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My Interview with Jason Hann!
There’s nothing secret about Monday Night Miracle. Zmick and Underpaid Packy have been playing the Canopy Club for free every Monday of the current school year [in Urbana, IL], and although a few past Monday nights have had nationally touring bands come through, those particular shows charged cover. That will not be the case this week [Monday, April 13th}. EOTO, made up of Michael Travis and Jason Hann from String Cheese Incident, will play a free concert in Canopy Club’s concert hall. But what would a free Monday night concert be without the band that started it all? That’s right—Zmick will be kicking off the festivities around 9 pm. One hundred eighty-nine. That’s how many concerts EOTO played in 2008. Of course, with String Cheese Incident on hiatus, it was a feasible accomplishment, but it was by no means an easy one. Travis and Hann hit the four corners of the country with one goal in mind—get people dancing. After years of playing in a band with a following that loves to groove, it’s no surprise that the two musicians would choose to make dance music in their side project. While the band was making their way through the Massachusetts forests to yet another show, buzz was lucky enough to conduct an interview over the telephone. I was able to dig deeper into the psyche of drummer Jason Hann and just what goes into an EOTO show. buzz: Describe EOTO’s music in a few of your own words. Hann: Club/dance music that’s totally improvised. buzz: One hundred percent improvisation? What goes into all of that? Hann: We start with a clean slate. Travis has nine slots for tracks and I have twelve. Once we lay down a groove we can stack, manipulate, delete, and restart previously recorded tracks. buzz: How does preparing for an EOTO show differ from preparing for a String Cheese Incident show? Hann: With EOTO we typically set up the stage and then chill until we hit the stage and go with it. Getting ready for a Cheese show requires sound checking and thinking about the night’s set list. A lot of time and thought always had to go into our setlists, because we considered what we played before in that city. None of that really happens with EOTO. buzz: Who has been influencing the group recently? Hann: DJs like Bassnectar, Shpongle, Tipper and SPL are great inspirations. buzz: What would you say to someone new to the scene to encourage them to come? Hann: Well, you can’t beat a free show! But really, it’s all about dancing and having a good time. It’s live electronica with a DJ feel to it. The music never stops, so everyone is just free to wander about or dance the whole time. It’s spontaneous. buzz: Do you think that making music is still “organic” in today’s technological age? Hann: Making music is still the same process in the hands of a different generation. Most top ten songs of the past couple years were made with a computer, whether or not that’s a good thing. Computers are so prevalent and that allows for easy access, and the programs allow musicians to diversify the way they create sound. Good songwriting still has to come from within. Now that you’ve gotten to know EOTO a little bit better, come on out Monday, April 13 at 9 p.m. to catch two Summer Camp ’09 artists, Zmick and EOTO, for free in one big event that’s sure to bring the fire. 0 Comments :: Permalink :: Sun 4/12/2009 11:04 PM
Canopy Club Halloween Bash - This Friday!

           If last year’s Halloween show at Canopy Club was any indication of the excitement Midwestern music can create this town on the spookiest of nights, this year’s concert should be out of control. With four great bands from the great state of Illinois, two stages, and an abundance of scary/sexy costumes, there won’t be a dull moment. Family Groove Company will be returning to play All Hallow’s Eve in Urbana for the second straight year, and added to the bill is Cornmeal, last years Jammy Award winners for best up-and-coming jam artist. Both artists have a dedicated following and are coming off an exciting summer, featuring multiple sets from each group at Summer Camp Music Festival 2008.

 

            If those two nationally famous bands aren’t enough to get your feet moving, then maybe the local acts playing Canopy Club’s intimate Void Room between sets can convince you to strap on your dancing shoes underneath your floor-length cape. Kicking things off is the recently transplanted band, Jobu. The band recently decided to make the move from Carbondale to Chambana for more live show opportunities and exposure. Don’t be late because their fresh blend of rock, reggae, and jam music is more than just the sum of their parts. Jobu can energize the crowd even during their chillest reggae sections and can hold a solid groove even during their wildest jams.

 

            Between FGC and Cornmeal sets in the main room, step out into the Void Room to catch Zmick. If you haven’t tipped your cap to Zmick yet, well what are you waiting for? In unprecedented efforts to breathe life into the music scene, the past year and a half has been filled with Monday Night Jam sessions, bringing numerous not-so-local bands to Chambana’s attention. Zmick has introduced artists like Jaik Willis, Brainchild, Herbert Wiser Band and Bill Smith to the CU. Although these musicians call other Illinois towns home, the camaraderie among these bands from playing the weekly Monday Night Miracles can only be great for the music scene in the long run. Zmick will be playing a couple covers and gooey jams – full of their original progressive style and affinity for long jams. Also, be on the lookout for keyboardist Mike Donato, heavy favorite to win best costume this year.

