By Zachary Dinerstein



Igor’s Egg Feature

By Zachary Dinerstein

On a breezy fall afternoon on the back porch of their practice space, Jeff Scott, the lanky, shaggy-haired lead guitarist of Ithaca prog-rock band Igor’s Egg, explains the origin of his band’s name: “Basically,” he tells me, “it comes from a local chicken resistance in a chicken processing plant. This one chicken named Igor was kind of the leader of this chicken resistance movement… and basically, the chickens were being exploited and badly treated and their symbol of solidarity and unity was the egg – so, we are Igor’s Egg.”

As Jeff unfolds this story, lounging on a worn futon with his clear eyes staring straight ahead and giving nothing away, it’s hard to tell if I’m being messed with or not. A chicken resistance? Really? Come on.

But Jeff sticks with his story. “You can drive out there,” he insists. “Old Buttermilk Road, right next to the Smith’s farm [in Skokie, IL]. The chicken isn’t actually there anymore,” he adds, “because of the life span of chickens -- very short… but that’s where the name comes from.” Now I know how journalists must have felt when they asked Jack White to explain his relationship with his drummer, Meg.

But for Igor’s Egg, a band that revels in the epic, none of this is surprising. The group often projects student-made, experimental films together with their two-hour plus stage shows and their original material -- containing tales of fabricated characters Phil, Ted, Lucas, and Jorge – follows four young men in The Egg’s own on-going mythology. Considering all this, a made-up story to beef-up their origins is understandable.

The actual back-stories of each of the seven musicians, who came together in Ithaca from various backgrounds to form Igor’s Egg, are just as interesting. Sam Henschen (guitarist) is soon to graduate from Ithaca College with a concentration in Ethnomusicology; Liz Cary (violinist) has been classically trained and Dave Rosen (bassist) invented a contextual language used among the band’s members. Jeff Scott (guitarist) went to school for rocket science before joining The Egg; Sal Galati (drums) is a recognized “Poker Champion;” John West (drums) is a journalist/park ranger and Adam Nash (keyboards) studied screen writing at Ithaca College. He now scripts the band’s most recent story ideas in screenplay form, adding to their character’s ever-growing back-stories.

Dave Rosen, the band’s thick-bearded bass player, enthusiastically explains the reasoning behind The Egg’s mythology:

“We’ve seen all these concept albums… Dark Side Of The Moon, Apostrophe and Quadrophenia… and that’s one level,” he says, his hand gestures becoming more animated as he speaks. “so, why not take that kind of story idea – these characters and the places they’re in -- and spread it almost up to the point of Lord Of The Rings… where you have your own world and adventures and back stories?”

The fable he’s describing plays out partially during The Egg’s live show, but will be laid out fully on their first full-length album Prototype, which is being recorded at Electric Wilburland Studio and is planned for release this year in April. If The Egg’s live sound is any indication, the album will blend their signature Pink Floyd orchestrations with souring space-jams and dinosaur-crunch guitars. The records lyrics, in a trimmed-down version, deal with an alternate world, where a band known as Horsechips struggles to become famous. As the band vies for the top, they meet a record executive, named Mr. Hogs Pogs, who offers to make the young men’s dreams come true. Instead, the record they create is used to enslave the minds of the populace, leading to a global apocalypse that destroys most of the life and technology on their planet.

This kind of extra-musical hook, – something that goes beyond the music to grab the attention of the audience -- has been a part of music for centuries. Igor Stravinsky was as well known for his lavish ballet productions as for his symphonies, and The Beatles will always be remembered for wearing those matching grey suits when they performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Who were known to smash their instruments at the end of sets and Pink Floyd, after the release of Dark Side Of The Moon, often played the album from beginning to end in packed stadiums …

“I think the original idea was, ‘…there’s so much good music out there,’” Dave says, “’-- all different genre’s, and there’s plenty of talented musicians… so once you have that good music -- once you can really play well together and be tight -- then what? Then what is the thing that makes you stand out?’”

“I call it ‘crack,’” he adds, laughing. “The thing that people get addicted to.”

