The Inner Party

The Inner Party, an eclectic punk band from Northwest Arkansas, has announced they will be releasing two new singles this fall, with the first titled “Souvenirs” expected to impact radio on October 8, 2013. This is a sneak peek into the band’s upcoming album “The Inner Party Make a Mess” which should complete recording in spring of 2014. Amid a struggling music scene, and a few line-up changes, The Inner Party has proven that perseverance and passion will win out, as the core members Dave and Keith push on through to bring this album to life.

We’re excited to get our hands on the new album so we can share it with our readers. After our first listen here at the newsdesk we found “Souveniers” to be very reminiscent of The Damned, Angry Samoans, The Adicts, and the post-punk era. Strong guitars and straight-forward rock vocals with a good, vicious bassline.

Find out more about The Inner Party from their official site. - Pure Rock News

By Kody Ford
Editor
The Inner Party is a force to be reckoned with. Hailing from Fayetteville, AR, they play a teeth grinding, pulse pounding form of post-punk that blends the Pixies with Queens of the Stone Age and many other bands you can’t quite put your finger on, but know you love.
Formerly established by singer/guitarist Keith Miller and bassist Dave Morris in 2007, the Inner Party released their debut EP Honky Heretics, which received praise from Arkansas media. After performing regionally in 2008 and 2009 to support the album, the band entered into a lengthy hiatus while Miller and Morris pursued other interests. The band resumed full time live performances in late 2011, with new members Jimmy Holloway (guitar) and Ezra Quinn (drums).
Having shared the stage with everyone from Lucero to Ashtray Babyhead to The SEE, the Inner Party puts on a hell of a live show. Their on-stage prowess led to a phenomenal opportunity in June 2012. The band won free recording time at East Hall Recording Studio, where they laid down tracks for their latest EP, Degenerate Era with Chris Moore (Thunderlizards, Pagiins). After raising over $2,000 via Kickstarter, the Inner Party self-released the record on October 9, 2012.
According to Morris, Kickstarter allowed them the opportunity to involve their fan base while obtaining third-party legitimacy.
“Any idiot with money can pay to have some CDs pressed, but it’s a lot trickier to put out a record relying solely on the support of your audience,” he said. “Doing it via Kickstarter legitimized it in a (small) way since lots of ‘real’ bands do it like that now and many bands try and fail to do it that way. So, in addition to being happy that we had the money for a proper release, it also feels like we really achieved something by succeeding with our Kickstarter campaign.”
Describing the experience as stressful, educational and rewarding, Morris stated the hardest part of the campaign was the fine line that one must walk when asking friends for money.
“I’m sure I personally probably alienated a few people during our Kickstarter [campaign],” said Morris. “I am extremely grateful and thankful that we pulled it off, and honestly a little bit surprised. [U]ntil we actually surpassed our goal, we operated under a ‘do or die’ mentality, like we weren’t going to make it unless we just pushed as hard as we could.”
Degenerate Era is a step in a different direction for The Inner Party. For starters, having access to studio time versus recording on computers allowed them to develop their sound more in a manner cohesive to the stage. Moore, the owner of East Hall Recording Studio, engineered the album. This was the first time they had recorded with someone outside of the band. Also, Miller and Morris collaborated with band members to write the new songs while the tracks from Honky Heretics had mostly been leftover from Miller’s previous band.
Morris added, “Stylistically the songs are farther away from punk; most of them are longer/more complex, etc. It’s really just an all around evolution.”
Poverty is the greatest influence on the album according to Morris. He cited social and economic inequality as the primary theme on the record, which is rooted in protest songs.
“I love subtlety in art, but I feel like right now a lot of people really need to be hit over the head with a few basic ideas,” he said. “Mitt Romney really epitomized almost everything that we stand against, and I would like to think that his decisive loss in the Presidential election means that there are a lot of people that feel the way we do. I guess trying to connect with those people through music is a big part of what drove the writing, and obviously just trying to express those feelings of frustration and desperation was the most important part. I don’t want for people to think of us as some one dimensional political band, but this EP does contain a pretty concentrated dose of political discontent and social unrest and there is more where that came from.”
In the future, The Inner Party wants to release a few singles, record a full-length album and tour. Morris is cautious, but optimistic about their chances at pulling this off.
“We have high hopes and big plans,” he said. “Of course all of those things require ever elusive money, so we might not accomplish any of those goals. We sure as hell are gonna try. A lot of people we know think it’s absurd to have ambitions like that nowadays, but we still want to try to ‘make it’ and have this be all we do for a living. We’ve all tried other things and of course we all have ‘real’ jobs, but I think for all of us this is the big thing. This is all I personally am ever going to be happy doing, so I have to figure out a way to keep it going. I don’t think there’s much point in being in a band if you’re not playing shows, writing music, and releasing it out into the world.” - The Idle Class

