significant difference in Syracuse’s audience. “The Geneseo music scene is definitely more enthusiastic,” Kohn said. “More vibrant,” Freiman added.

Through their experiences, the band has noticed that although the Geneseo music scene is rapidly developing, the people here are willing to make an extra effort to simply have fun and support their friends. “People will walk, like, a mile in the snow to come to an open-mic at our house, and [at Syracuse] I feel like people will still come out and make the effort, but no one seemed like they wanted to be there,” Pugh said. “We had so much fun with the other bands though.”

It’s surprising how far Soft Cough has gotten without being online or having any distributed recorded material. Although each band member has material on Soundcloud separately, there is no Soft Cough material online just yet. “We’re so close to recording music and putting stuff together,” Kohn said. “We have stuff recorded and eventually we want to be on Soundcloud. Hopefully that’ll spread our name and get the word out. So far we’re just like a live band.”

Pugh explained how the band has received most of its invitations to play on other campuses through word of mouth. With this exposure, Soft Cough plans to connect with other campuses in the greater New York area, beginning with other SUNY schools. “If you go to a small school like Geneseo, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be proud or glad that there was a local band who consistently is putting on local [free] shows,” Kohn said.

For now, fans can look forward to a tape by the end of the semester and look forward to more news about Soft Cough’s whereabouts.