Sector 9 Fortunately for Sound Tribe Sector Nine, music
is played with the upper appendages. They’ll be at the House of
Blues tonight.
By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Reporter
The days of concerts being solely about the music are over. With
the incorporation of painters, poets, visual technicians and DJs,
the Atlanta-born, Bay Area based band, Sound Tribe Sector Nine is
taking live shows to the next level. Merging the timeless jazzy
instrumental styles with the increasingly popular electronic genre,
STS9 does not even include vocals.
Noting that it would be too hard to classify their sound into a
specific genre, they are aiming for the inclusion of tribal-esque
feeling music with some down tempo electronica, jungle, funk, jazz
and reggae.
Tonight at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, STS9 will
expose the L.A. jam and rave scenes to its unique marriage of the
two seemingly unrelated styles.
“It’s the full spectrum of music, all the way from
really organic tribal elements to the most technological that you
could get at this point and it reflects that in the music,”
said David Murphy, bassist for the band.
Growing up next door to each other in suburban Atlanta, Murphy
and guitarist Hunter Brown have been friends most of their lives.
After learning to play together and honing their skills, they met
drummer Zach Velmer. After being introduced to keyboardist David
Phipps through mutual friends, STS9 was completed by the addition
of percussionist Jeffree Lerner, who they met while playing in
Asheville, N.C.
On stage, all members of the band are equal, which is why they
are illuminated by an extravagant light show and not just a single
spotlight. According to Murphy, they are really trying to expand
the visual elements of the shows through this kind of creative
lighting.
Other performing arts aspects of the live shows have also come
to include painters working creatively on the stage alongside the
musicians. The clicking of a typewriter can often be heard as
background to the techno-organic sounds while a poet or two work
onstage as well. DJs are a substantial part of the show, as they
warm up the crowds and continue to mix live samples throughout the
show.
A great deal of the music they play at shows is created on the
spot with hoards of improvisation. The men of STS9 get so involved
in the music that they do not even take breaks to introduce
themselves.
“It’s a nonstop musical event, that’s the way
we try to go at it, we try to give people the full experience while
they’re there,” Murphy said.
About more than the music and the visuals, the name is a complex
combination of the spiritual and artistic influences that go into
the music. The Tribe encompasses the entire community, from the
painters to the fans to the technicians. Sector Nine comes from the
most artistically, culturally and scientifically advanced Ninth
Baktun cycle of the Mayan 13 Moon-Earth calendar. The whole
creation of the music and the environment is a very spiritual
experience for the band.
Starting out as a member of the ever-growing jam band scene,
STS9’s fans were initially the typical college crowd of
hippies. With the band’s growing popularity, however, the
band has started to see more diverse crowds flock to its shows,
especially in the big cities. The older fans and raversa are
starting to even out the mix. Murphy noted that the fans are his
favorite part of the experience and are, in his opinion, the most
important part.
“I feel like the people are coming to our shows with a lot
of clarity and just wanting to experience a good live music show
and ultimately just to dance their asses off,” Murphy
said.
Getting inspiration from everyday life, especially the mountains
and beaches of California, STS9 takes the best of the impromptu
solos from shows and works to finalize them into solid, full
arrangements.
Murphy’s dream is to be able to keep playing for another
10-plus years. He hopes the music will constantly evolve and
foresees the next step for the show as the possible inclusion of
dancers to further expand the Sound Tribe community. He is also
playing with the idea of showcasing art galleries with works from
their onstage artists and band members.
“You see a lot of these bands go out there and set up long
tours and they are not giving their heart every night
musically,” said Murphy. “We’re into spreading
out the shows more and putting a lot more attention and focus into
each show. I definitely see it moving into more of an
experience.”