The Methodical March

Aside from the stilt walkers, acrobats, burlesque dancers and 20-plus musicians spilling out into the audience from the stage, one of the most memorable images of the MarchFourth Marching Band’s performance in Spokane last year was the giant cowbell that was paraded through the crowd.

Intoxicating in its awesome presence, the cowbell became the icon that was associated with the Portland ensemble, commonly dubbed M4, as audiences chanted along, “More cowbell! We need more cowbell!”

But in order to fund its last tour to Europe, the band auctioned off the enormous stage prop for $240.

The biggest challenge of keeping the MarchingFourth Marching Band moving forward is, of course, the money. For the better part of the last decade, bandleader and bassist John Averill has taken on the task of keeping the M4 on track and in the black.

“It was a low commitment at first, when we put the band together for a party,” Averill said during a telephone interview. “Everyone was excited about it. We learned seven covers in two weeks.

“Then, when we wanted to keep it going and write our own music and tour, then it became more work. When we needed to find one or two more saxophone players to go on the road with us, number one, we needed someone who could learn the material quickly, and number two, we needed someone who is OK with the pay, which is not great.”

 But for Averill, who is one of four generals in the M4 army, it’s worth it for the band to go in the red while on the road, with the dream in mind of becoming a self-sustaining entity.

MarchFourth Marching Band has taken steps closer to that goal over the years. It was able to earn enough cash to hire a booking agent, allowing Averill (who plays a wireless electric bass on stage) to focus on other aspects, such as writing, rehearsing and recording music – considerable feats to pull off when coordinating ensembles of saxophones, trombones, trumpets and drum and percussion corps.

But the generals don’t fight the battle alone. Anyone in the band can take the lead on songwriting with one stipulation: The song must be presented to the band as a finished piece.

 “The rule is, you have to do everything yourself on the demo, the horn parts, an approximation of drums, it needs to be fully realized vision,” Averill said. “We’re lucky to practice once per week, and when we’re on the road we don’t practice at all.

“We’re pretty democratic about it. And in the digital world you can realize the sound even if you don’t know how to play all the instruments or even read the notation of music.”

 When it comes to recording, the band has laid down drum and bass tracks live and tracked everything else separately, all DIY-style.

 While Averill said there’s an inclination to make the next album more live, he’s not sure when that will happen or how it will be funded.

 It might mean building and subsequently auctioning more cowbells.