The worst kept secret in show business is that outsiders are intuitively built to thrive under the spotlight.
They reach the dizzying heights of celebrity reserved for so few simply because of what the tag of being an outsider suggests — to stand out.
“I’ve always felt sort of at the periphery,” Benjamin Sholl, founder of Madison-based, multi-musician group Fringe Character, said. “I’m a fringe character. These guys are fringe characters. We’re hard to pin down.”
Fringe Character is a poster child for musical outsiders. While numbers vary regularly, the band usually consists of 10 musicians. Rather than different perspectives choking the creative process, the members integrate their influences to produce sounds that incorporate something for every listener.
The group possesses an uncanny, but delightful knack for trying to incorporate diversified musicians. But emcee Dudu Stinks said the group digresses from the notion that the numerous amount of perspectives is detrimental.
In addition to Sholl and Stinks, emcee Daewong comprises the trio at the heart of Fringe Character’s artistic endeavors.
“Everybody loves the music,” Stinks said. “Everybody’s found their place and where and how they play the music.”
Keeping in line with their self-proclaimed status of outsiders, Fringe Character presents an outside and unique perspective. The group coined the nuelectrosoulhop genre, or a hybrid of electronic, soul and hip-hop music, Sholl said. The genre is distinct to them as it is an intersection of divergent styles of music that don’t usually intersect.
At first glance, nuelectrosoulhop is the kind of recipe that warrants a Gordon Ramsey tongue-lashing on a musical edition of Hell’s Kitchen. This hybridization, however, is what makes Fringe Character’s sound so intriguing and refreshing. It also helps that they consciously maintain an almost rhapsodic interest in sifting through different sounds and styles. Sholl said the group doesn’t set out to write something in particular, but rather, just writes.
“It always seems like a new thing,” Daewong said. “We don’t really want to put a label on it.”
This is exemplified on their upcoming album Mint. One track, “The Renaissance,” masterfully combines a charango with Brazilian drums to create a sound most astutely described as the musical offspring of Kanye West and Prince.
It is the type of music that is simultaneously soothing and stimulating. It also implores the listener to experience a live performance, where the emphasis is not solely on the charisma exuded by the conscientious mishmash of performers. This craving for a live show is driven by a desire to see the dynamic of musicians ranging from eloquent rappers to a soul-awakening horns section.
“We quickly realized you’re one of a billion records with no live presence,” Sholl said. “We play live and what we have on the record are two different flavors of the same goodness. If you’ve done one, you haven’t done the other.”
Aside from an album release party and a smattering of shows, Fringe Character does not have concrete future plans. A major aim for the group is to maximize the time they devote to creating music and performing it, Sholl said.
For all the pitfalls of experimenting with different genres, Fringe Character will persist because their combination of sounds and perspectives yields singular harmonies. Their music transcends the shackles of any one style. They are the embodiment of outsiders looking in. And being an outsider works — just look at Prince.
