An Underground Success

Unconventional karaoke a hit even though songs never were

The difference between Karaoke Underground and any other karaoke isn’t the passion or the performance. It’s the choice of more esoteric songs.
The difference between Karaoke Underground and any other karaoke isn’t the passion or the performance. It’s the choice of more esoteric songs.

The thick books of laminated paper are common at karaoke clubs. And the songs they contain can be described as common, too.

Almost every karaoke joint offers Devo's "Whip It." But how about "Gates of Steel" or "Beautiful World" from that same punk/new wave band? Or something from The Clash beyond "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

FAQ

Karaoke Underground

WHEN — 10 p.m. Saturday

WHERE — The Lightbulb Club in Fayetteville

COST — $5

INFO — karaokeunderground.…

BONUS — Dave Norwood of The Gary will also perform.

Those were the kind of songs Kaleb Asplund sought when a friend told him about a punk rock karaoke at a Mexican dive bar in Minneapolis, Minn. It sounded like his kind of fun, so he went.

He knew he'd found a second home when he noticed a song by Illinois indie rockers Poster Children.

"Nobody even knew who that band was," Asplund remembers.

But there was a catch. The karaoke attendant had simply stripped vocal elements away from the tracks, then handed the lyrics to the would-be singer on a sheet of paper. There was no color-coordinated movement of words to help people along.

"You had to know the song really well," Asplund says.

Still, Asplund loved the idea. When life took him to Austin, Texas, he looked for something similar without success.

So he and a partner started one with permission of his friends in Minneapolis.

The first show featured about 50 singers who had to pick from 100 songs.

After some early buzz, including a gig at the South by Southwest music festival, Asplund says the big break was snagging a recurring Saturday night gig in 2008. Those performances continue at Nomads in Austin the first Saturday of every month.

The concept has expanded from there, and Asplund and company have brought the show to events such as the Matador Records anniversary party in Las Vegas, where bands like Pavement -- creator of a frequently performed song in the Karaoke Underground world -- also played.

Asplund recently took the concept on the road for a proper tour, and the largest of those cross-country treks is in progress. It stops at The Lightbulb Club in Fayetteville on Saturday.

Asplund now has in excess of 1,000 indie rock songs, alphabetically ranging from Action Swingers to The Zombies. In between are acts such as Ryan Adams, Pavement, Bad Religion, Wilco, Guided by Voices, Husker Du, The Hold Steady, Sleater-Kinney and The Buzzcocks. Asplund says the Karaoke Underground team personally assembled the choices, and what he brings to The Lightbulb Club works much like the karaoke common in other bars and clubs. The big difference, of course, is the names of the artists and that many of the Karaoke Underground tracks also contain a background video that relates to the song.

The songs -- by their very nature neither written in a hit factory nor following conventional pop music formulas -- can be hard to sing. Asplund mentions the often "idiosyncratic" voices present in indie and punk rock.

And "it's hard to get that talky flow" present in so many such songs.

Asplund says he operates just as any karaoke jockey. He usually sings the first song to get the crowd into things and get them familiar with the video system. He then turns the floor over to amateurs, singing along from the sidelines and interjecting when someone struggles. He hopes everyone gets to try the songs they came to sing.

The key to success when someone does get the microphone is simple.

"It's about how much you know of the song, and how much you care," Asplund says.

And that doesn't change, no matter the tune.

NAN What's Up on 02/27/2015

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