ENTERTAINTMENT

High Energy band Delivers
Richard Carter | For the Wichitan

I found Celebration on the highway up North somewhere, driving with their windows down, between Baltimore and Chapel Hill.
They were listening to Fela Kuti.
 “We’re all beat,” singer Katrina Ford said. The first show of their nationwide tour with fellow 4AD band Calla had begun the night before.
“It went well,” she said. “Their music is really beautiful and soft.”
Both bands are playing Hailey’s in Denton this Friday night. It should prove to be one of the intriguing and rewarding indie shows to hit the Metroplex in a while. 
“We definitely think it’s a strange pairing,” she said, “and I think we’re going to find the rhythm of it at some point. Last night, the juxtaposition of it was very obvious. We felt like we were this crazy zoo and they were really like refined and beautiful and soft.”
Celebration is a lot like a dance-y Yeah Yeah Yeah’s-like trio with a wild chick vocalist, a swirling keyboard player (Sean Antanaitis) and an upbeat drummer (Dave Bergander).
 “Yeah, we’re pretty high energy,” Ford said. “It’s kind of like a zoo.”
If she looks a little like YYY’s singer Karen O a little and has a lot of the same sass, it’s there the resemblance ends. A fan of Karen O and also her friend, she said, “I hope I’m not just like her, she is very sweet in person. I’m really obnoxious,” she said.
Besides, for comparison’s sake, Celebration is not a sound-alike of some cool flavor of the month band. With a mix of archaic organs, African inspired drums and vocals over several octaves, they’re not borrowing from anyone. 
It’s the fourth band for Ford and Antanaitis (her husband) over the last 10 years, and Celebration feels right.
“Our creative input is like a lot freer than it’s ever been before,” she said. “We have more of a sense of humor. It’s more open-minded. It’s way more fun.”
Ford raves about the Bergander’s drumming. “His style is totally wild, it comes from a different place. He’s really into African rhythms and that’s what we’re really into.”
Antanaitis employs ancient keyboards like Hammond organs. And he plays organ, guitar and bass at the same time. “There’s the Moog Taurus bass pedals, a stacked piano and organ and a guitar on his lap, octopus style.”
Ford’s vocal ranges from masculine to decidedly feminine voicings. “I’m working on my range. I wish I could do better. My goal is to add more high octaves. I want the octave range of Diamanda Galas,” she said with a laugh.
Ford started singing when she was about 18. “It was a completely rebellious act,” she said. “My dad wanted me to go to college, and I wanted to hang out.
“I’d always loved music ever since I was really little. I used to have fantasies about having the courage to do something like that. When I finally got it, I was addicted.”
There’s no one influence. “I’m kind of amalgamating everything. I love a lot of Ethiopian music. I always listen to classic Neil Young. Anything from Betsy Smith, I love old dirty blues.”
Their goals are simple. “We want to write more songs. We want to get into the studio again. We want to promote this record well. We also work on other records with Dave Sitek, so we have other projects too.”
Celebration recorded their first CD with longtime friend, Sitek, a member of Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio. Members of the band sat in on the Celebration album sessions, and they returned the favor by playing a little on the new TVOTR album due out in June.
Ford is stoked about the show in Denton and thinks the crowd should be into it. “They should expect to feel bullied a little and have a good time,” she said. “Oh and yeah, I expect dancing, I demand it.”