Logical Song Lyrics

Interview: Briar Rabbit

With his distinctive brand of indie-pop garnering fans throughout the Windy City, Phillip-Michael Scales is quickly emerging as one of the most promising young talents in modern music. His band, Briar Rabbit, has an ever-fluctuating number of members.

Sometimes it consists solely of Scales, though he has included up to five fellow musicians at various concerts and on his debut album, “Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep.”

On the heels of his acclaimed performance at this year’s Taste of Chicago, Scales will be among the musicians performing at the inaugural Wasted Plains Rock & Roll Revival fest in Woodstock. The Independent spoke with Scales about his love of lyrics, his recent move to Chicago and his eco-friendly tour bus.

Q: How did you get your start?

A: I started out in Detroit and was always involved in musicals and theatre. I graduated on to guitar and quickly realized that I liked music over anything else. I was excited to explore that path, so I started taking lessons and became an addict. Musicals had a big influence on me, but my tunes aren’t necessarily theatrical. You’ll hear more of a jazz influence or a rag influence in [my work]. Growing up in Detroit, Motown, soul music and blues were all staples, and I feel that’s where my voice came from. I got into the mod rock stuff in high school with the Stones and the Who and also listened to indie bands like Sloan. Then I ended up at Berklee [College of Music in Boston], where people started exposing me to tons of music I thought I’d never listen to.

Q: Is it true that you were releasing records since you were in high school?

A: Yes. I was fronting bands since I was in eighth grade. I had my first concert the last day of eighth grade in my best friend’s backyard. We opened up the garage and felt like rock stars for the night. It wasn’t until I looked at the tape that I realized our guitars were out of tune. I was passionate about music, and my dad would help me out in terms of putting together a rig. I cleaned out the basement and started my own recording studio. I spent hours and hours down there.

Q: How would you describe your music to a new listener?

A: My songs have a folk-y pop sound where you can groove to the music but you can think to the lyrics. I was a huge English nerd. Writing exposition essays on Shakespeare sonnets was my jam in high school.

:Review: Third Realm – New World Order | COMA Music Magazine

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“Set the World on Fire” starts the album off in a way you would expect by the album’s title. Air raid sirens wail for the intro. The vocals overlay the thumping beats with a reverb slithering and sparse nursery rhyme feel. The chorus offsets with a less loud but distorted screaming chant. Midway into the track the vocals change into a traditional Gothic feel, reminding me of a cross of early Sisters of Mercy with a bit of theater from Fields of Nephilim. This sets the par for the rest of the album, demonstrating that Nathan has a professional handle on the production of his works. As stated before, polished.

“Lies and Nation” has a Ministry distorted guitar riff and the beat pounds accordingly. Nathan yet again changes his vocal styles within this piece. A bit of aggrotech at times with a damning chorus. “Resistance” has a nice military rhythm throughout and the vocals have more of a industrial rock feel(Marilyn Manson’s “Mechanical Animals” comes to mind). “Biohacker” slams into what I swore was going to be a Project Pitchfork song due to its sequencer aggression. Nathan whispers over the sequences until the heavily processed chorus breaks for a bit. There is a political feel within this album and the samples within this track pushes them further. The song continues with its aggression, building more and more with additional beats to slowly fade out.

“Delusional Ecstasy” has a nice simplistic beginning with a wonderful Gothic wail for vocals at first. This track is very catchy, fragile, and even though it is a bit slower, it still makes you sway. Pink noise percussion keeps everything together and Nathan’s ability to, yet again, sing in so many varied ways makes this a fave track. With lyrics such as “does she want you to save her life…” will be finding its way into many playlists. “New World Order” cues the speed back up with what you would expect by the track’s title, late 80′s Ministry approach. Once again, we see the main vocals with a bit of aggrotech while the chorus is an assault with reverb. “Cry Little Sister” is a cover of the original track from the movie Lost Boys by Gerard McMahon. It is as lush and dense as the original, if not more. Even though the digital percussion is up-to-date, the 80′s sensibility is still there. To be honest, I could not stand the original due to the fact that once you heard it, you could not get it out of your head. Third Realm does it justice and still creates the same issue. Once you hear it, good luck not singing it to yourself. Good job.

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