“There’s a real big R’n’B influence on bands like the MC5 and people like Hendrix.”
Schizophonics singer-guitarist Pat Beers is enthusiastically freewheeling through the annals of musical history. He’s a big MC5 fan. And I’ve often found that MC5 fans tend to have a vast knowledge of music. They’re encyclopaedic creatures.
“A lot of great, hard rock bands came out of Detroit,” continues Pat, “which was just as much about rhythm and blues as it was about rock ’n’ roll. The MC5 is a soul band. Almost.”
Like many MC5 fans, Pat is also adept at describing the myriad complex influences that flow through a musical genre and can pluck out obscure facts to substantiate a given theory with impressive ease.
Pat’s wife, Lety Beers, The Schizophonics’ drummer, shares his passion. The two of them have been soaking up a tsunami of musical influences from an early age.
“We grew up in a little town in Arizona,” explains Lety. “There were no music venues. We had to drive an hour to go and see live music. So I was listening to the radio all the time. There was nothing else to do. On Saturday nights there was this one radio station that would play punk music, ’70s punk and ’90s punk, real late at night. Then we had a real good Oldies station in town, playing The Beach Boys and all the Motown bands.”
When you know, you know. But, of course, not everyone does. The Schizophonics have invested time and effort over the years in seeking out new sounds. In doing so, they have acquired a wealth of information and developed a refined taste. These days, exposure to the musical heritage is markedly different. For one, teenagers aren’t listening to radio stations any more.
“Pat taught guitar for a little bit,” explains Lety “and a lot of the younger kids had never heard of Otis Redding and all these people who we assume are just cemented in the brain, you know.”
Pat: “That’s right. One day I was playing Stand By Me or Dock Of The Bay or something and this kid had never heard it. I couldn’t believe it. We just assume that stuff is part of our culture. But now, in a more internet age, we don’t have a fixed culture that everyone knows. It’s more about what you go and find for yourself, which is cool too.”
On first hearing, The Schizophonics’ sound is an undeniably riotous rock-guitar assault. As such, it’s easy to miss the soul element and the other more subtle references they talk so expertly about, but on closer inspection it’s all there. It’s in the energy. And during a live gig, it all suddenly becomes more obvious. They are an animated, theatric beast. Pat flings himself around the room at will, nailing hurdle squats and pulling splits between verses, at times his drenched body writhing like an electric eel. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s one of, if not the, most gymnastic performance I’ve ever seen from a singer, let alone a singer who’s also single-handedly on guitar duties.
Pat expands on the melting pot of influences that have shaped their dynamic live show. “It’s whatever we’re into at the time. Arena stuff like Thin Lizzy and Kiss. We’ll just throw that in. There’s a lot of ‘50s rock ’n’ roll in there, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Years ago we discovered northern soul dancing. We were fascinated by it. The spinning. I really wanted to spin like that. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Lately we’ve been more into ‘70s punk. We’ve been touring with The Chats. So that seeps in.”
The Schizophonics have rubbed shoulders with a lot of bands. They gig a lot. And they love it.
“It’s fun because you get to meet up with old friends. The more you tour, the more people you stay in touch with,” says Lety. “We’re really enjoying this tour. We started in Spain and did eight shows in a row. Really rowdy Spanish crowds. We played here at the Trades Club a couple of time before. We played here when we were on tour with Little Barrie.”
Pat jumps in: “I found a Slade record down the road here for, like, five bucks. It was in a thrift store. You don’t find Slade records in the US. And then we found this really good northern soul 45. We love record shopping on tour. In different countries you find different stuff. We notice that in Germany you find all The Equals’ records. They are non-existent in the US. I’m not sure all of them even exist on Spotify, which is a crime, but in Germany for some reason they were really big.”
The Schizophonics have been to most corners of the world several times over. They racked up more than 50 live shows last year, which is nothing out of the ordinary for them. I’m curious to know how touring has changed since they started out, particularly in terms of its financial viability.
Lety: “Our merch has gone up. It costs a lot more money to make t-shirts and stuff. We see a lot of bands have to hike their prices for things like that. Everything’s gone up. The last record we did, which came out just after Covid, it cost so much more than what we were quoted pre-Covid.”
Pat takes up the thread: “It was in the middle of that whole supply chain thing. There have been times when we’ve been touring, like, California and the gas prices were crazy. Then you get out of California and think ‘Oh, this ain’t so bad’.
Despite all that time on the road, it’s clear the band are never happier than when they’re back home in their beloved San Diego.
Lety: “That’s where our band was born, in San Diego. That’s where I learned the drums. I loved it, that old music community from back then – and still do. There’s a lot of bands there and everyone knows each other. It’s a great music scene.”
Back in San Diego, Lety and Pat spend a good deal of time at The Casbah, the notorious live music venue. With friends in tow, they get to further their love of soul under the guise of a super-band, The Soul Revue.
Lety: “Oh yeah. That’s a one time a year thing. We first did it at The Casbah for an end of year party. We wanted to do something bigger so we asked a load of local friends to join us. Last time we did it, there were 13 of us on stage. We play a bunch of soul covers. It’s great.”
The Schizophonics are busy, busy, busy and they firmly intend to keep it that way for some time yet. Aside from their current run of live shows, they are sitting on a bunch of new songs, enough for an album, which they’re hoping to get recorded and released before the end of the year. You can be sure it’ll be an explosive affair, with plenty of soul.
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Listen to The Schizophonics on bandcamp and follow the band on Instagram.
Words & media: Stephen Desmond
