South Bend Tribune :: July 28, 2010

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100728/INTHEBEND/100729439

 Fearless Radio is sitting down with Frequency Theater frontman Nate Butler to record an episode on June 19 in Chicago. Stay tuned for specific details of you would like to catch the interview.

 Allen from Astral Audio Productions recently featured us on this podcast!

 Thanks Michael for featuring us! Check out the episode here.

 Frequency Theater was recognized by Ariel Publicity with a 6 week online PR campaign for participation in the Music Success In Nine Weeks blogging contest. The campaign starts May 10 and continues through June 21.

 Yesterday, Nate Butler, aka Frequency Theater, requested that I listen to his music and review it on my blog. This being the first time I’ve received such a request, I was both elated and daunted. On the one hand, I was flattered that Nate thought so much of my writing. On the other, I worried I might not like the music and would have to either write a negative review about somebody who’d been very nice to me, or lie and make only really positive comments I didn’t actually believe.

Thankfully, I didn’t find the need to do either. In fact, after sampling a couple tracks at Frequency Theater’s MySpace site I went to iTunes and downloaded the debut release, Fly Gallery. Fly Gallery is a powerful, driven and passion-filled collection, full of extramusical surprises and artfully layered sonic tiers which I’ve found more intriguing through multiple listenings.

In terms of musical style, as with many artists, it would be far too easy to categorize FT within some easily digestible genre (say, Electronica or Industrial), then carve away what’s a bit different and allow that to dangle out there as the one identifying factor making this act stand apart from every other that’s doing roughly the same thing. In this case that different ‘something’ would be Nate Butler’s upbeat lyrical approach - a style that stands in flagrant contrast against a backdrop of troubled and downward gazing cohorts.

Frequency Theater’s own website rhetoric describes the act as one that “strives to inspire the audience to believe in themselves, to push to become their best version of themselves and to doubt their doubters.” Further, a review also posted at the site quips: “Music fans wondering what Trent Reznor might sound like on a happy day, look no further.” In all honesty, after first reading these I feared the songs would be too simplistic and naive or vapidly didactic. (Yes, alas, I am one of those who often confuses woe with depth). And honestly, who wants to hear Trent Reznor on a good day? Isn’t it his job to suffer for our listening pleasure? And what is one to expect after such a comment? July Andrews singing “I want to f*ck you like an animal?”

But these songs are not simply a sea of loud samples and bangs with cheery, Pollyanna lyrics floating on top. Indeed, aside from the song The Charismatic, I found the lyrics subtle, complex and enigmatic - driven by the same intensity and misgiving one might expect of the more nihilistic offerings from Trent Reznor or Robert Smith.

What I do find most compelling in all this is Nate Butler’s daring to rub that industrial angst against the grain a bit by infusing that rage with a bit of hope, conjuring something fresh and new that is brash and nuanced; full of anguish and inspiration.

S.

 "Music fans wondering what Trent Reznor might sound like on a happy day, look no further. Continuing a tradition of electronic rock in the vein of 90’s heavyweights Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, and the Prodigy, Midwestern act Frequency Theater creates a cacophony of positive, thoughtful robo-pop noise over eight tracks that glide over various industrial music subgenres without pigeonholing itself or remaining merely one of a myriad copycat acts. Adeptly produced and performed by sole constant member Nathan Butler, “Fly Gallery” is a solid debut that nods to classic electro influences (any number of early Wax Trax! Records releases come to mind) while offering a melodic sensibility often absent in the cold, sterile sound common to the scene."
Jeremiah Wade
One Step Beyond
The Globe, WGCS 91.1 FM

From the website www.southbenscene.com

Written by Mike Frank
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 19:32
Goshen, Ind. product Nate Butler is widely known as one of the most influential people in the local music scene. Butler has played in number of bands in the local area but is probably best known for his work with J.R.L., a band he and his wife (bass player) followed to Charlottesville, Virg. for a few years before returning to the Goshen area.

The Indiana native spent a few years building a reputation as a talented recording engineer and producer after his return to the area, but he recently got hit with the creative bug, put his recording studio, Nimblewit Productions, on hold, and dived head first into his brand new project, Frequency Theater.

