The Manic Music of MarchFourth

One drippy weekend a couple years back, I loaded up the minivan, stopped at McDonald’s, and took the kids to the Portland, Oregon Earth Day celebrations (I parked a few blocks away and made the kids leave their food in the car, understanding that not everyone would appreciate the irony). We were recent Portland transplants, still adapting to the local culture and scene, getting used to the green and gray. So, I was a bit surprised to lead my troops around the corner and come face-to-face with a tricked-out fire truck and two tail-coated stilt walkers, one in a black top hat. Women in short skirts and striped stockings, men in ruffle shirts and military band coats carrying horns and drums, an attractively faux-hawked trombone player, and more…wherever they were going, we gladly followed.

Under a handcrafted band shelter in one corner of the park, the band collected and started to play an amazing, riotous noise that one band member recently described for me as, “a big band experience that takes the marching band aesthetic and twists it, adds all the influence of world music, and throws in circus and cabaret.” And in the muddy grass, the crowd gathered.

That’s the thing about MarchFourth Marching Band, they play and the crowd gathers, stupefied by this extraordinary spectacle. This past March, for their fourth anniversary, they booked two shows at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, the largest ballroom venue in town. To their surprise, they sold out both the all-ages matinee and the 21-and-over evening show. After getting together as a ‘one-off’ band for a Fat Tuesday show in 2003 and spending their first few years playing local shows and festivals, in the last year they’ve been playing gigs all along the West Coast. They’ve built their reputation at the Burning Man experience in the Nevada desert. They’ve represented the real spirit of American revolution at the Altoona Fun Parade during last year’s World Cup celebrations in Germany. And this year, this year might just be the year they start getting paid.

For a band this big, 34 active band members who won’t play with fewer than 18 or 19 members available, and a show that is never just music but dancers and stilt walkers as well, clearly this has been a labor of love. Fortunately, love is part of their vision. When they talk about their place within a growing genre of street bands and alternative circus, MarchFourth differentiates itself by not being politically oriented, but spiritually oriented - not in the religious, dogmatic sense, but playing music and creating an experience that is about people expressing their joy. Or, as “Cymbal Dan” Herrick described their intentions, “People are constantly looking to be surprised, to see new and innovative forms of art, and to connect with the wonder and awe that we experienced when we were young. M4 brings that spectacle and big show, and then makes you shake your ass!”

Putting that big show together, though, comes with huge investments of time and talent. The band rehearses weekly, with smaller groups of dancers, stilt walkers, drummers, etc., gathering for additional sessions. With at least 16 music writers in the band, compositions draw from a widely inspired set of influences. Other members bring their day-job skills as local artisans into the mix as metal workers fashioning drum carriages, or clothing designers crafting dancers’ costumes and stilt walkers’ long pants. These musicians wear a lot of hats. Literally. While a couple of people have quit their day jobs, most have modified their work lives to accommodate the schedule of weekly practice, shows, and out of town traveling. It’s probably good, too, that many of their day jobs have some flexibility, as the performing schedule has moved to upwards of 100 shows a year.

Talking with the band members, it’s clear that many of them feel they are reaching the crest of the wave that has been building since that first show four years ago. Performing so much more has made MarchFourth a tighter, sharper group. They’ve honed their repertoire to accommodate wildly different kinds of shows, taking their cues and fine-tuning the set list, clothing, and professionalism (read: amount of drinking and revelry that happens pre-show) depending upon their audience. The trip to Germany in 2006 left them with tales to tell (German beer! German groupies!), and acted as a transformative experience for the band. “We spent two weeks together, every day, and played a lot of shows there,” commented dancer and co-manager Faith Jennings. “We didn’t have the responsibilities of our daily lives as a factor during those two weeks, so we really just got to be in the band. And that was a great thing.”

