AMY STOCKLEIN
Danny Hicks (left) and Pam Barrett (center) play for the recording of BingBong’s forthcoming album. Portia Danis of Hinckley Productions captures the secret show with friends.
Only those on the lookout would notice a pale pink balloon, swaying in the breeze, tied to a neon orange traffic barrier. Beyond 50 yards of rain-soaked construction gravel and cracked cement, Madison rock-pop quartet BingBong is feeling the pressure. They are simultaneously preparing for a live show, a recording session and a video shoot while also hosting an event.
Twenty-five guests of the band trickle in, past the construction zone where South First Street meets Johnson and train tracks split and spill into a switching yard. They hike into an aging industrial building, up a metal staircase, and into the loft space that holds a secret recording studio.
The sneakiness is worth it for the overall effect, says BingBong vocalist and guitarist Pam Barrett.
“I’ve done lots of studio recordings and didn’t have any interest in doing the same thing over again,” Barrett says. BingBong self-identifies as ’70s and ’80s guitar rock — aka “Pop that rocks!” Their sound is fun and polished, with noticeable post-punk, new wave and ’80s college rock influences. They cut their first album, Pop Restoration, at Williamson Magnetic Recording Company and released it in early 2018. The first single, “It’s Complicated,” won 2017 Rock Song of the Year from the Madison Area Music Awards.
A long, blue line of painters tape stuck to the paint-splattered cement floor demarcates the no-go zone — designed to keep the small audience at bay as a three-person production crew documents the evening.
“If we do shank a song, we’re gonna have to stop and start over,” drummer Brian Bentley warns the audience ahead of the first take. Some of the “superfans” in the audience are the band’s neighbors, spouses and friends.
Standing on a stage made up of a patchwork of rugs, BingBong launches into their 13-song set like they have nothing to lose. Barrett, Bentley, lead guitarist Danny Hicks and bassist/backing vocalist Julie Kiland are dressed smartly for the combo show-recording session-video shoot. Lights shine down on the band and reflect off of the high ceiling and cement walls, against the dingy rainbow of decades of layers of peeling paint.
Burgundy-crushed velvet fabric drapes amps and purple and black zebra cloth provides a drum backdrop. A keg, iced cans of LaCroix and a snack table sit against a wall outside of the action zone. “Have some hummus!” is recurring between-song banter.
As the band rolls through their first set, attendees begin to pogo, sway, shuffle shoes and tap feet. Some sit around an old coffee table flanked by vintage armchairs. In the middle of the set, a fan excitedly motions for the sitting parties to join in on the movement. It works.
“The audience definitely added energy to our playing,” Hicks says later.
After the first set, the band takes a healthy break, mingling with the audience. The burst of cheers that welcomes BingBong back to the stage area is followed by renewed dancing, both sure signs that the level of the Next Door keg is inching lower.
“There was more nervous, excited energy in the first set and the second set was a bit more laid back because we were all somewhat more relaxed,” Kiland says.
There was little “shanking” of songs during the evening. One of the only breaks in the recording was to solicit rhythmic handclaps and cheers from the audience to dub over a track.
“The energy and feel of the overall band performance is really what we were looking for,” says Barrett. “I love what we were able to capture that live.”
Stairs to the space: 23
Guitars played by the band: 4
Album/DVD release date: Uncertain
BingBong’s Favorite Live Records
Vocalist/guitarist Pam Barrett: Bob Seger and the SilverBullet Band - Live Bullet
Bassist/vocalist Julie Kiland: Depeche Mode - 101
Lead guitarist Danny Hicks: The Police - Live
Drummer Brian Bently: The Shins - Live at Third Man Records
