Stranger than Fiction: A Look Inside Black Market Theory
I’m swirling the rest of my PBR in circles as I stand near the stage. People of all ages are beginning to pack the small space that makes up the Whiskey A Go-Go. The faint hum of the house amps rings throughout as a group of four guys with metal-rocker long hair walk onto the stage. I prepare myself for a heavy set of growls and screams. But then a guy with a short haircut and large eyeglasses appears and approaches the mic. Know I have no idea what I’m about to get into, it’s like Rivers Cuomo joined Pantera. Alex Webster starts a steady bass riff. In comes the guitars as Evan Elliot begins to sing.
Interviewer: How did you come up with the name Black Market Theory? It sounds like the Illuminati or a conspiracy theory.
Evan: I created the band. Before this I was in a rockabilly/psychobilly ban, we played for about 4 years. And two of the songs we have are reworked songs from that band. The songs, “Burning in Paradise” and “Firefight”, were originally played with a stand-up bass. I wanted to play faster music and I formed Black Market Theory.
Black Market Theory is a science driven band that focuses on lyrics and themes of today’s modern world. The band is comprised of five members, two of which I had the pleasure of talking to.
Evan: The name of the band came from the word theory, since we are a science driven band. In today’s world, it’s very polarized. There’s no straight information. That’s one thing we wanted to do, not take sides and be in the middle. So, where do people go when they want to get stuff they’re no supposed to? They go to the black market.
The band features fast paced music that is intelligent and thoughtful. Black Market Theory’s 2018 LP “Infinite Odyssey” shows off the band’s quick chops and knack for heightened realism mixed with what-if questions of the unknown.
Interviewer: What genre are you guys? It’s a unique sound, somewhere in between pop/punk and hardcore.
Alex: Every member of the band brings something unique to it. Our drummer is into a lot of tech music. I lean more into the metal side of things. Evan was like a coir kid in high school but was raised on Bad Religion, bands like that. All of us brought something different. And that’s what’s great about this band, you never know what you are going to be playing, depending on the song.
Evan and Alex both have known each other since they were kids in Southern California, finding music as a way for their relationship to grow stronger throughout the years.
Evan: As Alex mentioned, I was a coir kid. My dad exposed me to bands like Bad Religion, and I always have gravitated towards the Orange County punk sound. I started guitar at 11 but I really got into it at 14. I’m 28 now. I’ve always been able to sing while I play. That show you were at was actually the first time I’ve been able to step away from the mic and straight up sing, no guitar.
Alex: My musical past is a history of cosmic accidents. My mom raised me and my sister on “safer” music like *INSYNC from the 90s. So, I discovered an alternative band called The Rasmus, kind of goth. My mom hated it. The next cosmic accident, I found death metal. I would scream and growl through the house when no one was home. Sometimes people would be home and it was awkward. I was never able to play guitar until Evan came up to me and said “Here’s a bass guitar, learn it. The show is in a month”.
Interviewer: What was it like growing up together?
Evan: It was a blast. One time in elementary school, I told on Alex and got him in trouble. He said “shit” real loud and I don’t why but goody-two shoes me thought it was a good idea to tell the noon duty that Alex said shit. But I said it and got in trouble too!
Alex: We’re complete nerds. I mean I’m wearing a Destiny jacket. But back in school during recess, the jungle gym would always be full. We LARPed.
Evan: We were those kids, picking up sticks and pretending they were swords.
Alex: Every day would be an adventure.
Alex was only the bass player until a gig when Evan revealed that there would be not one, but two back up vocalists for the night. Alex has been a vocalist and a bassist ever since.
Interviewer: I bet that was super nerve-racking
Evan: He still gets nervous! At the Agent Orange show, he was in the back like “Oh my God, how many people are out there?”
Alex: Seven! Ahhh!
Performing in front of an audience is an impressive feat. Think of public speaking but crank that to eleven. Alex also uses his fingers instead of his pick.
Interviewer: Oh yeah, Flea does that too right?
Alex: (laughs) I’m not at Flea’s level. But I think that’s why I had a hard time at guitar. I wasn’t good at picking. But I was able to play with my fingers.
Black Market Theory has been through a few changes throughout the years. The band was formed in 2016, when Alex officially joined the band. It will be five years this month since the band has been playing live. The band plays with numerous musicians at different gigs and is able to meet artists of different genres.
Evan: We love playing with bands we’ve never played with. We love listening to their story. Like talking to them and stuff…Unless you’re a douche.
Alex: No, that’s true. There are some groups out there that have good music but the people themselves, you don’t want to play with them.
Evan: We are friends first, before we’re a band.
Alex: It’s true. We hang out all the time. But one of the bands we’ve played with, Our Frankenstein, got us on board at this club in San Diego and it was amazing. It was all gothed out, bats in the chandeliers and candles. Leather and latex, like the sex dungeon from Hellraiser. And then there’s us.
Evan: You have the nerdy guy in gym who got picked last with all these goth people.
Alex: But they came up to us after the show and was like (in goth voice) “Dude, that was cool.”
Bands like Black Market Theory bring original music and talented musicians to the table. But in the world of streaming, it can be difficult to discover these artists.
Alex: In a sea of music that is available in a way like never before in human history, finding specific things in that ocean of talent takes a lot longer than it used to. And you have to do a lot more to stand out. I think we put on a good show, our music is cool. But when it’s us against 100,000 others, that’s accessible at a snap of a finger, it’s a whole different monster.
