With melodies comparable to the sounds of traditional Bedouin music found in the likes of Jordan and throughout the Middle East, Consider the Source takes you on a musical journey. Drawing influences from a wide range of musical styles and cultural traditions, their unique breed of progressive rock, funk-jazz has been dubbed “Sci-Fi Middle Eastern Fusion.” Consider the Source stems from New York City and they have reached worldly heights, despite being a local band. Their music leads the listener on a holistic-mental, emotional, and physical journey. Consider the Source tours vigorously, both nationally and internationally, and have garnered avid followers everywhere from California to Israel.
The bands choice of instruments contributes to their unique sounds, as they differ from those often played in the United States. Sounds that are organically groovy with a hint of other-world synthesis. CTS achieves this “Sci-Fi” sound by combining acoustic instruments and digital amplification
The band is comprised of John Ferrara who plays the 4 and 5 string Fodera Monarch basses with the Hartke 410 Hydrive and the Hartke LH1000 for amplification and for acoustic jams on the Kala U-bass, Gold Tone Bass Banjo, Gabriel Marin who plays a custom double neck fretless, fretted guitar with a synth and also plays the tambour (a drum), dutar, dombra, baglama saz (all in the lute family). Meanwhile, Jeff Mann takes the lead on percussion with Yamaha drums, Ludwig snares, a DW side snare, Zildijan cymbals, Roland SPD-SX and other assorted percussion instruments.
The band formed in 2004 and has toured the U.S. from coast to coast as well as internationally in Europe and the Middle East. The band has played with artists including Victor Wooten, Wyclef Jean, Wayne Krantz, Andy Statman, King Crimson Projekt, Matt Darriau (Paradox Trio), Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), Dumpstaphunk, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, George Porter Jr., Keller Williams, Panzerballet (Germany), Freak Kitchen (Sweden), Eatliz (Israel), Morglbl (France), among many others. The trio has also performed at several festivals, including Catskill Chill, Burning Man, the NYC Fretless Guitar Festival, The Big Up, Aura Music and Arts Festival, Sun Seekers Ball (Canada), Jazz Fest (New Orleans), Rootwire, and the NYC Gypsy Festival.
Not only is the band talented as a collaborative trio, but each musician is exceptional in his own right. Gabriel Marin has been called “the guided light for his generation of six stringers” as he rips his fretless, double-neck guitar, making the melodic elements as well as the gut-wrenching riffs seem almost effortless. Having a background in both European and Indian classical music and a natural talent for metal and jazz, Marin brings much to the table. Ferrara’s knack for slapping the bass and incorporating Indian rhythms using a minimalistic style brings an earthiness to the music, and his percussive rhythms allow listeners to discover vast new lands without ever foregoing the deep rhythmic bass drops. The final ingredient lies in the rhythmic architecture of Mann’s culturally diverse percussion ensemble, influenced by African and Balkan beats with a hint of prog-metal.
Consider the Source likes to use jam and improvisation on the stage, in order to convey its story to the audience-but never the same story twice! This band is truly able to bring their listeners on a musical expedition beyond their wildest dreams. The band recently released its newest album, “F**k It, We’ll Do It Live, Volume 2”. This 9-track recording will be the first that officially features the band’s new drummer, Jeff Mann, and includes core members Gabriel Marin on guitar and John Ferrara on bass.
The album was officially released on Tuesday, October 22nd, and fans swarmed in for the pre-release at the band’s performances in Buffalo and Albany, NY on October 18th and 19th. A version of the new release is also available for digital download on the band’s website, www.considerthesourcemusic.com.
The Music Vibes was given the opportunity to ask the band a few questions about their new album, instrumentation, music styles and cultural, experiential, as well as musician influences:
The Music Vibes: Considering that music is one of the highest forms of self-expression, is your multicultural sound reflective of your own lives and experiences?
Gabriel: Being from NYC is a huge influence on our sound and lives in general. You are surrounded 24 hours a day with every culture, food and music. Growing up like that, by a young age things from other cultures don’t seem “foreign” — they are just part of life.
How so?
John: We pull inspiration from a lot of different places, multi-culturally as well as from many different genres. I think every aspect of our sound is reflective of the varied experiences we’ve each had.
Is there any particular travel or familial influence?
Gabriel: When I was younger I studied music in India. Also, when we are not on tour I get to be around and play with a lot of amazing Sufi singers from Turkey and Iran, which has had a huge impact on my playing.
