Polydypsia

Local jam-inclined band Polydypsia has a big summer planned. So far, the funk, rock, and jazz-flavored group has been invited to perform at Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival in Lawrence, KS, June 7-10; the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, MN, July 18-21; and the Dogstock Music Festival in Melvern, KS, July 26-29.

The band - which formed in 2005 and features Andrew Malashock on guitar and vocals, percussionist Adam Langdon, keyboardist Kevin Lloyd, drummer JB Ferguson and bassist Tim Kasl - has been able to secure prized gigs outside of Omaha and Lincoln, ones that the band members have been going to for years.

"Some of us have been attending these festivals since their beginning, and playing them has always been a dream," Langdon said. "This dream has pushed us to become better musicians and a tighter band."

At 10,000 Lakes, Polydypsia will be playing on the same stage as former Phish frontman, Trey Anastasio, and Dweezil Zappa. At Wakarusa, Ben Harper and Widespread Panic are among the acts playing.

"These events bring out music heads from all over the country," Langdon said. "Multiple days of great music, kind vibes, and close camping make for a hell of a party."

Polydypsia can be heard locally on May 27th at the Waiting Room in Benson. Also on the bill are the Sugar Free Allstars and the Balance. - The Omaha City Weekly

This is one Thanksgiving feast that surely won't send you into a stuffing-induced slumber.

The second-annual Thanksgrooving Music Festival will keep fans coming back for more this Saturday as more than 20 local bands plug in and take the stage to fight hunger. In an effort to raise funds for the Omaha Food Bank, these bands will donate their time and talent in the hopes of making a difference in the lives of the less fortunate this holiday season.

"We wanted our band to do something for the community and I've always been kind of a softy when it comes to the holidays," Thanksgrooving organizer and drummer for Polydypsia Adam Langdon said. "It takes a ton of money to run the Omaha Food Bank and we came up with the idea of a benefit concert to try and help. We figured with a little help from our friends we could really make a difference."

According to Langdon, the Thanksgrooving Music Festival should be able to take even a bigger bite out of hunger this time around.

Last year the event was held at the Sokol Auditorium, but Langdon said the party has been moved to the Waiting Room and the Pizza Shoppe Collective in Benson to cut down on costs and make it more interesting. Both venues, which are located less than a block apart from each other, will host live music shows from noon until 1 a.m.

"We are very pleased it has cost significantly less to run Thanksgrooving this year," Langdon said. "So that is just more money that can get passed on to the food bank."

Regular tickets are $12 in advance and at the door with the donation of any non-perishable food item, or $15 at the door without donation. One ticket grants access to all of the shows throughout the day and night. Fans who bring 10 cans of food will also receive a Thanksgrooving bumper sticker.

"We had 15 bands last year and were able to raise some money," Langdon said. "But because the Sokol Auditorium is relatively expensive to rent out we decided to move it to smaller, more eclectic venues. We had nearly 600 people come through the doors last year. If the crowd comes again this year we should be able to blow last years donation numbers out of the water!"

Langdon's jazz-funk band, Polydypsia, will be one of 23 acts that music lovers can dig into on Saturday. The Waiting Room offers a large stage and top of the line sound for bands and fans to jam out on, while concertgoers can shake their thing in a more personal environment inside the Pizza Shoppe Collective.

In addition to Polydypsia, the lengthy list of bands on tap include Jah Roots, Satchel Grande, Somasphere, the Blue Martian Tribe, Vinyl Haze, 5150's, Son of 76, Vinnie Bronx, the Bigg Tasty, the Side Effects, Dessa Vibes, 'Nuff Crisis, Groove Gov'nors, Cornerstone Dub, the End in Red, KLAB, the Whiskey Pistols, Matt Cox and more.

"You can see a half-hour of every band's show during the event if you want to," Langdon said. "We have the stages alternating in a way that you can watch a new band every 30 minutes all day long. There is rock, reggae, jazz, indie, blues and some hard rock. Jah Roots from Springfield, Missouri is coming to play and they always bring a huge crowd when they are in town. All the bands are volunteering their time and their talent; they are in this just to make a difference. It's a cool thing. The funds that are raised 'Giving Thanks for the Groove' go directly to the Omaha Food Bank."

Langdon said the concerts are designed for all ages with live music being played virtually non-stop all day and night. In addition to the concerts there will be food catered by the Pizza Shoppe, New Belgium Beer specials all day, fun and games, and an after party at the P.S. Collective.

