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• An interview with Jim Testa, The Jersey Beat (August 2000?)
• An interview with Unsung Hero, Issue 7, January 2000
• An interview with The Jambar, YSU, October, 1999
• An interview with Free Times, September, 1999
• An interview with Mindbender Press, April, 1999
• An interview with Scene Magazine, December 11, 1996

	ivet The Jersey Beat August 2000 Details: In the van, parked outside of the Melody Bar, New Brunswick, NJ
IVET Good day for a bad attitude by Jim Testa

Loud & heavy are back in a big way, but that’s no surprise. Metal never really dies, it just burrows underground for a while and then re-emerges, gnarlier than ever. But the ‘New Metal’ movement, for all its commercial strength, has yet to produce its Nirvana, its Pearl Jam, its Green Day – the one band that not only defines the genre but pushes it to a new level. Creed, Papa Roach, Soulfly, Deftones - they’ve all had their moments, but none of them have made that singular defining statement yet.

Well, look out, world, here comes Ivet.

Four twentysomething guys from Youngstown, OH who have been playing together since their teens, Ivet seem like a readymade recipe for rock greatness. Frontman Frank Silver’s vocals plumb soul-quaking depths of emptiness and anger, but the band’s twin-guitar attack, funky bass, and precision drumming encase those primal emotions in gripping, intricate, original waves of sound. And it doesn’t hurt that all four members of the band look like they just stepped out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad. I don’t know anyone who’s seen Ivet perform and not walked away stunned, let alone impressed.

I’ve been hearing about Ivet for years; the group’s manager and virtual fifth member, Cleveland deejay Jim Benson, is an old acquaintance whom I’ve known for years through annual get-togethers at the SXSW music convention. But the band’s first CD slipped by almost unnoticed; then came 1999’s Sickhouse, which not only grabbed my attention, but the interest of radio programmers, booking agents, and writers stretching form the mid-west to the east coast. I finally got to see Ivet at the New Brunswick Independent Music Festival in April and was totally blown away. We did this interview on one of their return engagements in New Brunswick a few months later. As this issue goes to press, the band is in serious talks with a major label, so the next time you read about Ivet, it may well be in Rolling Stone or Spin. Just remember you saw them here first.

Q: Let’s get the five-minute history of the band out of the way. How did you guys meet and start the band?

Frank: Me, Mark, and Mike were all in a band called Drain before this band. Sam was a friend of a friend, and he was the only person we knew who played bass. So one day we just drove up to his house and knocked on his door and said, hey, you want to play bass with us? And he said yeah, sounds like a good idea.

Mike: We had kicked out the singer and bass player from our old band.

Frank: Yeah, after kicking out the other members of the Drain band, we got Sammy and formed our dream band.

Q: Was there a big difference between what Drain sounded like and what you’re doing in Ivet now?

Mike: It went from soft to insane.

Frank: We were more of a Pearl Jam-y type band. We had a real Pearl Jam-y type singer.

Mike: If you want to go back even further, I played guitar in high school and Frank played guitar in high school. We were both the best guitar players in our school. You know, there’s always one guy that nobody else likes because he’s the one who plays good and everyone else is jealous. So that was me and Frank. We knew each other even before we even really met, just from hearsay. And then I finally ran into him one day and we just hooked up.

Q: So you were like the two fastest guns in town. It was either kill each other or start a band together.

Mike: Well, at first, I think we wanted to kill each other. But then we started to become friends.

Frank: He realized that I was a lot bigger than he is. (laughs)

Q: So when exactly did Drain become Ivet?

Mike: Six years ago. We’ve been a band since 1995.

Frank: Actually what happened was Drain broke up and I had these other songs. So I took Mark into the studio and put down the basic parts of the song, just him and me doing everything. At that point, I wasn’t going to let Mike be in the band because he was dating my sister and it was pissing me off. But then eventually he came into the picture, because he’s really good in the studio. So the first single, "Aneuryism," if you ever find a copy of that, is just me and Mark.

Q: Where were you in terms of your lives at that point? In college?

Mike: We should have been in college.

Frank: Mark was still in high school, he was just 16 when we started the band. Mike and I had just graduated, so it was either go to college or start putting flyers up and be in a band.

Mike: That was 1995, so we’ve been a band five years going on six.

Frank: Feels like 10 years.

