Williamsport native garage-punk band, Phantom Creeps, will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday, at Smokey Jo's, 1324 W. Third St., with Jaw Horse and The Gasholes.
Phantom Creeps is Jon King on bass and vocals, Brad Barnes "Theodore Barnsie" on guitar and vocals and Matt Macgill "Lee Clayton" on drums.
The trio also has played shows in Canton and Liberty, but say they like their hometown scene the best, referencing Smokey Jo's and Kimball's as particularly supportive of the band.
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PHOTO By NICKI HUNTER
Jaw Horse is seen performing. The band will play with the Phantom Creeps and the Gasholes at 9 p.m. Saturday at Smokey Jo’s, 1324 W. Third St.
"I think it [the local music scene] is great," King said. "The bands are pretty decent and we all get along for the most part. It's not a competitive thing ... I'm glad we don't have the bigger city club mentality. It's ridiculous to get a show in New York City, it takes months to get into somewhere and when you do, there's 30 other shows that night."
The band formed in 2009 with a different drummer but picked up Macgill in 2010.
They are a garage punk or trash rock 'n' roll band, but say they are best described as post new-wave colonial stomp, a supercharged version of Prince and The New Power Generation.
Rumor has it, the three got into playing live music after they all failed to place in a local swim meet. Their parents thought it would be best if they formed a band instead.
King said he started playing music at an early age and really enjoys the recording and production end of it.
"I like to travel around and meet new people and bands," King said. "I like to see what other areas are doing musically."
The members have a wide range of musical tastes, but King said he has been listening to a lot of garage and lo-fi music lately. As for the band as a whole, their musical motivation is exclusively Olivia Newton-John. Whenever they feel their dedication to the band wearing thin, they like to play a cover of Newton-John's "Physical" to put things into perspective.
In 2011, the band recorded two EPs on their own. King said he prefers handling the recordings themselves instead of dealing with record labels and distributors.
King said they play with Jaw Horse and The Gasholes frequently, but separately. They have not played a show with both of them together yet, but would like to try to go on the road for a few days with both bands at some point this year.
Jaw Horse is a five-piece band, based out of Selinsgrove. They formed, with their current lineup, in summer 2011 and play "their version" of a blues and punk-influenced, stoner rock.
Jaw Horse is Buddie Kramer and Adam Mahlin on guitar, Eric Pugh on drums, Sean "Jovi" Stoltenburg on vocals and Mike Glass on bass.
"We play music because we have to," Stoltenburg said. "It's not something we really got into, more something that got into us. We wouldn't feel complete without some kind of musical outlet."
The March 10 show will be Jaw Horse's first in Williamsport, but Stoltenburg said the members are familiar with the area from playing in other bands and as fans of local bands.
"We're excited to play this show at Smokey Jo's and see what kind of people we attract and we hope to play here more in the future," Stoltenburg said. "We'd like to try to do more all ages shows too ... all ages venues are incredibly important to any music scene. Who knows what any of us would be doing if we hadn't been lucky enough to have safe havens to express ourselves in, musically and culturally, when we were younger."
Stoltenburg said he loves everything about live shows and playing live is what it's all about.
"It's that release of pent-up frustration, the reassurance that what you are doing does matter and people do care, getting sweaty with your best friends on the stage [and] people you've never met singing along with your song - just the complete satisfaction of it all," Stoltenburg said. "We have been lucky with the shows we've done so far, lots of really good bands full of really cool dudes and good turnouts. Live shows are just part of it, no one who wants to make music as badly as we do, wants to keep it to themselves."
The three bands were lined up to play together in January, along with Kviza & The Comrades, but the show was canceled at the last minute. The bands are excited for the second-chance show.
The Phantom Creeps said they are working on new material, which has more to do with their live show and incorporating a theatrical element with raw hamburger meat and stilts.
They also have lofty goals for the year, which include finding chaps, similar to those that Prince wore in the 1991 MTV Music Video Awards, for each of the band members to wear.
There will be a $5 cover charge at the door for the 21-and-older show.
For more information about the Phantom Creeps, search for them on Facebook. The Gasholes also can be found on Facebook and for more information about Jaw Horse, visit www.reverbnation.com/jawhorse.
