By Jacob Nelson
They finish a pitcher of beer and wonder how much longer they’ll have to wait. Two hours have passed since they were set to play. They applaud the bands before them to keep the crowd alive.
"You don’t want to go up after a bad act," Jesse Scheckner, 23, says.
Scheckner plays guitar and sings for Dead Letter Post Office, a Miami-based indie rock band influenced mainly by indie rock legends Jawbreaker and Fugazi. The band is currently planning their first tour for this summer.
"We have accumulated quite a rolodex of local venues." Scheckner says.
The venues the band frequents most often are Churchill’s, Liquor Lounge and Lounge 16.
"Usually [Churchill’s] is pretty organized," 21 year-old singer and guitarist Chris Ruppel says.
Not tonight. The band showed up at Churchill’s at 10 with an hour to spare before their set. They smoked cigarettes and drank and discussed the songs they’d play before they brought their gear into the pub.
"I just want to get to a point where I don’t have to carry my equipment anymore." Scheckner joked as he lugged his guitar case inside.
When they began setting up they were told one band would play before them. After that band finished they were told the same thing again. Then a third time. Ultimately they played fifth at one A.M.
"We were all slightly pissed off," Ruppel, who books the shows, said the following day. "We went from playing second at 11 p.m. to playing second to last."
Money, however, is a much bigger problem than performance delays.
"Promoters are often stingy," Scheckner said. "The higher the profile gig we get, the less chance we have of getting paid."
"We’re lucky if we get paid at all," said bassist Kenan Ozdamar, 23.
The four members of Dead Letter Post Office each support themselves and the band with outside work. Scheckner works at a TV repair shop, Ruppel collects unemployment checks, drummer Derek DiGiacomo, 18, works at a Starbucks and Ozdamar substitutes guitar lessons.
The band plans to release a debut album to accompany their summer tour. However, their limited finances make recording difficult. They tried recording on their own, but were not satisfied with the quality and are currently experimenting with students in a musical engineering program.
"We’re recording as often as possible," Scheckner said.
After they finally play, at around two a.m., people come up to them to shake their hands and tell them how great they were, giving the band the motivation they need to keep going.
"Once you get up there, you have no idea how well you’re doing," Scheckner says. "If they actually like it, it’s some validation we’re doing something right."
Dead Letter Post Office can be reached at prettyrifle@hotmail.com. For more information and tour dates, visit their website at www.deadletterpostoffice.com.
