A broken guitar string did not stop local band Whale House during their show at The Cabin Saturday night. In fact, the group said they were rather happy with how the show turned out.
“It wasn’t our tightest show,” co-vocalist, bassist/guitarist and UW-Eau Claire alum Caleb Price said. “But I thought there was some raw energy.”
The band, made up of Price, Bryant Bohacek and fellow Eau Claire alum Clayton Brice, showcased many different sounds during their 50-minute set. Some songs were ambient in nature, while others had a hard, more grunge-influenced vibe. Brice said each member has shaped the band’s sound in different ways.
“Our influences are pretty independent, but there’s some crossover,” Brice said. “We kind of all listen to different things.”
Whale House’s experimental music is not the kind generally associated with The Cabin. Lauren Bryant, co-chair of the University Activities Commission Cabin Committee, said it was a conscious decision to feature a different kind of band.
“We’re mainly known for just being an acoustic, coffee shop-style place,” Bryant said. “But we do realize other students on campus have different interests in music, so we do try to switch it up.”
Bohacek joined Whale House as drummer in May 2011 after Price and Brice had been playing together for several months. The band recorded some of their latest EP, 2011’s “From The Traps,” with its previous drummer, and some songs as a two-piece.
Brice said playing the new songs has been a fun learning experience as both he and Price get used to playing with Bohacek. The band is excited about getting into the studio and recording a new album as a trio.
“We want to rehearse it a lot, and we want it to really feel alive,” Brice said.
Price said the band’s first few recordings are more experimental in nature, but the group is working toward a more simplistic approach to recording as they move forward.
“The last one (From The Traps) was a little bit more of a classic three-piece setting, and this one will probably be even more straight ahead,” Price said.
The group has debated whether to add a fourth member, but Bohacek said three players seem to create the perfect dynamic for their sound.
“Each individual instrument stands out,” Bohacek said. “It’s a lot cleaner sound for the kind of music that we play.”
Both Price and Brice said they aim to keep the band’s live shows interesting. The two switched instruments in the middle of the set, with Price taking over guitar and Brice moving to bass. Price broke a guitar string at one point but picked up a new guitar and carried on after a few minutes of tuning.
Freshman Michael Toll decided to check out the band because he was intrigued by the advertisements he saw around Davies Center.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised,” Toll said. “They were pretty good.”
During the show, Price and Brice both praised The Cabin as a venue and urged those in attendance to support the arts. Price graduated from Eau Claire’s music program, while Brice majored in art.
Whale House hopes to expand the range of its live shows this year. The band plays almost exclusively in the Eau Claire and Menomonie areas and would like to branch out to places like Madison, Superior and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