Q: The few times that I’ve seen you, it seems like the four of you stick together pretty tight. At least when you’re on the road. Are you like that at home too, are you all best friends outside the band?

Frank: We do it the exact opposite. When we’re home, we don’t talk to each other. We don’t call each other, we don’t hang out, we don’t even speak to each other. The only time we see each other at home is when we practice, and that’s like twice a month now. But when we’re out of town, we’re the only four dudes we know, wherever we’re at. So then, we’re always together.

Mike: We’re still learning how not to piss each other off. Not get in each other’s space.

Frank: And the best way to do that is for everyone to just go do their own thing. So all of us go off on our own little tangents when we’re at home, and when we’re out on the road, we’re like brothers.

Q: When did (manager) Jim Benson enter the picture?

Mike: We tried to get Jim to manage Drain, when we were still together… But he didn’t like the Drain stuff at all. But then he came to see us at the first show we did as Ivet, and then he was interested and started managing us. So he’s been with us since the beginning.

Mike: Actually, he had some interest. Frank wrote a song in Drain and he sang it, not the other guy. Jim heard that song and he knew right then that if we wound up doing something apart from the other Drain guys, that he would want to be a part of it. Be the man in charge. The leader. (laughs)

Q: How would you describe your relationship with Jim? Is it a love/hate relationship?

Mike: It’s more like father/son. (laughs)

Frank: He tries to manage the band and keep our personal lives from destroying us at the same time.

Mike: He works his ass off. I’ve never seen another manager of another band work as hard as he does for us… and for free. He uses his vacation money every year and spends it all on our records. He’s just like a dad.

Q: It seems like he keeps you pretty busy, though.

Frank: Well, just imagine if we’re playing this many shows, how hard he’s working getting us the shows. Because for every show we get, it probably means five hours of his time to make that show happen.

Mike: We’re lucky if we make the flyers and hang them up. That’s about the only business side of the band we get involved with. Jim does everything else for us.

Q: Most bands dream of being freed from all that shitwork just so they can concentrate on being a band.

Mike: We never would have made it as far as we have if we didn’t have Jim. We are where we’re at today because of Jim. We probably would have made that first five-song record and then all gone our separate ways if he wasn’t around to keep it all together. But he does have some help now because we just signed a management contract with Belkin Associates (a big Midwest booking firm). They should help with the bookings and take some of the load off Jim.

Q: Let’s get back to the music. In the course of the last six years, how has Ivet changed and how is the music different now from what you were doing back in the beginning?

Frank: We don’t suck anymore. (laughs) Well, we suck less. But seriously, when we first started, Mark was a Pantera-type heavy-metal dude. Sam, I don’t know what Sam was when we started.

Mike: I found a couple of Kool Moe Dee tapes in his car. (laughs)

Frank: I listened to nothing to Sting and Nine Inch Nails.

Mike: I was a guitar-hero type of guy. I liked all the guitar heroes like Satriani and Page and Clapton. But now we’ve all found a common ground, we all like the same kind of music. We can agree on what to listen to in the van without getting into fights. We’re all listening to stuff that’s a little heavier now. And we’ve all been seduced by this new funk thing. That’s something we’re trying to work into the band a little more now, some of that new funk. Why I don’t know.

Q: So Frank writes the lyrics?

Frank: (almost embarrassed) Um, yeah.

Q: You’re not the same person you were six years ago, obviously. How have the lyrics changed to reflect your growth as a person?

Frank: I’m actually starting to revert back to the person I was six years ago, after a long period of trying to pretend that I was a normal person. I was seeing the same girl for the whole time we were in this band until recently. We planned to marry and have 2.5 children and the whole thing. And that didn’t work out, so now I’m starting to think I’m the same person I was six years ago, before I got into that relationship.

Q: What do you guys talk about when you’re just bullshitting about where you want to be in five years? I know that you’re talking very seriously to several major labels. Is that what you want?

Frank: I think our goal isn’t so much to be rich, but just so we don’t have to worry about the gas bill anymore. Because now, the gas bill is so important that we’re cutting grass on the side just so we can pay the gas bill. We might have started off with dreams of being really famous and multi-millionaires, but I think in the last few years, we’ve realized that’s probably not going to happen. But making a living off music seems realistic, because we’re at the point now where we’re probably going to be making some money off of this for a while. So just paying the bills would be nice. And try not to turn into a VH-1 "Behind The Music" story in the process.

