Art Smart Anatomy Work To Solidify Spot Among CO Jam Scene’s Finest

Tim Wenger | February 1, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Tim Wenger

Art Smart Anatomy has been working hard to make a name for themselves in Colorado’s jam scene. With a style that draws a thin line between trippy jam-band rock and electronic dub, the guys have found their niche and now look to spread their blanket around music lovers nation-wide. CMB caught up with the band and got the scoop on their formation, practice routines, and take on CO’s jam scene.

CMB: Art Smart Anatomy spent a year rehearsing, jamming and getting acquainted with one another before ever play a live show… Why?

ASA: With a new band, there is often pressure to gig immediately… And it’s understandable. New bands get really fired up to get their name out there and start showing people what they’re made of. But a lot of the time they don’t even know what they’re made of yet. Personally, we’ve been there before and quite frankly, it’s an uncomfortable, potentially embarrassing experience if you’re not ready for it. For us, we wanted to build something tangible. Something that was our own. Brian and Eric had played in bands in the past so they’ve had that opportunity. But even so, it’s building and forming the band into a cohesive unit that, together, is ready for anything. So we just jammed and played tunes risk-free which afforded us that insight. By the time we came out of our rehearsal space we knew each other well enough musically to overcome any of those early obstacles… On another, potentially accidental level, it allowed our personalities to manifest within the music itself.

CMB: What can people expect when witnessing an ASA show?

ASA: We like to keep the audience guessing, in suspense. The most important thing is the music, of course. But we like to bring in outside factors to the unexpected too… Audience participation, theatrics, videos, characters, samples, etc. If we told you too much more it wouldn’t be a surprise. But most of all we just want to share our brand of music with people and hope that they enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoy playing it.

CMB: How do your songs come to be?

ASA: Who knows, really? Generally speaking, they form from our jams. We like to drink whiskey and just play. No talking – just drink and play. During that first year of musical exploration, we learned to improvise in a way that is almost like on-the-spot composition. And since we record everything we do, we’re able to go back and pick some of the choice parts and embellish on them. Sometimes that first improv yields several sections, other times we have to sit down and write things out a little more. Eric and Nate also write a lot of music for the band. When that happens, a full tune is usually brought to rehearsal. Once everybody learns the tune at its core, everybody starts throwing in their pieces and their flare to make it a bit more interesting and personal.

CMB: Do you feel that the jam scene in CO is at a peak, or still on the rise?

ASA: Colorado’s music scene is on the rise – not just the jam scene. I think that the jam scene is changing a bit but Colorado in general is thriving. The music scene is bustling, marijuana was just legalized giving the economy a nice boost, the weather is great, the mountains are beautiful and active, our sports teams are winning and our women are beautiful. Who could ask for more? I think Colorado and its music are on a major upswing. Our only concern is that the machines will rise and take over the music industry… We’re fighting for the humans and their music-making abilities.

CMB: How did you guys come to form?

ASA: Eric and Brian knew each other from when they were like 13 and playing in a grunge band together. Several years later, Eric was forming “Chinese Fingertrap” (Eric was on keyboards in that band) and recruited Brian for bass duties. CFT did pretty well around the midwest and broke up at what was probably the height of their popularity. Keeping bands together isn’t easy which is why the idea of a trio was so appealing. So after the disintegration of CFT, Brian moved to Denver and went back to school. But Nate, who was already in Denver playing with The Tickle Mafia, didn’t meet Brian until Eric moved to town and forced them to be friends… Eric saw Nate playing at an open jazz jam and the trio was born.

CMB: Where can we find your music?

ASA: We’re up on all of the usual social media sites: Facebook, ReverbNation, Soundcloud, YouTube. There are also links up on COjam: The Colorado Jam Scene’s website, cojamonline.net, to our music. We’ve worked side by side with COjam for a while now and it’s proven to be an integral part of our booking and promotions.

CMB: What are some of the big inspirations for the band as far as song writing, and in choosing sound bites?

ASA: We’ve all got our own inspirations… I don’t think any of us really sit down and think about how to bring those inspirations into our compositions. Those inspirations are ingrained into our mind and souls – into who we are as people and as musicians. We write music that is fun to play and that we would otherwise want to listen to. A song should have certain qualities to it… It should invoke emotion on some level. It should move and take you places. It should be sincere and it shouldn’t be forced. We also like to make music that is complex yet danceable. As far as they sound bytes, it’s probably best not to investigate the inner workings of Eric’s mind…

Online: artsmartanatomy.com