(From left) Conan Skyrme, Steve Lord, James Tracey, Nicole Boudreau, and Andy Casey
TO MAKE IT in the music business, the essentials are — like it or not — simple: the sound, the skills, and the look. Sure, there are exceptions, but the band that rolls onstage every night in wrinkled T-shirts and mussed hair probably isn’t making it big any time soon. So when we discovered emerging local band Baker, we knew we had the perfect subjects for our band makeover feature. The group has been playing venues around New England for more than two years, peddling a poppy sound infused with an irreverent, experimental edge. We called in hair gurus Lisa Lindey Evans and Dayna Gamba of Shag Salon; makeup artist Kerri Herlihy; and Stuff@night’s resident style maven, Erica Corsano, to give the band members a polished, pulled-together look that pushes their jeans-and-Ts limits, while staying true to their individual styles.
Conan Skyrme, vocals/guitar
Conan on his style: “I think I’m the only one in the band who doesn’t really have a style — I just pick up whatever’s on the floor. Or in a drawer, if I feel like I need to dress up.”
Erica Corsano on Conan: “Conan’s got a really casual look. He looks like a hiker to me; he’s got a sporty, outdoorsy look. What I want to do with him is keep the casual aspect to his look, but rock it up a bit. He’s got a laid-back thing happening, so we want to maintain that.”
Lisa Lindey Evans and Dayna Gamba on Conan: “He went from mountain man to GQ. I didn’t realize that he was so cute until we cleaned him up a little bit. His hair was easy; he just needed a little bit of a haircut, a little bit of cleaning up. And we flat-ironed his hair.”
Kerri Herlihy on Conan: “I tweezed him; he didn’t need as much tweezing as the others, though. And [I] just put a little bit of concealer under his eyes to get the red out. That was really it with him; he was easy.”
Conan on his new look: “It was fun. It definitely wasn’t something that’s ever happened with us before. It’s fun to get outside your comfort zone a little bit. We’ve done photo shoots before, but they’ve been as is, so this is pretty unique for us. I’m not sure if it’s something I'd make a point of doing, styling my hair down and straightening, [but] it is cool. The clothes aren’t a million miles away from something I’d wear ordinarily. A little trendier, I suppose.”
Nicole Boudreau, keyboard/vocals
Nicole on her style: “I don’t really think about it at all. I don’t really see myself as well put together. I like to be comfortable.”
EC on Nicole: “She definitely walked in with a bit more of a tomboy look, with her plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. But she mentioned that she likes girly looks, and I think she looks great in them. We’re going to put her in something girly and then motorcycle-inspired leather boots, which will give it a little bit more of a rocker, hard edge.”
LLE and DG on Nicole: “She just seemed very no-fuss, and I wanted to do something completely different on her, give her big hair, like very ’60s-inspired, completely the opposite of what she came in with.”
KH on Nicole: “Smoked her eyes out, used some crazy long lashes, liquid liner to give her a little more rocker look. And pink, glossy lips.”
Nicole on her new look: “This is a little extreme for me, although I do love pink.”
James Tracy, bass/vocals
James on his style: “Rock and roll, through and through. Jeans, sweaters. I wear button-down shirts and sweaters and jeans and corduroy.”
EC on James: “He walked in with a preppy look; I called it geek-chic-preppy-rocker. I decided to take a fun spin on the whole preppy thing and paired a Lacoste cardigan with a funky T.”
LLE and DG on James: “I had to cut him a little bit. He had more of an older kind of bowl cut, [a] real heavy haircut. But it was mostly styled. Instead of just having his hair lay down with no product, we styled it. Just gave him more of a short, funky look.”
KH on James: “He was really shiny, so I used translucent loose powder to get rid of his shine and a little bit of concealer on his razor bumps.”
Jame on his new look: “The clothes are fine; I might even wear something like this. I personally hate guys who spend time on their hair; I’m not into haircuts. This was a lot of fun, and interesting, and different.”
Steve Lord, drums
Steve on his style: “I’m a T-shirt-and-jeans guy. Novelty Ts, that’s my style.”
EC on Steve: “I actually love his look as is, but I think he wanted to try something new. So we’re taking him from an alternative-looking kid and giving him a more polished, sleeker look that’s still rock-inspired.”
LLE and DG on Steve: “We straightened his hair, and he was so excited about it. His eyes lit up. Since they’ve all been cutting their hair themselves, it was a nightmare. So I really had to spend a lot more time cutting it than straightening it.”
KH on Steve: “Lots of tweezing on Steve — got rid of his uni[brow]. And just evened out his skin tone with a little bit of foundation.”
Steve on his new look: “The experience overall was extremely different from anything else I’ve done, but it was amazing. It was fun to see, because I’m so used to having curly hair every day of my life, and not so much caring about hairstyle, to having it completely straight and cut to angles. I usually wear secondhand clothes to begin with, so [the clothes] were nothing out of the ordinary. I’d purchase them if I was in the store and I had money.”
Andy Casey, vocals/guitar
Andy on his style: “I wear the same clothes every day. I wear black corduroy pants and a flannel shirt, and sometimes I switch the sweatshirt I wear over it. I also have these really tight brown pants that I wear when we play shows; my butt looks good in them.”
EC on Andy: “He almost reminds me of [a] dirty rocker with punk inspiration. He also has an alternative tendency. I wanted to embrace his alternative nature, but polish it up a bit as well.”
LLE and DG on Andy: “He’s been cutting his own hair for a while, so I just shortened up his sides, cleaned them up, and I mohawked the back because he already had a really long piece over there. I made it fun so he can go to his gigs and look the part of the musician, and then in the front, if you were to look at him face-on, it would be more of a conservative cut so he can get away with it during the day.”
KH on Andy: “He would barely let me touch him. I managed to get rid of his unibrow, and [got] a little bit of concealer around his scruff.”
Andy on his new look: “The experience was fun. I don’t know if the look’s for me. I’m glad I got a free haircut — that was cool. I probably won’t cut it again for another year. And I’m really looking forward to putting back on my black corduroy pants that I wear every day.” @
Clothing provided by Macy's.
[Photos by Tim Gray]