By Kody Ford
Editor
The Inner Party is a force to be reckoned with. Hailing from Fayetteville, AR, they play a teeth grinding, pulse pounding form of post-punk that blends the Pixies with Queens of the Stone Age and many other bands you can’t quite put your finger on, but know you love.
Formerly established by singer/guitarist Keith Miller and bassist Dave Morris in 2007, the Inner Party released their debut EP Honky Heretics, which received praise from Arkansas media. After performing regionally in 2008 and 2009 to support the album, the band entered into a lengthy hiatus while Miller and Morris pursued other interests. The band resumed full time live performances in late 2011, with new members Jimmy Holloway (guitar) and Ezra Quinn (drums).
Having shared the stage with everyone from Lucero to Ashtray Babyhead to The SEE, the Inner Party puts on a hell of a live show. Their on-stage prowess led to a phenomenal opportunity in June 2012. The band won free recording time at East Hall Recording Studio, where they laid down tracks for their latest EP, Degenerate Era with Chris Moore (Thunderlizards, Pagiins). After raising over $2,000 via Kickstarter, the Inner Party self-released the record on October 9, 2012.
According to Morris, Kickstarter allowed them the opportunity to involve their fan base while obtaining third-party legitimacy.
“Any idiot with money can pay to have some CDs pressed, but it’s a lot trickier to put out a record relying solely on the support of your audience,” he said. “Doing it via Kickstarter legitimized it in a (small) way since lots of ‘real’ bands do it like that now and many bands try and fail to do it that way. So, in addition to being happy that we had the money for a proper release, it also feels like we really achieved something by succeeding with our Kickstarter campaign.”
Describing the experience as stressful, educational and rewarding, Morris stated the hardest part of the campaign was the fine line that one must walk when asking friends for money.
“I’m sure I personally probably alienated a few people during our Kickstarter [campaign],” said Morris. “I am extremely grateful and thankful that we pulled it off, and honestly a little bit surprised. [U]ntil we actually surpassed our goal, we operated under a ‘do or die’ mentality, like we weren’t going to make it unless we just pushed as hard as we could.”
Degenerate Era is a step in a different direction for The Inner Party. For starters, having access to studio time versus recording on computers allowed them to develop their sound more in a manner cohesive to the stage. Moore, the owner of East Hall Recording Studio, engineered the album. This was the first time they had recorded with someone outside of the band. Also, Miller and Morris collaborated with band members to write the new songs while the tracks from Honky Heretics had mostly been leftover from Miller’s previous band.
Morris added, “Stylistically the songs are farther away from punk; most of them are longer/more complex, etc. It’s really just an all around evolution.”
Poverty is the greatest influence on the album according to Morris. He cited social and economic inequality as the primary theme on the record, which is rooted in protest songs.
“I love subtlety in art, but I feel like right now a lot of people really need to be hit over the head with a few basic ideas,” he said. “Mitt Romney really epitomized almost everything that we stand against, and I would like to think that his decisive loss in the Presidential election means that there are a lot of people that feel the way we do. I guess trying to connect with those people through music is a big part of what drove the writing, and obviously just trying to express those feelings of frustration and desperation was the most important part. I don’t want for people to think of us as some one dimensional political band, but this EP does contain a pretty concentrated dose of political discontent and social unrest and there is more where that came from.”
In the future, The Inner Party wants to release a few singles, record a full-length album and tour. Morris is cautious, but optimistic about their chances at pulling this off.
“We have high hopes and big plans,” he said. “Of course all of those things require ever elusive money, so we might not accomplish any of those goals. We sure as hell are gonna try. A lot of people we know think it’s absurd to have ambitions like that nowadays, but we still want to try to ‘make it’ and have this be all we do for a living. We’ve all tried other things and of course we all have ‘real’ jobs, but I think for all of us this is the big thing. This is all I personally am ever going to be happy doing, so I have to figure out a way to keep it going. I don’t think there’s much point in being in a band if you’re not playing shows, writing music, and releasing it out into the world.” - The Idle Class

The guys from The Inner Party stopped by the studio for a chat about songwriting, raising money, and distributing their music.

