Photo courtesy of Andy Mannheim

Derek Miller (from left), Bob Pervis and Andy Mannheim say that despite appearances, "Violence is not The Answer." The band consists entirely of UA students and plays tomorrow night at 9 at Solar Culture. Drummer Dylan Kynaston is not pictured.

Monday October 8, 2001

What is The Answer? To know The Answer, one must first know the questions.

What's rock 'n' roll? What's real rock 'n' roll? Who combines a nonchalant cigarette ash-flick kind of cool with professional level roller-skating ability? Who is playing Solar Culture tomorrow night?

The answer is The Answer.

The Answer, a four-member rock 'n' roll band from Tucson, will play at 9 p.m. with New York City sub-pop band The Rapture.

The band members, all UA students, say their name is a reference to both what The Answer is and what it's ready to do.

"Have you ever just known you were destined to change the world? Have you ever woken up and known you had the eyes of the world at your back?" asked Bob Pervis, singer for The Answer and a sophomore majoring in English at the University of Arizona. "We have. This is our year. The Year of The Answer."

Like the band's name, its sound is hard to describe.

"I think the cool thing about us is that we're not like that. You can't really say 'If you like this band, we'll appeal to you,'" said Derek Miller, The Answer's guitarist and a media arts freshman. "(The Answer) is somewhat of a list of things we like, it's how our tastes and styles kind of combine. It's pretty unique."

But, while the band's sound may be hard to pin down, the contribution each member makes is not.

"Dylan (Kynaston) has kind of an aggressive style of drumming. It's really hard and loud. Andy (Mannheim's) bass is kind of the groove. It's kind of disco-y," Miller said. "Bob has a Janis Joplin or Debbie Harry style of singing. My guitar stuff is kind of based on classic rock and hard rock 'n' roll."

And then there's the roller-skating.

"Clap City Rollers," one of the band's songs, is a reference to both roller-rink social hierarchy and persistent venereal disease. It's one of many references the band makes to the small joys and tragedies that happened to them between adult skate and couple skate - including the shame of having rented brown skates when all of the other kids had white skates with pink wheels, getting pushed down by bullies and making out with girls in the bathroom.

Mannheim, bassist and biochemistry sophomore, explained the importance of reliving the experience.

"When you're a little guy and you're wearing your shorts, what happens when you fall? What happens when someone pushes you to steal something? That's the question, baby," Mannheim said.

The band was born out of this mutual love for roller-skating and rock 'n' roll.

"We were toying with different musical styles. We were all friends and had been in bands together before," Miller said. "We got together and all realized we wanted to do something different, and it kind of turned into this."

After working out the band's new sound, its name seemed to come naturally.

"It's based on a lot of experimenting we did on this long road out of hell. It's about finding yourself at rock bottom and having lots of questions," Pervis said.

Their new sound needed new places to be heard. The Answer has played at roller-rinks before, and has also provided music for jazzercise aerobics classes.

"We've gotten all kinds of people at our shows, and we've done shows for all kinds of people," Mannheim said. "We want to play for all types of people, and we're going to keep on doing that."

Although Solar Culture may be a more conventional place for The Answer to play, the audience will see something different.

"Kids can expect something they've never seen before," graphic design freshman Kynaston said.

"It depends on what type of audience it is," Mannheim added. "For example, if they're blind, they can expect not to see us."

Those equipped with sight may also see The Answer on Halloween at Toxic Ranch Records, or will soon be able to get Answer merchandise, including hospital bracelets with The Answer's name on them.

"We've completed the musical aspect; we're working on the corporate aspect," Miller said.