The 1997 Dallas Observer Music Awards

Thomas wasn't even sure about joining drummer Aaron Lyons, bassist Mark Sodders, and guitarist Scott Minyard, three admitted neophytes. But the collaboration worked, buoyed by the four men's affection for sarcasm, and soon led to a CD, Starving St. Nick, published by the local indie label One Ton Records.

"We're trying to figure out now why people like us, so we can 'correct' that," sasses Thomas. Taking into account his history and personal experience, that remark is more cautious than it is dismissive.

--Howard Wen

Spyche
Nominated for: Folk/Acoustic, Female Vocalist
When asked what singing personally means to her, Spyche responds with long, silent pauses. "God, you're killing me with these!" she exclaims.

Off stage, she's downright cheerful. On stage, at intimate venues like Club Dada--usually alone with her guitar--her breathy singing is angst-heavy yet intoxicating. But she's reluctant to reveal her inspiration past chuckling, "Whatever is making me crazy at the moment. I'm trying to figure that out. I quit playing and singing for a long time because it was making me crazy," she says. "And when I think about why I'm doing it again, if I start thinking about what's driving me, it makes me crazy. Because I don't know.

"I've never really liked playing solo and yet continue to do it; it's a weird dichotomy. When I play, I just freak out. Last time I played Dada, I got done, ran outside, and wanted to blow my head off. If I'm not enjoying this and I don't really like doing these shows, why the fuck do I continue to do it? That, I guess, is the eternal question." Spyche giggles while considering these questions. But she sounds far from crazy.

--Howard Wen

Stink!#Bug
Nominated for: Metal
The line blurs: Stink!#Bug in the metal category. Tell that to a Megadeth fan, and he'll furrow his eyebrows like Beelzebub. None of the four nominated bands in the Metal category this year is traditionally heavy metal. None of these guys is wearing Spandex, proving that metal as we knew it is as gone as David Lee Roth's hairline. Long live the new metal. Don't you just love the Nineties?

Stink!#Bug swaggers with the hard-core force of industrial, throwing a few hip-hop beats in the loop to make it more mod. This way the metal kids, the industrial kids, and the hip-hop kids have something to relate to and can mosh their little hearts out. Derivative, yet stubbornly determined to unleash their feral passions, the members of Stink!#Bug leave no beat unborrowed. Their music is made to provide instant thrills to those who have to meet a curfew. What if it is one-dimensional and almost forgettable? It still serves its lower purpose, hitting with a visceral thump.

--Philip Chrissopoulos

Strap
Nominated for: Rock
There's a misguided notion that Dallas hard rock is best left to imitators with long hair and ill-fitting pants; only they can enjoy their Zeppelin or Sabbath fixations and have fun. Matt Hillyer, Steve Berg, and Chris Antonopoulis--the erstwhile Lone Star Trio--decided to debunk that myth. They changed their name, stopped playing rockabilly, and dug out their ZZ Top and Motsrhead albums. Hillyer even grew his hair long.

Strap got a lot of flak for abandoning rockabilly in favor of passe hard rock--as if greasing your hair and swearing by Elvis is the ticket to some kind of newfound hipness. Strap anticipated that reaction and saved all the answers for their debut CD, For Those With Contempt. There is a lot of anger and bitterness in its grooves, but there's also a fine sense of humor and total lack of ennui, something that separates them from many of their peers.

It's liberating not to have to live by others' expectations. Strap's playing is more free and natural, and the songwriting has improved since Hillyer's tongue and fingers are no longer tied to the obligatory cliches. The poignancy of "I Represent" or the bitterly sarcastic "Everybody's All American" and "See You In The Next Life" are only a few examples of Strap's new potential.

--Philip Chrissopoulos

Hunter Sullivan
Nominated for: Jazz
Johnny Reno probably didn't expect to have the ever-so-hip lounge scene's live music action sewn up forever, and sure enough, Hunter Sullivan showed up not too long ago for his slice of the pie. Like Elvis T. Busboy, Sullivan was elevated to featured performer after advertising his talents as a singing waiter. While Reno is long, tall, and cool, Sullivan is more compact and energetic, closer to the over-the-top stage presence of, say, The Royal Crown Revue. There is a definite air of Bobby Darin about Sullivan, especially in his finger-poppin' stage presence. The singer--whose repertoire includes numbers like "Pennies From Heaven" and a hepped-up "Lazy River"--favors highly coordinated outfits, usually either bright suits or dark-on-dark combinations of tie/shirt/ vest/pants that--like Darin--references a sense of East Coast Goombah slickness rather than Reno's West Coast hipster detachment. His voice is fairly ordinary--again, no danger to the greats here--and he lacks the air of scholarly discipleship that Reno shows in between bursts of his smarmy-smooth emcee persona. Sullivan's currently working with Hollywood producer Nik Venet, who did two albums with Darin.