Listen to the interview via the link below. - Natural State Radio

The guys from The Inner Party stopped by the studio for a chat about songwriting, raising money, and distributing their music.

Listen to the interview via the link below. - Natural State Radio

---Kody Ford

The Inner Party is one of Fayetteville's up and coming acts. Having shared the stage with the likes of Lucero, The Good Fear, and Ashtray Babyhead, the band appeals to a diverse audience through their quirky lyrics, punk rock energy, and inventiveness. Think the Pixies with a little bit of Ween and a lot of every band your mother would hate. The band is comprised of Keith Miller (vocals, guitar, programming), Dave Morris a.k.a. Tato (bass, vocals), Kara Wilber (keyboards, vocals, cowbell) Gray Warlick (guitar) and Steve Adair (drums). Nightflying recently sat down with Tato and asked him a few questions about the band. The following are excerpts from the interview.

NF: How did the Inner Party come together?
Tato: "When we first met back in 1999, Keith had a band called the Proles and we started writing and recording songs on the side and we've been kind of at it ever since. I was in the Proles for about two seconds and we've both had other stuff going on musically since then but we had both mostly been kind of f—king around, focusing on non-music stuff until about two years ago when we decided to try to make this work full time. About a year ago we brought Kara into the mix and a few months later Gray came along. We had been playing with automated drums (aka using a computer as a drum machine) since the beginning for a lot of reasons, some very controversial within the band, until we had a bad show late last August. Steve and I had already been friends for a while at this point, and he had indicated that he wanted to play drums for the Party if we ever added a live drummer, and considering how blown away we all were every time we played with (Steve's other band) Friday Maybe Saturday it was a no-brainer to get him in the band. We've fortunately managed to keep this line-up stable. Keith and I like to joke about replacing Gray with a child playing Guitar Hero and many other corny one-liners, but we'd never get rid of him. We're a team and we're a family."

NF: How would you describe your music?
Tato: "More than anything I'd have to say we sound like a mess, but I'll just toss out some bands that were influential on different aspects of the Inner Party: the Pixies, Sonic Youth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Talking Heads, DEVO, the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Descendents, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Black Sabbath. There's a lot more but those were just the ones that immediately came to mind. Everyone in the Inner Party likes a lot of different kinds of music and we're just interested in playing music we like and that we think is good. I will say that Keith is pretty keen on our set being filled with faster paced rock songs. I really like our slower songs and I'm hoping to do more of them at some point in the future."

NF: What makes your music special?
Tato: "I think that in many ways what we're doing is pretty unique and I think it's extremely unique in the microcosm of the Fayetteville music scene. I hope that means that there are some folks around here that find something in our music that they don't get from anyone else around here. We do everything we can to make it worth a person's proverbial while to follow our band; we're always putting up new songs online and we give away free downloads of our EP to people that can't afford to buy our CD and we try to do everything we can to not be pricks to people at our shows, although I'm sure I personally fail in that respect at times. Sorry everyone. This is really more of a question for anyone that says they think our music is special though, so please track those folks down and ask them. Oh, and tell them we love them."

NF: How does the songwriting process work for the band?
Tato: "A lot of our songs have been around for several years. Some are songs from Keith's days in the Proles. Some are songs that he wrote and recorded by himself and never did anything with. Some are songs that I wrote by myself and wasn't sure what to do with them. However, this is not to say that we don't still write and play some brand new songs right now. "It's Alright Now", "Student Loans", and "Neverending" are examples of songs that came together well after we'd been playing together as the Inner Party. As far as the actual writing goes though it's a pretty independent process for each of us. Keith will usually write and record rough demos of his songs by himself and then let me here them and then once I throw some bass down on the demos we teach them to the whole band. My songs usually work the same way although I don't usually record anything completely alone before bringing him in. We both have different takes on why we write and what we write about, etc. so I'm gonna leave that question alone for the time being and just focus - Nightflying

Once upon a time there was a message board for a band. On this message board there were all sorts of malcontents and ne’er do wells who tended to speak among themselves of lyrics and song and regard outsiders with a wary eye. One of those reclusive souls live in Houston and when hurricane Rita came through he tucked tail and ran to Fayetteville, Arkansas in sheer terror. Once there he found a certain other member of this legendary message board who in turn took him to one Dickson Street Theater and introduced to him to Mr. Branan. Mr. Branan proceeded to take the stage and much Jaeger was consumed. (As an aside the message board in question is also how I met a certain guy who runs a certain blog and ended up spewing out my opinion for the world to scoff at!)

