Lite Brite Shining

By Thomas White Jr.

Several months ago I met up with a few friends at The Upstairs above Country Club Lanes in Sacramento, just to get out of the house. I was timid at first, since I’d much rather lie in my apartment having dreams about playing video games as Brett Favre while throwing 80-yard touchdown passes as my ex-girlfriend seduces me with an appealing British accent, but I decided to go anyway. After I printed out the Mapquest directions, I still managed to get lost on my way to the venue (I’m still foreign to anything beyond the A-B-C gridlock). I walked in to hear the sound of a deep Ludwig drum set that was so loud it sounded like it could blow the doors off an ‘87 Chevy Silverado (the kind a farm-raised North Dakotan boy might learn how to drive at the ripe young age of 9). After the song ended the band announced that it was in fact a Led Zeppelin cover. IS THE NAME OF THE BAND LITE BRITE????

As I felt like a complete musical failure by not picking up on the number immediately, I later realized the song was off “Physical Graffiti,” an album released four years after the one which my older siblings continuously enjoyed drilling into my brain on the 90-mile-per-hour, pants-spoiling drive home from school back in the seventh grade.

The band finished the rest of their set, and I was impressed enough to check them out the following evening, when they played in Auburn at Pistol Pete’s Brew & Cue. Matt, the curly-haired fellow with the killer drum set, fell victim to my tightly tuned billiard skills before the show, yet took the loss honorably. He even seemed to have the potential of a future challenge with the super sexy “Black Widow,” Jeannette Lee, if he practiced the way he mentioned his friend Casey does, broken scapula and all. The Pistol Pete’s set was even louder, and much tighter than the previous night, which made perfect sense as I later discovered the band hadn’t practiced in weeks due to their recording schedule in San Francisco.

Over the past few months I’ve been able to see them play six or seven times, including a gazebo showcase during last month’s Second Saturday. This was extremely entertaining, as crowds of women danced barefoot and misty mountain hopped as if California were the same state it once was when Robert Plant visited back when it was in its prime. As the band prepares for their July 25th opening slot at the Friday in the Park concert series, a full West Coast tour, and a CD release party in June, I was lucky enough to sit down with singer and guitarist Eddie Underwood, to grill him about dual-carburetors, and his knowledge of late ’80s metal trivia.

Fringe: What led you to decide on the name Lite Brite?

Eddie: I always wanted a Lite Brite but I’ve never had one. Maybe someday, maybe someday.

Fringe: Who would you say your main influences are to the band?

Eddie: I would say some of our main influences range from Indiana Jones to John Williams and everywhere in between (except Foreigner). Of course the Saved by the Bell theme really was the main reason we decided to pick up our instruments in the first place.

Fringe: Are you related to the other Underwood in the band?

Eddie: Yes, we are related, but one day hope to claim a fat inheritance from our distant cousin, Carrie.

Fringe: So, in other words, you’re kind of like Eddie and Alex Van Halen, the Dynamic Dutch-American Duo?

Eddie: You could say we have a similar relationship, except Matt is allowed to be seen by the public and I don’t beat him or feed him fish heads under the door like Eddie does to his brother Alex.

Fringe: Since there are only three members in the band, how does the song-writing process evolve?

Eddie: I guess I come up with an idea, and then we all package it, label it, and then sell it to the public at an inflated rate to hopefully pay for the large amount of hookers that it takes to keep us motivated. It’s all a big cycle really. Am I allowed to talk about hookers?

Fringe: Only if they look like the one in the original, banned cover for “Appetite for Destruction.”

Eddie: You mean the one with the needle hanging out of her heart?

Fringe: Precisely. (laughter)

Fringe: Did you grow up in the city of Sacramento or did you decide to move here recently?

Eddie: Matt and I grew up in the town of Rio Linda (farm country) riding refrigerators dragging on the ground attached to large Ford trucks. Bob was raised in Natomas where the walls are paper-thin. We met Bob in high school; he was that kid who played every Primus song on bass until we forced him to use a pick.

Fringe: I saw on MySpace that you have a CD release party at the Blue Lamp with The Snobs on June 27; how many songs will be on the record, and how hard do you expect it to rock?

Eddie: Yeah, there’s probably going to be about 10 songs and I expect it to rock ridiculously hard, almost as hard as the new Radiohead album. Hah, just kidding. That album sucks. We are really excited about the CD release party. Everybody is gonna be there. EVERBODY is going to be there. The Snobs are playing, which is awesome because, you know, they have a sax player. I haven’t seen Gracious Me or Holiday in Spain yet either, but I hear really good things, so we are “laser gunned to the brain” excited about that as well. Also, it’s Matt’s 21st birthday so if you don’t go it’s a personal insult to him. You might as well spit right in his face. He’s going to expect lots of expensive presents, too, so come prepared.

Fringe: Is it going to have that one “Big City Song” (I’m sorry I’m not quite sure of the name, but you’ve played it at every one of the shows that I’ve been to recently and it says something cool about “dual carburetors hummin’ so slow”)?

Eddie: Yes, that one song featuring the lyric about the dual carburetors will be included. Lets just say that when you put on the album, you will get the feeling that you’re cruising the Vegas strip at 2 a.m. in a ‘59 Cadillac (which probably has like three carburetors) with a wad of cash in your back pocket, the wind in your hair, and a gun rack loaded up with shotguns.

Fringe: I also saw that you’re in the midst of booking a tour in support of the release of the new record. How is that going?

Eddie: It’s going very well. We’re touring with Ihabial, and were going to be hitting up all the sweet spots on the West Coast. Basically we’ll be going from Seattle to San Diego and back in two weeks, and everywhere in between.

Fringe: And, finally, what is your favorite place to eat in Sacramento, and why?

Eddie: We basically survive off of double cheeseburgers and tacos from Jack in the Box.