The Barcait Couture came together roughly 3 years ago. After a few small tweaks, including a name change, The ExoSkeleton was born last fall. Winning the Congress Theater Battle of the Bands, playing venues such as The Bottom Lounge, Beat Kitchen and The Metro, this band is quickly making a name for themselves. I recently sat down with Vinny(vox) and Jason(drums) to find out what their music is all about, their creative process, and exactly what they are bringing to the music scene in Chicago.

 

If you could describe your music in just 3 words to someone who has never heard you before, what would you choose?

 

Vinny and Jason take a second to discuss this amongst themselves. “I guess, horror, rock, melodic,” Vinny decides.

 

Being that you guys are in a band that has been around for awhile, you have the creative process down to a science, right?

 

Both of the guys laugh. Jason answers, “Our writing process is collective. Everybody brings their insight and ideas to the table. We then work from there.”

 

How do you handle creative differences?

 

“We meet in the middle. We will try every idea, and see what happens. Thus far, we haven’t had any issues. We all have a similar vision for the band. We know what works and what doesn’t,” Vinny answers confidently.

 

Breaking into the Chicago music scene is difficult to say the least. What exactly are you doing that is different?

 

“We definitely are approaching things differently. Our stage show tends to be more theatrical. We see a lot of bands leaning toward the electronic stuff, building the majority of their sound on the computers, doing everything they can to get out of just actually playing their instruments, and letting the music speak for itself,” Jason begins.

 

“For sure,” continues Vinny. “I feel like a lot of musicians pick one band that inspires them and then works hard to recreate that sound. We draw our influences from all over the place and strive to create our own sound. We are just trying to make music that makes us happy. That is where the true success is. As an artist, you need to make something because it satisfies you, not just because you think mainstream masses will like it,” he says as he shrugs. “I don’t want to make music that in 3 years, I am unhappy with.”

 

Intrigued? For more information, make sure you check them out online:

http://www.the-exoskeleton.com
http://www.myspace.com/thexoskeleton
http://www.twitter.com/theexoskeleton
http://www.youtube.com/theexoskeletonband

and make sure you catch them live at one of the events listed below:

Local Music Revolution Festival 2011

Location: The Metro, Chicago, IL

Date: August 12, 2011

Time: 5PM

Six Flags Live and Local 2011

Location: Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL

Date: August 13, 2011

Time: All day

Chicago’s 4th Annual Welcome Home Celebration

Location: Soldier Field – Chicago, IL

Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.