That right there is the story of how I met Dave Morris aka Tato who has this little band with some other kids from Arkansas called The Inner Party. While their music isn’t the usual 9B fare it’s some damn fine stuff that we think deserves your support. You see they won some time in the studio and recorded this little EP, The Degenerate Era, live, to two track tape so it will have that delicious analog feel we all love. My personal feeling is that this EP has a very post-punk feel. I can hear Joy Division in the bass on some tracks and there’s certainly some Pixies hiding in there. Listening to the tracks on Soundcloud really took me back to a much younger me and a club that was always a little too dark with girls who were always a little too pale. The Degenerate Era is a well crafted piece that will certainly find a home in your heart if you have the sort of musical background I have feeling a lot of us around here have. Dave Morris describes the lyrics as “”a direct attack on the very concept of wealth, straight from the heart of poverty” and I can’t disagree with him at all.

All they need now is a little help from us to make some shiny plastic discs so they can inflict their music on the world! So break out your wallet, grab your credit card, and toss these guys a little monetary assistance. Hell they even have a 1.00 level so there’s really no excuse even if you are a cheap bastard! - NineBullets.net

The Inner Party hail from Fayetteville, Arkansas and this is their debut EP. However they have been playing informally for about ten years. The sounds represented here are varied, but not necessarily that diverse. These guys bring in elements of punk rock both old and new as well as some pop and light industrial touches too. The title track kicks things off with the title track which is a short down and dirty instrumental. "Drunk Fool" follows and it reminds me of early DOA only with a dose of fuzz slapped around the overall sound. "Untouchable" has a similar guitar tone, but the energy is far more restrained. It's flows well and has a more pop approach. "Walkman" is a mid-tempo track with a low, deep sound. This song demonstrates the bands ability to really control the pace of the song. I wasn't big on the drum sound though because it sounded a little clunky. "Used Parts" comes blaring on with an intentionally static sounding production. It's a very okay song and different but tedious. I think since it's the middle of the album they really needed something to revive the album at this point and this wasn't it. "Proles Theme" gets back on a track with a simple yet crunchy sound. It's repetitive, but steady and loud so that helps. "Nameless" is a thick slab of droning rock that across as ambitious at first, but perhaps over stays it's a welcome by about minute or so as it stumbles to a close. After this there is an unlisted track which features some low humming for a while and some spoken rambling. Really this one was more filler than anything. "Honky Heretics" isn't anything that you have not heard before. At it's best it's basic, honest and to the point. At it's low points they get caught up in experimenting with effects and forget about how to rock. It's more hit than miss though although most of the high points come in the first half of the half of the album. So here is hoping that they realize their strengths and make the best use of their talents when they get around to doing a full length album. - Heavy Metal Time Machine

The Inner Party hail from Fayetteville, Arkansas and this is their debut EP. However they have been playing informally for about ten years. The sounds represented here are varied, but not necessarily that diverse. These guys bring in elements of punk rock both old and new as well as some pop and light industrial touches too. The title track kicks things off with the title track which is a short down and dirty instrumental. "Drunk Fool" follows and it reminds me of early DOA only with a dose of fuzz slapped around the overall sound. "Untouchable" has a similar guitar tone, but the energy is far more restrained. It's flows well and has a more pop approach. "Walkman" is a mid-tempo track with a low, deep sound. This song demonstrates the bands ability to really control the pace of the song. I wasn't big on the drum sound though because it sounded a little clunky. "Used Parts" comes blaring on with an intentionally static sounding production. It's a very okay song and different but tedious. I think since it's the middle of the album they really needed something to revive the album at this point and this wasn't it. "Proles Theme" gets back on a track with a simple yet crunchy sound. It's repetitive, but steady and loud so that helps. "Nameless" is a thick slab of droning rock that across as ambitious at first, but perhaps over stays it's a welcome by about minute or so as it stumbles to a close. After this there is an unlisted track which features some low humming for a while and some spoken rambling. Really this one was more filler than anything. "Honky Heretics" isn't anything that you have not heard before. At it's best it's basic, honest and to the point. At it's low points they get caught up in experimenting with effects and forget about how to rock. It's more hit than miss though although most of the high points come in the first half of the half of the album. So here is hoping that they realize their strengths and make the best use of their talents when they get around to doing a full length album. - Heavy Metal Time Machine

On Monday, Fayetteville band the Inner Party will release their first CD at George’s. Dreamfast and the Heat Machine will open the show.