Three days before this year’s Halloween, the band is planning its biggest headlining show to date at Castaways. There’ll be extensive decorations by the band, premiers of new originals in addition to bizarre covers, and a brand new experimental film by student filmmaker Nathan Maxwell Cann.

The silent film, by the band’s long-time friend, splices together found-footage from aged propaganda films, with other 16mm reels salvaged from thrift shops. One of the found reels, entitled “Sea Voyage,” chronicles the journey of a group of sailors. The young men travel ship-bound from New York City, down to the freezing southern tip of South America, and end their endeavour under the balmy sun of California.

“Some [of the reels] are really deteriorated and have a bunch of fungus growing on them,” says Henschen, excitement sparking his normally serene features. ”That makes the film look really cool. Some… you just look at and say, “What? I can’t believe this was made!”

Alongside the concert that night, The Egg will host a non-perishable food drive for Tompkins County’s homeless – an event inspired by an incident after one of their gigs last spring: After the band finished a set on The Commons, a homeless man approached them, offering some of the most heart-felt words of praise they had ever heard.

“Sometimes after a show, people might be blowing smoke up your ass,” says Rosen, “But this guy had no incentive.” So in return, The Egg are sponsoring their own food drive for Ithaca’s less fortunate, asking fans to bring everything from non-perishable cans of food, to bottles of shampoo, to bars of soap, to blankets.

The last time the band played Castaways, their “home” as Scott calls it, a buzz had been building for days around their proposed live soundtrack to a film. The band members told students, who in turn mentioned the gig to their film friends, who then spread the word to people in town… Pretty soon there was an expectation for a memorable spectacle. When The Egg climbed the stage for their gig, playing the opening sound effects of their composed soundtrack, they heard a whispered chant of, “start the film” ripple through the crowd. And when the band switched on the projector, the audience actually sat down.

“I just thought ‘whoa, people are sitting down at Castaways. This is crazy!’” says Henschen.

“At the end of that film was probably the loudest applause we’ve ever had.” Rosen adds. “Everyone was like, ‘oh my god, this is amazing!’ You just felt this energy. That’s definitely something that, when you pull off, you want to do more of.”

Although the show was a milestone, The Egg’s most memorable performance so far wasn’t held on a stage, or even on a stationary surface, for that matter – it was played on a moving boat, slowly rocking its way down the New Jersey shoreline.

Each year, Ocean City hosts “A Night In Venice,” an evening where ships sail past crowds of spectators on the coast, watching while bands on board perform for the audiences. Last summer, the band agreed to play the festival, where they were assigned to a boat barely big enough to fit its seven members.

As the ship rocked towards the Ocean City bay, members of The Egg clutched their equipment, holding onto their gear for dear life as mist sprayed over the railings and onto the swaying desk. Their instruments got soaked, and half their equipment shorted out. In the end, the band ended up jamming with only bass, drums and guitars to the listeners on shore.

“Ocean City!” Rosen chuckles. “It was just a ridiculous experience… playing on a boat… I don’t know what we were thinking.”

It sounds perfect for a band with a penchant for the epic -- a team of seven friends huddled on a tiny ship that’s nearly going under, playing their hearts out as wave after wave slam over the sides. Or, if you can picture it, a group of young musicians in an unknown territory, trying to make it big.

In addition to the group’s mythology – their experimental film collaborations and personal fables – they’ve also created a partial language, made up of grunt-like expressions such as “Dur” and “Tuh.”

“It’s a contextual language basically,” Scott explains. “Where you can say an entire sentence without saying any dictionary defined words.”

When asked to describe their complex sound, The Egg is momentarily stumped. “What did someone say the other day?” Dave muses before smiling. “Post-Modern-Post-Rock?”

When pushed, though, the band gives it a shot.

Henschen begins to make sounds that resemble the melody to “Pure Imagination” while Dave leans back in his chair and murmurs “Thur.”

Igor’s Egg plays at Castaways this Saturday. Doors open at 9:00 p.m. and tickets are $5. Show is 18 and over.

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