SECOND COMING - THE FIRST TIME AROUND
By Philip Bole – The Synthesis
August 31, 1998
Dreams do come true. Just ask Travis Bracht, frontman and lead singer of the Northwestern rock band Second Coming. Second Coming, a four piece that started out as a cover band working over mostly ‘80s rock hits, is now blowing up rock radio with their first major label release, a self-titled CD that was originally self produced.
The group raised enough money as a cover band to put together a CD of their own, original songs, and the result was so good that the album was picked up by Capitol Records in practically no time. Attention like that can really build up the ego of the players involved, but the guys in Second Coming still seem to have everything pretty together. "Ever since we’ve been signed-and through that’s not a big deal, don’t get me wrong, I’m taking every advantage of this—we’ve tried not to lose perspective," said Bracht from the Capitol Records office in Los Angeles. "We’re not done now, just because we got signed. We like to put in the light of, we just got a really killer job."
While the band may look at their music as a job, they love it and they work really hard at it, though music isn’t the only thing they love about what they do. Bracht says the band loves the public relations aspect of the job too, meeting the fans and business people and going to new places. Before the group signed to Capitol, it was courted by Elektra Records and Columbia Records, and part of the reason that Second Coming went to Capitol is because the band feels that the label shares that work ethic. Bracht says that the Capitol people are not afraid to, "get their hands dirty," to do the work necessary to get the job done.
"It was nice to not just settle upon one record label, and it was just pure luck that it worked out this way," said Bracht. "We got to see the way the other labels worked during that courtship period. It came down to, Capitol rocks. They’re real people, they’re really into their bands and everybody’s down to earth—they don’t fuck around. It was just the perfect combo. I couldn’t see us going to any other label."
On top of having what seems to be a cool boss, this "really killer job" includes a nice packaging and distribution deal, as well as a degree of support that allows the band to tour on a regular basis, and they take advantage of it. One of the things that Bracht says the band really likes about touring is the entertainment aspect, the opportunity to go on stage and really put on a show for the people. Bracht said that, while Second Coming shows are not totally wild, the entertainment value is still there.
"It’s nothing out of the ordinary, we just have monster production. We like the monster fuckin’ lasers, we like the cool lights and fog. We dress for the occasion. We go up there because we’re there to entertain, we’re there to put on a show and we try to be as cool as possible," said Bracht, who likes it when people get into the band’s shows, an occurrence he says is a regular one. "We don’t want a bunch of people standing around, just saying ‘right on, man.’ We want people to get into it. That’s what rock’s all about—people getting into the shit."
And people do seem to be getting into the music of Second Coming. From Seattle and the greater Northwest, press is pouring out regarding the power and force of these four rockers—Bracht, guitarist Dudley Taft, bassist Yanni (Johnny) Bacolas and drummer James Bergstrom. The music combines the tenets of big rock with the sounds of the 90’s. Distortion, thundering rhythms and screaming melodies are the signature here, and with Brachts vocals, the band is mostly liken to follow Northwest residents Alice in Chains. And though it is not the most original music out there, Bracht feels that he is carrying on a tradition started back in the days, before his favorite kind of music was known as "classic rock." Bracht said that he appreciated the showmanship involved in that kind of rock and roll production, and that is what he most tries to emulate. "Our music is kind of like the Pink Floyd for the 90’s," said Bracht, who was quick to add that the music of Second Coming is a lot harder. "It’s stoner rock, art classic rock. I really dug the art aspect of years ago, like the Doors. That’s my favorite, like, monster dream band. I like the art rock, bringing the entertainment to the stage, not just showing up in shorts and jeans, jammin’ on an acoustic guitar and then leaving with a bunch of roadies. We like to bring the full on entertainment production. We like to bring back the full-on rock."
