‘Fallout’ performs around campus
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure – or two men’s treasure in the case of Fallout, a percussion group which has recently made itself known on the Utah State University campus.
Many students may have noticed brothers David and Michael Hancock, both USU students, mercilessly beating four buckets painted with nuclear reactor symbols on the patio behind the Taggart Student Center.
Others may have heard traces of the dynamic, encompassing pieces produced by the “drums” as they reverberated across campus. This unique ensemble began on Labor Day when the Hancocks were bored. They saw a drum group on T.V. and figured they could do that.
“I figured ‘Why don’t we go to Wal-Mart and pick ourselves up some buckets and have ourselves some fun,'” David said.
Fallout’s first performances were less than well-received, both David and Michael said. First they annoyed “some guy” on campus and then got kicked out of Smith’s, their second venue. Eventually they found respite on the lawn area by the Logan LDS Tabernacle on Main Street.
Instead of getting annoyed or complaining, people stopped their cars to listen, yelled encouragement and gave change for the entertainment.
“We noticed we were stopping traffic,” Michael said.
After this reinforcement, Fallout gained the confidence to reappear on campus and were received with large crowds who also shared praise and spare change. Even more, the group traveled to Salt Lake City and performed on the corner for more than three hours, inspired by New York street musicians “trying hard to make an honest buck,” Michael said.
While the brothers would not disclose how much money they earned in the adventure, David said, “It’s the best part-time job I’ve ever had.”
Although they use only household buckets and drumsticks, the unique sounds and intense involvement seen in Fallout’s performances seems to be what draws large crowds. They move around the buckets, place the buckets on each others’ heads and lift and twist the buckets to the beat and include surrounding objects in their pieces. And none of it is planned in advance. They follow a storyline or character description in their heads as they perform.
“It’s all improv. If we have an idea of what the feel of it should be, we play to that,” David said. “We’re searching for the true groove.”
After they finished their first song, the group was still nameless. After spouting off several strange names, the word Fallout stuck with the brothers.
“There seems to be a cultural obsession with nuclear war,” David said, and they wanted to emphasize that.
Michael said fallout is “anything caused by drastic change. It’s what’s lingering, what survived. We’re what survived the major events in our lives.”
Both David and Michael said they feel this type of fallout comes together in their music.
Both brothers were involved in drum lines and percussion ensembles in high school and David performed with the snare line at USU. Now they just use their percussion skills as ways to let loose from their school schedules. David is a computer engineering major and Michael is an electrical engineering major. David said he feels their music is a free form of creative expression.
“Band gets too busy, but this is a creative art. It’s a good outlet,” Michael said.
Music has played a major part of most of the Hancocks’ lives. Their mother played the piano through their youth and made sure they made it through band. She was also supportive with their techno-music pursuits, although it was not exactly what she wanted, Michael said.
Because of this strong influence, David said they suffer from “percussionist syndrome,” because “I can’t keep myself from tapping.”
While Fallout is becoming increasingly popular with their bucket percussion routine, both brothers said their main focus in these performances is to make people aware of their techno music, which they have been producing for more than one year.
“Our principal goal is to promote our electronic music,” David said.
The Hancock’s have recorded CDs of their music for friends and they have entered four separate music-writing contests with their first track titled Ballistic.
The duo records this music with electronic keyboards, computer generation and occasional vocal parts. Their vocalist, Janet Perkins, is currently a BYU student and she will be joining Fallout in future live performances.
According to the Hancock brothers, during Fallout’s street performance in Salt Lake City the group gave out their phone number to several people and are hoping to line up gigs in clubs there, as well as in Seattle and Las Vegas.
They also discussed performing in a benefit concert for the Olympics.
“They know we’re going forward with our techno music and that’s what they want to see,” Michael said.
For now, Fallout will still perform on campus at USU. They are scheduled for a performance at noon on Oct. 31. In the meantime they are busy pursuing their recording career and developing new performance styles.
“We do it for the love and the rhythm,” both brothers said