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| ‘Basement’
combines funk and jazz tonight |
Kevin
Delury
Entertainment Beat Writer |
Special to The Appalachian
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Three days before
scheduled to play in Boone, Jim Coley, the bassist for Basement,
is out shopping for a van to accommodate the band.
“We had a monstrosity,” said Coley about their last van.
“We had a three-axle Ford conversion van. It was beautiful
and it was a lot of fun to own, but it was a maintenance problem.”
Coley is not too worried about their situation. If worst comes to
worst the group can pile themselves and their equipment into his
Volvo wagon, one of the benefits of only having three members in
the group.
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Such are the trials
and tribulations of Basement. Unique in its sound, the band is poised
to take off and capture audiences across the country with their
self-produced album “Doorways” and a nationwide summer
tour in the works.
Formed in 2001, the trio consists of guitarist Matt Weiss, drummer
Matt Martin and Coley.
While the band remains a three-piece instrumental outfit, it has
not shut out the idea of applying vocals to its songs or adding
extra members.
Although occasionally having guest musicians sit in with them, Basement
is more than capable of bringing a rich, atmospheric sound to the
stage without additional members.
Finding a strong fan base for a group such as Basement can be quite
a task in a place like Athens, Ga., where Basement hails from. Most
easily recognized as being the birthplace of alternative legend
REM, a sound as innovative as Basement’s could easily slide
through the cracks.
“It’s an indie rock scene,” said Coley of Athens.
“That’s really what it’s renowned for. It’s
got a little bit of everything, though. There’s an alt-country
scene that is going really well. There’s a small electronic
scene and there’s a rap scene starting up, but it’s mostly
indie rock.”
However, in spite of being based in an indie rock town, Basement
has maintained a strong foothold in Athens.
While its sound might be easily dismissed as jam music, Coley said
there are differences between Basement and standard jam bands.
“We use a more sophisticated approach to improvisation,”
said Coley. “We don’t do any real cover tunes, we really
don’t try to bring the three-chord rock element. We’re
trying to go someplace different with it.”
Where Basement has gone with its sound is definitely an interesting
route.
Combining drum and bass beats with the best of improvisational jazz
and laying a solid layer of funk over it, the music is engaging
and at the same time hypnotic. Listeners can get sucked into the
technical wizardry of the music, and in a moment’s notice find
themselves dancing to the electronica-influenced beats.
While not grouped into the jam band scene, Basement was still excited
to pick up Flagpole Magazine’s “The best jam/improvisational
band of 2002” award. Voted on by the readers, it stands as
a testament to the band’s growing influence in the Athens music
scene. Still, the band looms outside of a simple label.
“The jam community is a well-established thing,” said
Coley. “The jam sound is out there; it’s a thing you can
recognize. We really don’t fit into a category like that yet,
and we feel really good about that.”
Listening to “Doorways,” it’s easy to tell why they
don’t fit into any categories. The idea of defining their music
isn’t as important to Coley as simply bringing it to the people.
“I want a good touring audience,” said Coley. “I
want to develop an audience so that I don’t have to drive around
in a used van.”
Chances are good that Basement will have no problem finding support
of fans on the road, but for the time being, it’s back to shopping
for a van.
Basement will be returning to Murphy’s tonight. Doors open
at 10 p.m. with a $5 admission. Admittance to the show is 21 and
up. |
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