When The Patsies assembled they all got together to search for a name. At that point in time former university student and drummer Mark Dupont was genuinely into the JFK assassination and all the conspiracy theories.
“It was an interesting topic and when Lee Harvey Oswald said he was just a ‘patsy,’… it struck a little cord with me,” Dupont said.
For the band the current music industry uses small bands as a “‘patsies” as the industry easily takes advantage of these bands and they felt that the name “The Patsies” seemed appropriate to their current situation as a young band.
As many young bands form, University alumnus and lead guitarist Michael Knapps and former Dupont where part of a different band when they met lead singer and rhythm guitarist Christina Ocmand.
When Dupont and Knapps asked Ocmand to play with them, she invited her younger brother and bassist Zak Ocmand to join them, shortly after they began playing cover songs as a new band in many local venues.
The band has a variety of influences that vary among members. Knapps takes from Modest Mouse, Dupont from Black Sabbath, Zak from Buzzcocks and Christina from Keith Urban.
Despite the mix of genres, they all agreed that Led Zeppelin and the Beatles paved the foundation to their style of music.
The band is currently in the process of recording a new EP that will feature five songs in honor of the band’s fifth anniversary.
Despite the band’s members having their time divided between school or day jobs, The Patsies has managed to stay alive for half a decade and that is a milestone not many bands get to reach.
The Patsies’ new EP is scheduled to be released in late fall and the style will be predominantly ‘90s alternative.
Because every band member plays on separate bands, the dynamic of conveying the songs for their new EP is unusual.
Christina said the way the group approaches songwriting is unlike most bands, and usually they have one member bring a written song with lyrics and music. Knapps said even when someone brings a nearly complete song to the table, all members of the band add their own flair, and the song is hardly ever the same as the original version.
For example, Zak Ocmand said the band has a song called “Take a Breath” that throughout the years has undergone many changes. The song was featured on the band’s first album, “Falling Day,” but the band is re-recording it because it has changed so much from the way they originally played it.
Knapps said that the first album’s style was not as specific as in the new EP, the band is going to attempt to record their new songs with a distinct sound.
As individuals being in available for the band is not as easy as it sounds. Dupont said that sometimes it’s hard to avoid conflict between the band members since they all have their own different gigs.
“You have to spread yourself out to get work, especially when you are involved in originals stuff because you can’t play originals all the time, you can’t over do it, people would get tired of it,” Dupont said.
When a band member is unavailable for a cover songs booking, they find a fill-in for a specific show, but the band has never played with someone outside The Patsies when it comes to playing original material.
Many things play a part on the band’s success in staying together. Knowing each other’s schedule has helped, but the main ingredient that has kept The Patsies together is the camaraderie and friendship that members hold as individuals.
The members are friends outside of playing. Christina and Zak are related, Knapps and Christinaa work together at Louisiana Economic Development, and everyone has known Dupont for a long time.
“It’s really just the elemental friendship that has kept us together and being each so close as friends, and I think that’s what helps keep the conflict and helps keeping us together,” Christina said.
To Dupont, a band is like an intimate relationship.
“It is a really close thing, when you are jamming when people you got to know how they work mentally and emotionally and that brings it to a level of really close camaraderie and it’s a relationship for sure.” Dupont said.
As far as playing originals, The Patsies sometimes feel that they have hit a brick wall in Baton Rouge. There are just so many outlets that they can play them and have people being receptive to it.
The band is hopeful that its new album and the culmination of studies for Zak Ocmand will open their schedules more so they have more time to play music outside of Baton Rouge.
The Patsies first album “Falling Day” can be heard for free on cdbaby.com, Spotify, Apple Music and ReverbNation.com, and the group will be performing its original material at 10:00 p.m. on Aug. 22 for BradyStock III, a music festival at Phil Brady’s Bar & Grill.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Javier Fernández

The Patsies expect to release their new EP as they reach their 5 year anniversary in the Fall of 2015.