dUSTED And bUSTED plays like a show would

Carpenter says a steady job won't keep him from playing.

By Jess Camp

Published Feb. 29, 2008

A funky, new jazzy lyric-less sound is taking over Columbia.

Messy Jiverson is a local band (guitarist Mike Wehling, keyboardist Nate Carpenter, drummer Cannon DeWeese, bassist John Carpenter and percussionist Phillip James) with a unique sound that will take Mojo’s stage hostage Wednesday night. If you hit up the show, don’t expect the clean venue to remain tidy. Bars usually get pretty cluttered and damaged after these guys perform.

“The last show was packed, and the bar got wrecked,” John Carpenter said.

Being on stage is nothing new for Carpenter. He has grabbed people’s attention in the spotlight since he was a youngster.

“I’ve been onstage a lot throughout my life,” he said. “I’ve had to play in front of a judging committee for solo competitions.”

Carpenter is actually a fourth generation musician. Though music is in his blood, his father wasn’t exactly supportive of the idea of his son pursuing music.

“It scared the crap out of my dad,” he said. “We got into a feud about it. It’s been resolved, though. He sees potential in me, but not in my music. He’s a great guy who cares about me.”

Perhaps his dad is a bit skeptical because his own efforts in the music industry weren’t totally successful. He said that his dad loved being in a band but had to give up his dream of touring all the time and get a steadier career.

“In his heart he knows how good the music sounds, and that scares him,” Carpenter said.

John isn’t putting all his faith in his music. He’s is also a senior here at MU. He’s in a career strategies course and is thinking about his future.

“An internship in Chesterfield, Mo., offered me a job, and I’ll take it,” he said.

This regular-paying gig has regular work hours that occur during the day.

He’ll still be able to do shows during the evening, and some of the money he makes from his internship will go back toward the band.

“This is something we’re serious about,” John said. “We’ll use our money to make more CDs. It’s serious. We’re serious.”

So far Messy Jiverson has one released album, dUSTED And bUSTED, which was made in only two nights.

“We recorded it live to a two-track cassette tape, and it still keeps all its analogue properties,” Carpenter said.

He said that they didn’t have a lot of funds to create the CD, so they had to produce it as quickly as possible.

“It’s not individually tracked, and a few of the songs were recorded in one shot,” Carpenter said. “It’s cool that we can sell it like that.”

He wants people to know that it’s “not perfect or in your face.”

“We want to show people what our live show is like. We take pride in putting on a great show,” he said.

You can get a hint of what their shows are like by simply looking at their name. He says that the atmosphere of the shows is messy. The name Messy Jiverson started out as a concept, but now they’re tying to personify it.

“There’s a little messy in all of us,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter was pleased to recently discover that the word “messy” in Australia is equal to the term “shit-faced” here in the States. He says that that’s how the audiences at their shows are.

He hopes their music always stays fun and will never become part of a boring rut. He feels that most trends come to the Midwest to die. He hopes that his band fares better.

“I hope we don’t get trapped around here struggling,” Carpenter said. “I try to do everything I can to make people listen.”