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| Bee vs. Moth. Photo Credit Will Branch |
Far-out Austin instrumental rock/jazz
ensemble Bee vs. Moth play the Thunderbird in Lawrenceville as part
of VIA Festival. The band's press kit describes them as having “one
foot in the world of
jazz and creative improvisation, and the other firmly planted on a
distortion pedal.”
The
band is a three-piece at its core – Sarah Norris (percussion),
Philip Moody (bass), and James Fidlon (guitar) – but their studio
albums feature a number of guest musicians, who bring along horn and
sax appeal.
Sarah
and Philip were kind enough to answer some questions for us before
their show Friday
Pittsburgh
Music Report: The Austin Sound
said your music "falls somewhere between jazz and Zappa."
Is that a fair assessment?
Bee
vs. Moth: Maybe not fair to Zappa, but this description does help
convey what we're doing. We're not a rock/pop band, but we're not a
jazz band either.
PMR:
Do you play many jazz venues? How do the crowds react to your
unconventional style and makeup?
BvM:
We mostly play rock clubs and alternative venues like theaters and
galleries. Crowd reactions run from wildly enthusiastic to politely
confused. Many people are very excited that we are trying to do
something a little different. Some people just don't have experience
interacting with a band that has no vocals.
PMR:
The core of the band is a three-piece, but your albums have a lot
more instrumentation than that. How many other musicians accompany
you on tour?
BvM:
We almost always play as a five-piece, with guitar, bass, drums, and
two horns. We sometimes play with just one horn player, and we just
did a local show with a great sounding three-piece horn line. The
changes keeps things fresh. Whether we have a trumpet or sax or
trombone will guide what songs we pick and how we play them.
PMR:
How much space do you leave for improvisation when you perform live?
BvM:
There is a fair amount. The arrangements we tend to leave alone. The
songs though have sections for individual solos and for group
improvised sections. Also, people in the band will ad lib a lot of
their arranged parts rather than play note-for-note the same thing
every time.
PMR:
Do you ever feel like its harder for you to find venues to play or
bills to share since your sound is not so easily classifiable?
BvM:
Sometimes yes, but we also get treated really well at places that
embrace unusual music.
PMR:
What type of music do you listen to in your free time? Any
up-and-coming Austin groups we should be aware of?
BvM:
We are into lots of kinds of music, and in our free time we are
usually trying to catch up on whatever we picked up most recently.
Lately, we've been listening to new Nels Cline, Red Fang, and a giant
early Ellington box set from Mosaic. We've played recent Austin shows
with Peter Stopschinski, Foot Patrol, Poon, and Stop Motion Orchestra
- they're all great and worth a listen.
PMR:
Had you heard of VIA before? It seems like you're a good match for
their sort of avant-garde ethos.
BvM:
Somehow no we had not heard of VIA. We were planning a tour to play
Sonic Circuits in DC, and we wound up contacting a venue that is part
of VIA. The fit is great, and we're so glad to be a part of all this.
PMR:
Besides VIA, is there anything in particular that you're looking
forward to during your brief stay in Pittsburgh?
BvM:
We're just looking forward to seeing the city and getting a feel for
what's going on there. We've been told it's a really nice place that
people in other parts of the country don't always hear a lot about.
The
band's albums are available through their website.
We also have a copy of their latest, Shelter in Place, to giveaway. To enter, simply
send an email to pghmusicreport@gmail.com,
and put “Bee vs. Moth” in the subject line. We'll announce a
winner sometime this weekend.
– B.
Conway
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