John: Nah, I’m a pale white dude from Queens J. But I think we all bond over the fact that the world is full of very different and very inspiring kinds of music.
What was the least expected thing that you have ever seen at one of your shows?
Jeff: My Grandma in Israel!
John: Jeff’s Grandma in Israel.
Gabriel: My eyes are closed most of the time, so I’ve missed all the crazy things that have happened like people getting arrested or naked woman.
What led the band to its particular choice of instrumentation, especially some of the international drums and instruments from the lute family?
Gabriel: For a long time I focused only on bringing out all the Eastern sounds on my guitar, learning all the techniques and phrasing tools from other, often non-string instruments. But then a few years ago, I heard the Dutar played in the Uyghur style and the Sufi Tanbour, instruments which I had listened to for a long time, but all of a sudden I felt compelled to learn a different instrument. Like I had dreams that I was playing Dutar. And, thank God, these central Asian lutes made a lot of sense to me and I was able to jump in quick. So as of now, in our live set I’ve been breaking out the Dombra, Dutar and Baglama Saz.
Jeff: Instruments from around the world have always been a part of the band, so when I joined I wanted to make sure to continue to integrate that element. I have some bells from India on my main setup as well as a doumbek or djembe drum. I use them sparingly in our electric sets, but during our acoustic performances they are showcased.
The Music Vibes: Equipment and instruments often have a significant influence on the resulting sound. As CTS incorporates several unique instruments native to the Middle East, what would you like fans to consider about the source of the sounds?
John: We also try to find ways to play western instruments in a way to make them sound like they are from other cultures. For instance, Gabe can make an acoustic guitar sound like it belongs in an Indian context. I play a ukelele bass in some songs which by no means is a traditional instrument in any culture, but I try to play it in ways that would make it work in the context of a middle eastern song. Jeff uses a hybrid drum set comprised of a bass drum, snare, doumbek and djembe. I think a huge part of our sound is not just the instrument but how you approach the instrument.
Gabriel: John’s right. It’s far more about the way an instrument is played, the intention and inflections. For example, some of our most straight forward Western songwriting takes place on foreign instruments, where as the most ethnic playing is done on our normal gear.
What bands and/or artists would you say have had the most influence over your music?
Jeff: ELP, Frank Zappa, Liquid Tension Experiment, Led Zeppelin, Mr. Bungle, Pantera, Panzerballett. Also lots of jazz and other improvisational music.
John: Chick Corea, Tom Waits, Bach, The Bad Plus, Tool, Pantera, Radiohead, Jonas Hellborg, Elliot Smith, Meshuggah, Dave Holland and probably my dad most of all.
Gabriel: John Coltrane, Claude Debussy, John Mclaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, S Balachander, David Krakaur, Yuri Yunakov, Buddhadev Das Gupta, Fredrick Chopin, The Bad Plus, Maurice Ravel, David S Ware, Dave Fiucznyski and so many more.
If you could perform at any recorded event in history, which would it be?
Jeff: World Cup 94′ playing drums in the stands.
John: In Socrates’s prison cell as he drank the poison. (mind blown!)
Gabriel: Big Bang. That would have sounded pretty fresh.
Gabriel, what is the background on your choice of playing the double neck guitar?
Gabriel: It came out of need more than anything else. The fretless neck for the more Eastern or vocal sounds, and the bottom neck for the more normal guitar stuff. But as I grew on the instrument it turned out that I would end up doing tons of foreign stuff on the fretted neck, and using the fretless neck for a lot of classical style playing. I had Midi capabilities built into the guitar, but was scared away from Midi at first because it seemed so hard. But after a few years I embraced the Midi sounds, and after taming it, it’s become a big part of my sound. Since most of my playing style is derived from non-guitar instruments, the capability to sound like those instruments too is very nice.
Frets or fretless?
Gabriel: Like to choose between the two? A fretted with a whammy bar I guess, then I could still get close to the pitch flexibility I need. With a fretless, you do lose some things that make a guitar great like the feeling of bending, or the fact that frets make it way easier to play. But I really love the balance. When I first started finding my voice on the fretless I thought about maybe just playing a fretless, but I like to have the options to express what I want, when I want in a wide range of voices.
What was the biggest influence in recording the new album, “F**k It, We’ll Do It Live, Volume 2” as the sequel to your first live volume, as opposed to recording a studio album?
