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By MELANIE CREDLE
The Herald-Sun
 How does a band find happiness when members bring such diverse interests to the
table as the hard-rocking Van Halen and the contemporary Christian sounds of Steven Curtis Chapman?
As James Matthews, lead guitarist for Alter
Ego, puts it, you learn to "serve the song."
Translation: Leave the guitar histrionics for the stage and, within the circle of your
fellow bandmates, strive to play to everyone's respective strengths.
The 22 year-old James discovered his musical path once he heard Van Halen. Lucky
for him, his closest friends and neighbors, the Burgin brothers: 26 year-old Douglas and 24 year-old twins, Jason and Benjamin, heard the calling, too. So, the Bahama
natives and Northern High School graduates formed the band Alter Ego almost five years ago.
With a stream of steady gigs and a batch of original songs under the belt, Alter Ego
released its first CD, which was self-titled.
Now, the band is recording a follow-up with producer Dick Hodgin, who has worked
with Hootie and the Blowfish, Far Too Jones, and manages Cravin' Melon. Alter Ego plays Wednesday at The Brewery in Raleigh.
The guitar-driven, midtempo melodic rock of Alter Ego, complemented by the solid
tenor of lead singer Jason entices on the first listen.
You sense talent and potential. There's no angst. No screaming. It's catchy without
being annoying.
Spend a little time with the brothers Burgin and Matthews and they grow on you, just
like their music.
The band rehearses at Durham's First Baptist Church, where Jason, James, and
Douglas help out with the music for the college-age church members. All four coincidentally drive muscle cars, either a Trans Am or Z28. They're clean-cut,
well-spoken, polite, good guys who all have day jobs, but live for a rehearsal or a live show where they exhibit their "alter ego."
Douglas brainstormed the name one day.
" I crossed everything out and I was down to Alter Ego and said, "that's cool...I wanted
to think of every cool-sounding thing that some band hadn't already picked," he recalled.
"I was just writing stuff down that wasn't ridiculous. Then I'm thinking that very few
people know we have this musical talent. This [name] is totally appropriate. We've got this alter ego."
As the history of Alter Ego goes, Jason, the Chapman fan, and James Matthews
started the band. The two began by playing guitar together and writing songs. Once
Jason headed to N.C. State University in 1992, he got more serious about making music. Jason learned guitar licks from his roommate and came home on the
weekends to play songs with James. All the Burgins graduated from NCSU.
"James and I would play in his front room. We even cleared out a space in his attic
because the noise was so bad and the quality of music was so bad that we got kind of pushed up there," Jason recalled.
The next to join was Douglas, though none ever had formal music lessons. Douglas
described a love of music and a nervous, luckily rhythmic, energy. He needed an outlet and found it when he sat down behind a drum kit.
"These are my brothers and best friends and I really wanted to get involved with this.
They obviously have a passion for it," Douglas said. "It was totally natural."
Benjamin, having never played the bass, got drafted into the band. He recalled
sanding the paint job off his car in the summer of 1995. Alter Ego was practicing outside in the shed. He loved music and his brothers needed a bass player for the band.
"Like Doug, I've always had a passion for music. As far as learning to play an
instrument, I had never taken the time to do it. Through Jason, I knew somewhere, I
had the talent. I knew I probably had it in me," Benjamin said. "They talked me into it."
Alter Ego started to gel once they had the final Burgin brother involved and a steady
bass player. While some siblings may find it hard playing together in a band, the
Burgins describe themselves as brothers and friends. James doesn't feel left out of the mix, either.
"James is like the fourth brother," Douglas said.
"There's no separating him out because we're Burgins."
Through visits to the Music Loft, the band met Chris Chamis, who owned Captured
Live Studios. The band recorded their CD at the studios. Chamis and Brent Lambert, who mastered the recording, both thought that Dick Hodgin would be interested in
their music. Douglas sent Hodgin a promotional packet of material on the band including their CD and a tape of some live performances.
"Dick actually called us back and said, ` I like your stuff and would like to talk to you
about doing a project with you'," Douglas explained.
Hodgin, who runs M-80 Management and M-80 Productions in Raleigh, said what
attracted him to the band was Jason's voice. He said he heard of Alter Ego from Chamis who knew Hodgin typically keyed into a good singer.
"I listen to vocals first and then I listen to the songs. I'm a real song-oriented person,"
Hodgin said during a recent telephone interview. "I was fairly impressed not only with
[Jason's voice], but the presentation with what they were doing. I kind of fell for the
voice more than anything. I called them up and said I'd like to come and chat with you and see where you want to go."
Hodgin called what he's doing with Alter Ego right now "musical sit-ups." He's not
their manager, but he is producing this record. Hodgin gave his opinion on original Alter Ego songs and told the band how the songs needed to be revamped. When
finished, Alter Ego will have recorded a four- or five-song EP which Hodgin will shop around to record companies later this fall.
"[This EP] is going to be a lot more polished and a lot more radio-friendly. We're
getting them into a much more mature musical state. It's real easy for a band to go into the studio and throw it down the way they see it," Hodgin said.
"What I like to tell the band is I do the Vulcan mind meld between the artist and the
tape machine. I'm also the one who says, 'No, that's not good enough. No, do it again. No, that's not tight enough.' "
Meeting Hodgin and getting his support forced the band to examine how hard they
were willing to work to achieve success. They also know they'd still be playing a steady stream of fraternity parties without Hodgin's interest.
"Working with him has been the greatest learning experience because he's putting us
through what labels are going to put you through. It's only helping us," Benjamin said.
"I'm really proud of what we've done. Dick's input has just been invaluable. It's really
opened us to what the world is like if you get a record label. Getting the record label is
the easy part. Keeping it is the hard part. He's making us aware of what's out there because he's been there and seen it."
Hodgin has shared with Alter Ego his knowledge of the business side of the music
industry. It's not always pretty, but a little understanding couldn't hurt.
"We've had long talks about the reality of the record business. What they do in the
studio is art. Once the art is created, then the people who I see market that art take
over and it becomes a business," Hodgin said. "And the artist is no longer in control over that. That's a hard reality for a lot of musicians."
If Hodgin had to name the strengths of Alter Ego, he first cited Jason's voice and,
next, their music. If there's a weak spot, it's their relative lack of live playing experience, Hodgin said, something that can only be remedied by hitting the road.
"True artists have a fire that burns from within and there's nothing they can do about
it," Hodgin said. "These guys are driven by a musical fire of some sort. Whether or
not that fire burns hotly enough for them to persevere with all the problems that the selling of the art brings remains to be seen."
Nobody's quitting any day jobs yet, but for now, the guys of Alter Ego plan to follow
the road to their rock 'n' roll dreams no matter how bumpy the ride.
"We've got a rare and special thing in this group," Benjamin said." We're always in
constant touch with each other and to not pursue what we have a chance of achieving would be foolish."
Alter Ego with Futile Jester and Piper Down play Wednesday at The Brewery. 3009
Hillsborough St., Raleigh. Show starts at 8 pm. Admission is $5. For more information, call 834-7018. You can also check out Alter Ego on the web at www.alteregoband.com
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