Various

Trip-hop music is hardly the first style that springs to mind when thinking of the American South. Yet Atlanta quintet PH Balance is bringing some spontaneous Southern hospitality to trip-hop’s neatly laid table, and in so doing has created a sub-genre all its own, embracing hip-hop, acid jazz, spoken word and Dixie soul. Bandleader Pam Howe (the “PH”) has coined her own term for what flows from PH Balance: “flip-hop.”

“It’s a very Southern thing,” Howe explains over the phone from a tour stop in Bend, Ore. “Sort of like going to a wedding in your most gorgeous dress and then wearing flip-flops. And then kind of adding our music into that ... and so much of what I am is Southern—so I thought, well, ‘flip-hop!’

“How I was influenced by trip-hop was the jazz aspect of it,” Howe expands. “When it came out, it was very much the next step to what I was doing, which was bossa nova and jazz-pop. ... But when I do it [trip-hop], it’s so warm, whereas trip-hop—and this is definitely not a negative statement—just feels cold to me; it’s not Southern. And I mean Southern soul, like Otis Reading, Aretha Franklin and Al Green—that lazy ease.”

Finding a home on Indigo Girl Amy Ray’s Daemon Records, PH Balance (completed by drummer Chris Burt, bassist Kevin Vines, MC/DJ Mudfish and Tony James on “percussion/discussion”) released its self-titled debut in 1999 and gained considerable exposure by touring with the Indigo Girls that year. The group’s sophomore effort, last year’s “Fluent,” finds Pam trading her lyrically bustling, yet hypnotically laid-back verse with Mudfish’s more defined, smoky rhymes and her band’s accomplished stream-of-consciousness, feel-good adventurism.

Howe—clearly quite a wordsmith—has described PH Balance’s output as “a butterfly whisking through a Tokyo subway, and the human voices that inspire, yet slow its flow.” And she insists she hasn’t been on the crack pipe; she’s just a gal with almost unlimited imagination and the vocabulary to communicate the tapestry of her mind. “It’s that whole thing of being spiritual, but living in this world—not living on the mountain, but taking it to the world. And me, specifically in my life, taking it to clubs every night where it’s not spiritual necessarily—it’s not set up for that. And I feel like what I’m doing is bringing sort of a reminder, a remembrance, into a drinking situation.”

However out of place they may be in certain clubs, touring is nonetheless an obvious way for an act without a major-label deal to spread the word. PH Balance, currently on a six-week West Coast swing, relish the challenge and variety of the often incongruous settings in which they perform. “It’s just the next natural step for us to get out of Atlanta, ’cause we’d pretty much conquered Atlanta. ... It’s been really magnificent on every level for us as a band and as people,” Howe says. “We’ve been shocked—some of the places we’ve gone, just because of the name of the club or the name of the city, we’ve thought, ‘Oh no—what is this?,’ but it’ll be incredible, so you never know what to expect.”

So what can we expect from PH Balance at the Cooler this Sunday? The charming Howe—for once, lost for words—struggles to vocalize the experience in her slightly sun-ripened drawl. “It’s full of grooves, and you’ll leave feeling really good ... it’s very spontaneous. It’s like the best hip-hop show, but it’s not hip-hop. It’s like that feeling you get from the kick-drum, y’know?”

Perhaps not, but there’s one way to find out.

- Las Vegas Weekly

KEYSTONE - How does a musician morph from abstract lyrics and a lack of confidence to a down-to-earth, gut-level trust in what emerges through sound? It takes Ph Balance. Pam Howe has headed Atlanta-based Ph Balance for almost six years, but it's only recently that she's grasped hold of her soul and begun sharing it with audiences.

"My vision is very focused now," Howe said. "At first, we were experimenting with different samples. Now, whatever I write, we just let it evolve. Whatever comes out of me is OK, and that's a big accomplishment. I made it by doing the opposite - by not doing what was coming out of me and not thinking it was OK. (Since then) I've been evolving as a person, wanting to love all parts of myself. The music all comes from my soul. I'm digging down there, and I have to be committed."

The five-piece band soulfully blends hip-hop, trip-hop and acid jazz with Howe's rhymes and riddles in a mission of Southern poetic communication. "(We're trying to communicate) that whole thing about being a Bohemian in the South and going to a wedding and wearing the most beautiful dress you can wear, but you have your flip-flops on because you're chillin'," she said.

Adding hip-hop to her core soul style seemed like a natural extension, she said. The honesty in its expression helped her unearth a simple, poetic voice, as opposed to the abstract lyrics she had been producing. "All the different beats we do correspond to the soul feeling of Aretha Franklin, because even Aretha Franklin busted into bossa nova and hip-hop beats," Howe said.

"Usually, when people see us, they don't know what it is. The hip-hop beats are there, and I rhyme, but you can't compare it to anything. It all comes from me sitting at my guitar and bringing it to the band and putting in our individuality into it. I get my inspiration from nature, the ideas that pop into my head during prayer and silence and a lot of meditation. I'm really good at expressing who I am, and I'm able to communicate my world and what's happening in my heart and in my head. It's definitely a groove that feels good."

Howe's previous bossa nova pop band, Cicada Sings, developed into an experimental, improvisational three-piece after touring nationally and releasing two albums in the early 1990s. Drummer Chris Burt was part of the improv group, which added rhymer MC Captain Mudfish Starbolt, percussionist Tony James and, later, bassist Kevin Vines to the mix.

