Dorm-bred band gains members, momentum

Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Mahockin’ Knox brings latest sound to American PieBy Sona
Stepanian

Daily Bruin Contributor

What began as two freshmen UCLA students strumming around on the
acoustic guitar in their dorm rooms four years ago has turned into
Mahockin’ Knox, a fully functional, four-member band.

"I guess it started off as a joke," says guitarist and
fifth-year student Vic Belonogoff. "Late nights Eytan (Elbaz) and I
would sit together and make up these joke songs. After our freshman
year we kept playing together and we wrote our first serious song
about two years ago and people thought ‘Wow, you can do something
instead of just joke around.’"

Taking their music more seriously these days, Belonogoff, along
with vocalist Eytan Elbaz and bassist Matt Becher, who are both
recent UCLA graduates, and drummer Jon Goldberg, a UC Berkeley
graduate, will be playing at American Pie in Santa Monica tomorrow
night.

"We’ve got a bunch of things from a bunch of different times,"
says Elbaz. "We kind of progressed through a couple of different
stages. At first we were kind of freakish and then we got a little
more grunge heavy. It used to be like we were into writing these
catchy, loud riffs but we definitely progressed into more
meaningful songs."

With the recent additions of Becher and Goldberg in mid-January,
Mahockin’ Knox has further fine-tuned its sound. From writing songs
over late night beers to recording demos for mass distribution, the
band seems ready to make a serious venture into the multi-faceted
music scene.

"I left Westwood to go work in Washington D.C. and they were
just starting to write things like ‘Mirror,’" recalls Becher.
"Three months later, when I came back, they had a whole new sound
basically. It was actually serious music I wanted to be a part
of."

Although the members are serious about their music, they are
still able to maintain a silly, frivolous edge, demonstrated by
their somewhat unorthodox approach to selecting a drummer.

"He (Goldberg) came over when we were having dinner and we told
him to sit down," says Becher. "We had a few beers and he left and
we thought Jon was cool. We had no idea he could play the drums at
all. We took his word for it."

"The time I knew that Jon would be awesome was that when he came
in he had different sticks for every song," adds Belonogoff with a
laugh.

Goldberg proved to be what the band needed and a new,
well-grounded band was formed.

"When Vic and I were writing songs together we did everything on
the acoustic guitar and we had all these acoustic guitar songs that
weren’t full band songs," says Elbaz. "But these two were able to
pick up on the songs very quickly. And all these songs that had
kind of all these basic chords and melodies all of a sudden got
very huge."

This new sound has given birth to "huge" live performances as
well.

"We go out there and do kind of freakish stuff. We like audience
participation," says Belonogoff. "Eytan jumps into the mosh pit and
we talk to the people in the audience. And I try to play with my
teeth once in a while."

By starting their sets off with the theme to "Knight Rider" and
with future plans to incorporate the "Diff’rent Strokes" theme, the
audience members are drawn into the performance themselves.

"Whatever we think of at the time we are not afraid to try
anymore because I think it really works and our audiences enjoy
it," says Becher.

Personal lyrics and tales of love lost and friendship betrayed
help draw in audiences as well.

"A lot of our songs reflect our personal situations," says
Belonogoff. "About a year ago we had a more grungy, darker
sound."

"Then recently Vic fell in love with a girl and turned wuss on
us," adds Elbaz as his guitarist begins to blush.

Whatever direction their new songs will take, the band is ready
to fill in the musical void they see when they look at the UCLA
campus.

"I think that Westwood is like this black hole of cultural
work," says Goldberg. "There is not really anything poetic or
musically redeeming going on. And I think that every campus needs
someone to fill in that void or pick up the dynamics of a big
campus."

"We want to be a band that people know on campus," adds Becher.
"I wish there was something here when I went to school here where
you could just go and know you can get a group of different kinds
of students on level ground listening to music and having a good
time."

On a more serious note Becher adds, "All we want is a chance to
get heard. If people listen to it and say it sucks and throw it
away, that’s fine because I think that the most frustrating thing
is if it (our music) doesn’t get to them. I think that’s what we
fear most."

CONCERT: Mahockin’Knox at American Pie tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. 18
years old and over; free demo tape to all. Call (310) 393-6611 for
more info.

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Vic Belonogoff, Eytan Elbaz, Matt Becher and Jon Goldberg

(l-r) form the group Mahockin’Knox.

"Westwood is like this black hole of cultural work. There is not
really anything … musically redeeming going on."

Jon Goldberg

Mahockin’ Knox Drummer