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Virginia Beach — Virginia Beach’s Bob Sauer isn’t your average bandmate.
You won’t find him behind an instrument or microphone anytime soon and it’s not often that he takes the stage. Like Dorothy’s Wizard of Oz, Sauer is the mysterious man behind the curtain, but with far more to say.
Sauer is the wordsmith in his band, Ink to Spill. He’s a lyrical wordsmith, and he’s using his talent to tackle headline-making news through song.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ink to Spill is largely a virtual enterprise. It’s members — Sauer and Gus Reeves (vocals, guitar), Ryan Behling (bass), Ernie Adams (drums) and Bob Palmieri (lead guitar) — live and record in different cities across the United States.
Rarely are they in the same place, Sauer said, but it doesn’t stop them from producing music that takes a stand.
Earlier this week the band dropped their latest single, “Chalk Lines,” in which Sauer’s words wrestle with police brutality and racial bias, and how the two go hand-in-hand to deny Black citizens judge and jury and their right to life.
Sauer drafted the song in 2016, driven to pen and paper after news broke of Philando Castile’s death during a traffic stop in Minnesota.
“The images came up on the breaking news that morning. I saw his child walking out of the back of the car … I just couldn’t believe what I had seen. It was a surreal moment.”
“Citizens are being slaughtered before they have a chance to tell their side of the story,” Sauer said, explaining his frustration with so many deaths becoming political fodder. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican, Democrat, Independent … this is just plain unacceptable and we, as countrymen, need to hold accountable our law enforcement agencies and make sure that this is known to be unacceptable.”
The officer who fatally shot Castile, Jeronimo Yanez, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm, but was acquitted the following year.
Castile’s death was one of many that sparked protests in cities across the country.
“These people are living normal, anonymous lives until that moment when, all of a sudden, their names are everywhere for all of the wrong reasons,” Sauer said.
He started thinking about those who, like Castile, were shot and killed by police. Quickly, Sauer said he realized there isn’t “one bad state” where similar deaths occur.
“It seems to be symptomatic of a portion of law enforcement that’s spread out across the country. Doesn’t matter if it’s north, south, east or west,” he said.
The single’s video compiles real footage and visceral images from demonstrations around the country while honoring lives lost in recent years in instances of excessive force.
After witnessing the deadly riot on Capitol Hill last week, Sauer said it’s never been more obvious that there are two different sets of rules in use by law enforcement agencies.
“On the face of it, there are still two Americas,” Sauer said.
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It’s a problem Sauer can’t stand for, so he uses song to provoke thought which he hopes will help bring change.
“Chalk Lines” follows a slew of other songs Sauer penned to dismantle injustice. “Where Went Jose” details the disrespectful treatment immigrants often face when they take up agricultural jobs and “work hard to put food on America and the world’s tables.”
“Ink to Spill” is about the demonizing of the free press and challenges to the freedom of speech, and “Robes on Fire” goes all-in on the Catholic church’s internal battle with the sexual abuse of children.
Sauer said his goal isn’t to tell people how they should feel but to present them with issues that ignite ideas.
“There’s a role that music can play. It’s not like having someone screaming in your face or a talking head trying to make a point. It lives and breathes … It’s a very docile way to make people think.”
Ink to Spill’s “Chalk Lines” and more are available to stream on all major platforms.
Amy Poulter, 757-446-2705, amy.poulter@pilotonline.com