It was during the film Friday Night Lights—or at least the theme music. In that moment, the
door opened for Barry Mielke to the world of post-rock
via the beautiful builds and swells of Explosions in the Sky. Since
then, Mielke and band mate Darryl Silvestri have slowly been developing
their sound and audience for Driving on City Sidewalks. With a label
home in tact and their first documentary score behind them, it seems
the platform only gets larger from here for the Michigan-based band.
RELEVANT recently caught up with Mielke to discuss the band’s beginnings and future—and how exactly you convey a message without any lyrics.
I guess a proper place to start is with the moniker. Where did Driving on City Sidewalks come from?
A long time ago, Darryl and I were playing with some other friends of ours before taking a huge break. I’m driving back in my town, which is very small, and it was late at night. I saw these signs driving in that said, "No parking on city streets" and I don’t know if I was tired or not, but I had this thought of "If you can’t park on the street, I wonder if you could drive on the sidewalks." Then I thought, "Driving on City Sidewalks. Yeah, if I’m ever in a band …"
Then when I started recording stuff and putting it up on the MySpace page, instead of calling myself Barry Mielke, which seems rather boring, I just called myself that. And it’s been the same ever since.
What is it about the instrumental side of things that draws you? What is the power behind that for you?
Even as a kid, if there was a cool melody on the radio, it was never just that. It was never just music. There was Stevie Wonder or another big pop band at the time and I remember wondering why they would add that. I wondered why the only instrumental music I heard was classical music. Then when I saw the movie Friday Nights Lights and heard the theme from Explosions in the Sky, it just brought everything back to that. When I heard that, it just made sense. I just thought, "You totally don’t need the music to convey a message." So, while I do have the odd lyric here and there, I really don’t want to rely on lyrics to bring the message home. I just like the fact that I can convey something through only music.
Have you learned any lessons about conveying a message musically?
I don’t know. I played a lot in worship bands and stuff growing up. I hope it doesn’t sound egotistical or pompous to say this in any way, but I realized that what I did on the drums would really convey emotion to people. If I built a part up before a chorus and let everything die down after that, people were really receptive to that. I think how you can convey those kind of things without lyrics … dynamics play such a huge part. Even if you don’t continue the build and drop things off, and all that’s left is a subtle melody of a couple notes that ring out, that still works.
When you use words so sparingly, how do you decide when you actually place them in?
That’s a good question. There’s something I’m working on now and it’s for my mom. The melody is very simple and only has three or four lines. My mom has multiple sclerosis and it affects the nervous system. There are four lines that convey something to me and her that nobody else could understand. So, instead of going through this huge story of how I felt when I was 16 years old and she got diagnosed, and then how I felt at 31 when she had a huge attack again, I’m just using four lines that capture the last 15 or 16 years of my mom with this disease. I didn’t have to take all that time to tell the entire story. That’s all I need to convey the emotions and passion that I have and the struggle of this disease.
To use words sparingly almost drives it home more. If I’m listening to a song that’s largely instrumental and then all of a sudden, there are three or four lines, it almost makes you pay attention to those few lines and have them really take hold.
So what kind of momentum are you enjoying right now?
Things are going pretty good. With Count Your Lucky Stars Records, they have a PR guy and he’s been putting out press and he emails me every time the CD gets reviewed. So, some of that is really good and probably an equal amount is not good. [Laughs] But honestly, it impacts me for a little bit and then I realize that it’s not my full-time job. It’s always been a hobby for me, even as a teenager. Now that I’m putting stuff out with Darryl and we’re in a band and we’re putting our art out there in public, that opens us up to be reviewed. That’s cool with me overall.
It is still a little surreal that any of this is happening. After all I’m just a guy that likes music. I’m thanking God for all of this. Even the bad reviews I’m loving in a way—it’s just funny how the bad reviews have changed my outlook on other people's work. Before, I had a pretty cut and dry sense of what I liked and felt free to offer those opinions out. Now, I see other artists as individuals with different styles, life circumstances, etc. And I think to myself, "How could I possibly offer my opinion up, good or bad, when I have no idea where they are coming from?" I am much less negative when it comes to other bands and genres of music now. Obviously they liked what they created, so why do I think I can just critique their creativity? The very gift God gave to every single one of us?
The momentum doesn’t have to come from peers or other people. If I’m sitting in my budget studio in my basement and I like what’s coming out, then that’s all the momentum I need to keep it going. It’s cool to be able to play music for myself and then have others come along. Maybe they like it and maybe they don’t, but that’s their opinion. It’s all good. Things are going pretty good and I’m happy with everything right now actually.
I know that Explosions in the Sky is the obvious influence for beginning this whole venture, but is that the best point of reference musically?
I don’t know. I’ve been listening to Explosions quite a bit again. Definitely, they are a guitar-driven instrumental band and the similarity is definitely there. But some of the newer stuff that’s getting created, I’m almost afraid to say it, but it has a Pedro the Lion kind of tinge to it—the early, early stuff. It’s in the way that the guitar parts are driven. I’m obviously not trying to rip it off, but it’s just got that feel. It’s hard because you send something to friends and they will then reference what it reminds them of, like twothirtyeight or Pedro the Lion.
So, Explosions is a big influence. Moving Mountains is huge and I love the way they approach things. I wouldn’t say what we’re putting out directly sounds like it. But it is the vein that we’re in for sure.
So, what's happening next for the band?
Well, I found a drummer to come in and play for us. Then I have a bass player who I believe will commit. Basically, it’s about playing and practicing and getting ready to play shows, even if it’s just five or six songs while opening for another band. That would definitely be the highlight right now—playing this stuff live. There’s a lot of material out there that we could put a full-length out this fall or winter or even early 2010. A full-length is in the works since I’m working on a lot of stuff now. Some of the stuff I did for the documentary, I could also see that released on a full-length.
