Daily Bruin File Photo Vocalist Kevin
Carlberg and bassist Brian Fox are
members of UCLA-based band Pseudopod.
By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Contributor
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, benefit shows seem to be
the trend for artists all over the country. From Michael Jackson to
KISS to *NSYNC, everyone is getting involved in raising money for
New York and Washington, D.C.
“We figure it’s our turn to do the benefit scene and
do our part to help,” said Kevin Carlberg, vocalist and
guitarist for upcoming Interscope Records band Pseudopod, during a
practice session on Monday.
The band will be playing at the West End in Santa Monica on
Thursday, Nov. 8, with Psydecar and The Fishermen. All proceeds
from the show will be donated to the victims and their families in
New York.
Pseudopod, a local-turned-national band that formed while all
members were students at UCLA, will be returning to the Westwood
area after a whirlwind of excitement these past six months.
The journey started when the band won the title of Best College
Band in America from the Internet Underground Music Archive and
Rolling Stone Magazine.
Carlberg, along with bandmates Ross Grant, Brian Fox and Tim
McGregor, won $10,000 in cash and a recording budget. This was used
to produce and press their second album, “Rest
Assured,” a follow-up to their previous release,
“Pod,” which they paid for themselves.
The contest also gave Pseudopod the opportunity to open for
Primus at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, where they were
seen by numerous record labels.
“That show led us to signing with Interscope
Records,” Carlberg said. “It basically started a
snowball effect, except uphill.”
The quartet spent the summer touring on the East Coast, playing
in New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, to name a few.
“The people out there were very receptive to our music. It
wasn’t intimidating at all,” Carlberg said.
Pseudopod started its career performing at fraternity parties
and at the Westwood Brewing Company. It then moved on to Sunset
Boulevard, headlining in numerous clubs on the strip.
It got to the point where they outgrew the area and were ready
to move on to bigger shows. Since signing with Interscope Records,
the down-to-earth members of Pseudopod have not changed ““
they have just been given much better opportunities.
“We were able to open for Blues Traveler, which was
awesome and we’re going to Memphis, Tennessee on Friday for
another show,” said Carlberg.
Recording for the first album with Interscope will commence next
Monday. The fifth member, Matt Keegan, who studied at the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music in Australia and met the other members
while studying abroad at UCLA, will return to the States to record
with Pseudopod. Recording is expected to last through the end of
January and the group will follow that up with touring all over the
country until the spring.
Pseudopod has often been compared to Dave Matthews Band, Phish
and Pink Floyd. So how do they describe their music in their own
words?
“It’s hard to pigeonhole our sound: there are
elements of jazz, rock, and funk,” said Carlberg. “We
all have such different musical backgrounds and it can all be heard
in our music.”
Pseuodopod’s sound truly is a collective effort, as every
member of the band contributes to the music writing process. Their
musical backgrounds span from jazz to classic rock to Bulgarian
music.
Pseudopod’s style is very jam-based, which basically means
that a large portion of its shows is unrehearsed improvisation.
“No show is ever played the same twice,” said
Carlberg. “The same song will be three minutes at one show
and then 10 minutes another night.”
Both McGregor, the band’s percussionist, and Fox, who
contributes with vocals and bass, majored in ethnomusicology at
UCLA. The raw talent they bring to the group is illustrated through
the unity between Grant’s lead electric guitar, which works
with the deep sounds of Carlberg’s unique 12-string acoustic
guitar, and Keegan’s blaring saxophone. This unity makes the
group a rarity among today’s pop artists.
Fighting to be heard over Carlberg’s cell phone, Grant,
Fox and McGregor shout their personal lists of influences, which
range from Dave Matthews, Ben Harper and Miles Davis to Radiohead,
Sting and Incubus.
At their show, audiences should not be surprised when all four
members of Pseudopod come out on stage barefoot.
“It’s more comfortable playing barefoot. It feels
like we’re just playing in our house,” said Carlberg.
“It makes us feel more at home at our shows.”