We hate to say it, but the Flying Beets are that Ninja Turtle’s band.
Their brand of Nirvana-/Muse-inspired tuneage certainly stands on its own, but c’mon. The local dude who played Raphael in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (1990) is the drummer.
Kenn Scott is joined by bassist David Cross (not the David Cross) formerly of local grunge-rockers The Troumatics and by frontman/guitarist/lyricist Nathan Waller. They’ve been together about a year and have recorded several songs, including “Maybe Baby.” The release party for the single late last month at Lola’s Fort Worth drew a sizable crowd. The Beets’ next gig is Saturday at The Cicada on the Near Southside. You can expect a similar turnout based on social chatter.
“When I was working in Hollywood, I experienced what happens when you focus your passionate, creative energy into something,” Scott said. “Magical things can happen, even things you never imagined. Now with the Beets, it’s the same thing. We are so in love with the process and the journey that things are just happening, not only for us as a band and musicians but for us as human beings as well. With [‘Maybe Baby’], we like the way it keeps your toe tapping.”
Waller feels that “manifest destiny” strongly. “We all have musical backgrounds, and us coming together was the perfect storm of personalities, abilities, and timing in our lives. Dave and Kenn have been the best support and bandmates a singer-songwriter could have. They’ve given me such a canvas to work with my songs in a way I’ve never had before in all my years of playing solo or with bands. They have fantastic input as well for beats and iterations of my songs.”
The Flying Beets plan to release two more tracks later next month and in January. Like “Maybe Baby,” “Villain” and “Wouldn’t You Know” were recorded with producer Bart Rose at Fort Worth Sound (Toadies, Pat Green, Justin Pollard) and mastered by Derek Taylor at Dallas’ MILO studio (Bush, Blue October).
“’90s music is where I come from,” Waller said.
Along with Learning Names, Mystique Summers from RuPaul’s Drag Race will open the Cicada show Saturday. The Flying Beets said they wanted something different from the typical three-band bill.
“In five years,” Waller said, “I’d love to see a couple of albums’ worth of music at least and opportunities to play some larger venues to show more people what the Beets are made of.”
Admission to the show will be free for veterans and active military members.
The Flying Beets
9pm Sat w/Mystique Summers and Learning Names at The Cicada, 1002 S Main St, FW. $10.