Mike: We don’t want to wind up like Leif Garrett, all drug-addicted and fat and wearing some creepy hat so nobody notices we’re bald.

Q: Let’s see if we can talk about all of you as individuals a little. Mike, Benson told me that you’re the one in the band that always gets picked on.

Mike: I think he’s the one that always picks on me. I get picked on by Jim but these guys mostly leave me [alone].

Frank: But then, on the same token, Mike pisses off Sam as much as he possibly can.

Sam: Nobody pisses Mark off, and Mark never makes any waves. He just fucks himself up. He does that much better than anybody else could. (Mark had just fallen off his mountain bike and was sporting several nasty scars that had caused the cancellation of one show and nearly made the band miss their Warped Tour date.)

Q: A lot of the people coming tonight will be seeing you for the first time. What do you want them to be saying as they leave?

Sam: I don’t really care what they say after the show. I’m just happy if they jump around and move their heads while they’re watching us. And it would be nice if they bought a CD and went home and told all their friends about us.

Mike: Yeah, as long as they have fun and move around, that’s all that matters. It sucks when they all just stand there and don’t do anything while we’re playing.

Mark: I think it would be good if they left and said, "wow, they didn’t sound like other bands."

Frank: Yeah, I want them to say "those guys didn’t sound like Korn or Pearl Jam."

Q: You have a great website, but you don’t have a photo page, which most bands have. Jim Benson that’s because you don’t want to be known as "those cute guys," you want to be taken seriously for your music, not your looks. Is that true?

Frank: That’s why there are no photos of us on the CD sleeve either. Take Third Eye Blind, that’s a perfect example. Because they’re all cute, and because they put their photos all over everything, no one takes them seriously. But their records aren’t actually that bad.

Mike: I admire the Tool approach. They’re popular and successful because of their music alone.

Frank: I’m not saying that we’re not good looking or whatever, but if we wanted to be known for that, we’d be playing Sugar Ray-type music. That’s not what we’re about. What people think of our art is more important to us than how we’re perceived as human beings or the way we look.

	ivet Unsung Hero Magazine January 2000
IVET Moments from greatness by Beth Silverman

To claim that Frank Silver (vocals, guitar), Mike Roberts (guitar), Sam Papa (bass), and Mark Grabowski (drums) have developed an intense, aggressive, and emotional sound would be like saying that Led Zeppelin was a good band. Ivet is simply one of the most exciting and powerful unsigned heavy bands in the country right now.

Coming off the release of their second, full-length CD ("Sickhouse," September 1999) and a recent showcase at CMJ's Music Marathon in NYC, ivet (pronounced ih-vet) has been moving the moment since 1995. Hailing from Youngstown, Ohio, and still in their early twenties, the band has traveled throughout the country, sharing the stage with artists such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Henry Rollins, Deftones, Soul Coughing, Def Leppard, and Sloan.

"ivet is simply one of the most exciting and powerful unsigned heavy bands in the country right now."

"Sickhouse," ivet's sophomore effort, is superb, if not monumental for an independent release. "It's very forceful, while at the same time, comprehendible-something a lot of heavy bands lack," exclaims Frank Silver, ivet's vocalist.

This comes as no surprise from a band whose first, full-length album, Failure Boy, was named "Best Album of the Year" by WENZ as they were simultaneously being crowned "Band of the Year" in 1997 (and, again, in1998).

Besides their discs, ivet is featured on 12 different music compilations, highlighted by CMJ's "Certain Damage" CD sampler that not only features one of ivet's singles, but two: "Fondle" and "Soldier." The former can also be found on BMG/Ariola's "Wake Attack" and on the "From the Green Room" compilation (Rite-Off Records).

Last year, at Harrisburg's own 1999 Millenium Music Conference, ivet joined Godsmack for their showcase at City Island's Capital Pavilion. The band plans to return this month for their third conference appearance, performing in Unsung Hero Concert Series #9 at Shakey's (Hershey, PA) on Saturday, February 12th. Unsung Hero's Beth Silverman spoke with singer Frank Silver recently. The following are excerpts from that meeting:

Beth Silverman (BS):Youngstown seems to be an environment that is conducive to aspiring musicians. What impact has it had on you growing up there?

