Duo having fun on the way up

Poppemost performs at local restaurants, bars and nightclubs

By GINGER MIKKELSEN
VIEW STAFF WRITER

Alex Oliver and Roy Al Rendahl are two halves of the local alternative band Poppermost. Their name comes from The Beatles, who said they'd be going "to the toppermost of the poppermost!"

Performing in restaurants, nightclubs, bars and bookstores, Oliver and Rendahl have a way to go to get to the top. But the musical duo is determined to have fun on the way.

According to Oliver's wife, Debbie, both Poppermost band members are multi-talented, renaissance men. Rendahl is trained as a mechanical machine design engineer. He actually holds a patent on a fancy hinge he designed for a previous employer. In addition to engineering, he works as a fine and graphic artist, and as a recording studio technician. The artist has three mixed-media pieces and several photographs on exhibit in the Cirque du Soleil corporate offices. In Fresno, Calif., he designed a ceramic tile roadside mural that was eventually built by schoolchildren.

Oliver has ties to schoolchildren, as well -- he taught elementary school, junior high and high school in Los Angeles. The singer still explores teaching when the band volunteers at the Snyder Unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas.

"After a couple of times over there, they would actually sing our songs with us. Then we'd play little things for them like the theme song from 'Scooby Doo.' They really seemed to like that. There's a lot of kids there who are aspiring singers. They want to grow up to be the next Brittany Spears," Oliver said.

Poppermost began with another band, which the Olivers and Rendahl insist remain nameless.

"We were the only two communicating musically, so we left that band behind. They found people to replace us, but they were ultimately fired at knife-point by the drummer's wife," Oliver said.

"Allegedly," Debbie Oliver added. "We heard it second-hand. They got out just in time."

"Shortly after this, they had a little fire at the drummer's house. Amazingly, all that burned was his drum set." Oliver said.

"He had a base guitar that burned, too," Rendahl added. "And it was an accident."

Performing without their former band mates is challenging. When they play live, the duo is just bass and acoustic guitar, punctuated by Oliver's voice. But when they record, the sound captured in Rendahl's home music lab is easily mistaken for a whole band. For their first self-titled CD, they brought in another singer to add harmonies. Debbie Oliver contributed her voice, too. The rest is synthetic.

"Alex can play the whole percussion set on the keyboard with his fingers like he's playing a piano," Rendahl said.

"We've been looking for other singers and musicians to make a full band, but we decided we couldn't find anybody who fit, so we just finished our CD and now that that's done, we're looking for musicians again," Oliver said.

The band would like to add a drummer, a second guitarist and another vocalist or two to add harmonies and contribute to the songwriting.

"But they need someone to come in who can carry their own weight. These two do so much that if someone came in and couldn't keep up, they'd be miserable," Debbie Oliver said.

Oliver knows the meaning of musical misery. As a young black man growing up in a predominantly black and Latino South Central Los Angeles school, he was frequently teased for the Pete Townshend of The Who poster in his locker.

"My first guitar when I was 3 years old, I smashed just like Pete Townshend. My mother took one look at it and said, 'There's only 364 more days till next Christmas. You're not getting another guitar until then.' "

Oliver always has loved pop music. He's just grateful none of his friends knew about his love for Barbra Streisand.

Poppermost can be heard locally Saturday at the Thunderbird Lounge, 1215 S. Las Vegas Blvd., from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Oct. 4 at the Iowa Cafe, 300 E. Charleston Blvd., #101, from 7 to 10 p.m.; and Oct. 12 at the grand opening of the Summerlin Borders Books Music & Cafe, 10950 W. Charleston Blvd., from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information about the band, check out their Web site at