Alumni ’14 Ethan Heller never knew that a random ‘jam fest’ one afternoon during his senior year at Bradley University would end in the creation of a band, but one year later, he is glad it did.
The trio named Fanny Pack released their debut album, Unzipped, Nov. 2014.
“[A] fanny pack is something that your mom wore in the 90s, and we want to play music that your mom would like,” Heller said.
Fanny Pack is a funkified power trio, blending whirlwind guitar solos, throbbing bass lines and dirty jazz rhythms, according to its Facebook fan page.
Heller said he would write melodies and chord progressions, drummer Adam Sharp would write lyrics with Heller, and bassist and alumni ’14 Dylan Jacobs would create the bass pieces in combination with the melody.
“It’s a very boiled process,” Heller said. “We work very well together.”
From inception to summer 2014, Fanny Pack had composed seven songs. Heller said the creation of an album would make the group more legitimate in the eyes of the public and make it easier to book shows, so “Unzipped” was born.
“A lot of the lyrics are all pretty philosophical for the most part,” Heller said. “It’s a mixture of Eastern philosophy with a Western mindset. [It’s] growing up in the suburbs but being kind of like the hypocrisy of suburban life.”
On Feb. 7, Fanny Pack performed for the Summer Camp Road Tour at the St. Louis, Missouri stop. The Summer Camp Music Festival hosts 13 different contests for bands to secure a spot in the final lineup of the main festival, ranging from Boulder, Colorado to Columbus, Ohio.
For their tour stop performance the power trio wore bright neon clothing along with their performance dance crew, the Moon Puppies.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” Heller said. “A lot of my Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) brothers from Bradley drove down that Saturday to support us, which is really the reason why we won. It was amazing, and we sounded great.”
With their St. Louis victory, Fanny Pack is guaranteed a spot in the 2015 Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, Illinois May 22-24.
“I love the people that go there,” Heller said. “Everybody is creative, and everyone has some sort of outlet for creativity. There are just all sorts of crazy, creative people that go to these things, and that’s definitely my main drive.”
Fanny Pack is continuing to build momentum in St. Louis, and Heller said he hopes that playing in the Summer Camp lineup will help them get into other music festivals.
The festival is not the end for the group, however. Joe Weil, creator of Psycho Films in Los Angeles and longtime friend of Heller, has agreed to help create a music video for Harry’s Breakfast, one of the songs on Unzipped. They are also set to open in St. Louis for the nationally touring band Pigeons Playing Ping Pong March 25.
Heller said he credits part of the band’s success to the support of family, friends and the St. Louis community.
“The St. Louis community has really latched on and given us a ton of support and encouragement,” Heller said. “ All of the musicians have been really supportive, the music community in St. Louis is just great.”
Fanny Pack will be traveling back to Peoria to perform at Kenny’s Westside Pub Feb. 27. This will be the band’s second time performing at Kenny’s.
“[We] definitely expect to see the AEPi brothers there, probably a lot of Bradley greek life and then some Peoria locals,” Heller said. “There’s a pretty big group of locals who love live music and jam bands.”
For more information, visit the Fanny Pack Facebook page.
