Thievery Circuit @ Rooster’s Roadhouse October 29, 2008

By Carlos Cisneros

2 November 2008 One Comment

I’ve always enjoyed seeing a local band perform in their early stage for several reasons. One, they give their all because they obviously are not playing for money, and they go out of their way to create music, practice, travel to the venue with all their equipment and set up and breakdown all themselves and they do it for the music, not because some multi-million dollar label wants them to make an appearance and sell shirts and their latest CD. As I speak with Thievery Circuit outside Rooster’s Roadhouse in Alameda, several things are evident. Despite all their love for hardcore and their chemistry together, it is still tough for a local band in the Bay Area to get gigs, and to get more exposure. Brenden Harvey (bassist) elaborates, “We just try to make music that’s fun and heavy because a lot of bands out there today think they’re rock stars and we don’t try and do that. We’re just trying to get as many shows as we can because there’s not much of a scene in Hayward anymore and the venues are more concerned with making money than helping promote local and upcoming bands.” Despite the obstacles, they push on and are in good spirits for the show tonight.

Thievery Circuit started in Hayward, CA in 2006 with Carlos Ochoa(guitar) and Byron Mendez (drums) replying to an ad on Craigslist. Turns out the person on the other end was Brenden Harvey, and he has been the bassist ever since. Shortly after, they decided to put an ad on Craigslist for a vocalist. After going through several vocalists that didn’t seem to fit, Bryce Leubke tried out, and has been the vocalist since. Brenden explains their song writing style: “Carlos usually comes up with a riff and then he and Byron work on it until its mostly structured and then me and Bryce(vocals) will come in and give our input and ideas.” Bryce hopes that his optimism comes across to those that need it. He hopes that “people who read the lyrics will know that they arent the only ones who feel that way and that there are better ways to deal with problems and overcome.”

Thievery Circuit blasted through their set, all members synchronizing at just the right moments; Carlos shredding on the guitar, Byron demolishing his drum set, Brenden bringing the bass, and Bryce screaming into the mic as he paces the stage. They harmonized well, especially to create what we all wait for: the breakdown. Speaking about breakdowns, one of the highlights for me was during their song “It’s Worth It.” The breakdown at the end hit so hard. Another highlight was their cover of a Guns Up! song, which was a nice tribute to a band they admire.

Bryce said it best: “I like to write about life, the world and hard times and how they all try to bring us down, and how we have hate for all of them but instead of using our hate for negative things we can use it to strengthen our minds to help us get through. That’s basically what we’re about.”