Interview: Brave Combo headman Carl Finch

by John P. Meyer

Primed and ready for Addison Oktoberfest? Don't even think about going before you've listened to (at least part of) the definitive September interview with Brave Combo's fearless leader.

Carl and I hooked up by phone at the hour agreed upon for our phone interview a few days ago. At first we thought our discussion might be abbreviated because he was in his car on the cell phone, his wife was inside the grocery store shopping and her early return would in all likelihood necessitate an intermission to accommodate their journey home - but she must have gotten stuck in the longest checkout line ever, because our talk turned into something of a marathon (45+ minute) session. Just so you're aware before diving into the audio.

Among other things, Carl (whom I hereby dub the Eveready Bunny of interview subjects) waxes rhapsodic and otherwise on the following topics:

* Indie music stores are in trouble

* Eclectic music is in trouble

* The local live music scene is in trouble

* Dallas can be seen as a metaphor for the world in relation to the underground, vital music scene. And, in regard to media coverage of same, "You guys (PegNews) are the only game in town."

* With Polka's Revenge, Brave Combo aims for quantity in addition to quality: they're selling the album at their live appearances (such as this Sunday, Sept. 23, at Addison Oktoberfest) for $10, which gets the purchaser 20 songs (equating to $0.50/song): "here's a flood of music, just BAM!, here it is."

Brave Combo insider tidbits:

The Combo-ists recently lent their compositional and performance stylings to a TV sports gig: the Big 10 Friday Night Tailgate show.

More exciting still, they are scoring the upcoming PBS TV version of a Click & Clack (the Car Guys) animated cartoon show.

You'll note right off the bat that Carl didn't quite get my initial attempt at tension-breaking witticism, but we plowed forward regardless.

NOTE: in regard to Carl's query regarding whether it's been the observation of our music-savvy staffers that local clubs are experiencing declining attendance, both Erin Rice and Teresa Gubbins indicate their agreement with that general characterization.

Enough textual rambling. Hit the audio.