Borderline indie legend Walter Schreifels has been around the music scene block so many times, he'd be forgiven if he took a break to rest. He's not sleeping.
The focal point of Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand and Rival Schools, amongst others, is bringing his newest project, the Walking Concert, to the Showplace Theater, on 1053 Grant Street, this Saturday evening in support of the bands's first record, "Run To Be Born."
"This is the first record my mom has gotten into," Schreifels quipped during a phone interview on a van ride toward their Thursday night tour stop in Chicago, the second night of their first tour.
His mom must have an eclectic array of distaste. Schreifels's bands have run the musical gauntlet from hardcore to punk to hard indie rock and the Walking Concert finds him playing danceable, catchy rock and roll.
"Gorilla Biscuits was an awesome experience," he said. "The songs were really interesting and the lyrics were really cool. You'd go to shows and kids didn't know what to do. They were just freaking out everywhere."
The end of Gorilla Biscuits found Schreifels moving on with Quicksand, a riotous indie punk band that left ears ringing and fists pumping. The band was the first Warped Tour headliner ever. That was a different Warped Tour than the ones fans know today.
"Grass roots? We could barely see outside the grass," Schreifels said. "It was lots of fun but everyone was losing money. We had a lot of New York and Cali bands, so we did well there. I mean, Sublime, L7 and No Doubt, you know? Those shows had anywhere from 5,000-10,000 people, but other shows had barely anyone. I'd say 2,000 was the average."
Schreifels next project made a tsunami-sized splash in the indie community. Rival Schools was the logical predecessor to Quicksand. 2001's "United By Fate"was another groundbreaking venture for Schreifels. With material like "Travel By Telephone" and "High Acetate," as well as the single, "Used For Glue,"fans are still waiting for the follow-up, one that isn't coming.
"There was a lot of interband b*******," he said. "Well, it wasn't really b*******. The guitarist quit and the band was really a half measure for me. I wanted to do something different and futuristic and Rival Schools rested too much on Quicksand, which was ten years ago."
Schreifels said it's hard to keep making feisty music the more a musician makes it.
"You get further and further from that feeling and you end up with a desire to do what you want, which the Walking Concert is: what I've always wanted to do. To some people, Quicksand was a bunch of animals screaming at people and though Rival Schools was a little more expansive, it stayed in the same vein."
With the Walking Concert, he's in a new vein; his own.
"It's similar to all the classic rock stuff that I listen to. So many people can relate to it," he said. "I don't want the elitism that hardcore has."
The Walking Concert is working from the ground up with Some Records, despite its pedigree.
"We made this album in a rehearsal studio. We were built in a garage," Schreifels said. "We're very invested in it. These are the songs I want to be writing. Every day I write more and I can't wait to release more. I just know that first we're going to have spend a lot of time doing what we're doing now: riding around in a van."
The road is something that doesn't scare Schreifels, especially not playing music he loves.
"I've found my voice and the right people to play with. I feel comfortable," Schreifels said.
"This is my best shot at doing it right without trying too hard."
