July 2009 - Posts
Greetings Friends
We wanted to let you know that the July installment of Mantis Bonus content is now available for your auditory pleasure. Just pop your CD copy of Mantis into your computer and download this 31+ minute track for free.
This nugget comes from a benefit that we did for the Moog Foundation in February of 2009 at Mo Daddy's in Asheville, NC. The Moog Foundation was set up in honor of the great electronic music pioneer Bog Moog, designed to document, teach, and celebrate innovative thinking in electronic music. We were honored to take part in this unique event that resulted in some memorable musical moments that were well outside of the box. We shed much of the usual gear and used a wide variety of Moog synthesizers, guitars, and pedals to help derivate from the norm. This set was entirely improvised with an emphasis placed on using the tools at our disposal. Grab some headphones, sit back and soak it in as we relive this foray into the world of Moog.
Sanae, In a galaxy far, far away...
Q: What kind of music or bands did you like when you were high school student?
A: When I was in high school, my favorite bands were Prong, Tool, Pantera, White Zombie, and Guns N Roses! I was lucky to have a lot of metal acts come to Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Alex, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Q: If you had to choose, which would you be, Vampire or Werewolf?
A: Obviously a Vampire, a rockstar vampire to be exact!
John, Milwaukee, WI
Q: Have you ever had to piss so badly on stage that you didn't think you could finish the set?
A: Absolutely, that's why we have impromptu drum solos. I think everyone in the band has had this occur more than once! Back in South Bend when we had kegs on the stage, this was always a problem.
Vince Kickass, Canada
Q: Who would you pick in a cage match?
a) Gandolf the Gray
b) Obi Wan Kenobe
A: Good question, but I think an older Obi Wan Kenobe wins in a land slide, I mean come on, he's using the fuckin' force. However a younger Obi Wan might lack the experience and wherewithal to defeat an older, wiser Gandolf.
Chris, Richmond, VA
Q: What in fact does the mitten smell like?
A: It smells just like the glove!!!
Mike, Philadelphia, PA
Q: Technique inquiry: I've been playing (electric) bass for around seven years and I've found that over the past two or three years, my right-hand technique has gradually changed from one slightly different method to another, and then to yet another and then reverts back again to the beginning, so to speak. I never seem to stay comfortable for long with one particular type of plucking style, thumb position, etc. Obviously everyone's different, and my question is: how long did it take you to find a right-hand method that felt comfortable enough to stick with it permanetley? How many years of playing bass did it take you to settle on the style you play with now (if that ever happened)? Thanks.
PS: This is not a masturbation question.
PPS: 5-strings are ballin' and I thank you for rocking them. It's like a four-string but you can play lower! Why wouldn't you want that?
A: Being a self taught bass player myself, I find that learning a few different techniques is best for all players and using whatever is most comfortable to you. It's nice to be able to palm mute the strings and play with your thumb to get a fat reggae sound, or play about 12 frets above your note to get a deeper hip hop tone. I have tried the three-finger technique and Wooten's double thumb but they are techniques I have yet to master and find quite difficult to use. However, everything improves with practice. Over the years I have just gone with what feels most comfortable to me. Check out Gary Willis's three finger dampening method and Steve Bailey's artificial harmonics methods for fun too. Rip it up Mike!
Mike, Syracuse, NY
Q: Thanks for the pick the other night Pony. I've been playing with it. I was just wondering, do all of you guys share the same bus? Like Wade, Robbie, Kevin, Waful, etc... How do those guys get around? Do they have their own bus? Just curious. I can't imagine there being more than 6 bunks on your bus. Anyway come back to Syracuse anytime. Brendan should buy a house in Baldwinsville. It gets pretty hazy out there. Rawk.
A: Yes we all live in one big happy bus. 12 peeps deep plus a driver. I will leave all smells to your imagination.
Andrew, Olympia, WA
Q: One of the things I really dig about UM is the intricate arrangements and the Progressive Rock influences. Is there a specific band member that brings that to the bands music, or is it universal or what; what's up with that?
A: Each band member brings a different influence and energy to the band as a whole. We all are prog rock fans for sure, Gensis, Yes, King Crimson, Rush, even Gentle Giant are on our list of prog favorites. Jake and I definitely dig deeper into the metal/hard rock influences whereas Farag has been a true hip hop fan since his curly haired youth. Bayliss is always good for some Beatles and Joel for some Yanni or Tesh. Traveling on a bus with 12 people really expands our palette for listening. Wade and Kris have turned me on to some wonderful underground stuff. All of this is brought to the table when we improvise live. Listening as a band is just as good as practice sometimes. PROG!!!
Thanks for visiting ThePoneZone and Ill see ya'll soon! Rock!!! Submit questions here.
Pone Loc
We are eternally surprised by and grateful for many an Umphrey's fan across the globe. Recently an email from the father of a UM fan who is volunteering in the Peace Corps left an impression that we thought worthy of sharing. Apparently Partyin' Peeps is appropriate in every village.
Check out this clip and the rest of Nicole Evans' blog who posted the video of these yutes getting down in West Africa.
