M. Lockwood Porter

With the sheen of NYE worn off, leaving your streets (and livers) muddied with good intentions and bad champagne, you need a little bit of THE 21ST CENTURY to remind you of the good in the world… or at least give you another chance to re-live (or live down) your night of new year’s revelry. You’re in luck, drunkards: San Francisco indie-pop darlings THE 21ST CENTURY are making their 2012 debut with a kickass EP release show at The Red Devil Lounge, Friday January 6th.

I first met lead singer Bevan Herbekian in 2010 when we discussed the band’s upcoming recording, big-wig producer, and my frozen mango obsession in an Owl Mag exclusive interview. Since then, it’s been a harrowing journey to get EP The City well, to the city — complete with (in their words) “an infamous clash of creative tastes and direction…, a debt, and a fraction of [our] musical family.” The City is surely a testament to the band’s perseverance — but more than anything, it’s damn good music, kids. More on their story in an upcoming feature — ’til then, enjoy this exclusive Owl Mag song download of “The Parisian Translation” and don’t miss the show. THE 21ST CENTURY with support from The Blank Tapes, Mark David Ashworth & Muralismo, and The Beehavers: your first Friday of oh-twelve has never sounded better. - The Owl Mag

Music Last spring there was no end in sight. The future seemed bleak for what was once a promising project — the chance of a lifetime for Bay Area septet the 21st Century. Now, a full year after its intended release, the colorful debut album, The City, will see the light of day.

The struggle for The City began in 2010 with Kickstarter. Well, technically it began with an idea. Multi-instrumentalist Bevan Herbekian had been bouncing around the world since graduating from U.C. Santa Cruz. He'd come to San Francisco, the city closest to his Northern California-born heart, then promptly traveled to Europe, back to SF, next out to the Middle East — Israel, Egypt, Jordan — a quick stop in New Orleans and he was again back to the Bay. During those years, he was collecting sound. A guitarist, bassist, pianist and singer-songwriter since age 12, he fiddled with mandolin and banjo. In Jerusalem, he was gifted a small guitar and ended up busking a few times at a local shuk.

Upon Herbekian's return to San Francisco, he decided to create the band of his dreams, an expansive folk-pop act with intricate arrangements, multi-part harmonies, and plenty of acoustic instruments. He gathered up friends, former bandmates, and a few Craigslisters, and created the 21st Century. The band now includes a lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardists, a trumpet player, a set of musical sisters, and the occasional live saxophonist.

Herbekian then worked on a set of creamy folk-pop tunes with abstract lyrics touching on the darkness and ebullient light of moving to a new city, specifically San Francisco (though he now resides in Berkeley). Sitting in the eternally packed Mission Pie, Herbekian recounts crafting the songs for The City, while he was living just down the street from the restaurant, near 25th and Bryant. "[the song] 'We Are Waiters' has some specifics about living in San Francisco, in the Mission," he pauses, taking a moment to collect his thoughts, "[it's] about being young, living in this city, and going back and forth between feeling exuberant and like you don't know how to reconcile that with adulthood." A common refrain in this adult-kid city of ours.

He recounts the battle to release The City. "It honestly felt like this project was fated to never be completed. There was always some catch, some snag." In the summer of 2010 the band met a producer who wanted to record and promote the album. Void of funds enough to travel and record, the 21st Century turned to Kickstarter and brought in $11,000, which Herbekian describes as "nuts" and "truly amazing."

With funding in place, the band flew to Texas, recorded the album, then returned home to await mixing. Something got lost in translation however, and the mixes, which was returned to them months after recording (in spring of 2011) were "way off the mark."

"[Our music] is relatively pop-based, but I like to think that there's a sense of artistry to it. We really pay attention to the details and do all these big arrangements, but the mixes just sounded like glossy top 40 pop," explains Herbekian. He wanted more Brian Wilson, less Justin Bieber. He next made the difficult decision to part ways with the producer, gather the loose tracks, and find another way to finish the album. A few band members left at this point, and Herbekian felt the pressure weighing down.