"Every year the Omaha Food Bank does an event called Dine Out For Hunger and 50 different restaurants donate 10 percent of their base profit for a day," Langdon said. "This year they raised around $15,000. If Thanksgrooving can raise even a fraction of that it will really mean a lot! Those dollars mean happier, healthier individuals this holiday season. If we can do it then maybe we can inspire someone else out there to go make a difference as well."

- Omaha City Weekly

"Polydypsia has been taking a lead in driving Omaha's exciting Jam Band scene. From Grateful Dead to Pink Floyd and beyond, this young group demonstrates immense talent and gets the whole house dancing!!!" - Maggie McCalls - Omaha Night Life.com

OMAHA, Neb. - An Omaha band started the fundraiser, Thanksgrooving, in hopes of getting more people to tune in to the fight against hunger during the holidays. "We thought to ourselves, what can we do that's different something that hasn'tbeen attempted in Omaha and something that would be good for the community, us and a charitable organization," said Adam Langdon of Polydypsia and Thanksgrooving organizer.

This is the time of year the Omaha food bank usually gets most of its donations,but so far donations are down.

Just this week, they received half as many turkeys as they did in 2005.

The Omaha food bank likes to stock up during the holidays to make it through the rest of the winter months.

Executive director Don Schincel is excited the local band Polydypsia decided to put together Saturday's benefit.

"We are really pleased with Thanksgrooving, that people will think about the food bank and go out on their own and do things like this," said Schincel. Starting at noon Saturday, 15 Omaha bands played back to back for 13 hours. The bands range from blues, jazz, reggae, to rock and roll.

The cost is $12 at the door and people can also bring food donations and get a Thanksgrooving bumper sticker.

- KETV.com

When a recent concert at the Sokol Underground featured the reward of the chance to perform at the 10,000 Lakes Music Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn., the members of Polydypsia were understandably nervous.

It was the band’s first performance with new bassist Tim Kasl, who had only practiced with the band a handful of times. Turns out Kasl might’ve been the biggest reason Polydypsia ultimately won the competition.

“I think that having him there was ultimately the reason that we won,” said guitarist Andrew Malashock. “He was bouncing up and down, left and right, pretty much all over the place and the crowd fed off that energy.”

A successful first six months of the year have already made 2007 a banner year for the band, which recently performed at the Wakarusa Music Festival, have recorded a handful of tunes for an upcoming EP and have booked a handful of dates to accompany the upcoming road trip up to the 10,000 Lakes Festival.

It’s all part of a burgeoning improvisational music scene in Nebraska, with bands like the Jazzwholes, the Balance and Somasphere offering up different styles of performing that all seem to get lumped under the jam band label.

“I think that the scene has been very responsive towards us,” Malashock said. “Our style blends many different genres like funk, jazz, and Latin and combines them with a rock background. We were originally a cover band but as we jammed more and more, our style started to reveal itself and our originals started to come into being.”

Since forming in the summer of 2005, Polydypsia has undergone a few roster changes, but Malashock said he’s excited about what he thinks is a set lineup with himself on vocals and guitar, Adam Langdon on percussion and vocals, Kevin Lloyd on keys, Kasl on bass and vocals and J.B. Ferguson on drums.

All of the band’s members contribute to the process of creating original compositions, which in itself is something of a spontaneous process.

“Normally when I come up with an idea for a song, it’s almost instant like in cartoons when you have an idea and the light bulb goes off,” Malachock said. “I either have to record it immediately or sing it to myself on voicemail or even notate it the best I can by ear if I don’t have a guitar handy.

“The other route is just by jamming and seeing what happens. After the last year or so of writing, the one thing I have found out is that you cannot force the creative process. It has to happen naturally otherwise it just leads to frustration.”

The band’s upcoming summer dates, which were booked without the help of a booking agent, includes stops in Fargo, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Lawrence, Kan. Because the process was new for everyone involved there was some trial and error in the process of convincing venue owners the band was worthy of reserving a night to perform.

“It was more work than we thought,” Malashock said. “As far as getting the gigs, it was just a matter of following up on original calls and talking with who we were supposed to talk to. I’ve never gone on tour with a band before, so I’m just really excited about being able to do so.”

