4B - Thursday, January 18, 2007
{the b-side}
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
BELIKOS
From page 1B
"Before I joined Belikos," Reed said, "my
plan was to jet over to California and basically
work like a maniac to try and break into the
studio scene."
The remaining four members of the group
are somewhat different.
Plagued with bills, 9-to-5 jobs and a hand-
ful of recent robberies to their house, Ethan
Hampton, Justin Hampton, Aaron Orr and
Mo live what can only be described as a bohe-
mian lifestyle. Inspirational quotes dress the
walls of their Ypsilanti home. Coupled with
their makeshift 8-by-8 "stage," also known as
their living room, these words speak directly
to their existence as both hopeful musicians
and realistic adults.
Sacrifice characterizes the lives of these
four members. Unless you happen to be in
their neighborhood at around 10 p.m. on
weeknights when they rehearse, you have a
better chance of seeing them behind a counter
than on stage as musicians.
"Right now, we invest only about a quarter
of our time on music - whether that's enough
or not is irrelevant... that's allwe can afford to
do right now," said Mo, who currently works
at the Kinkos on Liberty Street.
University students living in the Fiji house
or Applebee's fans likely have caught at least
a glimpse of lead vocalist Aaron Orr. Chef by
day, waiter by night and musician in between,
Orr has pursued his passion for music since
his high school days in Ann Arbor.
"Mo and I went to rival high schools and
met through mutual friends," Orr explained.
"We formed our own rap group and would
just do our thing whenever we got the
chance."
Later, the duo met brothers Ethan and Jus-
tin Hampton and started to playtogether.
"Justin is wild and out of his mind and just
vomits creativity, but Ethan is able to iron out
and interpret Justin's visions into something
we can all work with," Mo said.
Before Reed joined, the band had a female
vocalist and horn players. Then this pastsum-
mer, Belikos invited Reed to join the band.
Having originally met at an impromptu jam
session months before, Orr and Mo kept Reed
in mind thanks to his solid chops.
Newly graduated and at the edge of start-
ing a new life out in California, Reed faced an
near-impossible decision.
"I'd been looking forward to moving out to
L.A. for a long time," Reed said. "But (then)
I got the offer to join Belikos ... I (decided to
stay) because I believed in the music we were
going to make."
Let's get wasted
Given their varied backgrounds and musi-
cal preferences, the band attempts to pack as
much flavor and nuance into their music as
possible.
"Whatwe're really tryingto do isctouch peo-
ple," Reed said. "We want people to remember
us and our music as something special, some-
thing that evokes a certain memory and feel-
ing - a reference point in life, maybe."
Manifest in Belikos's music is a desire
to bridge the gap between hip hop, pop and
more guitar-heavy, Red Hot Chili Peppers-
esque rock. The band members must be able
to switch back and forth between different
musical techniques and styles. In particular,
Orr and Ethan possess a dual effervescence
that explodes on stage: In several sets, a
gyrating, half-naked Orr will stun you with
his vocal talents - free-styling at one end,
hollering at an ear-splitting pitch at the
other. Ethan's versatile voice has the ability
to seduce even the staunchest listeners, only
later to break them down in a rambunctious
protest.
With the majority of tracks serving as func-
tional "Let's Get It Started'-type songs (or
rather, their more blunt rendition, "Let's Get
Wasted"), you shouldn't expect much from
their music other than a rapidly beating heart
and a strong desire to hit the dancefloor.
Though they seek an innovative path and
name for themselves, as a whole, Belikos's
triumph and desire speaks louder than their
actual product. They can move audiences and
inject a universal desire to "Get Wasted" into
the bloodstream. Nothing more, nothing less.
When all is said and done...
With a handful of shows under their belts
and a newly recorded demo, what's next?
"I see the band doing a lot more shows
across the nation," Mo said, "hopefully on col-
lege campuses since it's one ofthe bestways to
get your name out there. I'm excited to getout
and really hit the road."
But Reed has a slightly different opinion.
"We're good, but not great -yet," he began.
"A record label would be awesome, but I don't
think we're quite there."Reed believes Belikos
needs to establish a network in Ann Arbor,
then eventuallythroughout Michigan and the
Midwest. "Right now, I see Belikos growing
primarilythrough word-of-mouth."
Playing a dual role as PR rep and bassist,
Reed has a great deal of knowledge about the
music industry that will work in the band's
favor. However, his consciousness of the
band's presentation is borderline obsessive.
Althoughthefledglingbandhasonlybegun
to trudge along the path toward stardom, the
Internet has dramatically altered the fate of
local bands across the nation and in Europe.