"Four weeks after that decision was made we were left with a fraction of our musical family, still in debt, and no relationship with the person who we were hoping was going to be our ticket to something — and all these sessions we had no idea what to do with." Herbekian had worked on home recording projects, but nothing of this scale.

By chance, one of the band members was pals with Ben Tanner, a touring musician and producer who works at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. "I had him take a shot at the song that I thought was the absolute worst and he resurrected it." Tanner continued to resurrect the album, piece by piece, working closely with Herbekian. The two wrote tireless emails and many late night phone calls transpired; they were sending mixes back and forth for months. "I've never met him in person but he's a saint to me," Herbekian enthuses.

The hard work has paid off, and Herbekian beams as he finally holds the completed album in his hands. The City's release party is this weekend at Red Devil Lounge and he can hardly believe it. At this point the process has taken so long that the band already has a batch of new songs, two full albums-worth. For this one, Herbekian says, "We might just go back to recording it ourselves." - San Francisco Bay Guardian

As with anything, there is bad news, and there is good news. Since all of the good things are paramount, let's burst out the bad riffraff first: The 21st Century's debut album, The City, is far too short. Six tracks of radiant resonation leave you craving more of this octet's spirited approach to music making. On to a discussion of the good news, which is just how authentically rich The City, and The 21st Century as a whole, are.


From the beginning, The City nestles into your being with purpose, starting with "The City is My Sweetheart"; a love song that transpires as a day through the city—but not with romantic rose-rimmed glasses—instead with folksy-flair and tambourine. The banalities and realities of daily life are noted, yet still the tauntingly hopeful words of "Here I am, what you got to show me?" brightly ring out, offering the desire for what we all want: the chance to experience the existing world as truthfully as possible. And the best part is that The 21st Century is right: there is wonder, mystery and excitement even when all you have is yourself and the city.

Lacking irony and performed in genuine earnest, each song, from "Jigsaw Paws" to "The Parisian Translation" to "The Good Things", convinces you that hope is of the essence of life—not through lyrics, but through the movement across the keyboards, the four-part vocals that smooth their way into your mind, the steady beat, and the warmly appealing horn harmonies that create a sense of familiarity and trust with the musicians.

Thematically throughout the album, the lyrics point to the simple truth that the world sometimes feels asleep and we're stuck in a tumultuous experience of not fitting in, but within all this is an uprising. As lamentations of being an adult are belted out, all you want to do when listening to The City is flick your wrists, sway your shoulders, and fire up your toes: In other words, dance.

My two favorite tracks, "Funeral March (The State of Our Parade)" and "We are Waiters", align themselves with the rest of the albums' features—seamlessly and energetically bringing to light a love of life, a realization of reality, and yet enthusiasm for what we are and what we have. Listening to The City, it's as if this octet is keenly aware that they get what everyone else gets: a lifetime. Despite what we're offered, we can make the best of everything. And The 21st Century certainly did.

What makes me say that? Well, it's the story behind The City being mixed and released. Belting out lyrics such as "Oh ain't life a tease" with authentic earnest instead of irony wound up foreshadowing the past year of their existence. 2011 was devoted to traveling to Texas to record their first album, their legendary producer mixed away their musical integrity, half of the original band members left in pursuit of new dreams, and the band had to choose whether to define who they were on their own terms or follow his lead down a path of pop-laden, repetitive tune-making.

Thankfully, even though the band deviated away from their original producer and his pop-aspirations for them, The City still came to be, and with the high-spirited melodies, off-beat lyrics, intricate rhythmic arrangements and a definitively dynamic horn section they are known around the San Francisco Bay Area for. Is it pop? God no. It is music with meaning, soul, and laborious passion. And darn it, it's freaking good. - Reviewiera

As with anything, there is bad news, and there is good news. Since all of the good things are paramount, let's burst out the bad riffraff first: The 21st Century's debut album, The City, is far too short. Six tracks of radiant resonation leave you craving more of this octet's spirited approach to music making. On to a discussion of the good news, which is just how authentically rich The City, and The 21st Century as a whole, are.