Oregon. Texas. California. Washington. Nevada. More Oregon. Back to California. The 2007 schedule is getting serious. Their new 47-person bus is being decked out with a kitchen, and features that luxury of luxuries, a bathroom, “so no more 45-minute pee-breaks!” With their growing reputation, the band has had more opportunities to turn one-show road trips into multi-venue adventures. They’re featured on one cut of Pink Martini’s new CD ‘Hey Eugene’. They plan to be back in the studio soon to record their own sophomore album. Now in their fifth year together, they admit it’s a marvel the band is still around, with relatively little internal drama. They credit their all-ages appeal to the non-generationally alienating combination of band instrumentation, world music, and circus atmosphere. Best, it seems like they’re all still having fun. The beat comes down, and the crowds gather.

I’ve caught MarchFourth Marching Band at various shows around Portland since that first encounter when I really wanted to leave my children and go join their circus (hey, I’d look good in stripey tights!). I also underestimated their ability to fill the Crystal for their birthday show this year, and ended up acquiring tickets the night of the show on the street outside. Once inside, I wormed my way past people who appeared to range in age from about 15 to 65, and staked my claim right up front. It was getting late in a long day of performances, but the band was still red hot. Feeling the music cascading in through my ears and back out through my fingertips, drums building second heart rhythms, horns lighting the air with their brilliance, beauties, tumblers, stilts, motion, music and delight all converged ecstatically and exploded from the stage. Dan Herrick stated that the climax of the MarchFourth experience is a “glorious place where the music, the crowd, the band, all come together as one. That truly rarefied place where we all get to kiss peace, if only for a moment.” Celebrating their fourth birthday with this unique Portland treasure was indeed a glorious place. And I danced my ass off.

The name of the band itself is merely a hint at the nature of the MarchFourth musical experience, but doesn’t come close to doing it justice. This is a group of individuals whose collective passion for pushing beyond a conventional, passive performer/crowd dynamic has created multi-generational entertainment that fascinates audiences ranging from diapers to, well, Depends. While they have all the pieces in place for this to be a pivotal year for the group, in listening to their ambitions it becomes clear they will have to find their balance between performing and the rest of their lives, both individually and as a band. They’re confident this organism is continuing to grow, and have a strong vision as a group of continuing their deep connection with their music and their audience. But each of the folks I listened to eventually brought it back to what’s really at stake as they move into year five together: “Maybe we’ll all make enough to get paid! In order to conquer the world, we’re going to need to do that.” Fortunately, with the enthusiasm these performers bring to their shows, their genuine love of creating an amazing performance experience, and the growing numbers of fans and followers, it is only a matter of time until they do march forth and conquer the world.

For more information on MarchFourth, including tour dates , streaming audio and even ringtones, visit their website or official Myspace page!

Written by Darby Blue

All photos courtesy of Nik Wilhelm

Taxonomy of an Apology

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that given a long enough time line, the arrow of human history points towards justice. I would think that was true even if he didn’t say it in that booming, august, alliterative voice he had. He probably could have ordered Chinese food in that voice and it would have sounded epic: “Give me the Potstick-er-er-ers. And the Frie-e-e-ed Ric- ah. And no Em Esssss Geeeeeeeeeee.”

I want to ask people who are reading (people who aren’t? I am asking you nothing, in fact, I’m making fun of your blog indifference even as I type) to try something for me. Today, and only today, the thing I am asking you to do is not sexual in nature and won’t require that you apologize to your parents for embarrassing them in public. Although, would it hurt you to apologize to your parents for embarrassing them in public? Probably not. Imagine that this arrow is an actual giant object. Let’s say it’s made out of wood - a nice polished teak or something. Now, what happens if we get up on top of it? It balances pretty well. It’s pointing that way. Let’s try this. Let’s take 5 steps forward.

I remember a lot of people I knew saying on September 11th, that we, the US should commit ourselves to a non-violent response. That we should take 5 steps this way. That we should shore up our security inside the US, work to build toward a non-external energy-reliant economy and commit ourselves to the ideal that no Muslim-reared child would die because of what happened at the Twin Towers. I was one of those people. We said that we should use the power of the goodwill coming our way to forgive and challenge the rest of the world to do it, too. We could lead by example. If people never learned how to say, “I’m sorry” then we should learn to forgive anyway. We could have made the names of those 3,000 plus people who died that day stand for something real. I still believe this. As strongly as I think anything, I think that we need to be better as a country - we needed to learn how not to act in anger, but to pursue peace with our best tools. At the very least we should have noticed that we were not attacked by a nation, but, in fact, by a small group of people who were likely trying to create the exact result we gave them.

