http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050325/ENT02/503250302/1005/ENT
March 25, 2005
The Shreveport Times

Squint sees its way to Sully's

As bands with regional draw go, squint has been extremely successful in keeping their fans. They've survived for a long time, having been together since 1996. They have performed with the Goo Goo Dolls. They have their own annual music festival, squintfest, which will come to Shreveport in late April.

Guitarist Matt Frederickson credits their ongoing success to a workmanlike approach. Though he works bartending shifts to supplement his income, he doesn't see his involvement in squint as a casual rocker's affair.

"When bands ask us how we get so much done, we tell them that it's our jobs. If your whole band is working 40-hour work weeks -- that is 160 man hours for a four-man band -- you'll be amazed by what you can get accomplished."

According to Frederickson, the band has written about 80 percent of the material they need for a new album, which they should start recording in the next six months.

They're on the road often, and a recent stop in Hattiesburg, Miss., produced a few memories. They arrived at the bar to set up only to find another band on stage. The owners had double-booked, so squint decided to leave. But before leaving, someone asked the band to play an impromptu all-ages show at a nearby venue.

They were rewarded for their flexibility with a free night's stay in the owner's aunt's place.

"Before we actually got there, he started telling us how he got married to his wife while on heroin," said Frederickson. "That should have been red flag No. 1 . ... It turned out his aunt had died recently. The place was full of cats and tons of random medical equipment."

"It was all just trash and horrible," he continued. Did he learn any lessons about life on the road? You bet. "At the end of the night, you're pretty much willing to take anything that's offered to you. Unfortunately, the people who will offer you stuff are pretty much mentally unstable or don't have much to begin with."

~Close Window to Return to Random Caring~