By Andrew Lee
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]
 Interscope Records
Brian Fox, Kevin Carlberg, Ross Grant and Tim McGregor of
L.A.’s popular jam band Pseudopod hope to shed their college
band identity as they await their label debut Aug. 3.
Go see a Pseudopod show, and you might just be able to meet the
guys for a beer later on that night.
The friendly, sociable guys might ask you about your experiences
at UCLA, or maybe about favorite music artists and genres. Soon,
though, you may have to look a little harder for them. The
band’s tour itinerary, which was once limited to intimate
clubs and bars around Los Angeles, now includes stops at anywhere
from Shoreline to Colorado’s Red Rocks.
“After the shows some bands just pack up and head
backstage and hide from everybody. We love to just make friends in
each city we go to,” singer and guitarist Kevin Carlberg
said.
During their four years together as a band, Carlberg, bassist
Brian Fox, guitarist Ross Grant and drummer Tim McGregor have
developed a following through relentless touring, solid songwriting
and amiable attitudes. But their steady climb to success can also
be attributed to their past identity as a college band, a label
they are slowly shedding as their ambitious goals start to become
reality. The band, known for its jazzy grooves, rock
‘n’ roll energy and improvisational style, have a major
label debut awaiting release Aug. 3.
“(Our crowds) just kept growing and growing, and we just
kind of knew that something was going on,” Carlberg said.
“We would go up to San Francisco and our following up there
would be bigger and bigger each time we played, and then we’d
come back down to L.A., and people from UCLA would come, bringing
their younger brothers and sisters.”
While it’s easy for a band in a small-town college campus
to build a loyal fan base, Pseudopod was able to do so within the
music-saturated behemoth of Los Angeles. It’s ability to
carve out a distinct role and following is a testament to the young
band.
The band members have been college graduates for about two years
now. Grant and McGregor, who had been playing together since the
eighth grade, met Fox and formed a funk cover band. At Westwood
Brew Co., they met Carlberg, who was performing
solo-singer-songwriter gigs at the popular hangout.
Soon after, the band was packing venues. As students, they
filled Westwood Brew Co. enough to prompt a visit by the fire
department, performed with various members in the UCLA jazz studies
program and even played the halftime show at a UCLA football game
with marching band and a specially choreographed cheerleader
show.
From an outsider’s perspective, one of their biggest leaps
came during their college years when they won a Battle of the Bands
competition sponsored by Rollingstone.com. They competed with
musical acts from schools all over the nation at the Fillmore in
San Francisco in front of a panel of judges. Pseudopod took home
first place and enough money to fund “Rest Assured,”
the demo that would land them a deal with Interscope Records.
“At that time that was the greatest thing that had
happened to us. But in retrospect we look back on that as yet
another step. Everything that’s happened to us now “¦
are greater successes than achieving that “˜Best College
Band’ name, main reason being that we don’t see
ourselves as college kids anymore,” McGregor said.
Still the band members agree that their musical style remains
particularly compatible to the college crowd. Songs can stretch to
more than 10 minutes, and change from show to show. This style led
to a fervent following, best exemplified by a group of music-lovers
in Virginia who coordinate a bootlegging network of the
band’s spontaneous live shows.
Their upcoming self-titled album, is a spirited release that
captures an energy that the band developed after years on the road.
Songs like “Lackadaisical” clock in at more than nine
minutes. But at the same time, a number of tracks sound primed and
ready for radio play.
“Of a lot of the jazz and really improvisational bands
that I love, the thing that I get sick of is that it’s always
endless improvisation and jamming.” Grant said.
“It’s awesome, it’s mind-boggling, but when
I’m watching a band like that I wish sometimes they could
play a 3-minute pop song that’s catchy and that you can dance
to.”
In addition to promoting their new album, the band is taking
advantage of its growing popularity to bolster support for modest
political reforms. On their current Jeep World Outside tour, which
is taking them on the road with artists like Sheryl Crow and Ziggy
Marley, the band is endorsing Prop. 52, which would allow citizens
to register to vote on Election Day provided they supply proper
identification.
“We’re not the most political guys in the world, and
this isn’t something that’s huge, like what
Bono’s going after,” Carlberg said. “If
there’s ever something where we’re at a big enough
status where we can be heard, I’d love to hop on
board.”
It’s a transitional time for the band members, who are
alternating between club dates and supporting dates with marquee
names, and it’s becoming harder to ignore the band’s
potential to get even larger. After all, they’re not college
kids anymore “”mdash; they have bigger stories to tell.
“We’ve worked hard for it, and it’s
gratifying,” McGregor said. “We had this show with
Blues Traveler at Red Rocks, where John Popper came and sat in with
us during our set. After we were done, we all looked at each other
and went, “˜What the hell just happened?’ I mean, this
is the guy you grew up listening to and went to concerts to go see,
and were lucky if you got the second or third row. The next thing
you know, he’s jamming with you.”
Pseudopod plays at the Viper Room Aug. 3. 8852 Sunset Blvd., Los
Angeles. 21 and over.