Clown by law

Broken Clown beats a burger

By Sherie Dyer

Broken Clown play the Better End November 25.

CLOWNING AROUND: Jarod Tinkham, Shane Kinney, Mark Belanger, Ed Porter.

Many things have been acquired through Uncle Henry’s over the years. Shane Kinney, the drummer of Broken Clown, was nearly one of them.

“No, I’m serious,” exclaims Mark Belanger, the vocalist and guitarist for the band. “Jarod, Walt, and I lived in Bangor at the time. We had written several songs with the intent of finding a drummer. Bangor is such a small town it was damn near impossible. Why not Uncle Henry’s? ”

“When I called up,” says Kinney, “I had just lost my license temporarily. I lived in Rockland, and it wasn’t a logical thing to commit to. Anyway, I ended up moving to Baltimore for a while.”

So Broken Clown, armed with a drum machine and guitars, moved to Portland. Coincidentally, only two years later, Kinney had also moved to Portland and answered an ad he read in Face. When he called in he immediately recognized Belanger’s voice. Fate? Maybe, but three practices later Kinney quit the band.

Finally, a short spell later, they all crossed paths again and gave it another try. All players went at it with newly found force. They wrote new material and worked on a loyal following made up of fellow musicians and friends. After a few years of playing shows with every noteworthy rock band in town, Walt Miller, the band’s bass player, left the group.

“The timing was eerie,” explains Ed Porter, Broken Clown’s current bassist. “I had just moved to town, and ran into them as old friends. They asked me if I was interested in playing, and it’s been fun ever since.”

Ed has a long history with a lot of Bangor-rooted musicians. He took over The Penny Post after it became Heavies. Porter renamed it The Sound House and kept it alive for awhile longer. Twisted Roots, Ku-da-tah, Broken Clown, and his own bands Spork and Opium Poet frequented the space. By doing so, kids up there had an outlet in an otherwise dead area.

With the help of Porter, Broken Clown has developed a carefully crafted metal edge with a solid rock foundation. Jarod Tinkham has a style of playing that goes straight from his guitar and into your eardrums with lightning speed. The drama in his solos are comparable to full-scale theater productions. Your head is held captive in a semi-sway to their music.

Belanger works with Tinkham in this fashion: while you are captive he is hammering witty, ambiguous metaphors into your memory. His vocals are raw, his guitar playing is grinding, and his on-stage antics are hilarious. During any given performance it’s possible to see him molesting Porter in a disturbing manner, or simply falling on his face. He has brought props, including inflatable sheep, and one Halloween he dressed up like Janet Reno. It was Belanger who named their homespun EP Buy Guns, Eat Meat, Wear Fur. It was also Belanger who coined one of my favorite phrases: “You can’t ask your neighbor for a hammer these days without being slapped with a sexual harassment suit and administered a drug test!”

Before answering ads for drummers, Kinney was a hyperactive eight-year-old jumping on his bed listening to Iron Maiden. In fact, when Maiden came to Portland last summer, he turned back into an eight-year-old clutching a gin and tonic. Needless to say he had strong metal roots. W.A.S.P, The Cult, and Judas Priest are among his favorites, and you hear the best pieces of each of their drummers in his playing. Kinney is the iconic drummer. He plays all the time, banging sticks on whatever might be close by, rehearsing by himself — he is intently driven. Luckily, he has the perfect means to support his talent: he works in a local drum shop. Allowing him to eat, sleep, and breath in a time signature.

Currently the band has been recording with Jon Wyman out at Big Sound Studios. Although Wyman lives in New York, he has made their full-length CD a priority. The release will be a milestone for the band considering all of the rocky times they have shared. Just short of beginning the album, Kinney was ready to leave again. This time for good. It’s exhausting to play and promote the same thing all the time. Between phone calls, bookings, emails, and everything else, he was getting fed up. Another person was needed. A hustler, a go between, a buffer, a manager. Joe Brien Jr. filled the void, and so far so good. With him on the scene, the band no longer has to kill themselves to do it all. No more arguing with club owners over money, or wasting time playing phone tag with the booking agents. At this time and space things may be the best they’ve ever been for Broken Clown. The album is coming together in a beautiful way, and management is a comfort zone. The next show they play will be huge, in size as well as attitude. n

Sherie Dyer can be reached at sheriedyer@netscape.net.