We got in touch with Dave “Tato” Morris to get his perspective on the new release, and he was nice enough to answer some questions for us.

Fayetteville Flyer: Where did you guys record?
The Inner Party: Keith (Miller, the Inner Party’s frontman) and I recorded the CD at his place, although incidentally he moved THREE times during the recording so it was recorded in three different apartments on his computer using Nuendo mainly.

FF: How many tracks are on this baby?
IP: There are 7 “official” tracks on the E.P., although there are 8 actual tracks. If you skip ahead to track 8 you’ll hear something special.

FF: What are you calling the CD, and where’d the name come from?
IP: The E.P. is called “Honky Heretics” and it’s named after the first track. It’s an instrumental that we used to open most of our shows with, although there is a recorded version with vocals and we played the vocal version live once. We’re saving the recording of it for the 5 year super deluxe reissue or whatever if we ever get a chance to do something like that. Keith and I actually argued for a while about exactly what to call it but eventually settled on HH b/c we knew we wanted the instrumental to be the first track and it kind of makes it the theme song for the whole E.P. The name “Honky Heretics” refers to the folks you’ll see out on Dickson Street some nights holding up signs about how “God hates sex” or some other such foolishness, hence the back cover art for the CD. Keith actually saw a guy holding up a sign that said “the party ends in Hell” and we just kind of adopted it as our slogan. You’d probably get a different answer from him or anyone else in the band if you asked them precisely what it means, but to me both the title and the slogan are about viewing the sign people on Dickson and others of their ilk as the fringe lunatics they are. We’re not really a political band per se but I personally am very political and sometimes that comes out in the songs I write or the things I say in an interview like this or on stage at a show. It think pre-Obama the political climate was downright dangerous for, among many others, any kind of countercultural artist for a number of reasons. Art always has the possiblity of being the biggest casualty of any culture war in my opinion, and the Bush led secular vs. religious war was absolutely no different. Any encroachments on the First Amendment and the notion of Natural Rights at the very least threaten to compromise the ability of artists to express themselves fully, and this is all to say nothing of the fact that this is a very difficult economic climate and it’s tough for most up-and-coming musicians to hold down jobs and make enough money to support themselves at even the most basic level and pursue a band intensely enough to have a prayer in hell of making a career out of it. It’s specifically troublesome that there are so many problems with medical insurance, etc. for people on the lower end of the income spectrum (which musicians almost always are) and hopefully this is one thing that will change for the better post-Obama. Unfortunately though the de-regulators who caused most of this economic mess are focused taking attacks of opportunity on organized labor and playing partisan politics and this will make it all the more difficult for things like healthcare to get fixed. Anyway, I realize I’m kind of all over the map and waaay off on a tangent that could be a whole other interview by itself but long story short to me the name “Honky Heretics” mocks the people and situations I’ve just been bitching about, even moreso when it’s coupled in context with a band name like the Inner Party.

FF: What was the recording process like, ie, did you record mostly live, track by track?
IP: We tracked pretty much everything individually. The recording process was really spread out since we were doing it on our own and also had to juggle things like jobs, hangovers, regular band practice, and social lives with recording. We (especially Keith) have been playing around with home recording for a long time and we can actually work very quickly if we have uninterrupted time to devote to doing it. If money were not a consideration and we could just hole up somewhere for a month and work we could probably record 3 or 4 full length records. We’re basically a hillbilly noise rock Prince.

FF: How long have you been working on this thing?
IP: The recording has basically been finished since May, although we did remaster it shortly before sending it off to get pressed. We wanted to get it out right after it was finished but it took a while to get the art together and most importantly to get the funds together in the Bush economy. Thankfully we managed to pull it off and now hopefully we can move enough merch to perpetuate future releases.

