THE PARTICULARS OF PARTICLE

After experiencing a few technical difficulties, all the wheels were turning as I sat down to have a talk with Steve Molitz, the energy-filled keyboardist for Particle, one of the scene's fastest rising bands.

A-dubs: Thanks for being cool about that.

Steve Molitz: No problem, I know how it is.

A-dubs: Tell us about the beginning of the band. You started in October, 2000 right after Phish played their last show at Shoreline. Your first show was actually a Phish after-show.

Photo by Peter M Warren

A-dubs: Who put that together?

SM: It was this group called 250 Productions, and Eric bluffed and said, “Yeah yeah, I got a band, we will play that.” He called me and was like, “We gotta get a group together and we gotta get some songs,” and he had been trying to convince me to do this. I had been locking myself in the basement at the time and recording and doing things on my own.

A-dubs: How long did you have to get ready for the show?

SM: We had a few weeks to write a show's worth of music, and Eric and I took a bunch of grooves some of which I had been playing since high school that have gone on to become songs of ours, like "Shoe Goo," "Pipe Dreams," "Topanga." God! [laughs in astonishment] These songs are ancient and they are just grooves I brought in eight-bar chunks, and then we listened to them and fed off it and created enough songs to get through that gig, just barely. We were all laughing that we were glad the boat came back to a dock because if there was a time for an encore, we wouldn’t have had one.

A-dubs: So the band at that time was you, Eric Gould [bass], Darrin Pujalet [drums] and Dave Simmons [guitar].

SM: Yeah.

A-dubs: Tell us about Dave Simmons.

SM: Dave was an awesome player and an awesome guy, and I would say the coolest thing or the greatest gift that he gave Particle was that he pushed us to the next level in terms of playing and his style. He just had the Southern charm in his playing and his personality. And it was a lot of fun for me to play with a guy like that because he was so talented. I felt like most of the time I was just trying to keep pace with him, and keep up with his ideas.

Photo by Yuki Sekiya Japan 4.19.03

SM: Actually it was quite the contrary; he was the guy who you wouldn’t have even noticed he was there. He sat down when he played and he was really laidback. He was the kind of guy that when you were listening to the music you would tune in and say “Wow, that guy is really good!” Then you would forget about it for a minute, then perk up again say “Oh man that guitarist sounds great!” or something like that.

A-dubs: So would you say that Particle is four guys playing together with equal footing, rather than a band with a leader?

SM: Oh, absolutely! From the beginning it has been a band with an equal vision. There has never been one leader. From the first songs to the present everything has been done in a very democratic and open way. Sometime someone will bring in an idea and he will have a direction and the other guys will lend their own interpretations to push it to the next level, but for the most part we have always been into it in a very group level.

A-dubs: Not too long after the birth of the band Dave Simmons died. On a personal level this was obviously a devastating event. How did this affect the band as a whole?

SM: Well, it was devastating on a personal level, but also inspiring because it brought our own desires further into focus and made us realize that we were truly ready to embrace the path that we had stared on. It made us realize we were ready to take the leap of faith that any artist really needs to if they are gonna take there art to the next level. And at the time we were playing with Dave we all had day jobs. We were rehearsing at night and sleeping three hours a night. And right around the time that Dave passed we all did a lot of soul searching, and came to the realization that this is the life we wanted and that we wanted to share as much postivity with the world through music as possible, and obviously create as much as we could and travel and all of the things that come along with this lifestyle. I think a part of it was definitely saying to ourselves, “What would Dave want?" Obviously he would want us to keep playing. So we kinda took a lot of inspiration from his passing, and still take inspiration from it to this day.

A-dubs: So where did you find the current guitarist, Charlie Hitchcock?

Photo by Larry Hulst

A-dubs: What was the name of that band?

SM: Spanikopita, like the Greek food! So somehow or another they had Charlie’s number on file and the tryouts were brutal. We must have auditioned 30 guitarists. We had them on a time shift, like 4:30-5:00, 5:00-5:30. We had all these guys coming in and I remember when Charlie came in. In the first few notes that he played I felt this weight lift off my shoulders and not being able to hold back my smile, and it just felt right and so I think we all felt it.

A-dubs: Did you interview anyone after Charlie?