A busy weekend in our camp... 6 shows in 6 days in 6 states. Here are a wide smattering of pictures from a variety of cameras & phones & photographers.
One last Rothbury picture taken by Kris's brother from side stage. I imagine this hazed cloaked stage resembles the nightly dreams of Jeff Waful.
NYC ad. i'm lovin it!
Our buddy Mike Pollock took this great shot Thursday afternoon in Central Park. "I told you to do the bendy."
Our web guru Jeremy Welsh snapped this pic of me "riding" the metro card adorned bicycle
Brendan's guitar checks itself it out backstage at the NORVA
Andy irons his swim cap after our laps at the Norfolk YMCA
Sts9 from high up on Marvin's Mountaintop at the All Good festival
Jeff Austin's face says it all as he can't believe she would break wind during this 30db interview
Late Night
It's All Good at Front of House
5:30 am departure from West Virginia, 3:15 pm gig in Louisville...
Jake shows us what 6 shows in 6 days will do to you. Do not try this at home.
This was my second visit to the gorgeous, oftentimes surreal site that is ROTHBURY. Situated in the woods of northern Michigan, just off of the lake, the setting couldn't be any more perfect in the middle of the summer. If you haven't heard about the Sherwood forest yet, look up some images and see what you've been missing. The fest reminds me a lot of the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, where nature, music and art seem to all flow together seamlessly. From sound and art installations in the woods to an almost ubiquitous focus on greening, ROTHBURY has all of the extras to make a music festival operate smoothly in place. It feels like a music fan's playground, the attention to detail with every aspect of the production is amazing.
This year we arrived about 18 hours after finishing a set at High Sierra Music Festival in the Sierra Nevadas, really about as far away as you can get from Michigan in the US. Getting off of the bus and breathing in the fresh air of northern Michigan was just what we all needed to prepare for the lengthy sets of music that were ahead of us. As it turned out, both nights of music were some of my favorite sets of the year. While the first night got a bit chilly for our fingers up there, the energy of the crowd carried us through. It's a little bit challenging to describe things as intangible as this, but on both of these nights, the music flowed and it felt like we could just keep playing. And every one of us in the band felt that way, which can be an enigmatic to reach in and of itself. In fact, for Sunday night's set we were originally told we could play as long as we wanted to, and had planned on another thirty minutes or so of music on til about 1:30.
But unfortunately the local police had had enough at 1 am and demanded us to stop. Johnny law won yet again. I do have to give props to the police that were out for being some of the most relaxed and easy going folks we've seen at a fest. I heard stories of them strobing their flashlights at the crowd during other sets at ROTHBURY, and then when asked by stage crew what the hell they were doing on the stage, they responded, "Oh, we were just messin with that hippie over there. He was crackin us up." I like hearing that everyone's having fun, but if you're a cop and you're reading this, don't stand on stage and flash your lights at fans, even if they hippies that are entertaining you.
While I didn't have very much time to listen to music this year at the fest, I can say without a doubt that it was one of our most memorable experiences we've had performing. Thanks to all of you out there for raging with us; you made this "old" guy feel young again.
-Joel
A few clips for your viewing enjoyment. Thanks to our buddy Matt Hogan for the footage.
Fireworks rage in the distance during "All In Time" on our Nation's Birthday.
Hajimemashite Shred
Matisyahu joins us on Sunday for some late night improvisation
We had the pleasure of returning to Quincy, CA for another year at the HSMF. This one holds a special place in our hearts as it was one of the first "real" festivals we ever played as a band. This gem is located amidst the High Sierra mountains and the festival's intimacy is unmatched.
We kicked off our Independence weekend with the first of several late night shows
Joel techs this Varilight as day breaks to ensure we have enough pink
Top of the morning
"I can't live without my radio"
One of the highlights of HSMF is the annual morning kick ball games. Wade displays his pinpoint accuracy with this laser like throw to first base
Camera 1
Camera 2
Greeny
Cracked earth
Joel tickles the ivories at the improv workshop (more to come on this one)
The view from atop Camp Harry
Well said sir, well said
Del McCoury was all smiles Friday afternoon
Ani DiFranco follows suit
After Friday night's set we packed up and drove straight to San Francisco for 7 am flights to Chicago where we hopped on the tour bus and drove straight to Rothbury, MI to continue the festival weekend....
Greetings Friends
Tomorrow we will go live with the latest round of
Mantis
Bonus material. We apologize for the slight delay delivering
this month's tracks, a ham sandwich got stuck in our servers and slowed things
down a bit. After Michael Jackson passed away we decided to give away a
couple versions of MJ inspired material. But until those downloads are up, we thought we'd stream one of the tracks here for your auditory pleasure
(presumably). This medley along with three other tracks will be available tomorrow morning.
This montage was inspired from unplanned
and unrehearsed moments throughout the course of last weekend. MJ's tunes
just kept popping up so we decided to cut them together and furnish you with a
medley of sorts "The Way You Make Me Feel" was inside "Syncopated
Strangers" on 06/27, "Smooth Criminal" was inside
"August" on 06/25, and "Will You Be There" was during the
end of "Partyin' Peeps" on 06/26.