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The Influence

By Kristin Day
mixer

Monday, October 27, 2008

This is the true story about a band called the Influence.

Or, really, a little piece about a possibly exaggerated story of some guys from Virginia Beach, Va. known as Archer, Will, Tully, Collin and Johnny Z, who came to Greenville with a plastic horse named Ken.

Though the award-winning band has a large following closer to home, they haven't yet reached the main crowd here — a tougher feat since they've been banned from Unk's, they say, “for overstaying their welcome,” after a show a couple of years ago. (Sidenote: Owner Jeremy Spengeman says he never banned them; he just stopped booking them.)

But that's a whole other story.

“We never miss a show that we book; we never cancel; we're never too late to play; we've given up drinking before shows; we're a very professional band,” Tully, who plays the electric bass guitar, said while sitting in The Corner's green room before a show Oct. 17.

“But early on, we had some growing pains and everything's all straightened out now.”

Brittany Hartman with Steel Road Agency eventually got them back in town, and this, their second show at The Corner, showcased everything they've done while making their last three CDs, as well as a cover of Tool's “The Pot” that destroyed a disco ball and left the crowd in awe. It was one of the last shows before plans to spend a month in the studio making the next album.

“Pretty lame considering we like to play shows,” Archer said earlier in the night while rolling the same disco ball in his hands. “But in order to play the shows you have to make the music.”

The latest EP is a collection of old songs reconstructed and available online for free, as well as the artwork and video to go along with it. They felt compelled to redo those songs in a way that reflects the band today.

“We hadn't really played live that much,” Archer said about making the first CD. “We hadn't developed into the band we are. I think the recording misrepresented us live. You wanna make really true music and I think the music we're making now and the way we play now is more true to who we are.”

“Both records ended up not representing our sound,” Will added, “because I think the second record was a lot of backlash from the first record. We got a lot of good reviews, but we tend to pay more attention to the negative reviews,” which said the CD was too raw and wasn't mixed well.

“I remember our first review coming in for ‘Pig Radio' was from Hard Rock Haven,” Archer said. “They praised the album. It was a beautiful review and then the next one came in and was such a dismal review that I questioned my existence.”

That album would later get them awards for Album of the Year and Rock Band of the Year from Portfolio Weekly, and the 2008 Effigies gave them Best Band, Best Male Vocals and Best Song awards.

“It was vindication, in a way. It was a relief. A lot of times when you listen to your own album, you have no idea how it sounds,” Will said.

“I think the greatest vindication, though, is that the people who originally supported us, they still support us now,” Archer added. “I still see the same faces that are at all of our gigs, they still support us and they've known what kind of live band we are for a long time.”

The Influence is talking about accepting invitations to play out West, as well as overseas. So now, with Ken Horse sitting on stage offering free pony rides, those fans may soon be able to catch them at gigs in Austrailia, Europe, South Korea and — surprisingly — North Korea.