NYC trio Consider the Source defy easy description. If intergalactic beings of pure energy, after initiation into an order of whirling dervishes, built some kind of pan-dimensional booty-shaking engine, powered by psychedelics and abstract math, it’d probably just sound like a CTS tribute band. Drawing from progressive rock, fusion and jazz, with alien sounds soaked in Indian and Middle Eastern styles, CTS blends disparate parts into a striking, utterly original whole. Dubbed “Sci-Fi Middle Eastern Fusion”, the band’s music strikes a rare balance between cerebral and emotional, intellectual and primal. A relentless touring schedule has won the band a fervent following from California to Israel, with fans ranging from jam-band hippies and jazz cats to corpse-painted headbangers and prog geeks.
Formed in 2004, Consider the Source features Gabriel Marin on fretless double-neck guitar, bassist John Ferrara, and drummer/percussionist Jeff Mann. Called “the guiding light for his generation of six-stringers”, Marin channels the mystical fury of McLaughlin and Coltrane into wailing melodies, kaleidoscopic soundscapes and boneshaking riffs. With a background in classical musics both Eurpoean and Indian, and an instinct for avant-jazz and destructive metal, Marin’s hypnotic fusion of styles is ever unpredictable. Ferrara’s propulsive, percussive attack, equally suited to simple grooves and impossible chords, can ground the music or launch it into space. His madcap gumbo of slap bass, Indian rhythms, earthy minimalism and complex tapping constantly pushes into strange new worlds, whilst still dropping thick booty-clap beats. Underneath them lies Mann’s rolling thunder; dense rhythmic architecture built from pure swagger and bounce. Half double-bass prog-metal, half crackle-pop Buddy Rich swing, with African and Balkan swirls, Mann’s muscular, freewheeling polyrhythms are the engine fuel for Consider’s multiversal mischief. Even when not improvising, Consider’s music is always a conversation, a roiling stew of dynamic interplay. Each member of Consider the Source alternately leads and follows, spars and assists; in any single song, alliances are made and broken, bargains struck and divorces finalized.
Touring from coast to coast, as well as Europe and the Middle East, has not only earned the band thousands of fans, but has allowed them to perform with a wide variety of well-known artists, including Victor Wooten, Wayne Krantz, King Crimson Projekt, Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), Wyclef Jean, Andy Statman, Matt Darriau (Paradox Trio), Oteil Burbridge, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Dumpstaphunk, TAUK, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Kung Fu, The Disco Biscuits, Keller Williams, George Porter, Jr., Jeff Sipe, Panzerballet (Germany), Eatliz (Israel), Freak Kitchen (Sweden), Morglbl (France), and many others. They have performed at numerous festivals and events, including Burning Man, Electric Forest, Peach Fest, Gathering of the Vibes, the NYC Fretless Guitar Festival, Catskill Chill, Sun Seekers Ball (Canada), Aura Music & Arts Festival (Florida), Head For The Hills Festival & SXSW (Texas), Rootwire (Ohio), and the NYC Gypsy Festival.
Traversing surf-rock sounds, avant-rock, rhythmic complexities, jazz
improvisations, and folk melodies, Atomic Ape is a musical amalgam of the
utmost rarity. Composer and multi-instrumentalist Jason Schimmel—having
honed his craft in Estradasphere, Secret Chiefs 3, Orange Tulip Conspiracy,
and others—leads this ever-shifting ensemble with energy, melody, layers,
and dynamics as only he can.
Like a soundtrack to an imaginary spy thriller, Atomic Ape offers a journey
to a wild world where prog rock meets exotica, metal, Eastern European
motifs, and avant-garde sensibilities. Heavily orchestrated, odd-metered, and
highly animated, this melodic mutation splices dexterous musicianship with
expert songcraft.
"A slamming slate of metalized surf rock, avant jazz, odd-metered prog
angularities and an exceptionally cold-ass spy noir badness" - LA Times
Website link - http://atomicapeband.com/
Video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftdt2Sdh4kI
Facebook link - https://www.facebook.com/AtomicApeBand/
