{image1}Musician Dale Reince has provided bass lines for several of Milwaukee's local bands, including The Inevitable End and Chocolate Fantasy Girls. But there were times he would stay up late with his journal and acoustic guitar churning out his own songs. They weren't complex; just nice simple melodies inspired by movies, friends, family and everyday life.
Reince started seeking other musicians to bring these melodies to life and had to look no further than friends in other bands, including Matt Schmeling and Alexander Boyes from The Inevitable End and James Dahlman from The Panic. Rounding out Clementine, his tight group of six musicians, is Brad Nault and Cathy Schlieve.
"Everybody here knows each other because of Cathy," Reince divulges on a blustery fall afternoon. Schlieve must feel like Clementine's answer to Kevin Bacon.
It would seem that when Clementine was formed in April 2004, the band's name was inspired by the free-spirited and tangerine-colored hair of Kate Winslet's character in the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
The members also act a little like Joel Barrish, the character in that film played by Jim Carrey, who is thrust into doing things that he wouldn't normally do because of Clementine. For example, Dahlman, who plays drums in The Panic, plays keyboards in this band. Reince, also a bassist, plays lead guitar and sings in Clementine.
Even the songs Reince writes take on a whole new meaning when the other five members add their ideas to his. This is the first band he has been in which his role as primary singer/songwriter has started going places.
"For me, (the band) was just a way to get my ideas and songs I had written quietly in my house," Reince explains, "I wanted to see what everyone could add to them. We were friends before, so we can really understand each other and a lot of ideas get through... It comes together pretty effortlessly."
"We all get to do these great things we don't normally do but we still have a passion," Schmeling adds.
"Without us really pushing it, (the music) is just moving itself," Dahlman says.
"I really value their input," Reince says.
The mood and the lyrics really add an emotional weight to Reince's songs, which are influenced consciously by the simplicity of '60s sing-along oldies and the layers contained in '70s rock like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. They are also subconsciously influenced by modern artists such as Modest Mouse and Guided by Voices.
Clementine, once regarded as a temporary project, has started to take on a life of its own, receiving praise on WMSE and at live shows, where it becomes instantly apparent that the six members really respect each other as friends and musicians. Everyone checks their egos at the door and goes with the flow, doing their best not to force success.
"There really isn't the tension here that there is in other bands," explains Dahlman.
Reince adds, "Writing songs, you get a certain perspective and a certain way you want things to end up. Sometimes it's hard to swallow, but with (Clementine) it's been really good ... We've had the experience to know how to work with each other."
Trying to get everyone together to practice poses a challenge for six musicians who also play in other bands, but Reince understands.
"I think (the other bands) are just as vital as this band," he says. When Clementine gets together to perform, it becomes a memorable event, as opposed to something you want erased the next day by the technicians of Lacuna Inc.
Clementine performs Nov. 26 at the Cactus Club with El Oso and Those Royals and Dec. 11 at Mad Planet with Hester Mofet, This Holiday Season and The Sugar Skulls at 5 p.m. Clementine's Web site is clementinemusic.com.
