Human Groove Hormone
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Human Groove Hormone

Denton, Texas, United States | INDIE

Denton, Texas, United States | INDIE
Band Rock Funk

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"Human Groove Hormone delivers dose of funk to local crowd"

It’s Friday night, and rain is still drying on the cold concrete outside as the crowd of damp, bedraggled but visibly excited music fans rushes into the Old Dirty Basement at J&J’s Pizza.

Clutching plates of freshly baked pizza and two-dollar cans of Schlitz malt liquor, about 200 clamoring, energetic students and Denton residents fill the dark basement from wall to wall.

The reason for the collective frenzy?

Human Groove Hormone – the Denton-based 5-member outfit making a name for itself with an eclectic mix of progressive rock, Latin, funk and jazz music – is about to take the stage.

“We are here to provide you with a heavy dosage of the funk,” announces Aaron Schumacher, the group’s extravagantly dressed frontman, lead singer, trumpeter and flutist.

For the next hour, Human Groove Hormone does just that.

Keyboard player Jake Haygood and guitarist Matt Brooks lay down bizarre melodies reminiscent of ‘70s progressive rock over a tight, funky rhythm section provided by drummer Zach Haygood, Jake’s brother, and bassist Charlie Lotspeich.

Despite the complex and intricate playing, Human Groove Hormone manages to get hips shaking and heads banging.

“[We] combine the ideas of an intelligent approach with a dance-oriented vibe,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher plays the role of a crazed Pied Piper, bounding across the stage and swinging from rafters when he’s not singing or trumpeting.

The band’s frantic dancing and ease on stage belie the complexity of their music.

Human Groove Hormone formed in early 2009, and have since been touring extensively across the state, including shows in San Antonio and Austin.

Members of the band said word-of-mouth and ambitious self-promotion through social media drew the attention of up-and-coming record label Under the Window, which released their first album, “Self (En)titled” in September of last year.

Proponents of a do-it-yourself mentality, Human Groove Hormone makes and sells T-shirts alongside copies of their album after the completely self-produced show. - NTDaily (Rodrigo Vazquez Mellado Rosas)


"Groove is in their Hearts"

Funk might not make the top of the marquee every night of the week in Denton, but you can find it.

Human Groove Hormone hits Hailey’s Club on Saturday night for the last of the band’s gigs before a summer break.

The band labels itself as a funk-rock group, but with wavy keyboard effects and bright brass blasts winding around a locomotive of a rhythm section, this band of funksters leans more toward psychedelic jazz than rock. Like its name suggests, groove is a matter of discipline, but ultimately is the product of our DNA.

Lead singer Aaron Schumacher can spit funky, rat-a-tat verses typically found on the spoken word circuit. In “Smoker’s Corner,” his tenor drives a laid-back, upbeat song about toking and letting go in three miniature acts. An easy, bumping chorus leads to a more harried verse.

Drummer Zack Haygood can act as the band’s ultra-precise metronome, or he can go a little nuts, propelling bassist Charlie Lotspeich into a rapid-fire pocket.

In “Festa do Sexo,” the outfit illustrates an entanglement of the carnal sorts that tells a tale of sensual surrender, and with clever poetry instead of the pornography embedded in so much Top 40 hip-hop.

Sounds like: Houston’s 1990s funk band Sprawl went on tour with 1970s Eastern-tinged British spiritual rockers Quintessence, and they all smoked a peace pipe.

They’re with the band: Jake Haygood, keyboards and vocals; Aaron Schumacher, lead vocals, trumpet and flute; Matt Brooks, guitar; Zack Haygood, drums; and Charlie Lotspeich, bass.

Details: Human Groove Hormone plays with Lazy Native at Hailey’s, 122 W. Mulberry St., on Saturday. Doors open at 9 p.m. Cover is $5 for ages 21 and older, $7 for those younger than 21.

—Lucinda Breeding - Texas Cable News


Discography

"Self [En]titled"
1. Icarus' Wacky Landscape
2. Ayn Rant
3. The Yeoman
4. Smoker's Corner
5. Groove of Love
6. The Jam
7. Everything Has Style
8. Festa do Sexo

Singles:
"Icarus' Wacky Landscape"
- feat. on Ft. Worth Music Co-op Compilation album

Photos

Bio

Hailing from a town known more for its strong folk-rock and jazz offerings, Human Groove Hormone fuses together a kicking brew of musical flavors to cook up an engaging new sound. With their newly released first full length album, “Self [En]titled,” the group calls music lovers everywhere to chow down on their specialty blend of progressive rock, funk, Latin, and jazz in a hearty serving that has been brewing since early 2009. The good news is that it tastes great.

Although not appropriate for your toddler’s birthday, Human Groove Hormone excels at crashing any party with a solid wall of attitude and a live energy left unrivaled in the local music scenes. Since the group’s inception, HGH has been relentlessly raising the action and lighting up the dance floors in venues across Texas and Louisiana with an intensity that yanks the shyest party goers to dancing feet, and a musical sensibility that continually lights up the aural landscape of seasoned musicians. Passion at its groovy finest, these five young men have honed their abilities through classical training, jazz study, and a wide variety of influence to bring a fresh sound to the scene -- and they look good doing it.

With ambitious song-writing and a far from familiar sound, the quintet from Denton, TX is a torch bearer of musical variety to a younger generation. Match the fiery passion of college-aged musicians with the rehearsed musicality of older performers, and you may as well be holding lightening in a bottle. Human Groove Hormone shocks groove-heads everywhere by rocking the funk and pouring their hearts out like no other, and they plan on doing it for a long time.

"The band’s opening number at the Grotto in Fort Worth on Jan. 15 was a brilliantly executed jazz/funk instrumental. In a town known more for its high-grade folk-rock offerings, this performance had the crowd’s attention from the first beat." -DFW.com

"The band labels itself as a funk-rock group, but with wavy keyboard effects and bright brass blasts winding around a locomotive of a rhythm section, this band of funksters leans more toward psychedelic jazz than rock." - Lucinda Breeding with Texas Cable News