From the beginning, The City nestles into your being with purpose, starting with "The City is My Sweetheart"; a love song that transpires as a day through the city—but not with romantic rose-rimmed glasses—instead with folksy-flair and tambourine. The banalities and realities of daily life are noted, yet still the tauntingly hopeful words of "Here I am, what you got to show me?" brightly ring out, offering the desire for what we all want: the chance to experience the existing world as truthfully as possible. And the best part is that The 21st Century is right: there is wonder, mystery and excitement even when all you have is yourself and the city.

Lacking irony and performed in genuine earnest, each song, from "Jigsaw Paws" to "The Parisian Translation" to "The Good Things", convinces you that hope is of the essence of life—not through lyrics, but through the movement across the keyboards, the four-part vocals that smooth their way into your mind, the steady beat, and the warmly appealing horn harmonies that create a sense of familiarity and trust with the musicians.

Thematically throughout the album, the lyrics point to the simple truth that the world sometimes feels asleep and we're stuck in a tumultuous experience of not fitting in, but within all this is an uprising. As lamentations of being an adult are belted out, all you want to do when listening to The City is flick your wrists, sway your shoulders, and fire up your toes: In other words, dance.

My two favorite tracks, "Funeral March (The State of Our Parade)" and "We are Waiters", align themselves with the rest of the albums' features—seamlessly and energetically bringing to light a love of life, a realization of reality, and yet enthusiasm for what we are and what we have. Listening to The City, it's as if this octet is keenly aware that they get what everyone else gets: a lifetime. Despite what we're offered, we can make the best of everything. And The 21st Century certainly did.

What makes me say that? Well, it's the story behind The City being mixed and released. Belting out lyrics such as "Oh ain't life a tease" with authentic earnest instead of irony wound up foreshadowing the past year of their existence. 2011 was devoted to traveling to Texas to record their first album, their legendary producer mixed away their musical integrity, half of the original band members left in pursuit of new dreams, and the band had to choose whether to define who they were on their own terms or follow his lead down a path of pop-laden, repetitive tune-making.

Thankfully, even though the band deviated away from their original producer and his pop-aspirations for them, The City still came to be, and with the high-spirited melodies, off-beat lyrics, intricate rhythmic arrangements and a definitively dynamic horn section they are known around the San Francisco Bay Area for. Is it pop? God no. It is music with meaning, soul, and laborious passion. And darn it, it's freaking good. - Reviewiera

Meet The 21st Century, a eight-piece indie pop band, who released their first album “The City” earlier this month at The Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. A fan-funded endeavor several years and $11,000 in the making, the album features catchy harmonies relating the challenges of youth, adulthood, dating and everyday hardship.

Their sound is best described by their lead singer, Bevan Herbekian: “We sound like the love child of Bruce Springsteen and Brian Wilson, who then befriends Belle & Sebastian.”

The group is will soon be in Austin for SXSW, after performances at The Independent in San Francisco opening for Wye Oak on Feb. 24 and at the Noise Pop Festival later this month.

To learn more about The 21st Century, click here. - Oakland North

See video. - The Owl Mag

See video. - The Owl Mag

More than a year ago, The Owl Mag met up with Bevan Herbeckian and the rest of The 21st Century as they completed a successful fundraising campaign and prepared to hit the studio with a super-duper famous producer. It was… you know, all happening. So when we caught up with the indie sweethearts this month, we were surprised to see a new EP, some new faces, and even more new tunes set to debut at SXSW this week.

So first…
Band: The 21st Century
EP: The City
From: Berkeley, CA
Sounds like: “Brian Wilson and Belle & Sebastian, arm wrestling.”
Bay Area Inspiration: SF’s 24th Street & Mission and jumping off the rocks at Berkeley’s Lake Anza
Favorite Bay Area Venue: Great American Music Hall