In hindsight it may seem obvious that what happened on September 11th was a large scale case of “suicide by cop”. You’ve all probably seen suicide by cop before. It’s what happens when you get up in a clock tower somewhere and start pumping hollow shells into people until the police bring in the sharpshooter to remove you. You know it’s suicide but you don’t care. It’s what you’re there to do. When a tiny group of people attacks a giant sovereign nation, they have at least some suspicion that the nation will start blowing people up in retaliation. You know it’s going to mean thousands more of your supporters die, but you don’t care. It’s what you’re there to do. And we played along. If Osama Bin Laden had tried to find a way to get the US to destroy any of its remaining credibility in the Muslim world, pitch wildly to the right, remove the civil liberties of its own population and waste billions of dollars he couldn’t have succeeded more. The country has become more religious, more paranoid, more violent, poorer, less concerned with civil liberties and more xenophobic. In essence, we have become more like them. The fact that thousands of their own supporters have died to get there is inconsequential to them. It worked. We did it.

The group of people who believe that internally directed action was the right course of action has grown. The arrow of human history points forward. You are rarely wrong about this sort of thing if you stand on the arrow and take 5 steps forward. When the US attacked Iraq, some people stood up and said it was wrong, unequivocally wrong. The number of people who now admit that seems to be growing every day. Equal rights for women. Breaking down segregation. Defending human liberty. The guarantee that Martin Luther King, Jr. made, beneath the surface, was this: Get up on the arrow and take 5 steps forward - you will be hated today but vindicated tomorrow.

So, eventually, you’ll be right, but not this minute. This minute, people will call you an idealistic idiot. They’ll call you self-congratulatory for noticing that there is an arrow and writing about it. They’ll call you simplistic and stupid and claim that you don’t understand people. They’ll make fun of your hair (Ok, this is me projecting, but kids can be really cruel). But Martin Luther King, Jr. gave us something amazing when he gave us that arrow. He gave us the right - the challenge - to speak into the future. To live in the future. He gave us a tool that lets us take that 5 steps.

I want to tell you what I see if I step up on that arrow and look at Iraq. I hope you’ll take a look and talk about what you see, too.

Ok. Looking.

Let’s face it. Iraq is fucked and so are we. While I’m happy that people are finally starting to notice this, I’m disappointed that they don’t follow the thinking to its conclusion.

It’s time for the United States to apologize for Iraq.

This should not be revolutionary thinking. When you do something wrong, you apologize. Ending this war is a priority and doing it correctly is an even bigger priority. We’ve past the point in history where good intentions are enough. It’s time to end this war in a way that ensures something like it won’t happen again. Really good apologies usually come in three steps:

1. Express your apology for what you did.

You’ve got to say “Hey, I notice this was wrong. My bad.” The “my bad” part is important. You tell Jill that you understand getting drunk and touching all of her cats in an inappropriate way is wrong. Every one of them. Let’s say you didn’t miss one.

2. Commit yourself to fixing your mistake, to whatever degree it is possible.

You’ve got to try to undo whatever damage you can from your mistake. You get the damn cats all the therapy they need.

3. Put machinery in place to make sure you don’t do it again.

This is how people know you really meant it. You make sure it doesn’t happen again. You go to AA. You throw out all your kitty porn. You start dating a human. You do what it takes.

And maybe, just maybe, Jill will believe it. Maybe it will start to make it right. This will make sure that your relationship with Jill isn’t completely destroyed. Cats, however, never forgive. You’re on your own there.

And maybe you saved Jill from a life of cat-entrenched serial despondency, quiet, undercover, solo masturbation and a final will and testament bequeathing everything to “Mr. Mistypaws”, but it wasn’t your choice to make. You fucked up. It doesn’t matter what you meant to do, what you did was wrong.

