Break It Up: Music For The Masses.

Text by Bree Wood. Images by Ryan Treitel.

The lights go out and the crowded bar empties into the backroom of Kung Fu Necktie as Break It Up straps on their guitars.

The band opens with “Paint the Town,” a rambunctious anthem of a song, and the people instantly start bouncing to Dan Morse’s catchy guitar riffs and Casey Bell’s powerful drumming.

The 90s are when this group began exploring music and they use all the influences of their youth to create the dynamic sound of Break It Up – pop, twee and Riot Grrrl, among other styles, with roots in Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma and the Pixies.

“We are your first basement show, where you went for the first time and connected with music,” says Jen Sperling, the singer, guitarist and keyboard player. “We are that garage bandiness! You can do this. Music is for everyone and it’s fun. That first moment you say, ‘Hey, that could be me!’ That’s us.”

Bell and Sperling met through Craigslist and they originally formed an all-girl group, Creatures of Prey. It consisted of five women. Slowly, the members began to drop out because of various other commitments.

At the time, Morse happened to be the person recording the group. Throughout the recording process, Morse, who also plays with Wigwams, offered great input for arranging the songs.

And so the conversation began. Should Sperling and Bell, who both volunteer with Girls Rock Philly, add Morse to their all-girl group?

The answer was easy.

“At the end of the day, an all girl band was an aesthetic,” Bell says. “What we felt was more important was having a member who we had chemistry with, and that we were making songs that we all felt good about. That overshadowed the all girl aspect.”

They were chosen to participate in WXPN’s Key Studio Session in 2011 before the band had even performed live on stage. And they were among the first groups to participate in a Bands in the Backyard video shoot.

Break It Up has since played all over the city, and they performed at SXSW last March.

When they’re on stage, like the night at Kung Fu Necktie, you can see the chemistry between the bandmates. They are so relaxed. You can tell they really are enjoying what they are doing. Even as Sperling’s guitar string breaks mid-song, she just keeps on playing as if nothing has happened.

They’ve done performances at Girls Rock Philly events and the bandmates are involved with Rock to the Future. They also helped with a fundraiser for Little Berlin.

Somehow between having real life jobs and helping the community, they still have time to create music.

The group stopped playing live for a while as they began recording their debut full-length album in August with Jeff Zeigler at Uniform recording. They are shooting for a spring release.

“I hope people think about our music as what anyone can play if you really want to,” Morse says. “You can play a few chords and it’s ok. You don’t have to be flashy. Not that we are that simple but if a person really wanted to do something they could.”