Too Much Style

Ben Moore says that after 15 months of Monday nights, the Styletones are giving up their residency at Bar Pink. “We’re leaving because we’ve got a record coming out in the next couple of months and, you know, we want to kind of lessen our exposure a little bit.” Their last Monday will be December 27. But, lessen their exposure?

“A couple of venues in town that are more showcase-oriented types of places have communicated to me in the past that we play too often and that it makes it hard to get people to come out to [other] shows if you’re playing every single week in the same place.”

Moore, who plays drums in the Styletones, says there is no bad blood between the band and management. “It’s just a matter of us not playing ourselves out.”

But what’s bad for showcase gigs has been good for Bar Pink. In North Park, the Style­tones have become something of a habit. The horn band first played the club in 2008 and then approached management with the residency idea. They were receptive to the soul band performing every week, and from the beginning it was a fit for both sides. “There was no cover.” That said, Moore thinks the Styletones may have doubled, if not tripled Bar Pink’s attendance on Monday nights.

But Moore says there are other venues that won’t give the Styletones gigs due to overexposure. “Or, they treat us like a cover band,” he says, “and that’s not what we do.” Of the clubs that have booked the Style­tones, the list includes Casbah, Winstons, U31, and Gallagher’s. “We’ll play anywhere there’s a good show to play.”

Club residencies, says Moore, are a proven means to build a band and gain a following. And, it’s been a steady paycheck for what, by club standards, is a very large and potentially expensive band to book. “There’s not another eight-piece soul band out there as far as I know,” says Moore.

The Styletones will continue to play a Friday or Saturday night each month at Bar Pink. After their final Monday show, a Bar Pink representative says that the venue plans to keep the soul theme going with a rotation of the Fire Eaters and Stevie and the Hi-Stax, bands that happen to feature members of the Styletones.