The Sidekicks hail from Columbus, Ohio and formed in 2005. Their sound could be described as a mixture of indie rock and power pop, with influences ranging from Superchunk to early Weezer. However, on the band’s latest album, Awkward Breeds, they’ve definitely matured and developed their own unique style. We met with the group before their recent show at Beat Kitchen and discussed the new record at length, as well as their hometown, Red Scare Industries, touring and more. The Sidekicks’ lineup in comprised of singer/guitarist Steven Ciolek, guitarist Matt Scheuermann, bassist Ryan Starinsky and drummer Matt Climer.
Bill – Your new album was recorded at The Tone Shoppe in Columbus, OH. What was your experience in the studio like?
Steven – We recorded it with our friend Eric, who we did our last record with as well. We already had a pretty good relationship with him and were good friends. It was a good experience this time around because we were able to feel comfortable enough to try a bunch of new things. With the production, we were able to take more of an active role in how we wanted it to sound and get more specific with tones and things like that. I’m definitely happy with how it turned out.
Matt C. – We also decided to stay there the whole time, instead of going back and forth from home. We were able to just focus on recording and hang out there every day. We would wake up and make food or something and then just go record. We could also take breaks whenever we felt like we wanted to. It was just really relaxed, it was nice.
Bill – Musically speaking, how would you say Awkward Breeds differs from your previous material?
Matt S. – I think it’s more concentrated. I think it’s better-executed and we took more time on the songs. I think we developed a lot of our strengths more and I think it just sounds better than our other stuff.
Steven – Ryan joined the band right before we started writing the songs for Awkward Breeds and I think that made us start thinking about things differently, as you naturally would with a new member. Just the way the songs kind of started to feel, even when we play old songs, they just feel different now because of the change in the rhythm section. I think overall we just became a lot more comfortable by the time we were doing this record.
Matt C. – From a rhythm section standpoint, I definitely kind of honed in on what Ryan was doing and paid a lot more attention to the detail of him and me playing together, and kind of just gelling together to form a cohesive unit.
Bill – What’s the meaning of your new album’s title?
Steven – It comes from a line in the first song on the album, “DMT.” It goes, “see the sowing of awful seeds that grow into awkward breeds.” I thought of that line and the idea for the title before all the other lyrics to any of the songs came about. I think of the term ‘awkward breeds’ as people fitting into a role in society or a mold, and that mold being hard to fit or that fit being awkward. I’m also trying to show that it’s on a continuation and that it’s something that’s passed on.
Matt S. – I didn’t write the lyrics, but I think it’s pretty hard to explain them as a single theme.
Bill – Would you call it a concept album?
Steven – I mean there is a concept behind it and there’s a theme running throughout the whole album. All the songs basically paint a picture of how I perceive my experiences of growing up in America and the experiences of my friends. I’m sort of trying to give little snippets of real life and inject certain themes into stories of different people or things happening in my life. Another big thing on the record is the idea of when someone is born it’s almost like a blank canvas and then outside influences kind of change who you become. A lot of those things are just ingrained in culture and I tried to sort of deconstruct some of those ideas in certain songs. I tried to maybe hint at the existence of those things as opposed to only addressing what exactly is going on. Like in a situation of a relationship, in addition to talking about what’s going on in the relationship, I’m also pointing to different ideas about gender roles or expectations and looking at it from both a man’s and a woman’s perspective.
Matt S. – I feel like it has to do with alienation too, just growing up and looking back on your life and realizing that people and institutions have affected the way you treat people and think about things.
Steven – It’s also about that realization and how you feel once you realize that’s going on. I guess it’s like once you start to not think that everything’s okay. When you’re younger, we were just talking about this when we saw these little kids playing baseball, you’re so carefree. Now they’re going to grow up to realize that life sucks and then you die, (laughs). Very broadly, it’s about growing up and coming to the realization that things aren’t okay anymore.
Bill – Does anyone have a favorite song from the album?
Ryan – I would say initially, when I first heard all the songs, my favorite was “Baby, Baby.” That was just like my first impression, although now I like them all.
Matt C. – I think my favorite one to play live would probably be “Daisy.” It’s the kind of song that’s really fun to play on drums and it’s a long rock-out. By the end of the song you get caught up in it and kind of let the moment take you wherever it goes.
Steven – Lyrically, I think my favorite song is “Looker.” I feel like I was able to capture what I was really trying to say and present my idea in the right way.
Bill – Many of the songs on Awkward Breeds have very unique vocal melodies. How do you typically write those parts?
Steven – A lot of the times the melody is the first thing that is ever written. Like the song “Peacock”, I thought of the melody when I was just walking down the street and then went and figured out how I could play guitar over that. With the harmonies, Matt S. usually comes in and adds something. We have an understanding of where our voices can usually lock-in and what ranges are best for those sorts of things. It’s usually a pretty natural process.
Bill – What’s the music scene like in your hometown of Columbus?
Ryan – None of us are from Columbus, we all kind of moved there. The other three guys are from Cleveland and I’m from Pittsburg. We all met through the DIY scene there and we all live at a house that does shows. There’s a community of houses that contribute to the whole scene. That’s really where the most prominent group of musicians and show-goers are. There’s a lot going on there and I feel like all the bands kind of feed off each other in a way. We all put out records around the same time. Local bands like Tin Armor and Delay are good friends of ours.
Matt C. – It’s a really diverse music scene too. You’ll have anything from a pop punk band to a band like Tin Armor, who’s just a rock ‘n roll band. Another one of our good friends’ bands, Saintseneca, they’re like a folk-type group. It’s a really rich, diverse community of musicians. I think some of my favorite records from the last year or two have been from Columbus bands. It’s definitely a really creative environment and I think it pushes our band to work hard and write songs.
Ryan – It’s not like a competition thing, but if you hear a friend’s record you kind of want to be up there with them.
Bill – What do you like best about being a part of the Red Scare family?
Matt C. – Toby and his sarcastic sense of humor, (laughs). And the fact that it’s definitely more of a friendship and it’s not strictly some weird, awkward business thing.
Matt S. – I think we have a lot of freedom.
Matt C. – Yeah, Toby didn’t want us to cut a particular song off the record, but we didn’t feel like it fit, so we did. There’s not like a lot of rules or anything. He’s generous enough to put out our records and to help us out.
Ryan – And we get to play cool shows in Chicago. I love to come to Chicago and just hang out.
Matt C. – It’s cool because we’ve developed a lot of good friendships here with a lot of different people. It’s fun to come here and get to hang out with everyone. It’s always a good time.
Bill – How was your recent tour with The Menzingers and Cheap Girls?
Steven – It went really well, it was great. It was cool to be able to tour right after we put out a record, because the songs still felt really fresh to us. It was exciting to be able to play all of those songs for the first time. In some cases, people had already heard some of the songs, so it was really cool to go somewhere like California and have people react positively to the record. You don’t usually get that kind of immediate feedback, or it’s on the internet and it feels removed. Or we may have sold some records online and you mail them out and sometimes I start to feel like I don’t even know if they’re going to an actual person. It’s cool though to play shows and actually meet and interact with people.
Bill – What else do you guys have planned for this year?
Matt C. – We head out again in late May for about three weeks with a band called Spraynard from West Chester, PA and also with Delay, who’s from Columbus. That tour starts in Chicago of all places. Then we head out to the West Coast with them and after that it’s kind of up in the air. I know we’re just looking to tour and to keep playing shows.
Steven – I think we’re just planning on touring as much as we can and hopefully writing some new songs along the way.
