This interview was originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on March 3, 2009 and was written by yours truly.
If you think Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band sounds like a name conjured up inside the brain of a 13-year-old boy, well, you’d be right.
The band’s drummer, Marshall Verdoes, thought up the peculiar moniker for the local buzz band when he was 13. Benjamin Verdoes, MSHVB’s singer, guitarist and Marshall’s legal guardian, recalled how Marshall got involved with the group and how he earned naming rights.
“When he was learning drums I told him ‘If you work hard at this I will start a band with you,’ ” Verdoes said.
After becoming good enough to be in a band, Verdoes let Marshall, who is now 14, choose the name.
“We were just riding in the car and I said ‘Alright what do you have for me today?’ He would spit out the worst ideas. He just started blurting stuff out and he said the words in that in order, and it was like okay that’s it … It was a weird stream of consciousness that could have only come from Marshall.”
It might have been the wacky name that got them some highly coveted buzz on Pitchfork and signed to rising indie label Dead Oceans. Or maybe it was the series of viral videos hilariously mocking 1980s PSAs starring Marshall that got them noticed. Either way, there was enough buzz built for MSHVB before they played a show or released any music to pack Neumos with more than 500 people for its first gig in 2008. The group has since impressed crowds on the festival circuit with performances at Sasquatch! and Bonnaroo and later this summer the group will be at Seattle’s own Bumbershoot before embarking on their second national tour.
Prior to playing Bumbershoot, the band will perform at the Johnston Ridge Observatory Aug. 15. Where’s the Johnston Ridge Observatory? Why it’s at Mt St Helens of course.
All the buzz would mean nothing if the music wasn’t good, but it is. The band’s guitar-driven rock is all over the place in a good way with often changing time signatures and jangly, sprawling guitars that create music Modest Mouse might make if they were a prog-rockers. Check out the video for “Albatros Albatros Albatros,” the record’s standout track, below for proof the music matches the hype.
“People throw around the word gimmick a lot, or cute, but to me it’s interesting that they do so because our music is less cute than bands that get labeled as such,” said Verdoes. “The music isn’t jokey or gimmicky. It has an element of joy and fun, but it goes different places.”
The gimmick tag Verdoes is referring to is Marshall.
“If you took any random record and asked the listener to guess how old is the drummer is it doesn’t make sense. You just can’t tell (Marshall’s age) by listening,” Verdoes said. “He worked really hard at being a good drummer. It’s like kids who are really good at basketball and make varsity as a freshman.”
When Verdoes was in high school his mother became Marshall’s foster mom. Verdoes acted as both a big brother and father figure for Marshall. After graduating from Seattle Pacific University, Verdoes adopted Marshall and became his legal guardian.
“It seemed clear to me that I wanted to play a big role in his life. I really didn’t have a father growing up and I wanted him to have someone helping him out as he grows,” Verdoes said of his adopted brother. “There is something about the bond we’ve created musically that is like a meeting place. Most parental relationships don’t have something like that. … I sometimes call him my brother-son. Like when it’s bedtime I am definitely in the dad role, but when there’s band practice or a show it is something entirely different.”
Marshall isn’t Verdoes’ only family member in the band. Traci Eggleston, Verdoes’ wife, plays keys and percussion. Verdoes’ former bandmates from defunct Northwest band In Priase of Folly – Matthew Dammer and Jared Prince – round out MSHVB. Verdoes said at first the group didn’t intend on doing more than playing music together for themselves.
“The band was so fun and we felt like we had a lot of room in front of us to grow with the music we were playing. Maybe Marshall and Traci changed the dynamic of making music a bit,” said Verdoes. “It brings me a lot of joy and I think that really enhances the experience for everyone and there’s what feels like a type of innocence in playing music with Traci and Marshall. We were having a lot of fun and we ant to share it with people.”
*Mt St Helens Vietnam Band plays Bumbershoot’s Broad Street Stage Sept. 6 at 2:30.