Frank Silver (FS): Well, I grew up in probably the most depressing part of the West side of Youngstown, overlooking the steel mills that used to power the economy of the city. For fun, I used to explore the old, decrepit, burnt-out buildings where people used to roll up at 8 a.m. everyday to feed their families. So, I guess, yeah, it has had an impact on me personally. I would sit on top of the tallest one (lovingly named "The Building") with my Walkman going full blast. I listened to whatever it was I might have been into at the time, pondering the great questions of adolescence and dreaming of the day when I, myself, might be blasting out of some poor sap's Walkman. Besides that, there are numerous musicians who lived around there and could top the best of the best, playing only for the love of playing while sitting on their porches or living room couches. I was fortunate enough to make friends with many of them.

BS: What was the CMJ Music Marathon like? How did you land a showcase there?

FS: I guess we must have caught the ears of someone important enough to put us on the bill. As far as the experience goes, it was great. We all love New York because we are the type who never sleep. So just the idea that something is going on at 5 a.m. appeals to us. The conference itself is not very different from Millenium, except there are people prostituting their bands, labels, or printing huts on every corner the entire time. It's so much to take in. In fact, I think unknowns like us get passed over just because we are undetectable in all the noise.

BS: What do you plan to achieve with ivet?

FS: With ivet, I hope to achieve the same thing I do with music in general. For a while, I'd like not to have to worry about how I'm going to get the cash to pay my gas bill, or how I'm going to find the time to sit down--without having to fret about waking up for work the next day--and actually create.

BS: When people refer to you as a "cocky little shit" (Scene Magazine), do you laugh, or does it piss you off?

FS: I laugh while it pisses me off. It's one thing to talk out of your ass because you feel like a rock star or whatever. It's another thing to know how hard you work and how dedicated you are to something. That's really all it is. I'm not out to be a smart ass or anything like that, but when somebody attacks what I believe in so deeply, I retaliate and leave no doubt in their minds that they just got punked.

BS: Are you looking forward to returning to Harrisburg for the Millenium Music Conference?

FS: I love Harrisburg. The people there are nice and open-minded. They always accept us with open arms and treat us like family. The conference there is always improving, and we've been involved for 3 years now. It's a very exciting time for the whole music community and it always ends up being a blast, not to mention that we get to hang out with some of our buddies from around the area.

	ivet The Jambar, YSU October 1999 Details: At the new ivet house.
Local band ivet gears for the future with new CD release by Amanda Smith Entertainment Editor

Mike Roberts leaned back on the couch and watched his friend’s antics. “Frank is out of control,” he said.  “But then, if you could control him, he wouldn’t be Frank."  Frank Silver is the lead singer and muse of Youngstown’s up-and-coming rock band, ivet.

“Our band’s sound is like, well, it’s like Pantera talking to Sting at lunch,” Silver said, “and then the Beatles stop by for just a little while for a beer.  But just for a little while.”

Silver began playing guitar when he was five, influenced by hippie parents and a strumming uncle.  Since then, he has moved on to master keyboard and percussion as well. He writes, too. “It’s basic emotion at any given time,” he said.  He started writing almost as soon as he began playing.  “It’s really ugly in its beginning stages,” he said.  “But when you’re five, how much do you know?  Now, when the words are going to come, they’re going to come.”

The band recently released their second full-length album, Sickhouse.  The album will be on sale nationally in January, and expects airplay in December. 

Ivet is a do-it-yourself kind of band.  “On the first album, we stuffed our own CD’s,” Silver said.  This time, they drew the line at designing the artwork and inserts for the CD. Silver switches on lead with Roberts, writes all the music and lyrics and produces the recordings, while Roberts, guitar, mixes the music.  Other band members include Sam Papa on bass and Mark Grabowski on drums.

The band’s sound is a perfect mix of hard and soft.  The album takes its listeners through all of the band’s many sounds: hard and driving, intense, angst-ridden tirades, soft smooth almost ballad-like croons.

Silver does not limit his vocal styles to just screaming, though he’s very, very good at it.  He can also be heard crooning, with backup from Roberts, smoothly and emotionally. “Alligator” is one of those quasi-smooth songs; Silver starts out calm and controlled, and then hits his audience with strong guitar lines and a guttural vocal. 

