Local metal group Untamed Pony will use its angry, window-breaking songs and intoxicated antics tonight to wreak havoc at the Athens International Film & Video Festival fund-raiser.
Jon Lyons, Untamed Pony's guitarist and drummer and a member of the promotional team for the Athens Center for Film and Video, said the show will give the most music for your buck.
But this won't be a sit-down, black-tie affair. Untamed Pony is an angry collection of local rock and punk musicians who are accustomed to breaking equipment and rallying a chaotic crowd.
The band plays rage-inspired songs that drone out everyday annoyances with banging drums, resonating guitar chords and lots of screaming vocals. An annoyed neighbor once described the music as violence
Lyons said.
The drunker people are the more responsive they are whether you suck or not
to your music
so you get a lot more crowd reaction. Lyons said.
Bassist Zach Fuller said the group has had beer bottles fly at them and lit matchbooks land on the stage during a show. At The Union, 18 W. Union St., Lyons and drummer and guitarist Mark Karges said they have broken six microphones, usually as they try to jump offstage.
But the group member's lengthy music backgrounds show a method to their madness. Fuller plays in We March and The Heartlanders; Karges is in Rat Brains and Tarantula Downpour; Lyons has played in Chip Paint and the Paintchips and Knifey Spoony; and bassist Andrew Lampela has played in six other bands, including Kid Panda Hands.
However, Karges said that Untamed Pony is very different from any of the members' other projects.
During their shows, Karges and Lyons alternate duties on drums and guitar. While they try to stick to one setup for at least half a show, Karges said the change works to their advantage.
It definitely keeps things more interesting
and not even just live shows
but practicing and stuff like that
Fuller said. It's kind of cool
plus it definitely changes the beat
and not so much the guitars changing but the rhythm changing from drummers.
Lyon's drumming is drunken and jamly
and it feels like a teetering ship; Karges said his drumming is more punk-inspired.
Although the switch may seem complicated, the group said it usually practices once a week, and since its formation in June, it has had only one practice with all four members.
We have a philosophy of practicing as little as possible
