Success of Zac Fallon's comedic 'erotic folk' act no joke

Zac Fallon is Katie and the Bass Drums

Zac Fallon is Katie and the Bass Drums

Even Zac Fallon, who performs as Katie and the Bass Drums, is amazed with the growing success of his "erotic folk" act. Although Fallon expected the musical comedy project to reach no greater height than a viral level, Katie and the Bass Drums has received several publishing prospects, radio play and a large following; but for the moment Fallon is content to offer his product for free digitally as he hones his craft. As he builds and improves upon his self-deprecating, sexual comedy catalog, Fallon hopes to release his first physical release in the spring and follow it with a tour that spans both music and comedy venues across the country.

Inspired by acts like Flight of the Conchords, Stephen Lynch and Tenacious D, Fallon incorporates everything from country to rap to pop, putting his own unique spin on the musical comedy racket with a focus on his own sexual exploits, or lack thereof. Spawned by a self-recorded EP "What I Think Sex Will Be Like," a demo of sorts distributed mostly as a joke, Fallon was encouraged by listeners to continue producing more material of the like, and released his second EP, "Slightly Experienced," on Dec. 15.

"All my personality is in the music, just none of the morals," says Fallon. "Risque humor is a part of my everyday life. Even if I sit down with a guitar and try to write a serious song, it comes out a Katie and the Bass Drums song every time. I definitely listen to a lot of the musical comedy that's big right now, and I love it to death. Musically I'd say people like Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords have inspired me, but humor-wise, I think mine's a little bit different than what's out there. It's entirely sarcastic, but sentimental at times. I think humor-wise I'm similar to Randy Newman with a foul mouth.

"Just about every song on both EPs is about sex. I'm the only 21-year-old virgin that I know, so I wrote the first EP 'What I Think Sex Will Be Like.' It was meant to be a concept album at first. It kind of got away from that, but it's a fantasy piece about losing my virginity and then cheating on the girl I lost it to and then breaking up with the girl I cheated on. The new one to a degree is sort of the same thing."

As a humor-based act, Katie and the Bass Drums faces a different set of challenges than other local projects. While most musicians fight for maximum exposure, comedy acts like Fallon's must worry about overexposure as jokes lose impact upon repetition. For this reason all the songs on the recent "Slightly Experienced" were recorded in one take, and in addition to performing only once every two months on average, Fallon keeps his act fresh.

"I don't want to play too often, because when the same people are coming to your shows and you're doing the same stuff, especially with comedy, it gets old really quick," Fallon says. "Every single live show I do, I bring at least one new song. I don't plan on ever changing that. Even on the tour, I want to write a new song every day and put it out there. Those have been some of my best songs, the ones I've done under pressure."

Fallon also hopes to unveil new visual aspects to his act, including a music video and projections of his own facial expressions to play in the background during his set.

"I'm going to work with a couple of friends to shoot a music video that may go no further than YouTube, but that can lead to big success sometimes," Fallon says. "A project like this, with its content, I think it could be viral at best. I've already got a much larger following than I ever thought Katie and the Bass Drums would have."

Katie and the Bass Drums' full collection of songs is available free at www.katieandthebassdrums.bandcamp.com and shows are updated the Fallon's Myspace page, www.myspace.com/katiethebassdrums (no "and").

n CREEPY NEW YEAR: The Damn Creeps perform for Pilot Light's annual pot luck tonight. The free event starts at 10 p.m.

n ZEBRAS IN AMERICA: The Longbranch Saloon hosts Zebras, Jackboots and Random Panties Monday night at 8 p.m. Admission is $5.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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