Frequency Theater is essentially all Nate Butler. Combining electronica sounds with some atmospheric landscapes, some heavy alternative influences, and just a dash of metal, Frequency Theater is a truly unique sound not often heard in the local area.

“From industry speak, it would be called alternative, rock, electronic,” Butler said of the sound of his new project. “I think those three categories in that sequence is what this band is about. It puts me in the same category as bands like Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode--- stuff that’s kind of pop, kind of danceable, but definitely has that kind of hard edge to it.”

Butler said the idea for Frequency Theater came from the realization that he just wasn’t accomplishing what he wanted to achieve in his music career.

“I played drums for 20 years,” he explained. “I’ve been in dozens of bands and have done tons of recording. No matter what I did, my seat on the throne was always threatened by the commitment level of whoever I was in the band with. Unfortunately I just hit a point where I felt nobody cares about my success as much as I do. I can either make excuses for why I haven’t succeeded, or I can find a way to take matters into my own hands.”

Spending countless hours on the road and in the studio, Butler also realized a few absolute truths about music and successful bands.

“This is such a tired cliché in the music industry, but it is all about the songs,” he said. “If you’re not the person who is in control of the songs, they’re in control of you. The money is in the songs. The money is not in cool guitar parts, or great drums, or how on pitch you can be as a singer, it’s about the song.

“Frank Sinatra would’ve been nobody without a bunch of great songs to sing. I really believe that. I don’t think he would’ve gone anywhere without the right producer bringing him the right songs to sing. He really didn’t write his own music. For me, it was just a decision for me to begin to put some of my melodic ideas and lyrical ideas together and see what I could do in fronting a band. I wasn’t even sure I could do that at first. It was a scary transition to make at first.”

The new front man and songwriter said it’s been a long process to get to what he feels is now his sound.

“I had gone down this path where I started playing thrash and hard metal. Slowly I started to try to gravitate towards something that would pay the bills,” Butler said when asked how he came to his sound. “That eventually led to me basically playing brushes for bluegrass bands. All things aside, there’s a lot of great, great musicians in the bluegrass industry, and I enjoyed it a lot, but as a drummer you can’t really stretch out in that genre. There’s basically one beat that you play in bluegrass and that’s a train beat. I can play the heck out of a train beat, but it really felt like I had gotten too far away from what I liked about music, and what really got me excited about music.

“I began to see bands like Muse come across the horizon and I decided that I really wanted to get back to really rocking music. For me, I just wanted to make people move around, jump up and down, get excited and experience that adrenalin rush. I’m not sure I’m all the way there yet, but I’ve made a lot of progress.”

The ideas, the sounds, the structure, the instruments, the production, it’s all Butler behinds the keys, knobs and strings.

“I’m doing mostly the instruments myself,” he explained. “At first it was just because I was experimenting and trying to find my sound. I never really assumed the role of being the songwriter and melodic instrument. I’ve always contributed, but it’s never been my responsibility. So at first I was just messing around trying to find what I was hearing in my head. The other part was just really me being in control of what happens to me as a musician. I’ve been in so many bands. You can never really rely on anyone no matter how committed they are. Things change. People get married, people move, people have things happen in their life that they can’t control.

“At this point, unless I’m able to assemble the right team that I can really trust, I’m going to be controlling the whole vision. Maybe I am dictator,” he said with a big laugh. “I just can’t leave it in other people’s hands, what happens to me.”

As nice as flying solo sounds to a lot of musicians, Butler quickly learned that it can also be a big pain in the ass.

“Yes and no,” he said when asked if he got a sense of satisfaction being completely in control over everything. “I think it’s a lot more frustrating having to do it all by yourself.”

“You don’t have other people to tell you that your ideas might be bad,” he said with a big laugh. “In that sense I don’t enjoy working by myself. On the other side, I don’t have people interrupting my train of thought when I’m trying to perfect an idea or trying to work something out. A lot of times I felt people wouldn’t allow me to push the thing out to what I was really meaning it to be, so you end up resorting to what ends up working on a very basic level, which can be okay sometimes, but that’s not what I wanted to do. I guess I get a lot of satisfaction by creating sounds and landscapes and then really feeling like I have integrity with what the song becomes at the end.”

