The LeeDing Zeros

From the "77 Square" Section

....also on Friday at 9 p.m.: Local rock band the LeeDing Zeros celebrate the release of their jazzy, soulful debut album "Ear Candy" with a free show at the unfortunately named Scatz, 2248 Deming Way (in Middleton, next to the new Costco). But don't hold the club's name against the band, which appears to take everything in stride with a self-deprecating sense of humor (one band member mentions in his bio that he'll know he's "made it big when each band contract includes a deli tray with cold meat slices and cheese") - Madison Newspapers

MadTracks -- 'Names' by The LeeDing Zeros
Jessica Steinhoff on Sunday 07/12/2009 8:00 am , (38) Recommendations


Most of us aren’t lucky enough to choose the names that follow us for life. And some people -- that Office Space character named Michael Bolton, anyone with the last name Butkus -- should get an automatic do-over based on the teasing they endure.

Of course there are other reasons for a name do-over, too: witness-protection sorts of reasons, reasons involving fame and fortune, and reasons that simply involve breaking a nasty old habit. Local jazz-pop five-piece The LeeDing Zeros has even written a song about this last reason, appropriately titled “Names,” for their debut album, Ear Candy.

As the owners of a rather unusual band name -- a play on the term “leading zeroes,” math nerd lingo for any zeroes that precede the first nonzero integer of a number, such as those in James Bond’s 007 tag -- they’ve got some street cred when it comes to this issue. Add to that some unsavory memories of ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends and ex-jobs, and they’re pretty much experts on the topic.

Lynda Higgins, the band’s singer says the song hearkens back to the way kids yell “do-over!” when a game or some other adventure doesn’t quite turn out right. But it’s definitely a piece about ugly, grown-up kinds of struggles.

“Do-overs in adult life are a lot more complicated,” she says. “We often stay put in bad situations that beg for a do-over, slowly being eaten alive. So ‘Names’ is about shedding that person or thing that is draining the life out of you.”

While the song’s lyrics may be about shedding, the music itself seems to be about building. Starting with just a touch of cymbals, guitar and saxophone, plus a slow, steady beat, it soon busts into a funky, piano-driven groove, with Higgins teaching -- or preaching -- a lesson about transformation to whoever may be listening.

Musically, it’s a collection of minor notes and half-steps designed to bring out the lyrics’ sass and sauce while recalling one of most prim and proper vocalists of musical theater.

“The bridge offers a melodic throwback to Julie Andrews, which Lynda nailed with ease. She is such a showboat,” says drummer Greg Burt.

Meanwhile, the sax lines lend an ’80s pop feel, plus a bit of imperfection that actually adds to the song.

Burt says that though the sax solo at the very end of the track has a very difficult interval, plus a squeak, it had to stay in the recording because it made the other layers of the song fit together. “It was a moment where the unintentional became the perfect fit,” he says.

The same could be said of names themselves -- some of the best ones, anyway.

An MP3 of “Names” is available in the related downloads section at right. More music by The LeeDing Zeros is available on its MySpace page. Catch the group when it plays live in the next free Concert in the Park at Dream Park in Monona on Tuesday, July 14.

MadTracks highlights and provides MP3s of songs performed by local musicians. All tracks here are provided with permission of the artist. If you are a musician based in the Madison metro area and are interested in sharing your work as a MadTrack, please send a message. - Isthmus Newspaper

Beyond 9 to 5
Jessica Steinhoff on Friday 11/06/2009 , (1) Recommendation


Almost everyone who's tried to make a living as a musician has heard the old adage: "Don't quit your day job." The thing is, lots of local musicians have great day jobs that they wouldn't dream of ditching, and plenty have found a way to rehearse, perform and create while the rest of us sleep, watch TV and play Wii. We're a town of weekend warriors when it comes to music making.

For some, the weekend warrior lifestyle is a result of family or school responsibilities; for others, it's a byproduct of being a night owl. Then there are those who've stumbled upon it, unsure how it happened but reaping the benefits nonetheless.

Michael James of Midlife Crisis explains that even though the local cover band's serious about performing, they wouldn't be able to sleep at night if the band became more important than their families.

"We love to play, and we play an average of six times a month, but we all have families, too," he says. "As a rule, our families are our number-one priority before the band."

Of course, having kids means finding a way to bring home the bacon. So holding down a decent job is par for the course. For at least some of Midlife Crisis' members, it means being The Office's Jim Halpert between gigs. For another local band, bluesy rockers LeeDing Zeros, it means waitressing, studying nursing, solving computer problems, selling lumber products, teaching school and more. There's even a sax-playing doctor thrown into the mix.

Greg Percy, the band's bass- and keyboard-playing middle school teacher, says the Packers, of all things, are the organizing principle.

"We practice mostly on Sundays, before or after Packers games," he explains. "We also have a master schedule filled in with days that, for one reason or another, one of us is not available. So it's definitely a juggling act."

This setup requires a lot of patience, especially when it comes to big projects like recording a CD, Percy admits. The group's latest CD, Ear Candy, took more than two years to create due to busy schedules. But the hard work was worth it.

"It's great to be in a group where we all realize that we're just doing this for fun," Percy says. "We've all been in enough dysfunctional bands to know a good thing when we see it."

Another set of weekend warriors, the post-punk duo Dick the Bruiser, emerged from P'elvis, a local band that was quite successful around these parts until petering out in 2004.

Guitarist/vocalist Kevin Wade says Dick the Bruiser works, in part, because it's a two-piece, which makes it relatively easy to manage. Even the best-intentioned quartets are more of a logistical challenge, simply because there are twice as many schedules and creative visions.

"It's quite naked-feeling to be in a two-piece after playing with three, four, five people, but me and [drummer] Tony [Sellers], we like that we can work at the pace we want, especially since we've got family and work and whatnot," he says.

For Wade, the work and much of the whatnot happens at Planet Propaganda, the design firm he co-founded in the late '80s. Because he's in a creative line of work, the band is, in some sense, an extension of what he does from 9 to 5.

"It sort of augments what I do [at work]; it's creative but a different kind of creative," he explains. "It's a release, and as long as Tony and I, with our blood-sworn oath, keep it casual and unstressful, it's a real release."

Wade says he and Sellers aren't angling to land a big tour, which helps them keep the strategy simple: Chill out, rock out.

"It doesn't sound very rock 'n' roll, but sometimes your kid has three birthday parties to attend on a Saturday, and these days, we're not exactly built for driving to Poughkeepsie and sleeping in a van," he says. "We're all for bands doing that kind of thing, but we're just trying to make some good music. It's possible to do that and keep it close to home, too." - Isthmus Newspaper