Don’t arrive fashionably late to an Ampere gig—you might miss them if you’re even a few minutes tardy, as most live sets clock in at no longer than a scant 15 minutes.
You won’t hear a peep of disapproval from the Amherst punk band’s fans, however, as the quartet—Will Killingsworth, Meghan Minior, Stephen Pierce, and Andy Skelly—pours more energy, noise, and volume into a single show than many bands deliver in a lifetime.
Ampere formed in early 2002 at a house in North Amherst shared by the four musicians and friends. The group was initially started as a lark, a fun project between four housemates deeply involved in sundry other musical projects.
Pierce says it wasn’t anyone’s primary focus. “Will was still in Orchid, Andy in Wolves, Meghan in Unicoroner, and I was in Montcalm.”
Besides a domicile, the gang shared a common set of firmly-held beliefs.
“I suppose if I were to invoke some sort of&singular ethos, it would be in contributing to and helping to sustain a community apart from the status quo,” Pierce says. “We all got into punk rock as an escape from the alienation of everyday life, and are extremely grateful for the support and strength and infrastructure that the community around our alienation has given us.”
Ampere’s members saw this community at its strongest on trips through Europe. Everywhere they went, they were greeted with a vegan potluck and a supportive scene.
“Touring Europe is always an incredible experience, both in seeing how large the DIY community is, and how well it can function,” says Killingsworth. “I know I always come back feeling more inspired.”
The group carries this spirit forward, with Minior often leading the charge, always offering a potluck or some kind of cooked food for weary bands they bring through town.
They’ve run a tight ship, one guided by certain principles, according to Pierce. “We play shows without age restriction, though we understand that there will be situations of compromise and cultural differences in regard to these things,” he says. “We try to undo the audience/performer dynamic—we all, everybody at a show, play a vital part to the punk/DIY community in one way or another.”
As for their legendarily short songs and sets, Killingsworth says that a deceptively large amount of work goes into them. “Our songwriting process is somewhat arduous, and we usually end up spending hours working on what results in just a few seconds of music,” he says. “To me, part of the challenge of writing the guitar parts and initial concepts of the songs is trying to achieve something that is challenging rhythmically in terms of avoiding standard time signatures, and yet also doesn’t come across as sounding like a math equation, which to me is the inherent problem with most ‘technical music.’ Above all, the songs and riffs must still be able to flow and convey some sense of emotion and not just sound difficult or ‘techy.'”
Ampere has accomplished much since their casual inception. In addition to touring the world, the band has amassed an extensive discography of CDs, LPs, split seven-inch singles, and assorted ephemera.
The band will soon add one more item to the roster, a recently recorded 15-song LP to be released on No Idea Records.
For shows and songs, visit www.myspace.com/amperepunx.
