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Arts & Entertainment

Meet Meadower: Hardworking and Rocking Indie Band

Patch columnist Ryan Felton talks with bassist Mack Partin of Meadower.

Band: Meadower

Members: Joel Gullickson, drums; Mack Partin, bass; and Matt Provost, vocals/guitar

The skinny: Meadower was created out of the ashes of former Metro Detroit band The Talkies. Partin and Provost decided to keep jamming together and start a new band with influences stemming from the flock of indie rock bands that jump-started new generations of music (Dinosaur Jr., Television and The Flaming Lips). Having already completed a CD-EP and a 7-inch soon to follow, they have intentions to keep writing songs and playing shows as frequently as possible.

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Ferndale Patch: What is it about Ferndale that plays as an influence to your music? What are the best parts about the city?

Mack Partin: The cool thing about being in a band and living in Ferndale is you're surrounded by venues. There are tons of places to play and go to shows. So seeing other bands play has been a huge influence on all of us. Seeing other musicians playing always get us excited to write new stuff and to play and get better and better. The best part about Ferndale? I just like it. I ride my bike everywhere, something is almost always goin' on every night, and there are cool folks hangin' out.

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Ferndale Patch: How did you guys get together, and where do you see yourself headed in the next year?

Partin: Matt and I were in a band together for a while, and after (that) broke up, we found Joel and started writing. Pretty boring story: dudes from old bands and high school. In a year, we see ourselves doing a little touring, writing some more and putting out a few things. We should be putting out a 7-inch at the end of the summer/early fall with a band from Grand Rapids — Cartography. We are pretty stoked to just keep playing and finding more people to play in front of.

Ferndale Patch: What three bands play a direct role in to the reason why you wanted to start your band?

Partin: We all have pretty varied influences. If I had to list three, I would say Foo Fighters, Television and Bruce Springsteen. The "why" is kind of hard to answer. All those bands write and play songs with tons of passion and creativity. That type of feeling just dug its way into us early on, and music became our passion. Being in a band is the only logical thing you can do with that passion.

Ferndale Patch: What was the process like for recording your EP 1994? Why is that the name of the record?

Partin: 1994 is more or less the first six songs we wrote as a band. We wanted to start playing shows as soon as we could, so we finished those songs and recorded and mixed them all in a weekend. For something we didn't fuss over too much, we are really proud of it. I think the name 1994 came from Joel. He said 1994 was a good year, and we had been compared to a '90s band a few times, so it made sense.

Ferndale Patch: How do you feel about the record shops in the Ferndale area: Hybrid Moments, Record Collector? Royal Oak's UHF? In your opinion, how important is vinyl to punk/alternative music?

Ferndale Patch: Since UHF and Hybrid Moments have opened up in the last year, I've been feeding my vinyl habit more than I should. I find a lot of awesome new stuff at UHF, and recently, I have discovered some used gems at The Record Collector. It’s really important for punk/alternative bands to keep putting out records because having the physical album is a piece of art. Art is less disposable than digital files.

Ferndale Patch: What is one sentence that captures what a listener should expect from your songs and/or live show?

Partin: Fun, catchy songs that have even funner jams in them.

Ferndale Patch: If you could see one thing different in particular about the music scene around Detroit, what would it be?

Partin: The only thing I would want to see change is to see more people engaged with local shows.

Ferndale Patch: What records of newer bands have caught your attention as of late?

Partin: We play the new National record in the van a lot. I’ve been getting into Marnie Stern's latest record. Bars of Gold are our favorite new local band. We recorded our EP at the same studio as those dudes. 

Ferndale Patch: With warmer weather and higher gas prices coming, are you guys planning any touring for this summer? Does the $4-plus-per-gallon for gas scare you away from wanting to go?

Partin: Yes and yes. We are going on tour at the end of July for a couple of weeks. We are hoping for a break with gas prices, but we are just planning to make it work. We’re really excited to be out on the road.

Ferndale Patch: If someone were to steal your record collection, what are five albums you hope they didn’t get?

Partin: Mostly my expensive ones.

  1. Foo Fighters — Foo Fighters
  2. Elvis Costello — This Year's Model
  3. The Hold Steady — Boys and Girls of America
  4. Archers of Loaf — All the Nations Airports
  5. Pavement — Terror Twilight

Hear the band: Check out Meadower on Facebook, Bandcamp and on its website. Meadower's six song CD-EP 1994 may be purchased at the band's shows.

See the band: Meadower is playing Wednesday at , with Sever Sever and Snow People. Doors open at 9 p.m. 21 and older.

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