Ten Ton Chicken The Bay Area band Ten Ton Chicken will be
performing Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 14 Below in Santa Monica. For info,
call (310) 451-5040.
By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Contributor
What do you get when you mix the pretentious intensity of
progressive rock with the carefree spontaneity of improvisational
jazz? Chicken Soup.
There’s more to this brand of soup than a can of
Campbell’s and Progresso combined though. It consists of the
usual rock ‘n’ roll components, with a pinch of
saxophone and a heaping spoonful of improv, all topped off with 10
tons of chicken. Correction: a Ten Ton Chicken.
With influences spanning the boundaries of heavy metal, world
music, jam rock, jazz and funk, lead singer and electric guitarist
Gary Morrell summed up the sound of his band, Ten Ton Chicken, as
improvisational, groove rock. If that sounds confusing, it should
be noted that the band is a prominent member of the Bay Area, jam
band scene.
Still confused? Think of the dead fish crowd ““ that is,
former Dead-heads and Phish-heads who are searching for the next
great band to devote their lives to and follow around the
country.
In addition to Morrell, the Chicken’s other ingredients
are bassist Tom Fejes, keyboardist Nick Peck, saxophonist Jamison
Reed and drummer Rich DiBenedetto.
“If you take us all as individuals, we’ve all got
our strengths and weaknesses, but when you get the five of us and
we’re firing it and all cylinders are go, it’s, to
quote a corny phrase, it’s “˜greater than the sum of our
parts,'” Reed said.
All aspects of the band depend on their ability to fit together
like the parts of a well-oiled machine. Songwriting especially, is
one of the group efforts that is strengthened by the number
involved.
On any given day, a member will bring in an idea for a song, a
few parts written out or even an entire song. From that starting
point, they will each set about finishing off their own parts and
making them fit together. The whole process is a group project that
involves a substantial amount of give and take, reevaluating, and
honing.
Ten Ton Chicken has been performing as a group for just over a
year. Through high-school friendships and other random connections,
the five men have come together to make the music for which they
all share a passion. More than anything, they love the live
performances.
Morrell commented on how they all let themselves go while
performing and just get into the music. Reed has been known to walk
through the crowd playing a sax solo, and even get carried around
on keyboardist Peck’s back or lay down on the floor.
“(Peck) spun me around by my ankles while I was playing a
solo, it was crazy,” Reed said. “I’ve been known
to take my trousers off now and again. At this one gig, somebody
brought in a pair of shorts that have a prosthetic ass in them, and
so I got to wear the ass pants for the gig. That was one of my
favorite gigs.”
Teeming with improvisation throughout every five-plus minute
song in the live shows, the playlists are set and the solos are
charted out but, other than that, there is little planning on how
the solos will turn out.
“A fan once told me that he loves watching because he
knows we’re on the edge and we’re making it up on the
spot sometimes, and he just finds it really exciting, just to see
what’s going to happen next,” Morrell said.
Coordinating a balance of solos and written music is a skill
that the members of the Chicken had to work on and build as a
group.
“Some of it’s body language and some of it’s,
I dare say, telepathy. I mean, we just listen to each other, we pay
attention to each other, and we basically wing it,” Morrell
said. “I think we make contact 90 percent of the
time.”
“Maybe 85 percent,” interjected Reed with a
chuckle.
Even if the connections are not always flawless, the Chicken
always has fun making the effort at live shows. Despite the common
connection between improvisation and jazz music, the members of the
Chicken insist that they are a rock band.
DiBenedetto noted that the spirit of improvisation is the
centerpiece of their sound. He added that they are trying to break
ground in the rock-improv arena, where he hasn’t seen much
growth in recently.
Their new album, set to release in about a month, will further
enhance their expansive, yet goofy persona. Tentatively titled
“Just Like in the Old Country” and set to feature an
old, grainy picture of Fejes’s ancestors when they immigrated
through Ellis Island in the 1920s. It sounds silly, but that seems
to be the desired effect.
“It’s like the name, Ten Ton Chicken. It
doesn’t make sense; it’s one of those things. You hear
and it might make you chuckle or smile or scratch your head in
consternation,” Morrell said.
So where did the name Ten Ton Chicken come from? A friend of the
band’s used to casually produce a fake magazine, which
featured, among other elements of artifice, reviews of fake bands.
One was named Ten Ton Chicken and, as ridiculous as it sounded, the
name seemed to suit the vibe they were going for. With the name Ten
Ton Chicken, the group set out to keep alive the spirit of great
performances, while avoiding the more pretentious aspects of the
music.
“We poke fun at ourselves,” Morrell said.
“Even though we all come from a progressive rock background,
that’s music for the head. We want people to get there and
shake their bodies and not worry so much about the intricate
details, but still find stuff within it to enjoy.”