RED HOOK - When a visitor enters the
home of Mr. and Mrs. McFarland on Route 9, three miles north of this
Dutchess County community, he has a choice: put a lot of cotton in his
ears or start swinging.
The spacious country house is also the home of Brand X, a rock group of
four bright teenagers who produce a sound that may be a test for the
tolerances of most adult ears, but is just the thing to cure teenage
ills.
On any given weekend the group, led by Paul John Amrod, can be found in
the cramped quarters of the McFarland basement amid mikes, electric
guitars, amplifiers and the other items of business associated with
rock. Sessions are held in the basement as often as often as the group
is able to meet. One, Richard Reineke, the Brand X drummer lives in
Suffern. The three others including Amrod live in Red Hook and attend
Red Hook High School.
Recently the group negotiated a contract with a New York City recording
company and although details are still being ironed out, according to
Amrod, they hope to be on a major label's LP disk by next fall.
Their cut is far above the usual high school rock group. Sessions are
long and hard. The sound is their own even though they follow the style
of some of the greats that are around in the hard rock beat. More than
half of the number are their own. Leader Amrod has more than 70 songs of
his own to call upon at the drop of a down beat.
With Amrod on electric organ, his brother Willy on electric
guitar, Brad "Breed" Keil on electric base guitar and Reineke on drums, that is
said by local buffs to be the best in the area. Amrod is as sure of his music as he is sure of his group.
He drops his smile fast when the subject is changed to his songs and their meaning.
THEY'VE GOT PLENTY
"Some listen just for the noise, others for the beat," he says, "The
intelligent ones get what we mean. One long session will convince
listeners that Brand X has all three.
The other members who make up Brand X also feel strongly as he about
the sound and the meaning. During a recent break at a Sunday session,
they talked of their of their music and their feelings which seem to be
one and the same.
When asked who was his favorite drummer, Reineke laughed and said, "Me."
He adds that he goes for the sound of Ginger Baker of the now de-funked
Cream. Baker is credited by most followers as the "tops" of hard rock
drummers.
MIX AND MATCH
Guitarist Keil is the newest member of Brand X. He joined when the
Amrod brothers moved from Suffern NY to Red Hook with their parents. The
drummer stayed on and makes the long trip on weekends for the fifteen to
eighteen hours of practice a week.
Brand X appears at local events including those of the Red Hook High School.
At the public show they mix their own work with Beatles material and other popular sounds and come up with a 50-50 show.
A light show is included the performance and involves ultra-violet lights and UV paint sprayed all over everything.
Whether in New York City or Red Hook, when the Brand X sound is offered, "You can be sure it's electric."
Contents and photographs, Kingston Freeman Newspaper
He drops his smile fast when the subject is changed to his songs and their meaning.