 

            After Jobu, but before Zmick, Family Groove Company will be reprising their appearance last year on Halloween. Being world-class musicians, they are never afraid to spice things up a bit. One year ago they donned silly glasses and boas to recreate the music of Elton John. Yet again this year, they plan on taking you on a trip down Nostalgia Avenue with a set featuring music from the movie that became an 80s classic, Top Gun. Unfortunately if you’re a fan of bassist Janis Wallin’s surgical precision while slapping and popping funky grooves, you may be disappointed to hear her pounding away on those heavy eight note runs, typical of music from the 80s. Either way, it should be an exciting ride into the “Danger Zone.”

 

            Last but certainly not least, right after Zmick’s set in the Void Room, head back into the main stage area to catch Cornmeal. What the band intends to play for their set remains a bit of a mystery. However, what is certain is that two weekends ago in Peoria, the band played a Halloween show as The Doors. As intriguing as it would be for a bluegrass band with no keyboard player (they do have Ally Kral on fiddle) to cover a psychedelic rock band that goes heavy on the keys like The Doors, people would certainly not be disappointed to hear one of their original sets. Cornmeal plays their music straight from the heart, and their arrangements of traditional bluegrass songs and their original works are filled with powerful vocal harmonies. If Cornmeal decides to dress up as the famous L.A. band and sex-God Jim Morrison, you can be sure that it will be a helluva show.

 

            This show takes place on Halloween, Friday, October 31st, 2008. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $8.00 in advance and $10.00 at the door. (They can be bought in advance at Family Pride convenience store at Oregon & Goodwin in Urbana.) Wear your costumes and dancing shoes!


Tentative Schedule:

  • 7:30-8:30 Jobu
  • 9-10 Zmick
  • 10:15-11:15 Family Groove
  • 11:30- ?? Cornmeal!
0 Comments :: Permalink :: Wed 10/29/2008 6:08 PM
Rothbury Festival 2008 Reviewed!
Many Illinoisans take summer trips to Michigan. The weather is ideal for everything from golf to water skiing, and the weather at the first ever Rothbury Festival couldn’t have been better. The rain hit the expansive festival grounds Wednesday night before most people arrived, and thunderstorms rolled through Monday morning around 4 a.m. to mark the end of the festivities. The beautiful weather was supplemented by the immaculate Double JJ Ranch.

Campers, RVs, and cars were lined up for a light security check and dispersed throughout the grassy expanses to set up camp. The main area with all of the stages had numerous attractions, including a giant, spinning umbrella, which created the illusion of the monkeys swinging around it when a strobe light was aimed at the giant merry-go-round. Needless to say, this got a lot of visitors late at night as people wandered back to camp.

The stages were situated in various locations in the open fields of the dense forest. My favorite stage was called Tripolee Domes, which many DJs played. The stage was surrounded by two hemispherical shells of steel bar supporting lights, which reminded me of a jungle gym – except at a rave. All of the stages were well equipped with colorful lights to enhance the night shows, and The Odeum (the main stage) was flanked by two giant high definition monitors, giving everyone a perfect view of the musicians.

Between the Sherwood Court stage and The Ranch Arena lay the Sherwood Forest, a thick expanse of hundreds of hundred foot trees, hammocks, lights, sculptures, and paths. Off the beaten path, you could find a makeshift graveyard with a fountain, recycled-materials sculptures, and a narrow winding path. A stage was set up just beyond this phantom cemetery, where Les Claypool was rumored to play and Emmitt-Nershi Band played late Saturday afternoon.

All of the ranch’s areas saw small amounts of litter throughout the festival thanks to the consciousness of the festival-goers and the volunteer staff. Volunteers were stationed at nearly every trash location. Each of these had three cans: one for the landfill, one for recycling, and one for the compost, and volunteers would help people properly sort their refuse.

Rothbury Festival was billed as a music festival revolution, and it certainly lived up to the hype. People showed up in droves. Many estimates were around 50,000 people - young and old, and from near and far. I even saw an Alaskan flag in the campground! Every band showed up to put on a great show and few disappointed the endearing crowds.

Thursday night was highlighted by Disco Biscuits’ long set at the Ranch Arena. I loved the choice for this time slot, as people were ready to get their late-nite on with their light-up toys and glow sticks. Musically, their set was really tight. The bass and drums were locked in all night. The crowd was set aloud when bassist, Marc Brownstein, introduced David Murphy of STS9 to play keys for a lengthy jam.

