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Poison Control Center to bring antidote to Iowa City

By Steven Horowitz

Founding member, singer, and guitarist for Poison Control Center, Patrick Tape Fleming, said he didn’t give the band its name for any deep or ironic reason. He just liked three-named bands, like Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

While CCR seems an odd match with the other two aforementioned indie alternative groups, it does point back to what all of PCC’s members believe their act has it’s roots into—sixties guitar based rock.

“We’ve even played “Hey Tonight” during a recent encore,” Fleming said in reference to one of CCR’s most crowd pleasing hits. “The song still gets people excited.”

Poison Control Center plays at the Mill tonight with 12 Canons, Burnt Ends, and Samual Locke Ward. Cover is $6.

Poison Control Center’s music has more in common with contemporary college rock than oldies from the past, but there is a psychedelic core to its sound that can be easily traced back to the turbulent decade of American life. The band members, who are between the ages of 24 and 28, also claim acts like the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the 13th Floor Elevators and The Beatles as influences.

They spoke while traveling from a gig at Schuba’s in Chicago to a show in Cincinnati. They were riding in a van and were located somewhere in Indiana. The four members took turns talking on the phone, even the driver--drummer, singer, and sax player Ephraim Curtis.

“The windshield wipers play a pretty good beat,” Curtis joked, “when they are working. Right now they don’t seem to be doing much good.” He’s currently a graduate student in computer science at the University of Iowa. He finds this can interfere with touring and being part of a rock band, but that’s the price one has to pay for making music a part of one’s life. He bristled at the notion that rock groups are dumb and that the two halves of his life are disconnected.

“Smarts is not based on how much you went to school,” he said. He likes the Iowa City audiences, but also has a fondness for Ames and Iowa State University. The four members met and started PCC while living in Ames, although three of the band members now reside in different places.

“I live in Missouri,” guitarist, singer, and trumpeter Devon Frank said, “but I have an Iowa heart.” He’s been passing the time on the car ride by reading a book on cognitive science. All of the band members seem savvy on technological issues and credit the Internet with helping PCC become an accomplished touring act.

Fleming credits reviews on blogs, myspace connections, and the ability to communicate with people met over the years for PCC’s success. The group’s current tour takes them as far east as Knoxville, Tenn. before veering down south to Athens, Ga. and west to Shreveport, La. and Denton, Tex., then heading up through Lawrence, Kan., Lincoln and Omaha, Neb. and ending up in Iowa City on Jan 17 for a show at The Mill and Jan. 18 at the Java House for a radio show. PCC then go to Des Moines and Minnesota to complete the circuit.

“It’s a big adventure, but we’ve toured together enough times that we don’t drive each other nuts,” bassists, singer and trumpeter Joseph Terry said. However, the band has been known to drive audiences crazy with their mix of power pop, punk, free jazz (note the number of horn players in the band) and straight ahead rock.

“We sort of judge our shows by how the crowd reacts. If they are all singing along and responding, we know we’ve had a great night,” Fleming said. He noted that Iowa City audiences are notorious for sitting on their hands and nodding, even when they are having a good time. But he’s not worried. PCC has played the town before and expects its fans to come out and enjoy themselves.

He understands that lively music provides the antidote for warming up people who like to play it cool.