When a fight breaks out at a house party, you hardly expect people to speak to each other again, much less start a band together. But that’s exactly what happened with indie/pop band SEMI SWEET, when singer Cassis Walter and drummer Vanessa Barnes got into it and wound up with a garden hose in the living room and a band in the works. Through a series of circumstances (that, according to the band, even involve black holes and time travel) keyboardist Heather Patton, bassist Derek War, and guitarist Jeff Weber joined up to begin making music.
With a genre they proclaim “bitch pop” and with influences including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lou Reed, Explosions in the Sky, The Growlers, and Sunset Romeo, Semi Sweet is a cool indie band with an indescribable sound all their own.
The group performed at the RAW art show at Club Maya in Long Beach last week for an excited and sizable crowd, a bit of a jump from where the band began. Originally, Semi Sweet played local dive bars and their typical hang outs, “Because we wanted free drinks,” says Cassie. The set consisted of entirely original songs, such as “Sleazy,” “Grounded,” and “Times Like These.”
Bassist Derek best summed up Semi Sweet’s songwriting process: “[Cassie] starts it, we finish.” A real group effort of layering instrument over instrument is what gives the band their unique sound.
Semi Sweet is currently working on a new EP; their first is available for download on their website Semisweetband.com.
