A musical partnership that extends back to high school has culminated in the first release from Bank Heist, a duo whose UK-influenced sound is described as "post-punk meets techno dance."
Ted Cikowski (synth, guitar and vocals) and Matt Besuden (guitar, vocals) have been writing songs since the early 1990s when they met at Walled Lake Central High School in Michigan. Distance didn't stop the collaboration from continuing for more than a decade. Besuden has lived in Chicago for several years while Cikowski has remained in metro Detroit.
Their devotion to their craft has paid off with the new CD appropriately titled 'Advertisement'.
“We’ve been trying to get this done for half our lives," Besuden said. "Innumerous times spent: writing songs, playing instruments and day-dreaming. Thanks to economies of scale, our tunes have come to fruition. It’s pop, it’s house, it’s dance, it’s techno. Hope you like it.”
Besuden credited Cikowski as the driving force behind the project, which has thrived despite the distance that kills many a relationship. In fact, the music is recorded in Cikowski's apartment.
“He’s one of a kind. His devotion and drive on this project is remarkable. His gumption and DIY ethic has made the geographical distance easy to overcome. We pick up right where we left off even after a matter of months.”
The two have similar tastes and approaches to music — which goes a long way toward fostering an acrimony-free working relationship.
"I really like writing songs with Matt because we're on the same page whenever we're working on a song," Cikowski said. "We have the same opinions on where a song should go and what it should sound like. We have always liked the same bands and the same songs by those bands."
Through the years, the duo's influences have included New Order, Depeche Mode and The Cure, but Bank Heist's members stress influence trumps imitation.
"We both like New Order and Depeche Mode and some newer bands but we didn't want to copy anyone else's sound. I think Bank Heist has their own sound," Cikowski said.
Besuden added, “We definitely have a UK influence. UK indie has always grabbed me more than any other genre.”
Like many bands, Bank Heist has used the ubiquitous myspace to draw attention to themselves. Their myspace site currently features the infectious single "Green Light" which has already garnered some critical buzz.
"This first album is just an attempt to write some catchy songs and prove to ourselves we could do it," Cikowski said. "The next one, which we will be starting in early 2009, will be deeper and better. I want to spend more time on the lyrics. Matt's lyrics on Green Light were very good and I want to try myself using words in new ways. I really like VNV Nation's lyrics and I want to start using words like they do."
Besuden played in several bands while attending Ohio University, including a group called Superchurch. He finds time for his musical pursuits amid his responsibilities as a husband and father along with his day job in a Chicago high-rise toiling in the corporate world. He described his multi-layered songwriting approach.
“I try to take a one-small-instance-in-time view from many angles," he said. "The end product is never direct and could be about something as simple as a dead bug on a softball. Simple for us but not for the bug.”
Cikowski and Besuden will continue writing songs, making music and pursuing their shared musical taste. It's a solid partnership for which the evolution will continue to be evident in their musical creations.
"I am happy to have known Matt since we were 15 years old," Cikowski said. "His songwriting has improved so much over the years but unfortunately his fashion sense has not."
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