Band hopes to bring back spirit of hard rock

by Sarah Laubacher
Staff Writer

Things have come together quickly for Dirty Johnny and The MakeBelieves — with their commitment to hard, fast and loud live shows, their style is conducive to sharing the bill with the many stripped-down, trashy, garage-rock bands currently on national tour.

The local band formed this summer and benefited from being one of the only bands in Athens' sleepy summer scene. They were asked to play a show before they had even put together a set, but since then, constant gigs at The Union, 18 W. Union St., have motivated them to produce about 11 or 12 original songs.

The band has mixed feelings on the current garage rock revival. "Dirty" John Edwards Clift, lead singer for The MakeBelieves, said he likes the idea of bringing back rock for rock's sake, but drummer Chris Corbin said there have been underground bands doing that all along."I disagree with trends in general," Corbin said, referring to mainstream media's glorification of garage rock. "It's just a way for people to make distinctions between things so they can communicate about them superficially."

Their sound is said to have an MC5 punk-rock feel, with Deep Purple influences, but Corbin said they have yet to achieve MC5 dynamics and are more like straightforward Stooges rock and roll.

Other influences include Stevie Wonder, Slade, Acid Mothers Temple, or a poorly rehearsed version of Thin Lizzy. The band agreed they want to bring back the spirit of hard rock.

"It's unpretentious rock — not self-conscious indie-rock" Corbin said, and when lead guitarist Matt Presutti is asked to describe their sound he tells people to "just go see it."

"If you come to our show and you don't like it, spend five minutes make believing that you do," Clift said. "We're firm believers in make believe. We believe that somewhere in those five minutes, we'll make a believer out of you."

Clift said he acquired the nickname "Dirty Johnny" when he moved to Chicago and had only one change of clothes for three weeks.

Corbin, Clift and Presutti are all from Athens, and wish to be a fun Friday night band that shakes up the Union crowd, similar to the bands they saw during their high school days.

"I like seeing music that has energy — it may be sloppy, but that's okay as long as it's loud and fast and has energy," Corbin said. "There's plenty of room for contemplative music, but when you come to see a live show, you just want to rock out."

Bass player Andrew Weiland said though their songs are only two to three minutes long, they contain many changes, and Clift and guitarist Jason Sproles said they prefer to provoke images that are not so sparkly — dull, with the dirt of the earth on it, so the hard work can show.

Sproles put it best when he said, "If it ain't dirty, it ain't clean."

IF YOU GO:

What: Dirty Johnny and The MakeBelieves with The Cherry Valence

Where: The Union Bar and Grill, 18 W. Union St.

When: Sunday, Nov. 10. Doors open at 10:00

Cover: There will be a cover.