Ex-Krunk musicians reunite, set FOE Halloween show
By JACI WEBB
Of The Gazette Staff
Some bands struggle to find one good vocalist. Billings hard rock band The Eve Effect has two.
Tony Horton and Ryan Staggs could do the job solo, but the strength of this band is that their vocal styles blend well together yet stand out as distinctive voices.
Horton and Staggs met as musicians in one of Billings' most cutting-edge bands from the 1990s, Krunk. After performing about a dozen shows over the last eight months as The Eve Effect, they're putting on a Halloween show Tuesday night at the FOE with one of the biggest names on the local hard rock scene, ENDever. Also performing is Prometheus Syndicate.
"We have a lot of things that we do," Horton said. "We do a ballad and we do a Krunk cover, but I guess because I was in the band it's not really a cover." Horton and Staggs both come from musical families. Horton's parents, Kim and Ron, performed all over the area in the 1980s as Yogo, and Ron plays in Mojo Cats with Tony on drums. Staggs' stepfather is Brad Edwards, a well-known Billings drummer who performs in the Billings band, Dan Page and the Barn Cats. Edwards also operates Woods Recording Studio, which recently recorded eight tracks for an upcoming Eve Effect CD. Copies of the self-titled disc will be available at shows in the next few months.
Horton said he was inspired by Faith No More and wasn't surprised to read that a slew of other bands, from Korn to the Deftones, were also inspired by Faith No More even though they've never had a No. 1 album or a hit single.
"I like to play material from time to time that sounds familiar so that it makes people who hear it think about it more," Horton said. "But if it starts to sound too much like some other song, we'll change it."
Staggs said since he and Horton have known each other for more than a decade and worked together in other bands, they have a healthy respect for each other as musicians. Yet, they have their differences. Horton has a deep voice that provides plenty of raw power, while Staggs sings the higher, more melodic choruses.
"We do have screaming vocals and stuff like that, but that's all part of the emotion of our music," Staggs said.
Staggs admits he's "the most Emo in the band," while Horton wrote a song called "Social Slaughter" about his lack of appreciation for Emo music.
A crowd favorite is the thumping "Cookie" and "God's Razor," a hard-rocking tune, drew more than 100 hits to the band's MySpace site in the first day it was up. To hear Eve Effect's music, go to myspace.com/theeveeffect.
Drummer Brandon Fisher, who also performs as a percussionist with the Billings Symphony Orchestra, said the band likes to switch up time signatures to give it a progressive, jamming feel.
"We all play everything and we're all writing material," Fisher said. "With a lot of bands, you have one guy telling everybody else what to do. Not in this band."
The rest of the band is guitarist Chris Reeves, who also plays guitar in Dixie Dies, and bassist Kailee Hanson, a vocalist in Dixie Dies.
Published on Friday, October 27, 2006.
Last modified on 10/27/2006 at 12:51 am
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