Tomorrow night, four Tufts student bands — The Gentleman's Bet, FunkSoulLove, Navigator, and The Situation — will compete in a Battle of the Bands at Tommy Doyle's Pub in Harvard Square. The winner will represent Tufts in the final round of the ROCKUS Battle of the Bands on April 14 at Boston's Paradise Rock Club. The competition is sponsored by Veritas Records, a student-run record label at Harvard University, and Rolling Stone Magazine. WMFO broadcasted the preliminary round of the competition live on air this past December and will be running the event at Tommy Doyle's tomorrow night.
In preparation for covering this event, the Daily caught up with each of the bands individually to get a snapshot of each group. Last week, the Daily profiled The Situation and FunkSoulLove. Featured this week are The Gentlemen's Bet (senior keyboardist Alex Clough, senior bassist Aaron Gardony, senior lead guitarist and producer Andrew Lappin, senior guitarist and vocalist Dusty Nichols-Schmolze, senior drummer Joey Stein and sophomore saxophonist Malcolm Kearns) and Navigator (senior guitarist Pat Schaufelberger, senior drummer Paul Lewis, senior vocalist Will Woods, senior bassist and synth player Quincy Browne and senior guitarist Andrew Desnoyers). The Daily interviewed Paul Lewis and Andrew Lappin via e-mail.
Josh Zeidel: When and how did your band form, and how has it evolved over time? Has your sound changed over time, or has it remained fairly consistent?
Andrew Lappin, The Gentlemen's Bet: In the winter of 2006, songwriters Gardony, Nichols-Schmolze and I decided to combine forces. Since then there have been several various incarnations of the band, both in concert and in the studio, in order to realize the creative visions of its three principal members. Regardless of the lineup, The Gentlemen's Bet has sought to maintain a pretty consistent sound.
Paul Lewis, Navigator: Pat Schaufel-berger and I started jamming in the spring of 2006, with the idea of starting up a psychedelic funk duo, but soon we realized we were looking for a different sound. Within a couple of days we came across electronica bass player Quincy Browne and vocalist/acoustic guitar player Ben Broderick, and Navigator took a new direction exploring folklore and country blues. But Broderick decided to go abroad, so we held some auditions and the band found its new frontman in Will Woods. After some practice sessions the band also decided to bring on guitarist Andrew Desnoyers to complete the thundering Navigator sound.
JZ: How often, and for how long, do you practice as a full group?
AL: We practice twice a week for three hours, so six hours every week.
PL: The band as a whole spends at least eight to 10 hours a week practicing, but we all put in a lot of time individually as well.
JZ: What are your musical and lyrical influences? Are there any albums that you've found particularly inspirational to your music?
AL: My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, Neil Young, Funkadelic, The Meters. My favorite album is Neil Young's "On the Beach" (1974). It has greatly influenced my songwriting. Wilco's albums have also been a big influence on our songwriting.
PL: On the one hand Aphex Twin has had a big influence on Browne, whereas I would claim Taking Back Sunday is my biggest inspiration. Schaufelberger's playing style can be characterized as a fusion of Jimmy Page, Eric Krasno and Jonny Greenwood. Desoyners' guitar playing has been heavily influenced by Metallica and Billy Idol. Lastly, Woods draws his musical inspiration from Boyz II Men and Spinal Tap.
JZ: How would you characterize your sound? Is there a particular genre that you're going for?
AL: Our sound has truly changed over time. Our self-titled debut EP (2007) is completely different from what we do now and from what you will hear on our new album. We started off with a heavy emphasis on improvisation and very straight-ahead roots rock. Now our songs are more concise, but also more experimental. There is still a [combination] of American musical styles — rock, psychedelic, country, jazz and soul — but we've given our songs more focus and explored our arrangements more. We would say that our music is now experimental American rock that looks to the past as much as it looks to the future.
PL: Due to the incredible variety in our musical influences, it is very difficult to describe the Navigator sound. At the core, Navigator is classic rock fused with punk, alternative and funk, mixed with a touch of soul, bluegrass and ragtime. The band is not looking for a particular genre, but is more focused on the difficult task of creating its own sound.
JZ: What is your songwriting process? Does one person write most of the lyrics, or are there multiple contributors? How does the music get written and arranged?
AL: One of us, usually Dusty or myself, will bring a song into rehearsal. It will usually be just chords and a vocal melody with lyrics. Then we'll sit down and play the song together and try different ideas. Someone might have a really great riff and we'll expand on it and see where that goes. The songs keep evolving until we're happy with what we have and we don't think we can improve it much more.
PL: The Navigator songwriting process starts with Schaufelberger composing the primary song in terms of chord structures and changes. Then he and I spend hours laying out the arrangement of the song. Once the basic arrangement is complete the rest of the band members impose their own ideas upon the arrangement, thereby giving the song the color it needs. Finally, Woods' lyrics complete the tune.
JZ: What venues have you played recently? Are there any upcoming gigs you'd like to publicize other than the Battle of the Bands at Tommy Doyle's?
AL: We've played the Abbey Lounge and Michael's Bar, both in Somerville. We also played Hotung Café twice last semester and we did a show at Connecticut College. This semester we'll be playing at P.A.'s Lounge on March 26 and we'll also do an Oxfam gig. We'll also be playing in New York at some point.
PL: Our most recent venue was Zeta Psi. By playing at frat parties we gain the experience needed to play at live shows outside of Tufts. Other shows include an upcoming gig at the Sweetwater Cafe in Boston, possibly Relay for Life and Oxfam in the future and of course other fraternity parties on campus.
JZ: For those looking for more information about your band, is there a website or profile page that they can check out?
AL: [You can hear our music at} www.myspace.com/thegentlemenboston. It also has show info and new songs. Our debut LP will be out March 7, and it's called "From a Great Height." It'll be available on iTunes and Rhapsody, or you can contact us directly for a physical copy.
PL: Our MySpace is www.myspace.com/navigator001. We also have a Facebook group called "Navigator Fans."
Doors open at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, and the show begins at 9. Tickets are available through the WMFO website, although the under-21 tickets have sold out. 21-plus tickets will be available at the door for $5 until they are sold out.