What we did in Iraq was wrong. We took a sovereign nation surrounded completely by unfriendly borders and forced them to tell us if they had substantial weapons. If they said “no” this left them open to attack by every bordering nation. If they said “yes” this left them open to attack by us. We gave them no credible way to prove anything, failed to exhaust diplomatic options and unprovoked, invaded and destroyed their infrastructure. We killed children, destroyed homes and separated families. We detained people in violation of all known international laws, we tortured people and, regardless of how you view these actions you will likely agree, we engaged in policies that we would decry if any other nation on the planet followed them. We placed them on the brink of genocide and civil war and now have no reasonable plan to do anything about it. To jump in this conversation, I want to suggest how to end it. But I want to suggest a way that is specifically concentrated on justice. How do we get more justice and move the arrow of human history by ending this ridiculous and untenable war. My suggestion:

1. Apologize.

Make it clear that the United States, along with its allies in this war, were wrong to initiate this conflict. Develop a long-term restitution plan that can help fund infrastructure development, personal property replacement and medical care. Explain exactly what we did wrong and commit ourselves to not doing it again. Make it clear that the US does NOT support preemptive warfare and will not any longer engage in it. Completely and unequivocally state that we were wrong. Make it clear exactly at every step. What we did wrong and begin the conversation of how to avoid it. Make all documents regarding this conflict available to the UN. Be more forthcoming than we think we have to be. This is a transparent and clear apology.

2. Place all troops in the area under the authority of the UN.

Shift as many US troops as possible to other UN controlled locations and swap them out for Arab-speaking ones wherever possible. When possible, put Arab speakers in positions of authority on the troop line and create comprehensive oversight through a commitment to the most stringent application of the Geneva conference protocols. Commit ourselves to funding a 10 year plan through the UN that will use the strategies generated in Rwanda and Burundi by Amnesty international to respond to human rights abuses quickly, internally, and stave off the coming civil war. Hire a “Peace Czar” whose job it is to research and determine ways to develop and support the peace in the area. Fund this. Begin humane education and engagement training with all remaining troops, including weekly education in ethics and first response humanitarian aid. Support non-governmental aid organizations in ensuring that people in the area are fed and invite them to provide addition input on oversight.

3. Vote in and attach the following to our constitution as the 28th amendment.

This is in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident as well as to the current war. We have to make it clear that the US will not engage in this sort of warfare in the future:

Section 1. The right of the people to live peaceably is necessary to their ongoing liberty and happiness, and shall not be abridged unjustly or without cause. Given that the United States is a nation that actively seeks out peace and rejects the idea that any nation should wage war frivolously, no war or policing action may be initiated or engaged against any sovereign agency unless the agency attacks first or two independent unaffiliated organizations find that human rights abuses warrant our engagement. No war or policing action shall last longer than is necessary to ensure our safety or mitigate those abuses.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

4. Work with the world community to create a consensus on what happened for inclusion into history books.

For this to be an ongoing lesson, it has to be remembered. We need to stand as an example of what an effective apology really is.

The old adage “Everything happens for a reason” is one of the most evil, stupid ones to make the meme circuit. Little girls aren’t raped for a reason, hurricanes don’t kill children for a reason, Jill’s cats are not sexually abused for a reason (they are cute). The reality is a little more subtle and complex. If we are very smart, work very hard and are exceedingly lucky, we can MAKE a reason out of what happens. It’s time to make a reason for this war. It’s time to put a headstone on the thousands of people murdered. That reason may well be the pursuit of the perfect apology and a new era in world politics: the era of personal national accountability.

Written by Jim Marcus

Jim Marcus is a singer/songwriter, director, photographer, writer, performance artist and social activist. And really, that list doesn’t even touch the surface of all the things he’s done or is doing.

A founding member of the seminal Industrial band Die Warzau, Jim Marcus has worked with artists in all genres, from Bjork to Revenge, Steel Pulse, Pansy Division, Machines of Loving Grace, George Clinton, KMFDM, Gravity Kills, Pigface, Little Louis, and more. Die Warzau’s fifth album, “Supergangbang” is slated for release in October of 2006. Mr. Marcus is also currently at work on his first solo release, entitled “Wonderland”.