FF: Any sweet s - Fayetteville Flyer

The Inner Party is a relatively new band to the scene in Fayetteville, and they’ve already played some pretty big shows.

To this point, they have been a rock band without a drummer. Seems strange, but it somehow works thanks to some clever drum sequencing, and probably a lot of practice.

We have high hopes for these guys. They are talented, hardworking, and relentless promoters, and a great addition to the Fayetteville scene. You can check them out on myspace or you can hear a demo of “It’s Alright Now” below. They will also be appearing live at the Dickson St. Theater Thursday July 17th along with locals Dreamfast, and Friday, Maybe Saturday. Dave Morris from the band was nice enough to answer some questions. Good job.

FF: What have you been listening to lately?
IP: Nine Inch Nails – The Slip, Crystal Castles – s/t, Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into, Pulp – This Is Hardcore, Iggy Pop – Blah Blah Blah, Catherine Wheel – Happy Days, Oasis – Be Here Now, American Princes – Other People, The Good Fear – Dirty Lowdown Adventure, The Cure – Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and the singles from the upcoming new record, and “Guitar Hero”, which is the kick ass new single from Amanda Palmer’s (of the Dresden Dolls) upcoming solo album. That’s most everything from this week as far as music goes. I also listen to Air America constantly in my vehicle and I particulary enjoy Randi Rhodes, Rachel Maddow, Mike Malloy, and Ed Schultz.

FF: How do you perceive the music scene in Fayetteville?
IP: I think it’s a lot better than it has been in a long time. I was as depressed if not moreso than anyone after the closing of the almighty JR’s and I think if we had the scene in 2005 that we have currently that the motherf*cker would have never shut down. I do think it’s a bit splintered now and that we have some snobs in our midst but I guess that’s also probably pretty normal. For some reason our band has been really accepted by the metal scene, which is definitely thriving and awesome, so we’re naturally pretty partial and loyal to all those folks. Overall I perceive the scene to be in apretty good state but people still need to go to more shows to support both local and touring bands because we definitely have some room to grow and improve. I felt like this entire area was drying up and rotting away culturally for a while but that doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment. Hopefully it won’t ever be again. I think a lot of that has to do with the vast and varied house show scene that sprang up after JR’s closed and that led to some venues catching on and bringing some of that music out of the basements and back to Dickson Street. I just hope people continue to go out and check out new things and that there’s a nice balance of house shows and bar shows in case there’s another slew of bar closings.

FF: What are some other bands around town we should check out that we might not know about yet?
Friday, Maybe Saturday (which is a confusing bitch to put on flyers), Indiana & the Byrds, the Sinking South, Pile of Dead Women, the Drunkards, Dreamfast, the Pullout Method, the F*ck-Tards, Dirtmother, Bryce Harrison, Deadbird, Basement Cult, and Will West to name a few.

FF: You guys opened for Lucero a while back. How was that?
I’ve been friends with those guys for a very long time and I’ve always wanted to play a show with them. The same goes for The Good Fear who were also on the bill, and as a fan of those bands it was like two big dreams coming true. We were pretty nervous about it though since it was only our third show and the typical Fayetteville Lucero crowd isn’t really made up of a lot of folks I would ever expect to listen to us, but everyone was pretty cool and we made some new friends and fans and had a lot of fun. As a lot of people that have been going to Fayetteville Lucero shows for a long time probably know I like to get rowdy and stupid and this time it was nice to do it when I was actually supposed to be on stage instead of just babbling into the mic while taking shots with the band. I’m sure I still made a little bit of an ass out of myself like I always do at those shows, but this time I wasn’t even remotely embarassed about it whereas I am usually at least a little embarassed about it. Ben (Nichols, from Lucero) has always been very supportive of what we’ve been trying to do with this band and we definitely appreciate him getting us on that show. He came out to see us at Vino’s (in Little Rock) last month and that was pretty cool as well because he obviously has a unique perspective on what we’re doing and it’s both fun and helpful to talk to him about what’s going on. Wade (Ogle, co-owner of the Dickson Theater) was also very helpful with that show and our upcoming show at the Theater and we appreciate that too. Not many bands get to play a show like that, especially early in their careers, so we feel very lucky to have had such an opportunity and ho - Fayetteville Flyer

When we last checked in with Fayetteville band The Inner Party, people still used MySpace. That’s a pretty good indicator that it’s been too long. (Poor MySpace).

