YCP grad's band performs Lancaster Music Friday
When you walk into a Beecher’s Fault concert, don’t expect a flashy display of dancing and smoke machines.
The folk-rock-meets-synth-pop band from Astoria, N.Y. isn’t about the theatrics.
Since the five-piece band formed about five years ago, they’ve strived to keep it simple, focusing only on their honest lyrics about real-world issues.
The band’s story goes back to vocalist and keyboardist Ken Lamken’s days as a York College student. Though he was studying art at the time, Lamken, now 29, said he fell in love with music on campus.
On nights when he was working late in the art studio, he remembers breaking into the recital rooms to tinker around on the piano. By his senior year, he was voluntarily staying up all night to pursue both art and music. A typical night consisted of painting until 3 a.m. and working on an album with a neighbor across the street until 8 a.m.
“For several months, my whole life was just art and music,” he said.
But after graduation in 2008, when it was time to decide a career path, Lamken felt himself gravitating more toward music.
“I felt like (music) was kind of an easier language,” Lamken said. “It’s more universal than art … You put art in an art gallery, and it’s in a little space where only a certain amount of people are going to understand it. But music, you pick up a guitar, and it can quickly translate to a piece of art.”
That was the goal – to reach larger audiences through his music, Lamken said. And, like many young musicians, he went to New York to achieve it.
Now a few years later, Beecher’s Fault – which describes its music as Wilco-meets-Passion Pit – has more than 1 million views on Spotify for 2015 and has been featured on the “staff picks” section on Vimeo.
The band’s standout track “Matchstick Kings,” from its latest EP “Do As People Do,” was also featured in the official trailer for the movie “The Outfield,” starring Cameron Dallas and Nash Grier.
Even with his recent success, Lamken said he hasn’t forgotten his roots. While he has played the White Rose Bar & Grill and at the York College radio station in York, Friday will be his first time performing at the Elk’s Lodge in Lancaster.
“Throughout my four years (in college), I got to know York, Lancaster and Harrisburg, and I really fell in love with the area,” he said.
The show will be part of Lancaster’s Music Fridays, an event that features local and regional acts at participating downtown Lancaster locations every third Friday. For a list of bands and venues, visit www.visitlancastercity.com/music-friday.
Lamken said what sets Beecher’s Fault’s music apart from the rest of Friday's lineup is the honesty of the band's lyrics.
“We write from the heart,” Lamken said. “We write about what we feel. We don’t go out of our way to write a song just for the sake of being catchy.”
The audience can expect to hear songs from “Do As People Do” – the band’s proudest work to date – about every day issues from divorce to heartbreak and even death.
It’s not uncommon to look out at the crowd and see people crying, he said.
“Seeing people while they’re in the moment and how they react to (our music) can be impactful. We're able to help them in that moment give them that 45 minutes to two hours of escape. That’s the reason why we do it.”
If you go
What: Beecher’s Fault with Working Breed and Those People
When: Friday, Dec. 18. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Music stars at 8:15 p.m.
Where: The Elks Lodge, 219 N. Duke St., Lancaster
Tickets: $8 at the door (Must be 21 or older)
More information: Check out The Gigspots Gift: A Menage of Modern Rock page on Facebook.
Follow Beecher’s Fault
Twitter: @BeechersFault
Instagram: beechersfault
Facebook: facebook.com/BeechersFault
YouTube: youtube.com/BeechersFault
Website: www.beechersfault.com