Shoppy

http://www.pe.com/columns/music/stories/PE_News_Local_W_af0402_shoppy.24f881a.html

By VANESSA FRANKO
The Press-Enterprise

Shoppy loves you. No really, the Riverside band does. So does Shoppy Farcilow, the fictional character (like Iron Maiden's Eddie) the eclectic band has created in its image.

"Shoppy Farcilow is the midget from outer space who controls all of our songs," explained lead singer and drummer Chad Villarreal.

Since the band's music has drawn from so many sources (ska, funk, jazz, metal, r&b, progressive rock), the band figured the fictional character might be the easiest way to explain its eccentric repertoire.

Villareal, Gabe Hartman (saxophone, keyboards and flute) and Matt Wyckoff (bass), formed Shoppy out of two different bands they were playing in. One was metal mixed with progressive rock and the other was jazz and funk. Villarreal said the members knew each other and decided to make one group.

"We actually smooshed songs from both bands together," he said.

The band has played all across the Inland region, from a monthly residency at the Royal Falconer in Riverside (where Shoppy will be Tuesday night), to the now defunct Orange Blossom Festival and KROQ's former Inland Invasion concert.

Shoppy will also play at Angel's Roadhouse in Yucaipa on Saturday.

Villarreal said Shoppy is still evolving. He's now into country and singer/songwriter music and the other band members have gotten more into jazz over the years. Lately, the songs are "starting to have threads of r&b and jazz."

The band has an aggressive plan in place for the rest of the year. In addition to the band's shows, the members are spending the next five months writing before going straight into the studio, with plans to have a full-length record released by the end of 2010.

Saturday's show at Angel's Roadhouse is Dionysos' eighth anniversary party and official CD release. The up-and-coming Stoneland Mansion (who are fantastic), Lunch Line Jones, Moodshifter and E.F.M. are also on the bill.

Shoppy will appear at The Royal Falconer for its residency that happens on the first Tuesday of every month.

8 p.m. Saturday, Angel's Roadhouse, 32464 Dunlap Blvd., Yucaipa.

9:30 p.m. Tuesday, The Royal Falconer, 4281 Main St., Riverside, 951-684-4281.

Visit www.shoppymusic.com and www.myspace.com/shoppymusic for more information on the band.

Reach Vanessa Franko at 951-368-9575, vfranko@PE.com, www.myspace.com/Audio_File or http://blogs.inlandsocal.com/music - Press Enterprise

http://www.ieweekly.com/cms/story/detail/shoppy/3071/

Band of the Week

By: Waleed Rashidi



CITY OF ORIGIN:

Riverside

MEMBERS & INSTRUMENTS:

Gabe Hartman (sax, flute, keyboards); Chad Villarreal (lead vocals, drums); Matt Wyckoff (bass).

KINDRED SPIRITS:

Talent, true musicianship, ingenuity, creativity, some real funk-based forms and a dollop of flat-out fun, too.

WEBSITE: www.shoppymusic.com, www.facebook.com/shoppymusic, www.myspace.com/shoppymusic

There’s something to be said for clocking in over a decade in the Inland Empire’s music scene. Unlike many area acts, who are still “finding themselves” by dipping their toes in varied musical puddles hoping to strike a lasting chord, Riverside-based trio Shoppy have established a formidable musical position, having left their days of dabbling in this ‘n’ that behind. And though they’re still a mish-mash of all things funk and rock, for lack of a better descriptor, Shoppy is now, well, Shoppy.

“We’ve gone through different phases where we’d lean on one stylistic interest more than others,” says bassist Matt Wyckoff. “But we ended up kind of finding ourselves more as we branched out into these stylistic differences. Individually, we sort of come from a jazz/soul/funk background. We’re not a jazz group obviously, but we end up expressing that in a lot of the music and the songs we like to write, the different sounds that we gravitate towards, I guess.”

Credit the band’s 11 years together, which started between Shoppy lead vocalist/drummer Chad Villareal and Wyckoff.

Keyboardist/saxophonist/flutist Gabe Hartman was brought aboard to complete the trio setup shortly thereafter. Yes, there’s no guitarist on deck, and therein lies the challenge and unique quality of the band, as listeners won’t likely miss the lack of a six-stringer in the mix.

Shoppy’s played “every place there is to play in the Inland Empire,” says Wyckoff, including a few installments of the Orange Blossom Festival, but the group hasn’t done any real touring past Arizona.

Still, one of Wyckoff’s most memorable local gigs was the first iteration of KROQ’s Inland Invasion Festival in 2001, which found the comparatively new band on the same bill (but not the same stage) with prime attractions like Weezer and Social Distortion. “We ended up on the side stage,” he recalls, “but it was nonetheless a very, very good experience for us.”

Though the bio on their website accurately describes the band as sounding like “a six-piece funk orchestra playing alternative music with jazz sensibilities,” know that it’s this collective experience that makes Shoppy, well, sound a heck of a lot like Shoppy. - IE Weekly / Southland Publishing

by Tom Laurie

Contact: Hans Fink; Hans@hansfink.com; 310-388-7871
Web: www.shoppymusic.com
AMP username: Shoppy
THe Players: Chad Villareal, lead vocals, drums; Matt Wyckoff, bass, vocals; Gabe Hartman, keys, sax, flute, vocals.

Material: If you want to check out a band that'll give you more than one genre, then Shoppy is the group to see. Rap, funk, blues and heavy metal are all covered in one set. They jump from one genre to the next like a monkey in a rainforest and are able to accurately cover each style of music. Eyes closed, it would be hard to tell if it was one band on stage or a set of rotating musicians.

Musicianship: Having at least two jobs seems to be a requirement in the band. Gabe Hartman is the multi-tasker of the group, sitting quietly at the keyboard surrounded by his instruments. In a Phill Collins-like style, Villareal makes his mark as both the drummer and the singer while pulling off some impressive vocal changes, most notably when switching from rap lyrics to a heavier sound. His counterpart, Wyckoff, backs him up on vocals as he slaps into the night on the bass.

Performance: Thanks to their constant variation in genres and frequent changing of instruments, Shoppy certainly delivered fun music and a mercurial live show. Their performance was like a pencil that just needed to be sharpened. The lead singer was drum-kit bound, which put the actual frontman in the back. More movement from Wyckoff on the bass and an occasional standup from Hartman would have helped increase the band's stage impact.

Summary: This ambitious, inventive band paint with many shades of the sonic palette, and present their music live with an unusual band setup. Ultimately, however, a tighter, more coherent vision must be married to a more energetic stage show. Currently an interesting band, the members of Shoppy must now figure out how to take their art a full step higher and become uniquely compelling. - Music Connection