How I Became the Bomb isn’t your parent’s pop music; or maybe it is

How I Became the Bomb frontman Jon Burr, left above, says his band releases music in a "serialized format" with comics in mind.

How I Became the Bomb frontman Jon Burr, left above, says his band releases music in a "serialized format" with comics in mind.

Murfreesboro’s How I Became the Bomb is from a Bizarro dimension, an alternate reality where the ’90s grunge movement never occurred and rock music evolved out of the ’80s’ artsiest synth-driven pop. Such an origin is reflective of the tales so often covered in the band’s own tracks of super-heroism, espionage and artificial intelligences. Covering all aspects of sci-fi action, How I Became the Bomb provides undeniably catchy, dancey tunes in three-song installments, the newest of which emerges next week.

Last November, How I Became the Bomb released the first installment of what has flourished as a bi-monthly series of three-track digital EPs. The two existing volumes will be joined by a third this month upon the release of “They Can What It Seems They Cannot.” Beyond these three EPs (each available for free download through the band’s Web site) and a couple of singles, the band has but one seven-song EP from 2006 and nary a full-length album to date. Bomb frontman Jon Burr explains the reasoning behind exposure through such small dosages.

“We just decided that we wanted our music to come out in a more serialized format,” he says. “There’s nothing like getting new stuff on a regular basis. The idea of our ‘volumes’ is patterned after the monthly comics most of us grew up reading. After four or five volumes, we’ll compile them into a compendium of sorts along with some bonus songs and features. Also, allowing the volumes for free download gets the music out to as many people as possible, which is our primary goal.”

Despite having performed at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival (which The Bomb will be doing again later this month) as well as a handful of European festivals alongside icons such as Arcade Fire, Spoon and Air (among others), many would be shocked at the band’s lack of a label backing, but perhaps it is the group’s apparent disinterest in labels that is most shocking of all. After seeing the act perform and the hordes that follow them, however, the potential for a self-made, grass-roots rise to stardom a la Clap Your Hands Say Yeah seems less far-fetched.

“If a label can help us get our music to more people, that’s great,” says Burr. “If we can find a way to get it to the people without a label, that’s even better. I’m certainly not anti-label, but it would be nice if we could make our own way.”

Much like the bulk of its independent-minded artsy peers, How I Became the Bomb sneers at any excessive sub-categorization of its sound, defining it simply as pop, yet given the unimaginative state of modern pop, such a description seems unfair if not insulting. Further exploration into the band’s influences reveals that the group refers to pop in an almost classic sense, drawing on legendary acts like ABBA and Electric Light Orchestra.

“Simply put, we make pop music,” declares Burr. “We’ve had the ‘indie’ and the ‘synth-pop’ labels bandied about frequently in reviews and whatnot, but really, the only unifying theme in our music is that it will always be melodic pop. We may stray all over the path as far as the different styles and sounds we create since we all have different influences, but we all love the pop. There’s a wide array of influence, and that includes music from film and videogames as well as gleaning a lot from nonmusical art.”

Thursday night Pilot Light welcomes How I Became the Bomb and Deastro. The show is slated for 10 p.m. and costs $5. The Bomb plans to unveil the newest in its series of three-track releases titled “Volume III: They Can What It Seems They Cannot.” The release will be made available elsewhere on March 15 to commemorate Caesar’s betrayal.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The American Plague, Thoroughfare and Breaking the Silence join Down from Up in celebrating its new release “From Ashes to Empire” at The Valarium tonight. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admits all ages. The $10 cost of admission includes a copy of the CD release.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK … IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT PREACHER, who will perform along with Dig 6 Down and Sky Rocket Prophet at The Catalyst Wednesday night. Doors open at 8 p.m., admission is $5 and the show admits all ages.

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