Band of the Week: Strobobean

MEET THE BAND: Katrina Eresman (vocals, guitar), Rae Fisher (bass),
Jake Langknecht (drums)

A FULL EXPERIENCE: Inspired by the post-rock act Blonde Redhead, singer-guitarist Katria Eresman, who had played in the Cincinnati band Pop Empire with drummer Jake Langknecht, formed Strobobean in Cincinnati in 2018. “I like Blond Redhead because they create these little universes in their songs,” she says. “The first time, I saw them was at Lollapalooza in 2005. I heard them and was completely drawn in. I take from that to create a full spatial experience. I want things to feel like they have depth to them. I’m influenced by any music that has lots of experiential levels to it.” Eresman has used the term “desert shoegaze” to describe the group’s music, and that seems appropriate given the sonic wash of guitars that flood a dream-pop song like "Ghost." “It’s so hard for me to say what the genre is,” she says. “There are one or two songs that have a shoegaze feel to them with walls of guitar. It feels right to say that even though we’re from Ohio.”

A NEW APPRECIATION: Shortly after forming, the group released an EP and embarked on a tour in November of 2019, giving the band some confidence and the desire to hit the road again with the Minneapolis-based Scrunchies in spring of 2020. The pandemic wiped out that trek, and threw a major wrench into the band's operation. “It shut me down,” Eresman says of having to cancel that tour. “I just took a break and focused on other creative stuff like writing poetry. Taking space from our normal rhythm forced me to decide what I really wanted to do. You get into a pattern of just responding to things that are happening. Since I was shut down, I thought about the shows we loved. There was a lot of downtime figuring that out. Now, we’re more precious about the shows and put together really great bills.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: In 2019, the band released a single and split tape with Cleveland indie rockers Forager. “They came to a show we had at Mahall’s,” Eresman says. “They came to it to check us out, and they wanted to come to Cincinnati more. They’re more peppy and energetic. Their song on the split is more high-energy. We put out a slow song that contrasts with that. It provides a fun dissonance.” In summer 2020, Strobobean released another split single with the aforementioned Scrunchies. “They’re in the journey for the right reasons,” Eresman says of the Scrunchies. Eresman says a Strobobean full-length is currently in the works.

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: strobobean.bandcamp.com.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Strobobean performs with Radderall and Bleeder at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Happy Dog.