SM: No, that was it. And pretty much since the first day he played we really haven’t had a time to rest!

A-dubs: Yeah, that kinda leads in to the next part here. This summer you guys are playing about a dozen festivals including Field Day Festival, Bonnaroo, SummerCamp, BerkFest and 10,000 Lakes Festival. Do you dig on the festival scene more than regular show or...

SM: We love it all, we really do. We have talked a lot about different venues and atmosphere and we really like to be able to play in as many environments as possible. Ya know, a show were gonna play on a packed river boat cruise in New Orleans is gonna be really different than, say, Coachella in the desert in the middle of the day.

A-dubs: You have a visual designer on tour with you as well, right?

SM: Yeah, we have had Scott [MacKinnon] on the road with us doing projections and have recently added lights. Scott is actually taking a break right now from touring, and we went from having a full-time projectionist to having a full-time lighting rig on the road with us for now.

Photo by Yuki Sekiya

SM: Oh yeah, I remember those shows, those were great shows. Actually, the free jams that we did those nights became songs we do now, some of our more popular ones too. One called "Launch Pad," which is the first track on our new album, and they were created during jams at Whiskey Jacques. I remember being backstage at set-break and we're going to write a setlist and we looked at each other and thought, “Why would we write a setlist on a night like this?” And we just went out and played, and even down to the melodies those grooves became new songs that we have now.

A-dubs: So what have been some of the highlights of the last few years? You have done so much for being such a young band in terms of time on the scene and what you have accomplished.

SM: I would say one of the more recent would have to be going to Japan. It was such an incredible experience and such a treat to travel to another part of the world and share not only our music but also our energy with another culture. In terms of being welcomed into their culture was a huge reminder of the power of music as a universal language, especially in the midst of war and being able to create a healing atmosphere. Ya know, it's kinda like the old House of Blues motto: “Unity through Diversity.”

I don’t know how an instrumental band without an album sold out shows in Osaka and Tokyo, but somehow it happened. It was amazing when we got to the show in Tokyo. I mean it may as well have been the Bonnaroo lot. Everybody had all the American gear on and everybody had the heady clothing and Phish NYE shirts on [laughs]. It was a pleasure for us to be able to embrace their culture and spread some of our own.

Photo by Yuki Sekiya

SM: It was awesome. The first show we did in Japan at Mother Hall in Osaka was amazing. The production was incredible with the lights they had behind us.

A-dubs: Was there a different vibe? Was it a more receptive audience?

SM: Ya know, I think that how music is interpreted is dependent on the frame it is put in. I feel like sometimes a photo is enhanced if you put it in a certain color frame, like someone's eyes are brought out by somebody’s eyes. I feel that the framework that music is presented in brings out the better qualities. And the fact the Japanese were expecting this high-energy band and that they were gonna party 'til the sun came up... we played our hearts out for them I think everyone came out really ready to cut loose. And they did.

A-dubs: Being such a young band you have definitely set the bar in the scene as far as how far you have come in such a short period of time.

SM: Yeah, and we have been really fortunate to have been given these opportunities, and we really owe it to the fans because everyone has just been so receptive and open minded about the music. That is one of the reasons that we just love this group of music fans. The fact that regardless of style or age or origin people are willing to embrace any band that moves them. If it feels good and it grooves they are into it, and they spread the word. I feel like the fans are the ones who have gotten us to where we are.

Ya know some other highlights would have to be the special guests that have come out and played like Robby Kreiger [The Doors] and Page McConnell [Phish].

A-dubs: Jamming with Krieger must have been a trip.

Photo by Morgan Lamphere

I have found, though, that the best guests are the ones who don't get to open up in their own bands and that know that they can cut loose with us and that we will give them a good fix of musical freedom. We always joke around with guests before they come on stage and say, "Now this next one is in the key of G and we will follow you!" and they think we're kidding. So when we get on stage they realize, "Holy shit, I can play whatever I want." And these guys are gonna get down with it. So it's a good time to give our guests the freedom to stretch out.

A-dubs: So Particle has its first album coming out soon, right?

SM: Yeah, we are so excited and it should be coming out this fall.

A-dubs: Do you have a name for it?