Guitar playing on the album is imaginative and creative; Roberts and Silver contend who has the best skills.  “He’s way beyond me,” Silver said, while Roberts says the two players have equal talents. 

Regardless of who out plays whom, the band is cohesive.  From vocal to drums, the entire band blends together in a single vertical sound.  Described as ‘post modern metal’ by some fans, the music itself crashes, seethes, rolls and bubbles over a sea of tension and anger.  Why the anger?  Themes of betrayal and deceit are almost an additional band member on this album.

“You thought you’d leave your mark/you tried his last name on for size ... ” Silver sings in “Open Wide,” a song about a relationship that took a turn to the nasty side.  Other songs exude a sense of emotional turmoil. For example, “Sickhouse,” the title cut, features a seething guitar figure under lyrics sung in guttural.  Silver sings about imprisonment in society:  “Do what daddy says/learn the rules/sing the praise ... ”

The band’s live performances are something special, too. Routinely with a crowd, ivet has performed in venues all over the tri-state area and in New York City.  They were billed as “one of the most prominent players on the Cleveland Music scene” by Ryan Orvis of The Cleveland Free Times.  

	ivet Free Times, Cleveland September 1999 Details: Before we left for Buffalo,  morning, in Jim's living room.
Heartfelt Anger Ivet's view from the Sickhouse by Ryan Orvis

For such an angry-sounding band, ivet's music is surprisingly heartfelt. What sets apart this Youngstown band that plays aggressive modern rock with negative lyrics from countless other bands currently treading on similar ground is their sincerity. While many groups in the genre deaden their songs with macho posturing and a lack of melody or dynamics, ivet comes across as the real thing: excellent musicians who wouldn't mind playing mellow funk music if they weren't so full of pent-up hostility toward the world. 

It's been this way since the group's beginning, a story so perfect it seems almost scripted. Vocalist/guitarist Frank Silver and guitarist/vocalist Mike Roberts were rival guitar heroes from their respective high schools who eventually started working together in a short-lived project called Drain. The project didn't last, but the association did. After a few unmemorable gigs, the two decided to regroup with Drain's drummer, Mark Grabowski, and new bassist Sam Papa. By late 1995, ivet (pronounced "Yvette") was born. 

They've been one of the most prominent players on the Cleveland scene since, though the band's actually still based an hour and a half away in Youngstown. They've developed a reputation as an intense live act and their full-length debut, 1997's Failure Boy, garnered praise in the local and national press.

In the past year, they've concentrated on taking their live sound national, playing shows in a growing radius, including a set at New York's CMJ music conference last week.

Ivet has also been busy working on their second album, Sickhouse, scheduled for release this fall on the band's own label. Although negotiations with some larger labels fell through, the band has no regrets.

"I think, at this point, it'd probably be worse if we got a record deal, because we're pretty much unknown," says Silver. "They could take advantage of us, throw us to the side and put no money behind us."

An impressive blend of aggression and melody, Sickhouse begins with the tension-building instrumental "Tremere" and peaks early on with the catchy, emotive "Soldier." The rest of the album develops the loud/soft dynamic with varying results, occasionally trading in originality for hard-rock clichés. The songs all developed out of spontaneous jams, with equal contributions from all members - a factor which adds to the melodic and rhythmic diversity of the music without diluting its anger.

"It never ends up being a mellow, slow song," explains Silver. "I always want to make one up, then by the time we get to the chorus, it's already hardcore, and I'm screaming about something that pissed me off." 

Ivet's influences, as decidedly un-heavy as the Police and Prince, have something to do with the music's loud/soft balance.

"We're sort of attracted to bands that are very musical, that aren't heavy," says Roberts. 

The heaviness and rage of ivet's music seems to have more to do with band members' individual lives than with any external influences, despite Grabowski's avowed love for metal acts such as Pantera. The last year has been a rocky road, with a number of car accidents, messy break-ups and multiple thefts leaving a lingering sour taste. Much of the negativity in the music comes from simply living in Youngstown. 

"We have great experiences when we travel to other cities," says Roberts. "People are so nice to us, and then we go back home, and it's a total hate fest."

	ivet Mindbender Press April 1999 Details:  Visit to the rehearsal hall. Questioned separately.
"These guys rock!" -Anonymous U.P.S. Driver by C.L.R. & E.L.R.

