Bethpage Black

Sitting in the stifling, pea-green lobby of a rehearsal studio in Signal Hill, an interview with the members of Bethpage Black is interrupted by a lucky proposition. As a neighboring musician in the building packs up to leave town, he passes the band in the lobby and stops, sensing a crowd of potential buyers for the last dingy box of vinyl under his arm.

“I was gonna send ’em over to the used-record store, but if you want any of the vinyl, I’ll take $1 a piece,” he says, flopping the box down on the floor.

Instantly, bassist Derock Tucker, vocalist Matt Carmichael and guitarists Davin Givhan and Michael J. Salter dive in to collect some random wax: Bob Dylan, Cannonball Adderly, the Beatles, George Gershwin and others. Meanwhile, drummer Steve Coy continues to explain how a metal-inspired cover of Chick Corea’s “You Are Everything” wound up on their album Opera Comique (officially out Dec. 10). Judging by the musical tastes of his bandmates, it’s not hard to fathom.

“You get so few chances to do something original,” says Coy. “It’s ironic that our cover [song] would be the original thing, but surely no one’s done a heavy-metal bebop version of that song.”

He’s probably right. But beyond their ballsy rock edge, quirky cover songs and conceptual flair (the entire album is loosely based on the opera Carmen), BPB thrive on a marriage of accessible musicianship, unflinching eclecticism and the courage to name themselves after the site of golf’s 2009 U.S. Open.

Though their solidified roster is only a few months old, the songs have been marinating a while. Coy composed the lyrics and melodies for Opera Comique three years ago following the clichéd woes of a bad break-up. The lovelorn madness and dark imagery seep into the fabric of songs like “Sixteen Candles,” “Panic Attack” and “Curtains.”

However, the band doesn’t take itself too seriously.

“Oh, I like emo,” deadpans Givhan, drawing laughter from his bandmates. Still, the fact that BPB melds crunchy guitar and pummeling rhythms to a 164-year-old opera about chaotic love shows a progressive pop prowess that few would’ve imagined.

“I wanted to draw on that background, not for the sake of some hollow historicism, but [because] the material we’re using is meaningful to the overarching story of the band,” says Coy.

Combining the searing guitar wizardry of Givhan (who has toured with artists Lauryn Hill and Saul Williams) with Salter (of Eugene and the 1914 and Tiger Tank Euphoria) and Carmichael (of ’80s cover band Knyght Ryder), BPB houses various rock ‘n’ roll pedigrees, from classically-trained to self-taught. Arena-rock solos and soaring vocals pounce on punk passion and art-kid angst. In the end, it’s the musicianship that pulls it together.

“I think part of what we were trying to do going into this is put [the music] in the hands of capable people,” says Tucker.

After recording the album in various studios, garages and apartments, they hired production wiz and Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens to mix their Frankenstein marriage of metal, jazz and power pop in the studio.

Coy and Tucker readily admit that the Opera Comique tracks were in need of some professional tweakage.

“I think Ikey helped us deconstruct everything and put flavor back in,” says Coy, who shared many hours in the studio with Owens to explore the explosive, vibrant textures at work on the album.

After months of preparation and recording, the band prepares to unveil their live show to first-time spectators at their record release show at the Art Theatre—a fitting destination, perhaps. Though their style is a departure from the flannel and jangly guitars of Long Beach’s rock landscape, Bethpage Black is poised to show an unsuspecting fan base just how bad-ass a Chick Corea song can be—in case they didn’t already know.

- District Weekly