Live music has become important, now more than ever, for bands to get their sound out. Since artists don’t make a significant amount of money in streams, they turn to live shows and merchandising to support themselves. However, Black Market Theory notes that their friendship and their music is something they take very seriously.
Interviewer: Do you think there will be a musical shift soon? Like the 60s. The 90s.
Evan: I think we have been stuck for a while since the mid 2000s. Electronic and rap has been dominant. But if you listen to current music, the 80s are back. It’s only a matter of time until the 90s.
Interviewer: I agree, I think there will be some genre shift soon. In this decade. Maybe, I don’t know, another Nirvana has to come around and trigger that shift.
Alex: There is and it’s us. Jokes aside though, one positive thing about the rock scene is the way the audience gets into it. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, what ethnicity or race you are. The rock community has one of the nicest, most devoted fan bases in music.
Evan: Yeah, at the Agent Orange show you saw young and old fans together. You had fans that were there in the 80s for them and new fans that had to be stamped on the hand to get in because they couldn’t drink. It is cool how rock music does that.
I witnessed the community of this small scene, interacting with conversation, drinks, moshing, and head banging.
The way Black Market Theory creates their songs is unpredictable. It can be from an idea formed in the early hours or during a practice session. There isn’t one person that dictates the creative process in the band, it’s an unanimous thing that comes from the strong bond that the band members have with one another. Each song has been touched or retouched by one of the members.
Alex: We have a song off out first album, called Detritivore, that was my favorite song. We stopped playing it for a while and my one request was “I don’t care what we do but I want this particular song back and I want Andy (who’s our lead guitarist now) to have a crack at the solo. And Andy says, “I’ll wing something”. And-
Evan: Blewa,blewa,blewa!
Alex: He blew us away with one take. And that was the solo on the album.
While not playing shows for Black Market Theory, Evan is a high school biology and environmental science teacher.
Interviewer: What’s it like being a teacher and in a rock band?
Evan: Do you know who Greg Graffin is? He’s the singer of Bad Religion. But he’s also a professor. So, he teaches most of the year and tours in the summers. That proved that not only can I have a successful career and use my brain, but I can be a musician. My kids are great. I teach 14-year olds. But my AP class is all seniors. And I can tell they are hungry for new music. I’ve never mentioned once to them that I’m in a band.
Interviewer: It’s like a big secret?
Evan: Yes. Would you have respected your teacher if you knew he played in a band at bars during the weekend?
Interviewer: I would have thought that was sick!
Evan: (laughs) I would have too. But you have to worry about the parents
Alex: You said a bad word in a song one time!
Evan: If I end up telling them, I think they will be able to handle it. I do love teaching though.
All the members in Black Market Theory sport matching outfits that have their signature emblem on it. The logo that the band wears is a reverse color, compared to the logo that someone in the crowd might be wearing. These outfits resemble something out of The Men in Black, the members of the band are protectors against the unknown. This is just one of the many things that make the band unique. The band has a swagger of showmanship that helps elevate them.
Interviewer: Everyone has long hair in the band.
Evan: Except me. It just so happened that everyone has long hair. We started with Andy who is our long blonde hair guy. And it just kinda happened that everyone had long hair. I’ll be coming on stage and before I get on, people are like “Oh my God, these guys are a death metal band!” and then I come on and there like “What the?”
Every musician has their influences that spark the flame to pursue music. Evan got his from a Bad Religion show he saw in eighth grade; a venue Black Market Theory has now played at. Alex’s influence is slightly different.
Alex: I saw that Scooby-Doo movie with the Australian vampires who were in a rock band. And I was like “Hell yeah!”
Evan and Alex also share a passion for video games.
Interviewer: You mentioned that Destiny jacket. What’s your favorite video game?
Evan: I’ll play just about anything. But I was really into Spyro and Crash Bandicoot as a kid. All those platformer games.
Alex: I’m the opposite, I like the RPG games.
Interviewer: Are you a PlayStation guy?
Alex: Strictly. I had the PS2 as a kid, so many memories there. And it’s the best console. Lord of the Rings. Ratchet and Clank.
Evan: I think we could both agree that if we stopped this interview right now and whipped out LOTR: Return of the King and played co-op, we would not stop until it was complete.
It’s clear the Evan and Alex share a wide imagination which bleeds into their music. From LARPing as kids to having a passion for science and fiction. This is what makes Black Market Theory who they are. The band is currently working on a new album.
Alex: I’ve put a whole storyboard together. Secret agents, conspiracy stuff, world powers. It really ties into the music too.
Evan: Alex and I are the main songwriters in the band. We work on everything together. I’m very science driven, things that at the core deal with humanity. Stuff that no matter what side you’re on, we all suffer or benefit from. And that’s talked about a lot on the new album.
Alex: We should have the album done by the time we play our next show at the Whiskey in March, if everything works out. We have songs that deal with what Evan was saying. Like “Eco-Vendetta” where if the world dies, we die with it. And a more personal one called “Venom Veins” about a friend that fell to drug addiction. It’s usually sex, drugs, rock n roll. But you gotta cover that other stuff. So, it has your feel goods and no-so feel goods.
Evan: And this is the first time we will have an all acoustic song.
Black Market Theory is set to play the Whiskey A Go-Go again in March of 2022. Their next album, called Closer to Home, should be released in the next few months. The band’s first LP Infinite Odyssey is available now.