MAMASUTRA | CREATIVE CARNIVAL

mamaSutra are a funky trio from Los Angeles, California who are bringing an exciting musical and visual alternative to the overcrowded Southern California club scene with festive late-night parties. The band is comprised of Molly Boyles on bass and lead vocals, Russell Spurlock on vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone, and Ben Martin on drums. Their blend of bouncy funk and jazz is mixed with open-ended jamming, often all fused together with digital effects and looping techniques. They have opened for bands as diverse as Ladysmith Black Mombazo, The Funky Meters, Mickey Hart, Leftover Salmon, and Melvin Seals. This band is fresh and full of energy and is destined to break through to a much bigger and more diverse audience this year. Last week I had the chance to sit down with Molly, Russell and Ben to discuss their music, the late night party scene, an upcoming bash this Friday night, the new “mama” in the band, and mamaSutra’s plans for a super funky future.

EK: So why the name “mamaSutra?”

Molly: Well I had just come from the movie “Karma Sutra Tale of Love” which was fantastic, and we wanted to come up with something along the lines of “mamacita.” But someone already took “Fat Mama”(Laughs)...so there you go.

EK: Where and when did you guys all meet?

Ben: I met Molly and Russell when I was living in Denver, Colorado about two years ago. I had just finished playing with my old band and got to jam with them on my birthday. We hit it off instantly.

Russell: After playing gigs in Colorado for a few months we decided to pack it up and move to Los Angeles by August of 2000. We all live in Venice Beach now.

EK: So how is Southern California treating you?

Ben: Well, we’ve been living here for about a year and a half and I think we’ve generated a good buzz, but we are also on the road often and usually rehearsing new material during our off time. This year we will be playing locally a lot more.

Russell: Los Angeles has its good points and bad points. The bad points are that many times when you play shows with 2 or 3 other bands on the bill, its tough to be able to stretch out and explore new ideas. The good part about Los Angeles is that we have met so many cool creative people who we can share our music with, and in return they can add their art and different talents to our shows and parties.

EK: Which brings me to another question. The last time I saw you guys play, you had a painter on stage with you who was painting while you jammed. How important is art with music?

Molly: We have met a few artists from Venice Beach, one being our good friend Tom Gardener or “MOT.” The guy can paint faster than anyone. For the hell of it, we brought him up to Seattle with us once when we opened for Ladysmith Black Mombazo. We only had a 45 minute set, but in those 45 minutes he whipped up the most surreal painting we had ever seen. It is so entertaining to watch that happen while you play and it also gives the audience something else to look at. We liked it so much that its one of the biggest paintings we have on our website. The painting of the two faces. I guess the most important thing that artists and musicians share is the battle we all face together. We all want the ability to express ourselves in front of an audience.

EK: So along with artists you also incorporate the general craziness of the Venice Beach boardwalk into your parties. How did that all come together?

Russell: The first real party was our 4-20 party last year. We brought together everyone we had met in the last year and the loft we rented was full of fire jugglers, face and body painters, costumed freaks, the “Superdudes” who drew funny caricatures of people, DJs, free drinks, and as many other antics as we could incorporate into it.

Molly: You could never do something like this in bar or club where you have time constrictions. We also recorded that show for our first official release called “Cirque Du Funk.”

Ben: Since then we’ve done two other parties in LA, and then we took the carnival on the road with us up to San Francisco last December, where we did a special String Cheese Incident after-party with Liza Oxnard and Melvin Seals.

EK: So that’s where you met Liza?

Molly: Yep, she and I also got to sing together that night which was great, and we instantly invited her to play at our big party on the 22nd.

EK: So tell me more about this party coming up.

Molly: We have rented a church in Downtown LA through a good friend of ours. It took about a year to put it all together, but now he rents it out regularly for business type parties and DJ parties. But he really prefers the relaxed mellow atmosphere of the funk and jam scenes. He’s psyched to have 3 diverse bands there this time around. We’ll have all the craziness and artists from the first parties, and then some.

EK: And tell me about the bands...

Ben: Well my friend Dave is the lead singer in Southern Fried Soul, which is kind of a mix of Prince and G Love and Special Sauce. And Liza will be playing with her new 4 piece band called Liza and the Soul Stars, featuring former members of Fat Mama and the Freddy Jones Band. Liza recently recorded a great album with Bill Nershi from the String Cheese Incident. Both those bands will get about 90 minutes to two hours to play and then we’ll play from 1am or so till sunrise.

EK: Rumor has it there will be a 4th mamaSutra member that night as well?

Russell: Yep, after searching for a keyboardist for a long time we’ve finally found this guy Noel Meliano who just rips it up on the Rhodes and other keyboards, along with playing chromatic harmonica. Noel really makes our sound complete, adding a funky Herbie Hancock feel to the music. Hopefully he will be able to join us on tour in a few more months. We are really excited to have him jam with us at the party and future parties.

EK: So after the party is over, what are your goals for the future?

Ben: Well first we want to complete our first studio release, and continue to write new music....

Russell:....Then we have an anniversary 4-20 party coming up and we’ll record that show as well for another release.

Molly: This summer we want to take the carnival on the road to festivals like Burning Man, Baja Bash, and the Oregon Country Fair, to soak up more culture and meet even more new people.

EK: So will funk take over the world?

Molly: It already has in my opinion. Everyone wants to get out on the weekend and dance. It's the best kind of catharsis. Funky music makes you happy, it's that simple.

To get more details about the party or to buy tickets, check out Deuces Wild. Sounds like its going to be a good one.

Erik Koral
jamBASE |So-Cal Correspondent
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