Some people characterize the Denver music scene as an amicable atmosphere that promotes the cross-pollination of musical ideas. Other people characterize the proliferation of side projects and band member-swapping as incestuous, the result of needless self-indulgent whims.
Whatever you care to call it, collaborative musical laboratory or incestuous cesspool, Denver’s doing it well, and the practice of bands freely sharing members has created a scene with a rich tapestry of personal musical histories. Few people in this town are woven into that tapestry as firmly as Rob Burleson, known to most as Number Three, a dynamic drummer who has kept time in some of Denver’s best bands. His musical curriculum vitae includes long-standing stints in The Affairs, The Symptoms, Lion Sized, D. Biddle, The Fire Drills, and the oddly named re-incarnation of Nathan And Stephen/Hearts Of Palm known as J+D+L+J+P+R+N&S. The ubiquitous drummer somehow manages to find time in there to fill out the rhythm sections in fleeting cover bands and fulfill surrogate drumming duties for Eyes And Ears.
Burleson embodies the spirit of collaboration and musical exploration, a dedicated musician who creates music prodigiously and supports the creative acts of others in almost equal measure. In advance of Lion Sized playing Westword’s Artopia on Saturday, Feb. 19, Burleson sat down with The A.V. Club to share a few stories and songs from his time plucking at the tangled web of the Denver music scene.
On the early days of The Affairs:
At the time, the only places to get shows where your friends might actually go and hang out at were places like the Lion’s Lair, the 15th St. Tavern, and warehouse shows. And at the time, the only way we got gigs was to go into these bars, sit around, have drinks, and interact with the people who worked there. There was no one handing out CDs and asking for you to check out their band and put them on a show. It was more along the lines of “Hey, we come in here every night after practice, and we saw that you have an open slot on a Tuesday. Do you mind if we come in and play?
On the origin of his nickname:
I worked at the Climax Lounge during my time with The Affairs, and one night we played a show with a band called The Symptoms. They had a real cool East Coast sound. That was to be their drummer’s last show, and I remember them saying that they were going to be looking for somebody to fill that role. At the time, I’d never thought of being in two bands at once. I thought that was the most ridiculous idea ever. I saw Josh and Sonya from The Symptoms at the 15th St. Tavern a couple of nights later and they asked me if I wanted to play with them. I became the third drummer for The Symptoms and that’s how I got my nickname, Number Three. I jokingly said that they were going through drummers so fast that they might as well just number them to keep track.
On splitting his time between Lion Sized and D. Biddle:
D. Biddle was one of my favorite bands. When Lion Sized started looking for bass players, we naturally asked (D. Biddle singer/guitarist) Duncan Barlow, because he was a friend. Around that same time, D. Biddle’s drummer left, and Duncan asked if I wanted to play. This was different from any type of music that I had played before, and so I tried it. Most of these bands that splintered off were formed because somebody wanted to try something new. If you play the same music all the time, it starts to sound lazy, and the music suffers for it. I think if you branch out and play with other people, it keeps everything fresh for all the bands. It became this weird organic thing that just started happening. For me, I’ll see a show and think, “I really like the way this person plays guitar. I’d really like to see what I could do with them.”