It has been so long, in fact, that the band took a two-year hiatus, and reformed to add two new members to join founders Dave Morris and Keith Miller.

They’re back now and stronger than ever these days, and they’ll be at Rogue opening for their friends Dreamfast tonight (May 11). They are also set to headline a show at The Lightbulb next Friday, May 19 with Lincoln, NE band Universe Contest.

We caught up with the band recently, and three out of four of them answered all our questions. Not bad!

Fayetteville Flyer: What have you been listening to lately?

Keith: Atheist and skeptic podcasts (Non-Prophets, Good Atheist, Godless Bitches, Imaginary Friends Show, Skeptics Guide to the Universe), Burt Bacharach, Purple Rain, Art Vs. Science, Joey Ramone, Julian Cope, Kaiser Chiefs, Jamie T, The Horrors, ELO, Doug Stanhope, Dead Milkmen, ABBA, These New Puritans, Slade, Ride, Penn Jillette’s audio book “God, No!,” Louis XIV. I’m always listening to stuff I’m working on.

Jimmy: City and Colour, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, Tricky, and an assortment of underground hip hop.

Dave: I’ve listened to the National more or less constantly for the last two years. “High Violet” is the best record I’ve heard in quite a while. I love the new Marilyn Manson and Garbage records! I am listening to a lot of Soundgarden in anticipation of their upcoming record. Also, we recently played with three very good out of town bands – Broncho (OK), Lizard Police (OK), and the Blind Pets (TX). I’ve listened to them a lot since their respective shows. They’re all coming back soon as well, so you should come see what the big deal is about each of them.

FF: You guys took a little break since we talked to you last. How does it feel to be back in action?

Keith: It’s been a real uphill battle to get the booking going again; Dave can tell you about it. I think we’ve finally started to get it kind of flowing after six months or so of trying. Getting back into the scene is a bit like digging a ditch. That being said, playing shows has been really good mostly. I’ve really liked playing at LaLa Land and JR’s is pretty fun to play at.

Dave: Booking shows is a nightmare. When you haven’t played a show in two years, you may as well have never played a show at all. The starting over aspect of it sucked, but we’re settling into a groove and have made some new friends and reconnected with some old friends so it’s getting a lot better. My big lesson from our time apart is that I will never be happy doing anything other than this. And by “this” I don’t just mean playing music, I mean playing in this very band. It’s all I want. I of course do want for us to be able to do things on a larger scale, but I am mostly just thankful that we’re back together.

FF: Tell us a bit about the current lineup, and how you started playing together.

Keith: Well, there’s me and Dave, aka Tato, and we’ve been working together off and on for over a decade. Last summer I went to FreeOK, the Oklahoma free thought convention, and ran into Jimmy. He expressed interest in playing guitar in a band. I was reluctant, not knowing anything about his playing and how he would fit, etc, but I finally gave him a call and have been happy about it ever since. He’s enthusiastic and that’s worth as much or more than a lot of other qualities people look for in band mates. That’s not to say he doesn’t have those other qualities.

Ezra, our drummer, was just a guy I had seen around town. I met him briefly once, that’s it. It was hard to miss him, he had a huge mohawk. I was talking to some friends and they suggested him. I was unsure about him too but for different reasons. I didn’t think a guy like he seemed to be would want to play a lot of the stuff we have. But it turns out we met at the perfect time. He was actually getting into a lot of new stuff for him and so was willing to try playing different things. He’s got a lot of energy, which you wouldn’t know from looking at him most of the time. He’s pretty reserved in public. But, he’s not reserved when he plays drums. When he’s feeling it, he beats the hell out of them.

Dave: As Keith said, he and I have played together for a long time and I’m pretty sure we’ve recounted the band’s “origin story” comic book style in one of our past interviews with you fine folks at the Fayetteville Flyer (though probably without that much alliteration). I would like to add two things to what he said though. 1: I’d like to give a big shout out to Beau Cousins (Queen Beast, Lethal Red, the Drunkards) for playing with us at various times since our reformation, and 2: I’d like to thank Honey Kostelac (The Pullout Method/Womanimal) for suggesting we play with Ezra, because there’s no way that would have happened otherwise and we’re very lucky to have him. As I’m sure any - Fayetteville Flyer