As the Bisco set wound down, I walked over to the Tripolee Domes to see EOTO, a drum/keyboard duo featuring two former String Cheese Incident players. If you caught their set when they opened for Umphrey’s McGee at Canopy Club, you already know how much fun these two jam veterans have on stage. It was great to see so many people dancing late into the night, a trend that would continue throughout the festival.

Friday, July 4th had everyone set in high gear as (contraband) fireworks began ringing through the clear skies. The high profile line-up featured several genres, and campers rose with the morning heat to spark up their grills and ice down their coolers.

My first stop was out at Sherwood Court to see a bit of Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels. I was overly hopeful that seeing the former Wallflowers frontman would result in an impromptu version of “One Headlight,” but I was happy to enjoy his set from a nice spot in the shade of one of Rothbury’s many trees.

Next up was yet another Cheese side project, Panjea featuring Michael Kang. The bands other members hail from Africa. Barry, the lead singer, is from Zimbabwe and sings songs with simple, uplifting lyrics and anti-war sentiments. He plays mbira, which is an African instrument made of metal tongs plucked over an hollow body. The lyric he sang that still stands out in my head goes like this: “Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that killing people is wrong?”

After Panjea, tough decisions started to arise. Tea Leaf Green’s set overlapped, as well as The Wailers’. I had already caught these bands live So me and my friends decided to catch some of Sam Beam’s solo set. I always find the sounds of his voice soothing to the ears. I did notice him play an Iron and Wine song, but I can’t remember for the life of me what it was.

Unfortunately, we weren’t at liberty to stay long. Snoop Dogg was due up on the main stage at 4:15. Now, there isn’t better time for a Snoop set to start. His grand entrance began with a Scarface montage set over “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana with thunderous bass. He finally arrived on stage riding a giant purple tricycle shaped like a chopper. Once he picked up his personalized microphone, the phat beat to “Next Episode” dropped and people began doing crazy. Of course, he did one for the ladies with “Sexual Seduction,” probably my favorite part of the set, besides everyone singing along to“Smoke Weed, Get Drunk, and F*ck,” which very well could have been the slogan of the festival. A couple more “foh sheezys” and we had to head out to catch Keller Williams and WMDs.

Keller is quite spontaneous on stage when he plays by himself, but when he plays with Mosely, Droll and Sipe his music tightens up a bit. But Keller always adds his own touch of himself to the songs, adding a whistling part or “mouth trumpet.” They jammed out Keller’s song “Freeker by the Speaker” right into a great version of Jerry’s “Eyes of the World” reworking some of the lyrics to fit the Rothbury locale.

After Keller, my attention turned away from the music and toward the scenery. I discovered a practice green beyond the Ranch Arena and decided it would be best to rest up for Yonder Mountain String Band. It was a good decision because Yonder played a non-stop high energy bluegrass set that had the whole crowd dancing and singing along, especially to the bluegrass favorite, “Two Hits and the Joint Turned Brown.”

Modest Mouse played during Yonder Mountain. Having never seen them, I decided to check out the second half of their set. I got to see an exciting version of “Parting of the Sensory.” By this time in the evening, everyone was out enjoying their Independence Day, and the crowd stretched to fill the whole field at Sherwood Court. Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed with MM’s live performance. Isaac Brock was drunk beyond understanding much of anything coming out of his mouth, which I felt prevented unfamiliar audience members from enjoying his songs. They closed with “Spitting Venom,” a song I really enjoy from their 2007 release. The main problem was with the soundboard. A lot of distortion and blaring noises came to the forefront, making me wish I had just kept listening to their studio albums instead.

The headliner for the nation’s birthday was Widespread Panic, and there wasn’t a more all-American jam band to choose. Their stage presence is unparalleled and their musicianship blew me out of the water. Rather than play an electric piano, their keyboardist was playing a perfectly tuned upright piano, and when the camera focused in on him, you could see the hammers striking the keys on the big screen. Their jams are most often influenced by good old-fashioned rock and roll, inspiring many fans to set off their fireworks by their second set.

Back to the Ranch stage to see the late night set from Primus, their first live appearance in three years! People were very excited to see the band, and they demonstrated this by tossing glow sticks in every direction. Eventually one landed near Claypool’s feet and he brought the music down to a light beat and told the audience, “Please, do not throw objects onto the stage. It is very distracting. So if you think you want to do that again, just sit on it, and twist.” Some people laughed; some were shocked but all shared an exciting concert experience with Les Claypool and Primus.

