Future Rock

ARTICLE BY S.STILSON

INTRODUCTION AND EDITING BY: J. WARNER

August 25th, 2011 witness Chicago-based live-electronica gurus, Future Rock (joined by Sixdollarsuit), took the stage at the Lafayette Theater in downtown Lafayette, IN to demonstrate their brand of synth-driven, floor pounding party rock. By no means newcomers to the scene, Future Rock have found themselves in many ways in the drivers seat in recent years as a result of the increasing popularity of aggressive, bass heavy, electronic music nation-wide. Comprised of Mickey Kellerman (Synthesizers), Darren Heitz (Acoustic/Electronic Drums), and Felix Moreno (Bass, Synth), the Future Rock sound features epic melodies and mind-fracturing synth leads over a thick layer of throbbing, fret-slapping bass, a house of in-your-face electronic fist-pump built atop Heitz’s pounding, militaristic four-on-the floor/half-time drumming. Combined with a brilliant light show courtesy of Alex “Herm” Schneider (Herm Productions), the Theater’s audiences was transformed for the night into a mass of convulsing bodies, unified in admiration of the spectacle before them. Amidst the beautiful chaos, OMFC correspondent Scott Stilson sat down with Future Rock for a quick word.

OMFC: I grabbed onto one of your quotes online that reads, “Melodies trump abstraction and true motion beats the bizarre”. Can you say a few words explaining this?

Moreno: We are into music for music’s sake.

Heitz: I like to think that we are in it for the purest sense, and that’s what I think that quote is getting at.

Kellerman: As far as the melody part goes, it’s about making sure that there are melodies there for people to grab onto. Most of what we do is have the melodies in the forefront.

 

Kellerman: It gives them seizures?

Moreno: We have a very emotional connection with the music, we’re young and rambunctious  and sometimes it does get a little wild and in your face. One of the amazing things about music is that everyone is experiencing the same thing at the same time, so you literally have this whole room of people experiencing the same thing.

Kellerman: I think that when you go and see a show, or at least when I go to see a show, I’l looking to be transported to a different place, a space that the band has created. I think that’s what we are trying to create for the people that come to our shows. When you look out and people are smiling and getting down, it’s great. You feed off that, and when we are having a great time on stage, the crowd feeds off us.

 

OMFC: What are some of your favorite high-energy moments on stage?

Kellerman: My honest answer is, almost every show that we play. I don’t want to cop out of answering the question, but it is so true. The daytime set at Summer Camp on the Jagermeister stage was really incredible.

Heitz:Which was weird for us, because we aren’t really a daytime band.

Moreno: My favorite was when Nate Dogg invited his parents over during an early Future Rock rehearsal, and Mickey knocked both his keyboards off his keyboard stand.

Heitz: That’s an exaggeration.

Kellerman: Yeah, it was one of my keyboards on the stand. Wow. That is not a highlight of my playing career. I was completely horrified and embarrassed and humiliated.

Moreno: We get down on stage, we don’t care. I mean, we have been doing this for too long, and we care too much about it not to get up on stage and be who we are.

Heitz: People like that, you know. People respond to it.

 

OMFC: Future Rock will playing at North Coast in Chicago, your hometown. Thoughts, and who are you most excited to see?

Kellerman: Oh, we are the most excited! I’m pumped for some newer acts that I haven’t seen; Sbtrkt, Little Dragon, Wolfgang Gartner, Common, that’s just right off the top of my head, Fat Boy Slim and Rusko… Rusko is playing right after us, Rusko I love.

Moreno: What I love about North Coast is that the vibe of it is only Chicago. Its all independent promoters that came together because of how many people that love music. It’s the fact that this many festivals can be sustained, Lolla, Pitchfork, North Coast, all the street festivals, every other neighborhood has them. No other city can support stuff like this, it just doesn’t happen in other places.

 

OMFC: What are some the things Future Rock does during their downtime in the Windy City?

Moreno: There are certain things that happen on Chicago that would never happen anywhere else, like the Green Mill on Saturday night, Sabertooth playing until 6am. Its on of the most incredible Jazz bands that I get to see on a regular basis. That’s just a regular Saturday night in Chicago.

 

Kellerman: In the summer time in Chicago, on Mondays and Thursday nights, in Millennium park at the Pittsburgh Pavilion that have a free concert series. For instance, I saw Iron and Wine, it was actually the first concert of the summer, and it ended up being really packed. It is such amazing venue.

Heitz: People love music in Chicago, they go to see it and freaking love it!

Moreno: We grew up in Chicago and have a lot of history with the Orchard Lounge. We just love music and Chicago is very nurturing for that.

 

OMFC: As electronic music gains in popularity, how do you see elements of the genre being applied to more mainstream music?

Kellerman: I think it is a natural progression.

Moreno: Well, when you talk about electronic progression in music, look at the music as a whole. Western music started basically in the 18th century. But from the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, there was no electronics in music whatsoever. Then in the 19th century we get electricity used to make music. We are in a really cool part of time right now, musical possiblities are endless     

Heitz: Dubstep on everything.

 

OMFC: Time for the fan-favorite rundown. Ready?

FR: Yes.

 

OMFC: First instruments?

Kellerman: Piano.

Heitz: Drums.

Moreno: Piano.

 

OMFC: Stance on Dinosaurs.

FR: Pro Dinosaur. How could you not be?

Moreno: That’s a good album name, “Pro Dinosaur”.

 

OMFC: Who is the funniest?

Kellerman: I think Darren is the funniest.

Heitz: Oh, really?

 

OMFC: Better Trilogy: Star Wars, or, The Lord of the Rings?  

Moreno: Star Wars!

Kellerman: I don’t know, I think if you put Return of the King up against Return of the Jedi, LOTR might give Jedi a run for it’s money. We all agree The  Empire Strikes Back is the best, though.           

 

OMFC: Who is the tech geek?

Moreno:  Mickey.

Heitz:  Mickey.

 

OMFC:  Ok, so Nintendo, PS, or Xbox?

Kellerman: I would say the coolest system was Atari, those games were real old school. The first Nintendo had some pretty amazing games.

Moreno:  The way video games are nowadays, you can get sucked in for days.

 

OMFC: Where do you guys see yourselves in the next five years?

Hetz: To the moon. On the moon.

Moreno: With the dinosaurs.

Heitz: We will be the first band to literally play on the moon.

Moreno:  Wherever we end up, we will continue doing it for the right reasons, and out music will be exactly what we feel. I’m amazed and personally so grateful that people like our music, and we are going to continue to remain true to ourselves and fans.

 

 

For more on Future Rock, check out www.futurerock.net.

Check out photos from the show taken by Morgan Lorenz