I guess we owe you an explanation.  The above quote is not fictional, but pertaining to actual events.  These events culminate into an interview with those surly, brooding boys from ivet.

Imagine a spacious room littered with the life of a band - the necessities:  stocked fridge, dart board, ping-pong table, assorted sofas, and the crucial musical gear.  This was the environment in which we conducted our exclusive MP interview.

Launching with a new set of fierce, emotive diatribes on life, ivet fires cleanly after the success of their debut CD, "failure boy".

We asked ivet how they felt about the songs and their placement on their upcoming CD.  Frank Silver, the sullen songwriter and provocalist, pointed out, "we had a lot more time to pick and choose from a larger amount of songs.  On the first CD we were finishing songs on the spot, in the studio."  Mike Roberts, scorching lead guitarist, adds, "And, we had much more freedom in the studio.  Although we were still constrained for actual studio time, the new CD was much more focused with us having more control over the entire process."

ivet claimed that the new CD has greater dynamic quality and tonal disposition.  Sam Papa, bassist, concedes, "Without sacrificing the hard edge, the new stuff relies more heavily on the groove thing.   There's a better vibe and more vocal harmonies."

"I like it better than 'failure boy', Mark Grabowski disclosed.  "I liked the first CD a lot, but this one sounds awesome in my car!"

From what we gathered, ivet generally feels that the new recording has greater cohesion and draws from more varied influences.

We were pleasantly surprised when we posed one of our more light-hearted questions, "What three, four in the case of a tie, would go with you to the moon, on a deserted island, a bomb shelter, etc.?"   Every member of ivet, upon separate questioning touted a Sting production, particularly "Soul Cages".  Mark, a sparkling drummer who has nine years of experience, listed that along with Tool, funk (his personal faves), and Pink Floyd, the box set.  Frank, admitting that Eddie Van Halen truly induced him to play guitar, named the Sting CD, Sargent Pepper (Beatles), Oingo Boingo, and Jeff Buckley's "My Sweetheart the Drunk".  Mike, another admirer of many guitar greats like Joe Satriani, Eddie, Clapton, and Page, again denoted "Soul Cages", in company with Jeff Buckley's "Grace" and XTC's "Nonsuch" as valued CD's.  Sam, a man of many tastes, declared "Ten" by Pearl Jam, another Sting, "Mercury Falling", and the classic "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd as three albums he could not live without.

It is evident that ivet has been exposed to many styles of music and is utilizing them to enhance their dimensions as a band.  Frank, expressing this sentiment, cites "Waterfall", which was "done in an entirely different style...with a do-wop, Stray Cats, not the jump, jazzy stuff, but the more authentic old school jive", as his favorite tune on the new CD.  He continued in this bent by exclaiming, "The new one (CD) has heavier parts that are heavier and softer parts that are softer (than "failure boy").

Mike, when questioned about the song-writing process had this bit of words to the wise, "Fighting is what makes good songs."  Well, we guess the ride for these guys has been tumultuous:   ivet's songs are fueled by vehement passion and provocative depth and breadth.

We had seen the fledgling incarnation of ivet, drain, some time back, and were privy to a couple of recent practices, but there is nothing to compare to ivet live and on stage.  We found our way to Cedars March the 19th and discovered a throbbing mass of ivet devotees.   ivet, the heavy rock beast of burdened spirits, suckling it's angry young, commanded and natured the cold, steel city souls.  They stamped and swelled to the sound of gritty, driven, LOUD (a trademark ivet description) sounds and tranced when the space grew quiet.  ivet, the volatile, condemned, cursed, and coddled an anxious, weary Y-town, hometown, audience.  When ivet immersed themselves in the Promethean tune "In Your Backyard" (hand me down), Frank delved into his psyche and brought forth his most eloquent of pained screams.  That song is pivotal to the evolution of ivet, and, to date, is one of the most invasive and powerful compositions they have spawned.