The Owl Mag: So when we last met, you were on the cusp of recording your debut album…which I understand didn’t go exactly according to plan. What happened?
The 21st Century: Yeah… so the original demos ended up catching the ear of a producer and after talking with him and meeting him—he’s actually based in LA, he flew up, and hung out with us—after a lot of talking we decided, you know what, we’re going to go and make our first record with him. We went into the studio, worked like mad for ten days, and walked away feeling absolutely invigorated and inspired. And sadly that’s when the story kind of takes a nosedive.
The Owl Mag: Uh-oh.
The 21st Century: (Laughs) Yeah, after we finished, mixing got delayed several times, months were passing, and then when the mixes actually occurred, they were just way off the mark from what we were hoping to accomplish. I’d say that we were trying to write pop hits –that’s true, but we were also trying to do it in a way that stayed true to where we started, which is a lo-fi core and having our personality in there and unfortunately the mixes seemed to wipe our personalities clear out of the recordings, and we ended up with this recording that didn’t sound like us. It just felt so far from what we wanted to do and so far from what we thought we were doing, which isn’t super uncommon in recording, but we had this very difficult choice to make.
The Owl Mag: …to nun-chuck that producer?
The 21st Century: Not quite. [Laughs] We made this hard to choice to part ways with our producer and take a stab at it ourselves. We didn’t know how we were going to do that. The whole thing took its toll on the band—a few members left, we had a debt, and we had a record that wasn’t mixed.
The Owl Mag: So your EP The City was finally released this year—are these those recordings?
The 21st Century: Yes—a dear friend of ours, Ben Tanner, who’s an engineer in Alabama [and keyboardist for Alabama Shakes], remixed it for us after three to four months of emailing each other, late night telephone calls, and just going over and over it. The mixes had up to 40-50 tracks, which is excessive even for a band of nine people, so it took a long time to get through it all—but we finished it, and we’re so happy that we did.
The Owl Mag: What’s your favorite track on this long-awaited album?
The 21st Century: “We Are Waiters” is my favorite. Some songs just feel like they come out of nowhere. And that one just seemed to come out of nowhere but say everything I wanted to say.
The Owl Mag: You also have a ton of new music, a lot of which you’re already playing live. Do you have another album in the works?
The 21st Century: Yes — so The City was about being young and moving to a city for the first time and the sort of courtships and hardships and all of those other-ships that come along with that sort of move. The next album is tentatively titled The Magic of True Love, which is a group of love songs that are also heartache songs that come from that other first in your life. And the album is also pretty autobiographical… So it comes from a relationship that came and then…went. What can I say.
The Owl Mag: Oh snap. Does that person know that you wrote…?
The 21st Century: (Sigh) Yeah, she knows. I mean, we’re friends. It’s fine. (Incredulous laughter all around.) It’s FINE. No I mean, when you revisit the songs, it doesn’t feel fine, but now it’s fine. Yeah…
The Owl Mag: Riiiiight. So you’ll be playing all of this “fine” music at SXSW this year! When and where?
The 21st Century: Right now we are playing at the Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie showcase on Thursday, March 15th and planning on hustling to get a handful more in the next couple weeks and while we’re there, which apparently is common practice. People should check out our website for updates.
The Owl Mag: Who are you excited to see at SXSW?
The 21st Century: Alabama Shakes—we saw them at The Independent a couple weeks ago and they were fantastic bringing together a raw, soulful, and energetic performance that reminded me of some old Otis Redding footage I grew up idolizing. Bare Wires is a great rock ‘n roll band out of Oakland, and of course—and I do feel a little guilty saying this at a music festival for independent up-and-comers, but it’s true—Bruce Sprin - The Owl Mag

More than a year ago, The Owl Mag met up with Bevan Herbeckian and the rest of The 21st Century as they completed a successful fundraising campaign and prepared to hit the studio with a super-duper famous producer. It was… you know, all happening. So when we caught up with the indie sweethearts this month, we were surprised to see a new EP, some new faces, and even more new tunes set to debut at SXSW this week.