All: Actually, we decided to do both. For our live album series, we will be releasing another volume each year to document the progression of our live performance. We wanted to make sure to put one out in 2013 so we released that first. Recording a studio album is a much longer process, so we wont have the album done until 2014. There’s a ton of new material we’ve been working on and it’s really exciting to be putting together an album to release it all at once.
What is it about instrumental based music that translates from artist to fan in its own unspoken way?
Jeff: Without words, there are no specifics so there’s a general feeling the music gives. It’s kind of up to each person to have their own interpretation and connection to the music. Also, words are great but they can also be a crutch. With music you can say the unsayable.
John: I agree with Jeff. We think symbolically and words are just symbols for ideas. They have connotations which differ anywhere from slightly to vastly from person to person. I think when you see a great musician playing their instrument without any lyrical content it cuts through in a different way. You can go to a jazz show and feel the collective emotion of the room. I think that’s what drew me to it from a young age.
Gabriel: Words put a definite meaning on a song. When we write a song, we put tons of emotion into it. But then every night we can play the song with how we are feeling that very moment, not how you felt those months or years ago when you wrote that song. I think that’s why there is such a link between instrumental music and spiritual things, be it in performer or listener. It allows you to grow and find new things about yourself. Lyrics are mostly written with “I” or “me” as the subject, which is why people can sing along and why vocal music will always be more popular with the masses. But when you take out the thing that makes it specific to the singer, the music can hit everyone in a different way and allow each listener to perceive their own feelings or thoughts about what the sounds mean to them.
Do not miss this unique instrumental experience that is Consider the Source. A fusion of jazz and progressive rock with funk, heavy metal and Middle Eastern classical and folk music that some describe as an “Indo-Eastern aural awakening.” The eclectic diversity and passion that characterize the band’s live performances truly make it a concert experience not to miss out on! Buffalo News has described the band saying, “Pulling off music that is this complex is akin to walking a tightrope in high winds. Making all of it groove, move and breathe organically is an even more-daunting challenge, but all through Friday’s show, CTS did just that. Rarely is music this progressive so . . . well, sexy and exotic are the words that come to mind. Music for the brain and the body, then. ”
Prepare to be musically enlightened and get your copy of “F**K It, We’ll Do It Live, Volume 2”!
Catch up with The Music Vibes at Consider the Source’s performance at the 8×10 in Baltimore, MD on November 13th or check out the band at another one of their upcoming tour dates:
Check out this video of Consider the Source playing live at Krog Jam in Atlanta, GA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMq5HL32tbs
FALL OF SOURCERY 2013:
11/08/13 PROVIDENCE, RI THE SPOT UNDERGROUND
11/09/13 NORTHAMPTON, MA PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
11/13/13 BALTIMORE, MD 8×10
11/14/13 WILMINGTON, NC ORTON’S
11/15/13 ASHEVILLE, NC ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL
11/16/13 GREENSBORO, NC THE BLIND TIGER
11/20/13 ATHENS, GA THE GEORGIA THEATRE
11/21/13 ATLANTA, GA TERMINAL WEST
11/27/13 SAN MARCOS, TX TAXI’S PIANOBAR
11/29/13 AUSTIN, TX THE GRINDHOUSE
11/30/13 DENTON, TX HAILEY’S CLUB
12/04/13 LAKE CHARLES, LA LUNA LIVE
12/06/13 DUNEDIN, FL DUNEDIN BREWERY
12/07/13 GAINESVILLE, FL THE JAM: GAINESVILLE
12/10/13 BOCA RATON, FL THE FUNKY BISCUIT
12/11/13 WWW.LIVEFROMAURA.COM LIVE FROM AURA
12/12/13 JACKSONVILLE, FL 1904 MUSIC HALL
12/13/13 SAVANNAH, GA THE WORMHOLE
12/14/13 FAYETTEVILLE, NC THE ROCK SHOP
12/17/13 CHARLESTON, SC THE CHARLESTON POUR HOUSE
12/18/13 CHARLOTTE, NC THE EVENING MUSE
12/19/13 RALEIGH, NC SOUTHLAND BALLROOM
12/20/13 WAYNESBORO, VA THE HOT SPOT
12/21/13 NYACK, NY OLIVE’S
12/31/13 WORCESTER, MA WORCESTER PALLADIUM
Preview by Rebecca Wolfe
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