Some bands are stuffy and think they can do no wrong. Some bands are pretentious and are only in it for the chicks. Then you have bands that don’t take themselves too seriously and enjoy playing music for any sized crowd... a band that cares more about the music, performing well on stage and entertaining the crowd than how high they can spike their hair. That's LOGOS. Hands down, LOGOS is one of the most structurally sound bands in the St. Louis area. These young rockers—Cullen (lead vocals, guitar) and Zach (bass) are barely scraping 18 and Jeff (drummer) is 24—play as if they are seasoned professionals. As of late, they have gotten a lot of practice opening for some major players that have rolled through the area. I suggest you take LOGOS more seriously than they take themselves. Check out LOGOS performing at Old Rock House on Saturday January 3rd with beach funk rockers Science Hill.
How long has the band been together?
Cullen: LOGOS started about five years ago. Zach and I decided to leave the band we were in at the time and start a progressive rock three piece. Jeff joined the band about a year ago. He came in to cover a show for us in Vegas and played the drum tracks on our latest EP release called Beautiful Disguise. He’s been with us ever since.
How did you come up with a name like LOGOS?
Cullen: I swear one of these days I’m going to come up with a really interesting and moving story to explain the “naming of the band” but for right now this will have to do. Honestly we were going through lists and lists of names that “sounded like cool band names” and settled on LOGOS. It was something we found in a random newspaper article. I’ve heard tons of different explanations to what it means but the one that made it stick as a good rock band name was that LOGOS is what separates man from beast. LOGOS is our freewill, our ability to love, and our ability to reason.
It seems like every person in a St. Louis band came from another band. Is that case with your band? Where did you come from?
Cullen: Zach and I started playing out in the St. Louis area in a band called Eclipse which included more members than many STL venue stages can hold. After that it’s only been LOGOS for us. Jeff on the other hand is an old man and the real question you need to ask him is what bands hasn’t he been in?
Are you for or against the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze?
Cullen: Uhhh….for it? I know that as a guitarist I’m not a huge fan. It’s only because I’m terrible at it and I feel like I let everyone down that thinks because I play guitar I should be able to play the same way with a couple of buttons. Zach can hold his own on it though. We rehearse for shows using Rock Band…it's hooked up to the big screen in the back of our massive tour bus.
What television show do you consecutively agree on. What is the best show on the tube today?
Cullen: We used to all get together a few nights a week and watch Cops marathons. We were hooked after they featured us on their Guys Gone Wild: Almost Rocking too Hard for TV special. I have to admit we’ve been a little too busy for TV now… but we sure do miss those marathons.
If you had the opportunity to open for a national act that happens to be rolling through St. Louis, who would it be?
Cullen: We’ve been lucky enough to open for Robin Trower and Todd Rundgren and on October 3rd 2008 we will be opening for April Wine and Blue Oyster Cult. We can’t really complain…although it would be amazing to open a show up for Yanni.
With varied musical styles and genres in today’s music, is there one artist or band out there that has impressed the hell out of you?
Cullen: The most impressive newer rock band would have to be The Mars Volta. They’re very different and very interesting musically. Every musician should catch them live. There’s something to be learned there.
One thing that I think is great about the St. Louis’ music scene is the friendships that are made between bands. Who are your band buddies on the scene?
Cullen: There really isn’t one particular band that we do a ton of shows with. There are so many that we have been able to play with over the years that we know and respect and support. Still, we think there are way too many good bands in St. Louis to limit ourselves to just one click.
What music venue do you like playing the most/do you want to play?
Cullen: There’s nothing like playing a sold out Pageant. LOGOS has come across many great venues with a lot of great people working there who treat us really well including Cruisin RTE 66, Cicero’s, Mississippi Nights (really miss that place), and the Pageant. It’s a band goal to one day play a really big show at the Fox Theater.
Check out LOGOS playing at the Metropolis Lot Festival (photos 11-42)