So first…
Band: The 21st Century
EP: The City
From: Berkeley, CA
Sounds like: “Brian Wilson and Belle & Sebastian, arm wrestling.”
Bay Area Inspiration: SF’s 24th Street & Mission and jumping off the rocks at Berkeley’s Lake Anza
Favorite Bay Area Venue: Great American Music Hall

The Owl Mag: So when we last met, you were on the cusp of recording your debut album…which I understand didn’t go exactly according to plan. What happened?
The 21st Century: Yeah… so the original demos ended up catching the ear of a producer and after talking with him and meeting him—he’s actually based in LA, he flew up, and hung out with us—after a lot of talking we decided, you know what, we’re going to go and make our first record with him. We went into the studio, worked like mad for ten days, and walked away feeling absolutely invigorated and inspired. And sadly that’s when the story kind of takes a nosedive.
The Owl Mag: Uh-oh.
The 21st Century: (Laughs) Yeah, after we finished, mixing got delayed several times, months were passing, and then when the mixes actually occurred, they were just way off the mark from what we were hoping to accomplish. I’d say that we were trying to write pop hits –that’s true, but we were also trying to do it in a way that stayed true to where we started, which is a lo-fi core and having our personality in there and unfortunately the mixes seemed to wipe our personalities clear out of the recordings, and we ended up with this recording that didn’t sound like us. It just felt so far from what we wanted to do and so far from what we thought we were doing, which isn’t super uncommon in recording, but we had this very difficult choice to make.
The Owl Mag: …to nun-chuck that producer?
The 21st Century: Not quite. [Laughs] We made this hard to choice to part ways with our producer and take a stab at it ourselves. We didn’t know how we were going to do that. The whole thing took its toll on the band—a few members left, we had a debt, and we had a record that wasn’t mixed.
The Owl Mag: So your EP The City was finally released this year—are these those recordings?
The 21st Century: Yes—a dear friend of ours, Ben Tanner, who’s an engineer in Alabama [and keyboardist for Alabama Shakes], remixed it for us after three to four months of emailing each other, late night telephone calls, and just going over and over it. The mixes had up to 40-50 tracks, which is excessive even for a band of nine people, so it took a long time to get through it all—but we finished it, and we’re so happy that we did.
The Owl Mag: What’s your favorite track on this long-awaited album?
The 21st Century: “We Are Waiters” is my favorite. Some songs just feel like they come out of nowhere. And that one just seemed to come out of nowhere but say everything I wanted to say.
The Owl Mag: You also have a ton of new music, a lot of which you’re already playing live. Do you have another album in the works?
The 21st Century: Yes — so The City was about being young and moving to a city for the first time and the sort of courtships and hardships and all of those other-ships that come along with that sort of move. The next album is tentatively titled The Magic of True Love, which is a group of love songs that are also heartache songs that come from that other first in your life. And the album is also pretty autobiographical… So it comes from a relationship that came and then…went. What can I say.
The Owl Mag: Oh snap. Does that person know that you wrote…?
The 21st Century: (Sigh) Yeah, she knows. I mean, we’re friends. It’s fine. (Incredulous laughter all around.) It’s FINE. No I mean, when you revisit the songs, it doesn’t feel fine, but now it’s fine. Yeah…
The Owl Mag: Riiiiight. So you’ll be playing all of this “fine” music at SXSW this year! When and where?
The 21st Century: Right now we are playing at the Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie showcase on Thursday, March 15th and planning on hustling to get a handful more in the next couple weeks and while we’re there, which apparently is common practice. People should check out our website for updates.
The Owl Mag: Who are you excited to see at SXSW?
The 21st Century: Alabama Shakes—we saw them at The Independent a couple weeks ago and they were fantastic bringing together a raw, soulful, and energetic performance that reminded me of some old Otis Redding footage I grew up idolizing. Bare Wires is a great rock ‘n roll band out of Oakland, and of course—and I do feel a little guilty saying this at a music festival for independent up-and-comers, but it’s true—Bruce Sprin - The Owl Mag

The item of note that evening had to be the unbelievable show that the 9 piece band, The 21st Century put on. In the same vein of Talking Heads live documentary, Stop Making Sense, the charismatic lead vocalist Bevan Herbekian lead the band through a blistering hour long set that included many different set changes w/ some songs revolving around the 9 piece, other times it being stripped all the way down to only an upright bass and him singing while playing guitar, to later on just having the rhythm section backing him, etc. This band is one to watch for. - Mammoth Life Blog

Last fall, eclectic new folk act the 21st Century was given the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to record with legendary producer Stephen Short (the former owner of Trident Studios who has worked with David Bowie, the Clash, Paul McCartney, Queen, Echo and the Bunnymen et. al.). The Bay Area eight-to-nine piece was thrilled but too broke to cover all the costs of making the album, plus, there were travel commitments (Short is based in Texas).

