Creeper Lagoon
Alternative band steals crowd's attention

by Patrice Raplee

Every journalist loves the thrill of the escort back to the Green Room to interview the band of the moment. This particular night, performing at the Crystal Ballroom, Creeper Lagoon was the designated target.

Entering a lone room with half a dozen couches and a table filled with pitchers of beer, this writer prepared herself for the onslaught of pre-show hyper-ness that usually occurs with most musicians. In stark contrast to this presumption, a rather calm looking Sharky Laguana, guitarist for Creeper Lagoon, walked in with an effusive smile on his face. Band members Ian Sefchick, guitar; Geoffrey Chisholm, bass; and David Kostiner, drums, filed in soon after. Amidst the chaos of ordering dinner and trying to push aside the stack of neoprene laying on the floor, Sefchick introduced himself and his band mates. Positively Entertainment interviews this talented, if not somewhat unusual alternative band.

PE&D: On your current CD I Become Small and Go, a lot of sampling is used; whose influence was this?

Ian Sefchick: Actually, the idea came out of necessity. We used a lot of magnetic tape loops, it's much more cost effective.

PE&D: Your music is fairly complex in it's structure. Who does the writing?

Sharky Laguana: Mostly Ian, but I write a few and we also collaborate.

PE&D: Where did you guys meet each other?

Geoffrey Chisholm: Cameroon.

PE&D: What were you doing there?

GC: Sharky went there to be a park ranger for the summer and Ian went with him. David and I were there recording African drum sounds. We ran into them at a club one night.

PE&D: What has been the reader's response to July's issue of CMJ magazine regarding your article and song Empty Ships that is on their compilation CD?

SL: We're pretty much in the dark about that one. We've been on the road for the last three-and-a-half months and haven't seen it.

PE&D: How is the tour going?

IS: When you are touring in a Ford Club Van, with three other guys and the back is packed with equipment, your personal space shrinks considerably. It can be a heavy work load of emotions that tire you out, more than the playing.

(As if in response to Sefchick's statement, a Rocket from the Crypt band member went screaming down the outside hallway.)

PE&D: How long is the rest of the tour?

David Kostiner: We finish the U.S. tour in November, then are heading to Europe.

PE&D: Amongst your peers, who are some of your favorite bands?

GC: Bush, Third Eye Blind.

SL: Yeah, Third Eye Blind, we're afraid of those guys! They might break a bottle over your head.

IS: We've played with Sunset Valley, they're a good band from Portland.

PE&D: You guys have been great, thanks. By the way, what's all the neoprene for?

GC: (With a smile) Dave and Sharky are experimenting!

Alternative bands come and go, but Creeper Lagoon's music is infinitely more interesting than the typical gak that litters the airwaves. The group put on a unified performance that stole the crowd's attention right from the start. The sound was well-mixed and their playing solid. This writer has no doubt that Creeper Lagoon will soon be headlining. The band's current CD, I Become Small and Go impressively portrays Sefchick and Laguana's imaginative writing abilities. Tunes Empty Ships and Dreaming Again are primary examples of the melodic soul spinning compositions that fill this CD. If these guys can weather the pressures of touring and putting forth consistently good material, they stand a chance of dominating the foreground of alternative music.