The Round

The Round is a hard rock band with grunge, punk, and classic rock influences.  Based in Flint, Michigan, The Round has grown tremendously over the past year through their live gigs and MySpace site.  This three member band currently consists of guitarist/lyricist Mike Roland, lead guitarist Chris Klein, and drummer Ant Howell.

Their 2009 release, Walk off the Bomb, is a ten song collection which ranges from nonsensical tracks like “Yes Song” and “Shaky O Dance” to heartrending tunes such as “Good Grief” and “The Once and Future King.”  This album is a lengthier and more varied follow up to their 2006 debut, Fear of a Round Planet.  No matter the intensity of the message, The Round masterfully utilizes their music to convey the mood of the lyrics.

Over the past year, The Round has hit the ground running.  They’ve created band merchandise, posted YouTube videos of their live performances, and become one of the top requested bands for regional radio near their hometown.

I met Mike on MySpace in October 2008 when posting on a Nirvana appreciation thread.  He said if I liked Nirvana, I should check out The Round’s uploaded tracks.  I was not disappointed, despite their music’s occasional quirkiness. What I heard was a bit of 80s pop mixed with early 90s grunge, and a hint of Rush vocals.  I’ve enjoyed both their albums and have been excited to see their steady growth as a band.

Mike answered a few questions about The Round’s recent success and his hopes for the band’s future.

TST:  What were the beginnings of The Round?  How did you start out?

Mike: The Round was started by myself and my friend Cory Richley who had brought to me the idea of wanting to start a noise rock band. We messed around for a few months with him on drums and me on guitar before trying out another friend of mine, Roy Miller for drums, since Cory is first and foremost a guitarist. This happened around June of 2003. By December we had recruited our last member, Jeremiah Gager on bass guitar and that line up lasted for about a year and a half before the band split and eventually got back together minus Cory. And the core group of myself, Jeremiah and Roy lasted about another year or so after that. It was a very tight and high energy line up.

TST:  You are the only remaining original member of the band, which has undergone several configurations.  How long has The Round had its current members – you, Chris, and Ant?  How did the three of you team up?

Mike: I may not be the only original member in the mix for long. Jeremiah could very well be taking back his position on bass, and he will be a welcome addition. His stage presence and energy has been sorely lacking since his departure. Chris Klein has been a member of The Round for a little over two years on lead guitar now and Ant Howell has played drums with us for about eight months. Chris and Ant had played together for a few years in another local Flint band called Free Will.

TST:  I noticed in October you said you were taking a break to “retool” your music and tighten up your songs.  Have you made good progress on that endeavor?

Mike: The break in our routine was to focus on adding more material such as cover songs so we can perform for full nights. It is a hard fact of being a musician that the cover nights can pay hundreds of dollars a show while playing exclusively original material with 2 or 3 other bands on a bill might get you around $40 to $80 a night to split between however many members may be in a group. We cannot afford to be exclusively an original band like we’ve been pushing toward for so many years.

TST:  You currently have over 7000 friends on MySpace.  How does this compare to where you were a year ago?  Do you see this growth reflected in your audiences when you perform live?  In other words, are you consistently experiencing a better turnout to your shows?

Mike: Our fan base is growing.  However, it is just kind of a slow road for us.  I’m not sure how it has impacted our fan base to add more “friends”. For every 100 people or so we add maybe a couple might pay attention and listen to us. And since the MySpace player has been faulty for months we cannot get accurate play counts to reflect what that increase in friends may have otherwise done.

For example, when we had 2,000 [MySpace friends] a year ago, we averaged 50 to 150 plays per day. Now that there are 7,000, we have averaged 10 to 20 plays a day. Same as many countless other bands on that website. I’ve written to MySpace about this and it seems like nothing is really being done to fix it. Also, last year about this same time we had suddenly lost around 10,000 plays out of nowhere and they’ve never been accounted for.

TST:  So far, you’ve toured around your home state of Michigan and the surrounding areas.  What are your immediate goals for the band?  What’s the next big step for you guys, say, within the next year?

Mike: Our immediate goals are to tighten up on covers so we can play full nights and get paid enough with those shows to help support national tours for our original music. That and working on opening for more national acts.

TST:  Are you still on schedule to fully reemerge in January?  Do you think you’ll be able to tour in spring 2010 as you anticipated?

Mike: Yes, I presume we’ll be ready to do that by the time we start playing in January again.
There is progress being made and we won’t quit doing this any time soon.

TST:  Tell us about the Christmas music you’ve recently recorded?

Mike: Certainly. As a sort of Christmas gift for my dad I’ve recorded a handful of traditional Christmas songs at Fire Hyena Studio in Saginaw, MI. O Holy Night, What Child is this?, The First Noel, Silent Night, and We Three Kings. All done acoustically with vocals, extra harmonies and bass guitar. Anyone interested in hearing those please check our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/theround. A few will be in the player for the month of December but the disc, I’d be happy to mail out to anyone who would want one. Just write to me at that same webpage.

TST:  Any new songs in the works?

Mike: Always. I have so many songs from years ago that no one has heard that I could throw one out now and it would be new to everyone else. Though there are a half dozen brand new songs with titles such as First Blood, Kathy, Porcelain Bones, Face Your Fears…so on.

TST:  You mentioned that it’s very difficult to play as a band with original music.  What keeps you motivated to continue writing new songs with The Round?

Mike: The fact that I have a lot of faith in the music I write and how it is translated through band. People who hear this music generally end up becoming quite attached to it, and that drives me to keep it going despite any other obstacles or hardships.

For more information go to www.myspace.com/theround

~Myriah Christine, Contributor

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