Feature

Deluxe Leisure King has spent the last six years the same way many other local bands have. They too have felt the unrewarding retorts of the local music scene’s attitude towards original music.

This band has paid its dues searching for local venues in which to perform and has also invested time in finding regional radio stations that might give their songs a spin or two. However, these obstacles have not hindered their pursuits. Seth Cherniak (guitar/vocals), Arthur “Self Abuse” Pacetti (drums/vocals) and Bobby Frost (drums/vocals) came together organically and have reaped the fruits of their combined creative energies with the creation of their first album

“We kinda said, ‘This is some good stuff,’” explains Frost. “This material is really good, and we need to start putting it down. We moved ahead with our first record (‘15 Minutes of Shame’) and really enjoyed that. Thanks to Arthur and Seth, we had a lot of material to work with. I remember at the time we cut our first record, we were like, ‘Man, we got so much stuff!’”

With so much material at their disposal, they were confident they would have more than enough to work with, so they released “15 Minutes of Shame”soaked in the Southern alternative sounds of the ‘90s.

It was after this first release that Deluxe Leisure King began to feel the sting of the local scene.

“Mobile’s not the greatest market for original music, but we did what we could and played private parties and played out when we could when people would have us and start building a following and try to record the music,” Frost said.

Despite local complications, the music made its way to the public through Internet and regional radio play, and their sound was eventually classified as “Southern Jangle” at a music festival in Los Angeles.

“We played at one of the International Pop Overthrows, and Dave Bash, who’s the impresario of the whole thing, introduced it like that,” Cherniak explains. “He was like, ‘How bout that thick Southern Jangle?’”

“There’s a lot of chiming guitars,” Frost adds. “There’s a lot of hard driving rhythm on it and a lot of good solid bass lines, but a lot of it is a Southern jangly-type guitar riffs.”

After the release of 2006’s “Debbie Does Nothing,” an interesting message brought a pleasant surprise for the band, and they came to the realization that their DIY work ethic and the Internet was finally paying off in a unique way.

“When ‘Debbie Does Nothing’ came out, I got an e-mail from a guy who owns a little online record store and does a small wholesale business,” Cherniak says. “He e-mailed and ordered copies of the CD, because he had a customer in Spain who wanted to order the record through him, and he didn’t have it.”

As fate would have it, the customer owned a chain of record stores in Spain. Their cuts had made it to the radio in Spain and Portugal, and they had earned a European fan base, which even included a Swedish stalker who sent Cherniak candy. This was just the boost they needed to take another step in their career.

“It was fortunate for us,” says Frost. “We were hearing that we were being played in a lot of different places, so that was encouraging. We were like, ‘We gotta play more!’”

Deluxe Leisure King went back into the studio. They had employed Timmy Dennis (Peek) to record their previous albums, but this time, they decided they would take the plunge and record it themselves. This decision allowed for a new wealth of creativity for the band, and it also allowed them to record and critique at their own pace.

On July 1, Deluxe Leisure King released their third full-length album “Miss Steak” (a play on one of their song titles found on this release). This album continues to maintain their nostalgic alternative sound with songs like “Reverend Jim.” Songs like “Aldo Ray” take on a ‘60s sound. With “Miss Steak,” the band wanted to keep the recording and sound as pure as possible with as few filters as necessary.

“One of the things that I wanted to do with it was to keep the live feel,” says Frost. “Our first two records had a good live feel to them, and we wanted to keep that live feel for this record. So, the question was how do we do that in a studio and still feel like that you’re putting a very energetic live feel together. We were very cognizant of that in the production of it. I think we did a pretty good job.”

As they began to review the tracks, Cherniak’s wife noticed a common thread throughout the album that had gone unnoticed by the band. A majority of this release seemed to focus on various mistakes. They also claim this album tends to be quite versatile with their Southern jangle, reflecting genres ranging from alternative to country.

Even though they may not pack the house locally, Deluxe Leisure King is breathing in success in various ways with their European reception and a brand new release and don’t foresee calling it quits anytime soon.

“I think we’ll be done once two-thirds of us decide to move to India,” Cherniak jokes.

“As soon as we play ‘Saturday Night Live’ or the’ Letterman Show’, I’m probably done,” adds Frost. However, Deluxe Leisure King still has the basics in mind. Even though they are gaining popularity across the pond, Europe is too far from home. They know they still have to face the challenges of Mobile’s music scene. With more new music on the way from this band and “Miss Steak” hitting the shelves at Satori, Dr. Music and Bay Sound, it is a matter of patience and persistence.

“We want to build a following,” says Frost. “We want to try to get the stuff played enough. We’d like to get people to listen. We think we got some good music and great songs, and we’re trying to build a following with that. We still got a lot more things to record.”

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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