The forward-thinking futurists harnessed modern technology: they set up a Kickstarter page. With the $10,000+ funding in place (thanks to 187 backers), the band recorded late last year, and the album will be released in November. Before that release, however, the 21st Century will play a show as part of the ongoing Mission Creek Music and Art Festival.

Year and location of origin: 2010, SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND/BERKELEY
Band name origin: The name originates from a few different places. One is ambition. We're an eight (and occasionally a nine) piece with orchestrated horns and four part harmonies and a couple of kitchen sinks so we wanted to name ourselves in a way that reflected that bold and without limits musical attitude. We also felt that we'd spent much of our lives hearing our times and our generation defined for us in ways that we didn't relate to so we thought why don't we take a stab at it and have a say in the matter. Hence THE 21ST CENTURY. Oh and I also remember hearing Elvis Costello saying that he named himself after the two largest acts he could think of -- a pretty gutsy move. I thought -- now that's a good idea, but let's raise him one.
Band motto: Unofficially, it's probably 'What would Bruce Springsteen Do?"
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Intricate arrangements, colorful harmonies, brass, lyrical surrealism and off-beat pop sensibility.
Instrumentation: Electric, Acoustic and bass guitars, drums, keys, horns, lots of percussion and lots of singing.
Most recent release: THE CITY, Coming Soon...November 2011.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: People want to be friends.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: The bars and clubs close too early. 2 a.m.? Come on.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: The single of "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Freddy Mercury. I thought I was getting Vanilla Ice.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Wilco's The Whole Love & Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Al Pastor at El Metate--dynamite.And the Cold House Noodles at Yamo. - San Francisco Bay Guardian

Last fall, eclectic new folk act the 21st Century was given the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to record with legendary producer Stephen Short (the former owner of Trident Studios who has worked with David Bowie, the Clash, Paul McCartney, Queen, Echo and the Bunnymen et. al.). The Bay Area eight-to-nine piece was thrilled but too broke to cover all the costs of making the album, plus, there were travel commitments (Short is based in Texas).

The forward-thinking futurists harnessed modern technology: they set up a Kickstarter page. With the $10,000+ funding in place (thanks to 187 backers), the band recorded late last year, and the album will be released in November. Before that release, however, the 21st Century will play a show as part of the ongoing Mission Creek Music and Art Festival.

Year and location of origin: 2010, SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND/BERKELEY
Band name origin: The name originates from a few different places. One is ambition. We're an eight (and occasionally a nine) piece with orchestrated horns and four part harmonies and a couple of kitchen sinks so we wanted to name ourselves in a way that reflected that bold and without limits musical attitude. We also felt that we'd spent much of our lives hearing our times and our generation defined for us in ways that we didn't relate to so we thought why don't we take a stab at it and have a say in the matter. Hence THE 21ST CENTURY. Oh and I also remember hearing Elvis Costello saying that he named himself after the two largest acts he could think of -- a pretty gutsy move. I thought -- now that's a good idea, but let's raise him one.
Band motto: Unofficially, it's probably 'What would Bruce Springsteen Do?"
Description of sound in 10 words or less: Intricate arrangements, colorful harmonies, brass, lyrical surrealism and off-beat pop sensibility.
Instrumentation: Electric, Acoustic and bass guitars, drums, keys, horns, lots of percussion and lots of singing.
Most recent release: THE CITY, Coming Soon...November 2011.
Best part about life as a Bay Area band: People want to be friends.
Worst part about life as a Bay Area band: The bars and clubs close too early. 2 a.m.? Come on.
First record/cassette tape/or CD ever purchased: The single of "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Freddy Mercury. I thought I was getting Vanilla Ice.
Most recent record/cassette tape/CD/or Mp3 purchased/borrowed from the Web: Wilco's The Whole Love & Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
Favorite local eatery and dish: Al Pastor at El Metate--dynamite.And the Cold House Noodles at Yamo. - San Francisco Bay Guardian