subthunk
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subthunk

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"FutureMusic"

Review of Project B (first release).

Pretty Groovy Man is typical of the subthunk sound, with its retro jazz-funk stylings coupled with tight, sequenced rhythms and scratches. Band leader Ant describes the music as “triptronica: a mixture of funk, acid jazz and electronica”. It's a combination of organic and electronic. As Ant explains, “The organic part is us with our instruments, the electronic is the sampler and sound modules.”

Impressively, subthunk blend electronic and more traditional influences to produce some seriously funky music. Pretty Groovy Man is a great tune and slightly reminiscent of War (whose hit Lowrider will be familiar to any one who’s seen those ads for a certain black, spreadable yeast product). The breakdowns and improvisations are equally good.

The CD in full
Post Serial follows in hot pursuit of Pretty Groovy Man and proves just as irresistible. This one's a big band style freakout (if such a thing exists) with a piquant Latin flavour.
It kicks off with some fat horn stabs and a filtered rhythm, then there's a solo midway through the tune courtesy of what Ant calls an "FXharp" which apparently is “a harmonica through a combination of guitar effects and MIDI triggered sound modules”. Right.

The rest of this brilliant demo is just as exuberant and funky as Pretty Groovy Man and sometimes more so. This is pretty special. - Stephen Lawson


"UCLA Daily Bruin"

It's not often that an audience can witness an entire musical performance without the slightest idea of which sounds are coming from which instruments. But with a band like subthunk, trying to discern the sources of every sound truly is an exercise in futility.

In the same vein as post-rock acts Tortoise and Sigur Ros, the five members of subthunk use traditional instrumentation but electronically modify and embellish their sound to come up with a clearly unconventional product – something guitarist and primary songwriter Antony Neely likens to playing electronic music organically.

"DJs mix in ways that bands don't," Neely said. "For example, they'll do a reverb swell or they'll cut out the low ends and drop it in later. They use mixes that bands don't tend to use live. We wanted to use them and play the music that we hear at clubs, and do it with a strict structure but also be able to change things up."

Two guitars, a fretless bass and a drumset rounded out all the familiar instruments on stage at the Cooperage Wednesday night. But as the show began it became clear that the several anonymous black boxes that adorned the stage made the biggest differences.

Band members like Neely and Alex U'Ren play instruments hooked up to machines that distort their sounds into a variety of spacey tones, while percussionist Mike Silverman makes his beats with a sampler and a number of different exotic instruments from South America and Africa. Meanwhile, bassist Pharoah adds funky bass lines behind Joe Nugent's drum beats.

Add into the fray an Apple Powerbook running basic samples and beats along with something U’Ren likes to call an FX Harp, or a harmonica fed into a sound converter, and the result is a somehow seamless combination of technological and natural instrumentation.

But true originality comes from the band's ability to combine the mechanical invention of DJs and artists like Autechre and Aphex Twin with their improvisational roots.

"The band metamorphosized relatively rapidly away from a strictly jazz group into this amalgamation of two styles," Neely said. "Sometimes I'll still go for the traditional jazz or blues sound (with my guitar), but other times I'll decide to make it into something like an analog synth."

Neely grew up in Glasgow, Scotland and performed around Britain in several jazz outfits before moving to the U.S. But the electronica movement that burst onto the U.K. scene and developed in dance clubs throughout the country sparked his interest, ultimately influencing his musical direction.

"I really started to get fascinated with the stuff that was going on in the U.K. with bands like the Propellerheads and Orbital," he said. "I wanted to play music with that sort of feeling, but in our own way. We use a lot of our instrumentation to mimic sounds that people will be using software samplers to do."

The band on record sounds more like a strictly electronica-based group, with cool, cerebral grooves and funky bass lines that dominate over the band's more spontaneous capabilities as a live act. "Pretty Groovy Man," the exotic-flavored lead-off track from the band's first full-length release, "Project B," garnered airplay from several radio programs last year, including KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic."

But the band's tendency to cut loose and jam is what makes subthunk such a potent force on stage.

"One thing we did take into consideration when making the record was that we wanted to keep our songs at a reasonable time length," Neely said. "But live, things can stretch out a lot longer. We can stretch out one section one night and another night do something different; it really depends on our mood. We didn't want to be slaves to machines – most of us come from improvising backgrounds. I know I can't play the same thing every night, I'd go mad."

The advent of desktop recording changed the way subthunk proceeded with the "Project B" recording sessions. Primary recording was done at Post Logic studios in Hollywood, but most of the editing was done with computers at home, cutting down on recording costs. As a live act, however, the elaborate stage setup can lead to plenty of confusion.

"If anyone told me 'I'm thinking about forming a band incorporating musicians with computers' I would say 'don't do it,'" Neely said with a smile.

"If we weren't so stubborn and hadn't spent so much time on this, I'd be looking for another way. You've got a spinning hard disk with you in a fancy club, something's
bound to go wrong."

"But on the positive side," Pharoah adds, "your computer never argues with you."

Neely ponders this, and agrees enthusiastically.

"That's true," Neely said. "It's always on time to the shows, you don't have to pay it, and it never gets drunk and falls of the stage."
- Andrew Lee


Discography

Project B (2000)
Just A Few Notes Before You Go (2002)

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

subthunk has received critical acclaim in both the US and Europe (Entertainment Today – "…inventive, ear-catching stuff…" and FutureMusic "…brilliant, exuberant and funky…") and is about to release its much anticipated second album, Just a Few Notes Before You Go. The new record showcases the band’s diversity and its electronic meets organic aesthetic. From the drum ‘n bass stylings of "Wobble" to the eerie grooves of "Fuzz" to the intense riffs of "Dogcar" and "Beach Buggy," subthunk seem set to break the barriers between funk, jazz and electronic dance music.

The trio’s unique sound has been heard across the U.S., enjoying airplay on radio and online playlists throughout the country. subthunk has been heard on high-profile stations such as KCRW in Los Angeles on the "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program. The band’s live repertoire has expanded from its L.A. homebase to Northern California and Southwest states and its records have found their way to fans as far away as Japan, India, and Australia.

The band’s website, www.subthunk.com is home base to its music, press kit, and tour information. Ever innovative, subthunk is also releasing an online version from their site of their latest release, Just a Few Notes Before You Go, as a binary package (or Bpack, for the technically savvy). For a nominal fee, fans will be able to download MP3s, packaging, electronic liner notes, and a virtual show compatible with iTunes and WinAmp. "You can burn the tracks, assemble the packaging, and make your own CD," says Neely, who also designed the CD package. Who needs to leave the house, except for a subthunk live gig?