24fps, the band

[Peter Petto]

(I don't remember hearing about this band.)

 From the 21 July 2000, Washington Post, Nightwatch:

CHAMBER ROCK?

One of the best local releases this year is "Sin Bella," the second CD from 
24fps, a group that stands out on the D.C. scene as much for what it 
doesn't offer as for all that it does offer. 24fps is a rock band without 
an electric guitar.

"I've called it acoustic alternative," says front man and acoustic guitar 
player John Howay. "But I liked what Richard Harrington wrote [in his 
record review] in The Post, that we were chamber/folk/rock." Whatever it 
is, the music of 24fps floats along nicely, mainly due to the violin of 
Jennifer Lewin and cello of Amy Cavanaugh, but 24fps is no pastoral idyll. 
It moves with ample punch, as supplied by drummer Evan Pollack and bassist 
Marvin Bryson. "We're not consciously trying to not sound like a rock 
band," Howay says. "It's more that we're trying to come up with interesting 
songs; and to be interesting, it helps to not go down musical roads that 
others have already worn into ruts."

Howay and Lewin began as a duet in 1995 and began recording a CD as Arcana. 
"We found out there was already an Arcana somewhere, so we became 24fps," 
Howay says.  The name--which stands for 24 frames per second, a filmmaking 
term--jumped at Howay from the pages of Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland," 
not inappropriate given Howay's sometimes impenetrable lyrics. But when you 
listen, that's no stumbling block to pleasure; the songs stand up as songs, 
even if the meanings are elusive.

Lewin met Cavanaugh while both were performing at a classical event and 
asked Cavanaugh to jam, and perhaps record, with her and Howay. "Right away 
we knew she fit," Howay says, "and we changed all the arrangements to 
include cello." Cavanaugh was soon laying down tracks at Bias Recording for 
the first CD. When Howay asked his engineer, Heidi Gerber, for suggestions 
on drummers, she mentioned Pollack, and soon he, too, was a full-time member.

The first release came out in late '97, and the latest just two months ago. 
The band is on a roll, with New York-based management booking lots of 
showcases in the Big Apple, and several cool indie labels interested in the 
band's unique sound. There's a bit of the English and Celtic folk-rock of 
Van Morrison and Fairport Convention in the mix as well as bits of more 
modern sounds like the Dave Matthews Band and Portishead. "Oh, we've 
definitely been listening to Portishead," admits Howay, "I like their use 
of electronica. We'd like to start experimenting with some of that."

Hear 24fps Thursday at IOTA with another fine local performer, Lu Bango.

* To hear a free Sound Bite from 24fps, call Post-Haste at 202/334-9000 and 
press 8102. (Prince William residents, call 690-4110.)