See ivet.  Their brand of therapy elicits release.  he sedation of and compliance to forced, pent-up suburban existence will be purged from the listener.  See ivet.  Get their new CD when it comes out..

	ivet Scene Magazine Dec. 11, 1996 Details: Coffee Shop Before our show, somewhere in Akron.
"Ever since this band, I've been much more stable. I used to be a very unstable, angry person. Now I'm stable and angry." -Frank Silver Jr. by Diane DiFrangia

(The following is broken up in sections that were not present in the original to make reading on the web easier)

"Hardcore music from a broken town" is how lead singer Frank Silver Jr. describes ivet. If nothing else, the band's sound is hardcore, and Youngstown, like much of the rust belt, is broken. "Youngstown used to be a booming city. Number one steel industry in the world. Now number one murder rate," Silver says casually between puffs of his Planet cigarette. "We're all lucky to be alive," he cracks, referring to bandmates Mark Grabowski (drums) and Mike Roberts (guitar, vocals) -- to which Grabowski is quick to correct, "Not where I live. I'm from Boardman." For his two cents, Roberts whispers to Grabowski in mock reproach (aside from the running tape recorder), "Shut up, dude. We ALL live on the edge."

Well, ivet live on the edge of Ohio to be sure, churning out volatile, nihilistic tunes. The Silver, Grabowski, Roberts lineup (rounded out by bassist Sam Papa) has been steadily making a name for itself in Northeast Ohio for the past year. Ivet will be hosts to a release party at Peabody's DownUnder this Saturday, December 7, in celebration of their new CD, FAILURE BOY.

In a recent coffeehouse interview with SCENE, a hint of nervous enthusiasm, not only over their new release, but also over their first magazine interview, produces some jittery laughter and linguistic missteps. Ivet remain honest, amiable, and slightly innocent through it all -- a little bit of a surprise considering the dark, brooding songs of FAILURE BOY. Even the history of ivet began with youthful honesty. "It starts in high school a long time ago," begins Silver. "I played guitar and everyone knew it, and Mike [Roberts] played guitar and went to a different school and everyone knew it." "We were famous in our own high school," Roberts continues. "We were like rivals with each other even though we never met. And then one day we were both in a Dairy Mart, and I went up to him and said, Hi, my name is Mike Roberts, I'm the kid from Fitch City.'" After recruiting Grabowski, the band recorded a song for a Youngstown compilation CD with a different lead singer, under a different name. They transformed to today's ivet with the addition of Papa and the arrival of Silver behind the mic.

"When I first started out, I would puke and stuff," Silver says of his early days onstage. "It's rare that I get nervous," Roberts chimes in, flicking the childproof lighter he's been holding for five minutes. "I used to play at the high school talent shows. I was a star in high school." "He's been a ham his whole life," Silver laughs. "Quit fidgeting." Since Silver took over as lead vocalist, the band has been on a steady rotation of the Youngstown/Akron/Cleveland circuit. The reception by Cleveland of late has been equaling that of ivet's hometown, according to Silver. "I'd say it's about the same, now that most of the bars in Youngstown are closed." Are the bar owners closing up? Silver answers with a statistically sound theory: "Um, they got murdered." So necessity dictates that ivet will have to be a band at large, but in their own locale they have a sweet deal with Primitive Records out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and they hope to become more involved with future endeavors at the new label. "We'll produce and engineer our own records soon," Roberts says. Grabowski adds, "Making it the way you want it to sound is almost as important as playing it the way you want it to sound."

For Silver, writing, playing, recording and producing is "an intensely personal thing." When asked if he writes the lyrics himself, Silver shiftily spies at his bandmates before answering: "Yeah. They don't know it, but they help." Ivet agree that the rest of the songwriting process involves everyone in the band. But as a frontman, Silver considers the intensity of being in a band part of his personal therapy. "I think I've always been a little unhappy. Ever since this band, I've been much more stable. I used to be a very unstable, angry person. Now I'm stable and angry."

Bringing out a potent mix of honest thoughts and massive chords, Silver's wrath does translate well for ivet. "You can tell when it's fake and when it's not. Some people are pretending they're having a bad time and some people aren't having a good time at all. I think we truly aren't having a good time some of the time, and that's where we get our inspiration." But at the same time, in-your-face aggression is quite at home on ivet's stage. "I think he's cocky on stage," Roberts says of Silver. "I think he gets up there and his heart might beat a little faster than normal." "If you catch me in the right ." Silver begins to defend himself, then gives up. "Yeah, I'm cocky. I've gotten in trouble for saying in the middle of performances that we're the best band that you're ever going to hear for four dollars. The band doesn't like it when I say that."

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