Luster plays Edwardsville
Editor | Feb 27, 2010 | Comments 0
by Ryan Balfanz
Edwardsville, Illinois- Luster, an Elmhurst, Illinois band that plays The Stagger Inn on February 27, at 10 pm, has been polishing their sound since at least 2000. Even to this day their lineup is slightly volatile, and their live performances evoke strong reactions reactions from their audience.
It was a cold January night when Luster happened to find themselves playing at Stagger Inn last, during open-mic night. The group, who themselves are admittedly hard to pigeon hole into just one genre, made their way onto the stage by happenstance and left with a horde of new fans.
They really rocked the crowd that night. (Story continues below video).
By the time they had finished their set people were suffocating them, trying to get a word or two in with the band. A just about broke or nearly broke college student was more than happy to shell out 10 bucks to take Luster home with them. I, too, was eager to go home with something fresh to listen to.
After most of the newly-minted Luster fans chatted with the band, I got a few words in with Jeremy Mederich, lead vocals & bassist, and Robbie Senti who dabbles in keyboards, guitars and vocals, who I had the pleasure of sharing bottles of Stag with. A few weeks later we were able to meet at Sacred Grounds, as they were passing through town between gigs.
Robbie, as just mentioned, is somewhat of a jack of all trades. As it turns out, they all are multi-facetted and multi-talented musicians. For a time, the members of Luster were frequently seen switching instruments during live performances, says Bryan, the drummer who is also Jeremy’s brother.
Jonathan Brubaker, guitars and backing vocals, agrees that Luster is still settling into their groove. He also pointed out that Luster is somewhat of twisted system when is comes to their family tree of members. Not only are Jeremy and Bryan brothers, the two along with Jonathan referred to Robbie as their incestual grandchild because he was originally just a fan.
The Luster lineup has been in flux over the past decade. Jeremy and Bryan were around in the beginning, but with a different bassist and drummer. Former drummer Luke left the band back in 2005 after Jonathan joined near the end of 2004. Luke’s departure left the band cycling through various drummers for awhile. Eventually Bryan swtiched from playing guitar to banging on the toms and crashing the symbols, and still does to this day.
Between 2006 and 2009 Robbie started to fill in on bass when needed, but he wasn’t officially a member of the band. Also around that time Jeremy started to focus more on bass guitar, while still maintaing his role as lead vocalist. Somewhat oddly, Robbie began to play more keys, but so did Jonathan and Bryan.
After much hullabaloo, Luster finally solidified their lineup in 2009. Bryan, who is a natural drummer, easily filled that role. Jeremy now picks of his bass and leaves the guitar to Jonathan. Around that time Robbie became and official member of the band, rounding out their ‘final lineup,’ as Jeremy calls it.
Luster may have seen a lot of change of the last decade, but one thing is certain, they all agree that it was for the best. Now that they have settled into their current incarnation it’s obvious that there are only great things to come.
Luster is constantly touring and growing their fan-base. If you were unlucky enough to miss their first show, clear your calendar now because they are sure to blow you away just as they did back in January. Oh, and by the way, bring 10 bucks because I’m sure you’ll want a copy of their album, Run from Dogs.
Get more info on Luster.
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