Gritty urban Marah rock

Philly band bring it on home on new disc 20,000 Streets...

You may have never heard of Philadelphia rockers Marah, but their fan club features some pretty heavy names. Like Steve Earle, who signed them to his label, E-Squared, and brought them out as his tour support. There's writer Nick Hornby, of Hi-Fidelity fame, who sang their praises eloquently in The New York Times. And there's Bruce Springsteen, a key influence who guested on "Float Away" on Marah's 2002 album, Float Away With The Friday Night Gods.
Not that such peer praise has gone to the heads of these populists. As guitarist/songwriter Dave Bialenko once said, "I would trade one Nick Hornby for 10 regular people to like our band."
We reached singer/songwriter Serge Bialenko for an interview in England recently. Marah are touring there behind their much-praised fourth album, 20,000 Streets Under The Sky (out on Yeproc). The group have struck a chord with real music lovers across the pond.
"I wouldn't say we're press favourites there, but we have got noticed quite a bit, which is probably even better. In Britain, some music rags exist to build up bands just so they can tear them down in a most vicious fashion. Whatever. Those mags don't really bother us because we're not so flashy or fashionable. I'd say we get noticed in a really excellent light by Brits who like rock 'n roll better than hype."
Marah formed back in 1993, when Serge's younger brother, Dave, hooked up with drummer Ronnie Vance and bassist Danny Metz. An impressed Serge soon bugged them to let him join. Could he have anticipated they'd still be kicking out the jams a decade later? "Not in my wildest dreams. We're having such a thrilling life, so many ups and downs. I believe it'll make my brother and I a lot stronger someday soon, when we have to grow up, head to Hollywood, and become the giant film stars we are destined to be. Actually, we better get out to California now, while we still have our super looks!"
The fact that Marah have yet to score a major commercial breakthrough can be partially attributed to their musical eclecticism. Their 1998 debut album, Let's Cut The Crap And Hook Up Later On Tonight, was compared to a low-budget Exile On Main Street, while 2000's Kids In Philly was a critical favourite that stressed the gritty urban poeticism of the Bielanko brothers' songwriting. They then took a stylistic detour by heading to Wales to record Float Away With The Friday Night Gods with hot producer Owen Morris (The Verve, Oasis). Those results weren't as satisfying as Marah's earlier work, but they're back firing on all cylinders on their new disc.
Serge believes their best work lies ahead. "We really want to challenge ourselves. I think we've still yet to make the kind of record, the kind of music we are destined to best be remembered for. That's an exciting prospect for us. We love so many different types of music. To just play loud guitars and banjos forever, that might be cheating ourselves."
His musical loves range from Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Monroe to Lou Reed and the Stones to obscure but brilliant Montreal 80s band The Nils. "Dave and I discovered The Nils in our early teens," he recalls. "So much melody in such great rock songs. Dave called them on the phone once. They'd just broken up, and they were amazed to get a phone call from a teenage American kid who loved their music!"
In turn, Marah are getting that kind of devotion, and Serge finds satisfaction in that. "Commercially, we are dead and buried, man. Deep, beneath the worms! But you can still have a fantastic career in music and come nowhere near selling a million records or getting on MTV. Still, I'd love to reach the masses. I cannot imagine a bigger thrill than having a hit song people love to sing at the pub or in traffic."
20,000 Streets Under The Sky sees Marah return to their Philly roots lyrically. Serge explains that "The song 'Feather Boa,' about a transvestite hooker and his/her fears, was the first we wrote. We then continued to take a somewhat urban look at everyday life and its powerful attempts to ruin us as people or help us to ruin ourselves. Hope and optimism kept creeping in, and we created this little city of our own. Not necessarily Philly, there's some NYC in there too. Through the eyes of some characters we dreamed up, we had ourselves a rock 'n roll record."
20,000 Streets Under The Sky is out on Yeproc/Outside. Marah play The Horseshoe Tavern on August 4.

Publication Date: 2004-08-01
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4235