Other than touring, Malashock said the band plans to continue focusing on recording enough material to produce a full-length album. So far he said the band has five songs recorded and wants to get about seven more laid down before pressing the tunes to high quality CDs.

Currently, the band is renting time in a friend’s basement studio, recording the songs live and adding the vocals after mixing. One song Malashock is particularly excited about is called “The Sound Waves are Broken,” which he said includes a lot of layered vocals to create a party-like atmosphere reminiscent of a 1970s underground funk club.

Other than that, Polydypsia plans to continue performing in the Omaha/Lincoln area and recruiting new fans to the dance party.

“The groove is sitting in really nice right now, and the band is happy,” Malashock said. “Morale is very important so people are excited to write something new and practice. I feel a lot better about an upcoming show if everyone else is pumped. I feed off of that. I don’t think there is a drug in the world that can give you that same feeling.” - Omaha City Weekly

Local jam rockers Polydypsia scored a coup of sorts last Friday when their energetic live set caught the attention of the 10,000 Lakes Festival promoters and earned the band a spot at the coveted festival. Several acts, including local regulars like The Balance and The JazzWholes, as well as newbies like Council Bluffs’ Blue Martian Tribe competed for the honor of playing this summer’s festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn. The festival runs July 18-July 21 and features performers like Bob Weir & Ratdog, Govt’ Mule and Keller Williams. The JazzWholes won a spot on the 2006 festival in last year’s contest. - The Reader (www.thereader.com)

A variety of music was soon to take over the crowd, many still filtering in with a slated start time of 9:00pm. I once again found myself at Knickerbockers in Lincoln, NE on a Friday night, February 15, 2008 to be exact. A local bluegrass group out of Lincoln by the name of Slim Pickens was first to take the stage. They played an array of covers including an excellent version "Kentucky Mandolin". After a 45-minute set, Polydypsia was set to take the stage next and did so in gracious fashion.

Many fans that were there in support of Slim Pickens had never seen nor heard of Polydypsia. It was quite a bold change from the string-filled opener, but several folks stuck around for Polydypsia's set and were pleasantly surprised.

Polydypsia is from Omaha, NE and they've recently graced the stages at 10,000 Lakes Festival in 2007. They were also granted a set at Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival after winning last year's Waka Winter Classic. They are known for their own interesting take on funk with a little bit of improvisational jazz on the side.

Polydypsia soon got the crowd interested in their first set with "Funk Goulash", an ode to their jazzy roots with brief break outs of funk in between. This song is set off by bassist Tim Kasl's smooth bass line throughout. Guitarist Andrew Malashock really strutted his stuff on a cover of Phish's "Character Zero". Just as quickly as it had begun, the first set was over and everyone was left with a short primer break.

The second set was off with a fury, featuring much of the same, but also was quite jammy comparatively. The percussion picked up a lot in this set and it was evident how much talent was really in this band. Percussion is taken care of by J.B. Ferguson pounding on the trap set and Adam Langdon filling in the blanks with the bongos as well as several other items. The keys led by Kevin Lloyd also set the mood, almost controlling the mid-sized crowd at times. Soon enough, closing time was approaching and Polydypsia finished, as always it seems, abruptly.

I personally have only had the chance to catch these guys three times. Each time I've seen them I've been thoroughly impressed, particularly by the improvisation that I'm constantly greeted with every time. Even with a crowd smaller than these guys are used to, Polydypsia held nothing back. For that reason they appear to be on the right track to get some broader attention in the near future. Not to mention the amount of raw talent which they possess.

As stated, these guys always come ready to tear it up, and they don't disappoint throughout. For a funky, jazzy, jammy time, get yourself out to see Polydypsia, who receive 7/10 slices for their performance.

P.S.- Somasphere won this years Lincoln, NE Waka Winter Classic, therefore Polydypsia is not set to play there yet. That is not saying they won't be there though. They do have the 10KLF Cosmic Break Tour coming up on 4-20 eve at Club Roxbury in Omaha, NE. The winner will receive a set at the 10,000 Lakes Festival this year, so good luck to them there. Also, a brief conversation with Mr. Kasl revealed that they have plans to put out a full-length album in the near future, as well as open up a date for Dumpstapunk in New Orleans, LA. Yeah I'm talkin to our Texas crew. As if you really need an excuse to hit up NOLA again. Just make sure to hit up Chris Owen's.
- Breakfast on Tour