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EOTO: A New Kind of Dub-step

March 6, 2011 By marisa Leave a Comment

“San Diego is super special for me, we are ready to dive right in for you guys and rage it Friday and Saturday night,” said Jason Hann of EOTO before their two night run at Winston’s in Ocean Beach this past weekend.

EOTO is a 100% live improvisational electronic, dub-step group that is one of the most successful side projects of the popular jam band, The String Cheese Incident. The group was started by percussionists Michael Travis and Jason Hann in 2006 when String Cheese was on hiatus, and they made their first live appearance at the Sonic Bloom festival in Bellvue, Colorado that May. The idea to move electric was born, of course, through jamming. It began as a way for the two to unwind and have fun after String Cheese rehearsals and eventually progressed into the innovative dub-step phenonemnon that we saw taking over the music scene in Ocean Beach this past weekend. Jason, who lives in California explained, “I would usually stay at Travis’ house after practices in Colorado and we would come home, set up some instruments and just jam…eventually we had the most fun playing electronic stuff and looping different parts. Once we realized that String Cheese would be breaking up we decided to take this thing and go for it. We started at the first Sonic Bloom and eventually began booking about 200 shows a year which just allowed us to get better and better.”

EOTO’s live, improvisational style and use of organic instruments stays true to the jam band roots but lets out electronic reverberations that send the crowd into a rave like, whomping motion. With their unique style and incredible energy, they have certainly found their place in the electronic/dubstep movement that has become so prevalent in music today. When asked if he thought EOTO’s music contributed to any sort of cultural revolution, Hann answered, “Our music is about working toward living together, respecting each other and just letting your freak flag fly and not feeling the pressure of the drama that exists on a day to day basis. EOTO is part of a musical revolution. The technologies we use combined with sites like YouTube and Myspace are allowing young kids to learn and produce music, and they look to band like us to help them learn how to make it.” Even other artists have taken tips from EOTO— after opening for them on a west coast tour, popular electronic artist Mimosa asked Hann about the voice box effect that he used during the show and began using it in his own recordings.

EOTO has toured all over, visiting cities around the country both big and small. They stand out in the electronic genre because they are not simply a DJ layering beats, but musicians playing off of one another’s melodic vibrations. As Hann put it, “It separates us from anything else that is going on in that scene, it’s all super connected. The way that we approach it is that you should be able to rage your face off, close your eyes, bend into the moment and get as deep as you want to get. You know it has a different kind of impact on people that care, people that understand it’s not just someone pushing buttons. It’s really weird seeing a band making noises that some producers and artists spend hours in a studio trying to create.”

It is clear that whether or not fans are aware of the innovative methods being used, they like what they hear. EOTO over sold by 40 tickets their first night at Winston’s and had similar success the second night. Crowds of people, of all ages, flooded into the small venue to see the duo and they were not disappointed. It was a great time for both the musicians and the crowds that danced until almost 2am both nights. EOTO is currently on spring tour, cruising through the southwest the month of March and hitting the east coast in the month of April. The group will also be working with renowned visual artist, Zebbler, later on in the tour who will be adding even more entertainment to the act with his construction of the visuals for the show. They are a talent to keep an eye on through the summer months as well with performances scheduled at festivals like Summer Camp, Wakarusa and recently announced Electric Forest.

Eoto live at Winston's in OB

By: Mackenzie Gilchrist and Marisa Marlowe

Filed Under: Contest, Interviews, USD Radio Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Local Music and Prop 19 with Ryan from Slightly Stoopid

October 26, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Courtesy hypepromos.net

With more than a decade of making music, Slightly Stoopid has gained a large and loyal fan base that embraces the band’s “fusion of acoustic rock and blues with reggae, hip-hop, and punk”.  It’s no surprise that their chill, elusive sound originated not far from USD in Ocean Beach, California. With their last album two years behind them and huge summer tours coming to an end, we can only wonder what’s in store for the band next. Drummer Ryan “Rymo” Moran recently called in to discuss the band’s extensive past, the new album in the works, and even some politics.

You were signed to Skunk Records in 1995 but later started your own record label, Stoopid Records. How did that independence change the process of recording?

Rymo: Surprisingly not that much, we were working with Bradley Nowell and Michael Happoldt, and we still work with them today. Mikey’s a producer and we’ve been working with since way back then—its been both a friendship and partnership, but now we’re footing our own bills and putting our own stamp on the albums.

How did growing up in San Diego influence your music?

R: Well I’ve been here 16 years now, it’s been huge, and I love the lifestyle down here in San Diego. I moved down to go to San Diego State University and fell in love with the sun and surf and skate. Getting here was a dream come true; I always wanted to live down here. It definitely shaped our music; we all pretty much live the same kind of lifestyle, really relaxed.

What local San Diego venues do you like?

R: I love playing at Cricket, but we’ve played most of the rooms in San Diego, like House of Blues, Winston, Tio Leo’s. I just like going out and seeing my friends play in San Diego. This Sunday I’m going to see some friends at Belly Up.

You once said that constantly touring is an important part of what Slightly Stoopid is all about. What do you want your fans to take away from one of your shows?

R: I mean the vibe we kind of bring is you know, let’s party and hang. We don’t take it super seriously; we like to have fun, have a drink or two before we go on stage. I think people connect with us because we’re pretty honest; the way we are on stage is the same as offstage. It’s about playing good music and keeping it real. So many bands jump on the bandwagon, go with whatever is popular at the moment, but what makes us different is that we’ve been the same throughout the years, who we are and how we are.

Your last album, Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid, was released in 2008. Are any plans for a future album in the works?

R: Definitely, there is a lot of stuff in the works. We released our last stuff in 2008, and everything was back to back, we just made one album after another and we just decided that we wanted to cruise and tour. The focus lately has been doing big summer tours, and a couple guys from the band got married and had kids, which kind of has taken the focus off tour and let us take time off and go into the studio. We’ve had a couple weeks off, so we’re focusing on tightening up these recordings by spring or summer next year. Right now we’re leasing a studio down in the Mission Valley area so we can develop a lot of music and record them ourselves. Afterwards we’re going to go back to a legit studio and record them.

The “Legalize It” tour was both a musical collaboration and a means to raise awareness about your partnerships with NORML, Marijuana Policy Project, and Tax Cannabis. As the California Statewide General Election approaches, what do you have to say about prop 19 and the legalization of marijuana?

R: We’re hoping that prop 19 passes for medicinal purposes. We believe it’s a natural thing; there are so many crazy gnarly chemicals being promoted. I see like, three advertisements for drugs everyday and they’re nuts! They have ridiculous side effects, your stomach might fall out, you could cough up blood, all that. Marijuana is a natural plant that grows in the ground and people have always used in as a way to relax and deal with pain. On another level, the income raise from taxing it can help with deficit in California. There’s definitely a need, and people need to overturn the propaganda and old bias. This isn’t something that’s going to make you crazy. People die way more from drunk driving than driving high. This is something that people can use legitimately and safely. When you smoke a joint you just get hungry and giggle, you know? You aren’t going to go kill people when you’re high. Honestly, we just feel that its time for change.

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: , , , , ,