Photo by David Gross
You bill yourselves as “America’s favorite
two-man power trio”…how does that work?!? Additionally, and probably more
germane to our readers, how did you come together and decide upon such a
minimalist set-up?
That description,
“America’s favorite two-man power trio” was given to us by a local radio DJ Big
Dave on KRUSH 95.9 where we live in Sonoma County. It came about because when
we would play a show, people would always say that it sounded like there were
more than two people on stage. I use a small amp and Matt plays just one drum
standing up. We have a small set up on stage yet we still achieve a big
sound. Added to this, we do have an
honorary third member in longtime friend and engineer Karl Derfler who has done
all of our recordings and many live gigs - so because of him, we really are a
two man power trio!
Matt and I had
played music together in the nineties in a band called Pawpawblowtorch. After that band broke up, we continued as
friends but we were not hanging out so much since he lived a half hour’s drive
further up north. We both live in Sonoma
County about 50 miles north of San Francisco. I had the idea to start playing
music again just to give us a reason to hang out. I hadn’t been a guitar player in a band - I
had always been a bass player, but i had found an old guitar amp at a garage
sale so I went ahead and bought a beater guitar and called him up. Matt didn’t
want to haul around his drums anymore and we thought maybe he might play a
cocktail drum kit. We got together and while he was busy figuring out how to
rock out on one drum while standing up, I was messing around with different
tunings to find a way to get a bigger sound for our simple set up. While we
were doing this we sort of developed our sound.
Your debut record covers quite the gamut of
covers, ranging from Lieber and Stoller to the Stooges and T-Rex and displays
not only great taste but also a very solid map of rock’s “back alleys”. What makes a song stand out as something
that would benefit from the “HUGElarge” treatment?
Thanks, we have a
pretty broad and diverse taste in music. Because we were getting together just
to have fun, it was just easier to start playing covers of songs we really
enjoyed listening to when we were first getting into music. I guess the “back
alleys” you mentioned have always been appealing to us. We have played together
for quite a while now and have played lots of songs that sometimes, for one
reason or another, we are not able to make work for our style - because we felt
something was missing, or something more
was needed to pull it off. One exception to that was when we tried 96 Tears -
the Farfisa organ intro has such a big impact on the overall sound that it was
a challenge for us to get it to work. We
gave it a bit of a psycho edge because the lyrics sort of beg for it, and found
that audiences dug it.
You’ve joined the illustrious ranks of
bands like Iron Maiden and Guided By Voices by having a craft beer named after
you (the HUGElarge Sound Czech Pilsner from Russian River Brewing Company) –
how did that come about?
I’m going to let
Vinnie Cilurzo the brewer himself answer that if that’s okay? Vinnie: “The first time I saw HUGElarge was
at our pub for a multi band show we did early on. Instantly they became
one of my favorite bands and still are to this day. Shortly after that
show they played again at our brewpub and as I was watching them I thought to
myself that I should make a beer in their honor. I immediately thought of
a classic Pilsner. My thinking was that a Pilsner can be every bit as
hoppy and flavorful as an IPA if done right. Additionally watching Bob
and Matt play I thought how can two guys make so much great sound. This
is why I compared them to a Pilsner. When a Pilsner is done right you think the
same thing, you look at this light straw colored beer and say there is no way
this beer is full of flavor. But when done right a Pilsner is every bit
as flavorful and thus HUGElarge Sound Czech Pils was born. We've made it
a few times, all in conjunction with shows at the pub."
To show our
gratitude, we wrote a song for him appropriately called, “Vinnie’s Beer”. It is
our new single and is available as a download only.
You are both longtime session players –
what is your most memorable recording session or touring experience?
It’s true that we
have been in tons of recording sessions with various bands over many years, but
we are not session players (hired
guns) so to speak. And to be honest, recording sessions are not exactly an
exciting thing to talk about, well, maybe Michael Bloomfield talking about
sneaking into a session and ending up playing on Dylan’s “Like A Rolling
Stone”. But for most, sessions usually
start enthusiastically but can quickly become tedious affairs, depending how
many players are involved. We really
enjoyed the sessions for this album. Karl and I have been close friends for
many years and so I am extremely comfortable working with him. These sessions
were quick and not overthought. We always have a great time working
together. Matt and I have rarely had to
do more than a couple of takes of anything that was recorded.
Touring is a
different story and I’m sorry that Matt isn’t around to chime in because he was
a founding member of San Francisco’s American Music Club who were considered an early influence on post-rock. He quit the band in the middle of one of
their tours in Europe! For me, picking one most memorable touring experience is
difficult because it will usually about the different people I have met and
remained friends with along the way. I do remember playing The Troubadour in
L.A. and sitting on the sofa in the private room upstairs and reflecting on all
the great artists who sat on that sofa - Nina Simone, Richard Pryor, Elton
John, who made his U.S. debut there, Joni Mitchell made her debut there, Neil
Young… Tom Waits was discovered there during the amateur nights and Lenny Bruce
was arrested there!
You leave a very distant sonic stamp on the
songs you cover. Let’s say you’ve been given the opportunity to have one of
your own compositions covered by an artist you admire – who and why?
Ty Segall is one
such artist. We dig his albums and think
he has an amazing ability to capture the sound and vibe of bands from the
original garage era.
Boxers, briefs, or balls-out?
Wait, you didn’t
ask Henry Rollins that.
What’s on tap for the band next?
We just played a
show at the Russian River Brewing Co. to celebrate the newest release of
HUGElarge Sound Czech Pilsner. And we will soon be joining Karl to record a
track for a compilation record to be released later in 2016. And we will continue getting together to play
and just to hang out. Thanks!
