Grunge hits The House

By Cris Rojo

DeKALB — For one night only, The Remedies are bringing an authentic rock show to The House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, with a blend of early 2000s grunge and ’80s punk rock.

Chicago native indie-rock band, The Remedies, are taking over the House Cafe alongside fellow bands Speak Soft, Snow Leopard Snow Affair and Big Sky Hunters. The night of grunge reminiscent of the ’90s will take place 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Remedies consist of guitarist Marco Obaya, drummer Angelo Santoyo and Jake Schnoebelen on bass and vocals. Obaya and Santoyo first began playing together in punk-rock band, The Damosellas, which Obaya left in 2014. The two found themselves crossing paths once more after pursuing individual projects, founding The Remedies in 2016. Schnoebelen joined the group later that year, and the trio spent the year recording “Repertoire,” which debuted on Soundcloud in late 2017.

“For our most recent release, I always tell people if you like noise-rock, grunge and punk but you also like music, then we are for you,” Obaya said. “It’s very raw. There’s a lot of attitude behind it, but at the same time, it’s still very contained and very musical and tasteful as far as we’re concerned.”

Their sensitive lyrics mixed with their bold, heavy garage band aesthetic allow the band’s riveting, layered riffs to reach a wide and diverse wave of music lovers. This all stems from their infatuations with bands such as the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ween, according to the band’s official Facebook page.

In their song “Arachanine,” the opening guitar notes might remind some of the upbeat guitar introduction from Paramore’s 2009 hit “Ignorance,” while songs like “Deja Vu” hit more of the grunge-rock sound found in ’80s rock music.

“We really don’t contain ourselves with genres,” Schnoebelen said. “We write whatever we feel is good. We really don’t limit ourselves. We would never not put out a song because it doesn’t match the genre we say we are in. We do whatever we do, really.”

The band said many will find the contained lyrics of classic rock songs, like the band’s favorite original, “Swift,” appealing. They said the show wil bring a mix of songs, bringing students to a time when garage bands held the key to success.

“I wrote [‘Swift’] on a napkin at work,” Santoyo said. “I was at my job at Panera and tapping on the counter, and I was like, ‘I actually like that.’ So I took a piece of receipt paper and took a pencil we used for orders, and I came over to the band after and was like, ‘I have this.’”

Despite a rough falling out before the formation of the band, passion and a deep-rooted love for rock music played key roles in the making of The Remedies. However, an even greater essence that helped in their formation is friendship, according to the band.

“We love each other all so much,” Schnoebelen said. “We are such good friends, and we never sit there and say, ‘We have to make this record.’ We hangout, have good times and just play around, and it just came about. We all bring our own thing to a project no matter what because we are all creative in our own way.”

Tickets for the all-ages show are currently on sale for $7 at the House Cafe’s website. The band said they are excited for the show, and they hope for a good turnout, promising not to disappoint and leaving fans wanting more.

“We’re not a band that utilizes a lot of lights and fog machines,” Obaya said. “We like people to see the rawness of our sound and our show. So don’t expect some pretty polished, yet theatrical thing. Expect rock star and classic rock ‘n’ roll with blood and body paint.”