SM: We have a few names we have been tossing around, but unfortunately I can’t leave you with one. I can tell you that we worked really hard on his record and we just finished mixing it right before we flew out to JazzFest this year. We were literally mixing 12 hour days and on the last day we flew out on a red-eye and played our shows there, so it's very fresh and it’s a really good representation of what the band is capable of and what we have been striving for in the last few years.

Photo by Casey Flanigan

SM: Constant touring, basically. We knew we needed an album desperately. When we charted out some time for the album another amazing opportunity to play live would come up that we felt we couldn’t pass up. A lot of what we have been up to the past couple of years is not only working on our performance but also experimentation, and we’ve been finding our sound while we have been learning. We have been playing and playing something like 150-175 shows a year, and that really opens your mind up to the possibilities, especially in a heavily improvisational band. So when it was time to get in the studio we felt like we have had a couple years to work out different interpretations of solos and different bar lengths and melodies. So when we recorded we were all really excited to get them down and to put them into a tangible form. I am really excited with the flow of the album as a whole. It’s great album to listen to from start to end.

A-dubs: What are some of the songs on the new album?

SM: Well, I can say that we had a lot of fun on the album and that from the beginning track of "Launchpad" we had a lot of fun working with our producer Tom Rothrock. He has worked with a lot of bands from Beck and Moby to Badly Drawn Boy and The Beta Band. Having a guy like that around really pushed us to discover new things. There are sections of songs that are a minute long live that are now 15 seconds, and different things in the studio that have changed the song just by playing them in a confined environment. We had a lot of fun in the post-production that has made this the kind of album that you can listen to for a while, then shelf it for a couple years and throw it back on with head phones and you’ll hear something in the background that you never did before. There is lot of ear candy in it and lot of Easter eggs to be discovered [laughs].

A-dubs: I know that musicians really like to record and get it down on tape, kinda capture the point in time. I guess that's really the whole thing about recording, to catch the moment in time that the band and sound are in.

SM: Yeah, it was just a fantastic experience. We actually just finished another recording project for the 30th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd album. We do "Workin' for MCA." There are a bunch of other bands on it like Kid Rock and Phish and they just called and asked us to do it. Somehow Particle got on the list; I’m not sure how.

Eric Gould Photo by Casey Flanigan

SM: We have kinda taken the approach of... we really wanted to record the album and let the music speak for itself and see how people felt about it and take it from there. As of now we have had a bunch of offers but we haven’t signed with anyone because we want to find the right home, and we care so much about this album that we don’t want to take any chances as to where it might end up. What matters the most to us is that the fans get a chance to hear this album as easily as possible. We are really excited and we’ll be touring in support of it next fall.

A-dubs: Well, we look forward to you coming back up to San Francisco!

SM: Yeah, well we love San Francisco and it’s such a great place and the crowd there is really diverse, and in SF you see all kinds of people; it's something we really enjoy. It’s a thing like Field Day Festival, where you're playing with Radiohead and the Beastie Boys; it offers a different fan base and we definitely welcome those opportunities.

A-dubs: Well, I have one more for you. In the last two years, who has said something or done something musically that has inspired you? Was it someone you heard speak or someone who came up to you and gave you some good advice?

SM: Wow, that’s really tough question. I always take inspiration from the people we see on the road. But one of the most inspiring aspects that I’ve found has been meeting and playing with some of my heroes (musically) and getting to rap with them about where they are coming from and who they got here. When I look up to someone I have been following my whole life and am sharing the stage with, then it really opens your eyes to the possibilities of what is out there, if you pursue your passions.

Photo by Earl Gardner

A-dubs: Thanks Steve. It’s been good talking with you.

SM: Yeah, and thank you and thank JamBase for everything you do for the bands like us, and just for helping spread the music to the fans.

A-dubs: Well, we do it for the same reasons as you, ya know. We do it for the fans and music.

SM: Totally. It’s just amazing that we have national and international network of like-minded people that are pooling their resources and working for a common cause: the music. It’s a great thing and same thing goes for all these festivals. But for something like JamBase that acts as a hub for all these bands is definitely a very cool thing. When I turn on my computer, I check JamBase first before anything else!

A-dubs: Thanks again Steve!

Particle is about to kick off summer tour, check out their dates!

Interview by: Andrew J. Warren
JamBase | HeadQuarters
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