Late nite Friday provided a tough choice between Pnuma Trio and Bassnectar. My feet won the argument and arrived at the closer Tripolee Domes to see Pnuma Trio. I was excited to watch the electronic trio off 1320 Records, and I danced late into the night to some fun beats. Saturday was a very surprising day.

It started off early with bluegrass from Trampled By Turtles who could play lightning fast and keep the beat locked down. Right after that on the same stage was Emmitt-Nershi Band, who played some cheese covers and more great bluegrass to a vocal crowd.

Between those sets, I was curious to see the main stage act Four Finger Five. Intrigued by the name, I wandered over to a funky blues band from Muskegon, MI. Their bass player was sick! He had some great double-thumb techniques and great fretwork while slapping. The best part about these festivals are the pleasant surprises.

Unfortunately you can’t catch everything, and I had to choose between The Black Keys and jazz fusion group Medeski, Martin and Wood. MMW threw down, and I was agape watching the bass for much of the set, so I feel content with my decision, especially since I caught the Keys at a couple festivals last summer.

I felt like dancing some more after MMW, so I found a good dance partner and headed over to the Establishment, a circus like tent, where BoomBox was set to play. Their guitar based grooves are so much fun to dance to. They are certainly worth checking out live.

Saturday’s headliner was Dave Matthew’s Band, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t in the mood. No offense to his fans, but I never enjoy myself at his concerts so I wandered the campground looking for some trouble to get into. Of course, when STS9 is set to play at midnight, it isn’t hard to find some people looking to have a good time.

When the moment finally arrived, a sea of glow sticks and people dressed to the nines flooded the Ranch Arena. I can’t remember having more fun at one stage for such a long time. Tribe played an hour past their time slot, calling it quits around 3:45. They played with so much energy for such a chilly night, and their jams had never sounded tighter. People literally were flipping out when “Aimlessly” started up. I was impressed with the way they kept pushing the intensity on jams like “Circus,” “One A Day,” and their new song “Shock Doctrine.” It was a great call by the Rothbury heads to give Sound Tribe as long as they wanted to play. Most in the crowd wanted them to play until sunrise but still seemed pleased with the late ending.

Unbelievably, over at Tripolee Domes, Crystal Method was spinning for an even wilder crowd than the night before. I was intrigued with his music as it played games with my head and body. It’s hard not to dance forcefully to his beats because of their many layers of tracking. Sadly, our Saturday had to come to an end, and we slowly made our way back to the campground.

Sunday was pretty windy, which allowed some people to sleep a bit longer without getting sweated out of the tent. I decided to rest up for the Trey set by starting the day off with Rodrigo y Gabriela. I caught the last part of their set, as my friend borrowed a hula hoop to dance along with their Latin style guitar work.

Next up on the main stage was Trey Anastasio of Phish fame. He recently made headlines for coming off probation with the possibility of a Phish reunion in mind. Nothing exciting happened during his set, until he brought out Gordo to play a duet. Once everyone transplanted themselves to the adjacent stage to see Mike Gordon, magic filled the air. Gordo announced that it was time to bring out the special guests and played right along side Trey for the first time in years. The excitement didn’t stop there, however, since drummer John Fishman had already appeared with Yonder, he hopped behind the drumset, giving the crowd something to scream about.

After a close encounter with a Phish reunion, it was time for Gov’t Mule to take it away. They got up on stage and rocked out with some classic covers. I decided to give into temptation during this set and grab a bite to eat from one of the vendors. I tried the oriental dish of stir-fry noodles with vegetables. It was delicious and led to the conclusion that a good show goes hand in hand with a good bite to eat.

At the request of people in my traveling party, we checked out a couple of John Mayer songs and I was impressed with his soloing. He really feels what he is playing. You can tell by how he moves his body with the music that he is letting his music flow out of him when he plays. I didn’t hear any songs I knew, but I was told that I was watching him play a song off his Continuum album. It was pretty low key, but that didn’t stop the audience from cheering loudly at its end.

Sunday’s finale came in the form of a Phil Lesh and Phriends set. The whole field in front of The Odeum was filled to the brim by the time the set was in full swing. A tired, yet enthusiastic crowd sang along with a sweet version of “Sugaree” before the set break. Towards the end Phil treated the first ever Rothbury crowd with an epic “Fire on the Mountain.”

If it’s at all possible to have too much fun, Rothbury Festival was certainly the place to do it. The site is gorgeous and the people in attendance were as nice as can be. I can’t wait for next year! 5 Comments :: Permalink :: Tue 7/8/2008 4:27 PM