Playing in the electronic world, a lot of things have to be sequenced, like drums. As a drummer, playing live drums and being a drummer was something pretty hard for Butler to let go of, as was giving up his studio.

“The hardest thing to give up was the drummer’s chair,” he explained. “This was something I invested thousands of dollars and years of emotional investment, and years of just time working on becoming a good drummer. It was the same thing with the recording thing. I spent a lot of time getting to a certain level as a recording engineer and as a mixing engineer. Those things were established. They were comfortable. It’s harder to shift gears, the older you get, but I’m glad I did.”

Spend any amount of time with Nate Butler and you’ll quickly learn he’s a vastly talented musician with a great ear, but more importantly, a great drive to succeed. He makes no bones about his end goal with Frequency Theater, and he has the confidence and talent to get there.

“I want to make this a big, major league, A-list act that talent buyers are interested in picking up because they know that they’re going to make a good return from it,” he said. “Where we know we’re going to into a place and X amount of people are going to be there.

“I’m working on some shows right now in Chicago. I’ve got some stuff rolling around in mid-state Indiana. I’m just going to work regionally until I am consistently drawing major numbers. If I’m not to that point I’m just not going to move on until we figure out what’s not working about the show that’s holding people back. We just want to make it a situation where everyone is there to have a good time and people get into what we’re doing. I think we can get there.”

Author Note: I’m not usually a guy who gets into techno/electronica/alternative stuff, but the EP from Frequency Theater is definitely worth checking out. I really think you’ll be very impressed with the stuff Nate has done. It’s very unique for this area. The recording production of the release is major-label quality. I can’t wait to see the live show.

More on Frequency Theater: To check out some tracks from Frequency Theater’s new EP, “Fly Gallery,” as well as find a schedule where you can see this band live, check out the links below.

http://www.frequencytheater.com/

http://www.myspace.com/frequencytheater

Album release kicks off with Halloween “Darktober!” All Ages Show at Goshen Theater

Frequency Theater announces their first release, Fly Gallery, on Halloween, Oct 31st. In a world where everyone’s a racist and conspirator, a world of tea parties and swine flu, anarchy and globalism, one band has its eye on the whole story. Frequency Theater is the brainchild of local musician and producer Nathan Butler (Nimble Wit Productions), who has worked with regional bands The Sad Tropics, Wilson’s Reservoir, JRL, Apollos Mad and The Goldmine Pickers. Fly Gallery was recorded and produced by Butler and mastered by Grant Beachy of Electric Angel Studios. An upcoming review will appear from Jeremiah Wade, radio host on The Globe, WGCS 91.1 FM.

Fly Gallery explores a variety of themes, but the collection centers on relationships and the human condition. Sonically it lands somewhere between Depeche Mode and later Nine Inch Nails, an unusual sound compared to the usual regional fare of Americana/Folk or Metal. Like an impassioned narrator giving the play by play to a tragic collapse of the human experience, Frequency Theater’s first EP tells the tales of the darker side of the human saga. Butler comments, “If you think of it in terms of relativity, we can’t really comprehend light without putting it into context with darkness.” He pulls from his unique experiences—growing up in a cultish church in northern Indiana, largely isolated from society until his later teens and working in the region’s manufacturing sector—to create a dark and sometimes apocalyptic lyrical perspective.

Frequency Theater is kicking off a series of shows to promote Fly Gallery beginning Oct 31 at The Goshen Theater, 216 S. Main (http://www.goshentheater.com) in the band’s hometown, Goshen, IN. An all ages Halloween costume party with prizes, “Darktober!” features regional industrial act Structural Interference and art rockers Apollos Mad as well as openers Anderson appearing as an acoustic duo. Tickets will be available at the door for $10. A $2 discount flier is available from TG Music, 123 S Main St, Goshen or by download from the band’s website. Doors open at 7:30 pm, the concert begins at 8:00 pm. More regional shows are planned to promote the album through the end of 2009.

Frequency Theater is a professional Alternative/Rock band from Goshen, IN, founded in 2007 by Nathan Butler. More information can be found at www.frequencytheater.com