In 1999, Ph Balance released its self-titled debut on Indigo Girl Amy Ray's Daemon Records, which led to a tour with the Indigo Girls. Last year, Ph Balance released "Fluent " a collection of soulful hums, rhymes and hip-hop beats laden with the occasional reggae groove. "Everything we do has always been jazz-based," Howe said. "It definitely always has the pop element, too."

Ph Balance strives to create a transformative experience for its audience with an electric, soul-humming, groove-laden, head-boppin', let-it-all-hang-out show. "Basically, part of my vision is, when we go into a club, I'm bringing some peace and quiet, even though it can be loud," Howe said. "It's the duality of making your art and bringing it out you're soul. It's a very organic experience. We basically play the room. I'll make up a song based on subjects the audience gives me. It's an atmosphere of inclusion." Catch Ph Balance tonight at the Goat in Keystone. - Summit Daily

This week, The Spirit doffs its hat to the press release. We just can't say it any better: "And so the band was birthed from a love of hip-hop, trip-hop and acid jazz with a mission toward Southern poetic communication transferred via soul hums and collard greens."

Pam Howe, lead singer and crafter of lyrics for Atlanta band Ph Balance - and suspected writer of the magical bio sheet - says that what she creates is simply a reflection of her world.

"I really wear myself on my sleeve," she said. "I would say my world is gentle. It's childlike and it's full of birds and trees and possibilities. In this world that's full of circuits and TV's I have a lot of hope."

She doesn't mind so much that people have a tendency to grasp for the familiar in describing her band's - or any band's - music. When the names Sade and the B-52's came up, she was OK with it. (Sade the jazz singer, not the Marquis.)

"I do that too," she said. "I understand because it helps people get hold of what we're doing. I can't wait till someday in the world when we don't have to do that anymore.

"The whole Sade thing - that's definitely right around the same line. Her sound is very international and I think our sound is like that too."

Their sound is like sealing yourself away from the world in a cold, spacious room with something icy in a glass. And it's also like walking barefoot through the mud.

"The B-52's are definitely not really any kind of influence," she said, but there are collard greens in the famous Athens band's music too.

Resemblance aside, you don't get the feeling that this group is emulating anyone. The differences are just as apparent as the similarities.

"The main difference," she said, "is that it's such a clear expression of me as an individual. We're all here to express ourselves exactly as we really are. I've done that," she said.

Take the song "Butterflier."

"It's funny," she said when asked about that piece specifically. "Because that is really me describing my world. The first thing I say in the song is really what it's about. 'I'm dealing with others with my gloves off...' Existing in the world, in America, and being in it but not of it, and the confusion of living in America - that's all I know. I haven't lived anywhere else."

Anyone growing up in the Bible Belt might associate a phrase like "being in the world and not of it" with fundamental Christian ideals, but Howe said that the concept is more universal than that, and is actually Buddhist in origin. She considers herself a spiritual person, and music a very spiritual medium for getting across ideas.

Howe and her bandmates approach the communication of those ideas in the manner of one who makes fine wines. The process, she said, cannot be rushed. This is why Ph Balance have just started to tour, even though they've already been together long-term. "We're approaching six years," she said. "It's funny because it just snuck up on us. Everything we do just seems like we're just starting."

They manage that, she said, because they take care of themselves and do only the things that they love. "We're pretty picky about what we'll do, just to preserve the band," she said. "We just started touring. We wanted to tour five years ago, but we waited to have the right situation."

The most important thing that newcomers should know about their show, Howe said, is that they're going to feel good. She likes it when people come up to the band and tell them that, even though they were having a bad day they dragged their carcass out of doors and into the club, and are glad they did because the music was just the medicine they needed.

"'Cause that's what I look for," Howe said. "I try to give people what I want. When I go see bands, I want them to change me. I want to think about it the next day."

- Augusta Met Spirit

Calling Atlanta ensemble PH Balance a trip-hop act is doing them a tremendous disservice. But finding the words to describe
their sweet mix of spoken word, neo-soul, dub, acid jazz and early
Massive Attack and Portishead-style beats with a Southern "collard
greens and cornbread" vibe is tricky. Lyricist Pam Howe takes turns
singing and rhyming, delivering lyrics with the same sense of rhythm as
a slam poet or an old-school storyteller who is equal parts Ursula
Rucker and Jill Scott. - San Francisco Examiner

When a group's press materials describe it as "hip-hop, trip-hop, Bossa Nova and acid jazz with a mission toward Southern poetic communication," warning lights start flashing. Often, throwing that many ingredients in the musical stew results in something more bland than picking one genre and running with it. Thankfully, Atlanta's PH Balance avoids being boring. . .femae vocals, turntables scratching drops in the mix here and there, and overall the group creates a pleasant enough, bass-heavy groove. Not exactly the stuff to move your booty to the dance floor, but good for bobbing your head at your table. - Salt Lake Tribune

The self-titled debut from Atlanta's PH Balance features many of the sonic earmarks popularized by Bristol trip-hop groups like Portishead, yet the band manages to avoid sounding like mere imitators by contrasting it's late night ambiance with a sunnier, more upbeat disposition. The album's raps are reminiscent of Arrested Development's stay-positive vibe, and the funky bass grooves help create a loose, party atmosphere. But it's the vocals of leader Pam Howe (PH) that are the album's focal point. Her robust, soulful pipes -- recorded free of trip-hop's characteristic studio adornments -- deliver strong-willed messages that avoid coming off as self-righteous or didactic.
- CMJ

Ph Balance offers an eclectic combination of jazz and soul samples laid lightly under vocals that are closer to spoken-word than traditional singing. With hip-hop beats, they bring elements of freestyle rhythming and improvisation to their version of horn-heavy trip-hop - Billboard