This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 30, 2011 - Like any writer who covers a certain subject, such as music, for a long time, I enjoy recalling interviews with famous artists -- especially those I wrote about on their way up. But other times I'm reminded of the basic reason I chose to write about music -- and why I continue to write about it 25 years later.
Bottom line, the music is what matters -- as well as the commitment of individual musicians and bands to create memorable music even when commercial success seems elusive.
I thought of that fundamental principle after talking with Stephan Bayley. Although he now makes his home in Portland, Ore., I first met and wrote about Bayley almost 22 years ago when he was a member of a St. Louis band called the Exit.
At the time, Bayley was still a student at Kirkwood High School. He and fellow student Ben Thwaite sent me a cassette they had recently recorded. (Yes, in those days, music was recorded on cassettes by local bands and disseminated via snail mail.)
The title of the cassette was "Of Blasphemy, Belief and Fury," and the songs showcased compelling, melodic riffs and interesting lyrics -- all delivered with a confidence usually not found in high school bands.
I ended up talking to the band and writing about the Exit for the Post-Dispatch, previewing a performance at the Great Grizzly Bear in Soulard. Then I filed the cassette away on a shelf full of other music from area bands hoping to make it -- and moved on to the next article on my schedule.
Fifteen years later, in 2004, I received more music in the mail from Bayley -- this time a CD he had recorded as a member of the band Hungry Mind Review. Bayley wrote that he was now living in Wilmington, N.C., where he had gone to college at UNC-Wilmington and earned a nursing degree.
Listening to Hungry Mind Review, I was struck by how Bayley continued to write and record memorable music. There were obvious influences ranging from British pop by Roxy Music, American bands such as Big Star, and eclectic songwriters like John Cale and Jules Shear.
I was also very impressed that the CD was produced by Mitch Easter, who had also produced recordings for the likes of R.E.M., Let's Active (a band he also played in), Chris Stamey and Marshall Crenshaw, among others.
But despite all those influences, Hungry Mind Review's CD found its own unique sound, and it's a recording I still play today.
Then six weeks ago, Jacob Detering of the St. Louis-based label, Red Pill Entertainment, passed along a CD called "blow music only with delicate mad worship" by a band called City Squirrel. He told me it was Bayley's latest group and that Bayley was now based in Portland, Ore.
Detering, a high school friend of Bayley's, had kept in touch with Bayley over the years. Red Pill was impressed enough by the City Squirrel CD to distribute it. Bayley had mentioned to Detering that I had once written about him, and he wanted me to have a copy of the CD.
I was driving to Chicago later that week and took the City Squirrel CD along. I popped it into the CD player after passing Springfield, Ill., and it remained playing -- twice through -- and took me as far as Pontiac before I switched it out.
The music was powerful and moving, combining a classic, driving power pop feel with occasional keyboard-driven ballads. And the lyrics spoke of endings -- physical and romantic -- as well as broken dreams and promises.
Once again, Mitch Easter was involved, but this time as the bass player. And on drums, Bayley had managed to convince Englishman Dave Mattacks, a member of the legendary band Fairport Convention who has recorded with everyone from Paul McCartney and George Harrison to Elton John and Brian Eno.
I played the CD several times while I was driving in Chicago as well as on my return trip.
After the trip, I contacted Bayley. In our interview, I learned that this was the second City Squirrel CD. The first, "Storm," came out in 2005 and featured Bayley and his new wife, Stephanie Wallace, on viola and vocals. The new CD was recorded with Easter and Mattacks in Portland -- shortly after Bayley and Wallace divorced.
"I obviously knew Mitch, and asked what it would take to get him out to Portland for a week to record," explains Bayley. "And I just decided to reach out to Dave and see if he would be interested in coming out. It helped that Mitch was involved, so I was able to make it happen. They were both here for a week laying down tracks, then I went in, did the remaining parts and mixed it."
All 10 songs on the CD have one-word titles: "Tide," "watertown," "total," "beyond," "looking," "space," "sway," "breathless," "mountain" and "autumn." That brevity reflects the concise approach Bayley takes with his lyrics. But on songs as diverse musically as the power chorded "looking" and the elegiac ballad "total," repeated listens reveal an emotional depth that touches on the universal emotions of endings -- and sorting out what remains.
Bayley has a new trio version of City Squirrel that has begun playing in Portland and around the Northwest. He is planning an extended trip to St. Louis this October to record a new project and play once again in the St. Louis area.
"The next one will be a little bit different than 'blow music,'" says Bayley. "I'm not sure exactly how, but I don't stay too long in one mindset."
In the meantime, listeners can appreciate what Bayley has given us on "blow music only with delicate mad worship" -- an album that speaks to the heart, again and again.
Terry Perkins, a freelance writer in St. Louis, has long covered the local music scene.