What BBC coined as "DIY marketing cam-
paigns" could some day push local bands like
Belikos over the edge.
Until then, it's back to work for the boys
of Belikos: paying the bills and feeding the
dream.
Looking for a
career that gives
you choices?
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AUTO SHOW
From page 1B
Best Production Car: Audi
R8 - I dismissed this almost
immediately when I saw it as
another absolutely incredible but
highly improbable concept that
would never make it to production.
Then I read the sign and my jaw
dropped. It's coming out in the fall.
Will Smith drove practically this
same car in "I Robot," and that was
set in 2035. This is finally a case
where the future arrives sooner
than we expect it.
Worst Concept: InfinitiBevel-
Painted a lovely shade of diarrhea,
this is by far the ugliest thing I saw
all day. The back looks like a mas-
sive computer from 1984. The front
looks like a hammerhead shark.
Sprinkle some LCD lights every-
where, and you've got the worst
idea someone should've never had.
Worst Production Car: Chrys-
ler Sebring - When Michael Scott
from "The Office" thinks your car
is cool enough to buy, you know you
have a problem. The Sebring has
always been the choice for people
who think that simply driving any
convertible makes you cool, but as
it turns out, the car is as lame as
they come. This new redesign gives
a car that should've died years ago
more life it doesn't deserve.
Most Important: Chevrolet Volt
- Probably the most talked about
concept of the show, this car liter-
ally plugs into the wall to recharge
its motor, and in addition to elec-
tricity can run on gasoline, ethanol
or biodiesel fuel. Everyone is telling
me this is the car that'sgoingto save
the world, although I remember
hearing that exact same thing a few
years ago with the GM Hywire and
most likely a few years before that.
The belief we'll all be driving alter-
native fuel cars in 10 to 20 years has
been repeated constantly for about
the past 10 to 20 years.
Most Fun: Mazda Ryuga - It's
not as practical as last year's Kabu-
ra concept, so I can't say it will
make it to production. But it's still
pretty damn cool. The pieces of
the chrome-stylized interior flow
together like water, and the front
and rear lights appear slashed into
the body of the car with claws. The
Ryuga is less a car and more a mas-
terpiece of art.
Other Attention Grabbers:
There are far more cars thanyou'll
be physically able to see, so here are
the ones everyone is either praising
or hating.
0 FordAirstream-Thiscameclose
to taking my "Worst Concept" I
hate cars like this, itchas exactly 0%
production parts and was clearly
just something that Ford's design
chief Peter Horbury vomited out
of his brain. The interior looks like
a playpen for a toddler and there
is a central cylindrical television
screen that plays video of a roaring
fireplace.When your company is on
the verge of extinction, it's clearly
not time to be joking around.
* Ford Interceptor - In contrast,
this almost took my "Best Con-
cept." Its elongated body and nar-
row windows are slick as hell. Ford
should produce something very
close to this and phase out the hor-
ribly bland Five-Hundred. If we
give our police Crown Victorias,
then Jack Bauer himself should
drive this badass cruiser. Ford
needs exactly this sort of car to
keep itself alive.
* Kia Kue - This could possibly
be the tamest concept car of all
time. Oooh, it's got narrow, aggres-
sive lights - scary! Just because
you shape something with unusual
angles does not mean it's "from the
future." Though I willgive itpoints
because it doesn't look like it was
designed in 1992 like all other pres-
ent-day Kias.
* Chrysler Nassau - Every year
Chrysler tries to outdo the 300C,
and every year they prove their
originalsuccesswasa"flukebecause
it's clear they have no idea what
they're doing. This half hatchback/
half luxury car has no idea what it
wants to be. And seriously - does
Chrysler even produce cars that
aren't silver?
* Acura Advanced Sports Car
Concept - Clearly the winner for
most innovative name, this con-
cept is most likely a rebirth of the
recently killed NSX. Severe angles
and wrap-around windshield make
it look nothing like its predecessor,
but it's the NSX's soul that will live
on, not the body. And that's all we
need.
The electricity in the air at Cobo
is enough to get anyone excited,
and if you're a car enthusiast, the
NAIAS is like Christmas. So if you
can scrounge up a ride of your own,
I highly suggest you check it out
before it closes next Sunday.
Whatever your career goals, you'll find a path that helps you
reach them at Ernst & Young. We've created a flexible work
environment that provides options for managing personal
and professional growth and success. So visit us on
campus or at ey.com/us/careers.
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@ 2007 ERNST & YOUNG LLP
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