What is an average Pink Talking Fish show like? You just said that you’ve got interesting song transitions? Are you going to do the mash up thing or is it going to be straight covers, one after the other? How do you plan on doing things?
It’s a mix. It’s a nice mix. Sometimes there’s mash ups but then, for example, we were just in rehearsal yesterday and going over a mash up that had “Makisupa Policeman” and Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” in there. And part of “Brain Damage” is reggae and part of it is the classic style of it. That’s the classic mashup style. Those are rare though. Another thing we did was a “Mike’s Song” into “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” into “Once In A Lifetime” into “Weekapaug Groove.” So it’s just a nice combination there. Then sometimes they’re just inserted well within each other, like the “Slippery People” with “Sand” in it back into “Slippery People.” We did a nice arrangement where we wrote out transitional chords for “Another Brick In The Wall” with “Psycho Killer” in the middle of it and then back into “Another Brick in the Wall.” And then sometimes we’ll do things where just the grooves transition just from one song to another like the end of “Money” has the shuffle that can move right into the Talking Head’s “Swamp” and that’s great. A lot of it will come out of improvisation as well. There’s one track that’s up on our website where it’s “Young Lust,” and we do a jam out of it and a tempo rise into “Tube.” And it’s fantastic.
You can expect at the show a variety of combinations. It’s not just a one trick pony. There’s a lot of different ways to connect these songs and we’re not just doing one style of connection. We’re really digging into set lists, to transitions, to combinations and making this something that’s interesting and exciting for the fans. That’s the whole purpose of this. I’m not interested in just going out there and just playing cover tunes to play cover tunes. This is really something new and something different in the tribute genre of taking a combination of bands and doing something different with them so that the band itself is its own entity.
Are there plans to continue this project beyond the current tour and make this more your central project?
Absolutely. After playing our first show together, I just knew that this was something that the jam scene will love, and I want to get this out there to as many people as possible. This isn’t a substitute for Particle by any means. This is me and the changes of my life and being able to perform this music on a national level, but on my own scheduling terms that are good for my family and its great too. It works out well because a lot of the members of the band are in other groups as well, so we are not going to be going out and doing a four-week plus tour. We are going to be out there and we are going to be touring on a capacity that’s still going to get out there to the country, but it’s going to be doing in just a different sort of way. The whole hybrid tribute fusion—there’s a lot that can be done with this. Already festivals are latching onto this project. You know being able to have these three bands all tied into one with a festival that has primarily original music, this is a perfect tribute group to add to the mix because it covers a lot of ground. So a lot of festivals are really enjoying this and we’re looking forward to creating our own events as well with this and doing some unique things. It’s really an opportunity to do something among the tribute world that is just slightly different. I feel like we’re in the process of paving the way to something that is fresh and new within the jam scene and a genre that has some unique opportunities that haven’t been done before.
Beyond Pink Talking Fish, are there any other post-Particle projects on the horizon?
Yes. There’s a group that I formed that’s actually debuting next month. It’s more of an electro dance type of project that I’m debuting in New England here and it’s called Electric England. It is bass, drums and two keyboards. This is going to be real fun. It is sort of a New England super group. It’s me on bass and Aaron Katz from Percy Hill is on the drums. And I’m really excited to play with Aaron. He’s a fantastic drummer and he’s really ready to get out there and get things going. It’s been a little while since he’s been out in the scene and he’s jazzed up about it. Also, Steve Learson from The Indobox is going to playing and Mike McCarthy from Wobblesauce. Those are the two keyboard players. Those guys are both fantastic electronic keyboard players and this is a concept of bass, drums and two keys that I’ve just been wanting to do for a little while and messed around a little bit with it in Kansas City. I think that this line up is going to do some real nice things, just really getting into the electro dance thing and getting that going. So I think we’re going to be having some fun out here in the New England area and we’ll see where it goes on with that as well. I also have a lot of songs through the years that I’ve written that weren’t necessarily good for Particle and they were more on a vocal-oriented rock capacity that I’m not rushing out, but I’m going to tailor and then wind up recording down the road and playing out. I don’t really know what that’s going to be yet, but I have some real great songs that I’m excited to blossom.
Well that’s all I’ve got for you. Is there anything else you want to talk about?
The last thing I’ll say is it’s really interesting coming from Particle. Once again I can’t stress enough how much love I have for Particle and how much I support what’s happening with it. I’m very, very thankful for all the Particle fans being so supportive and understanding through the journey we’ve had over the years and I think that this is going to be a real good thing. I’m really happy that Steve is getting to go out there and getting to do it and make this happen. Ben Combe is on there too, who has been with the band for a long time. So those guys are really carrying on the torch and I really appreciate that. I’m going to pop in and be involved with it as much as I can. On the other end, Pink Talking Fish is definitely an entity that I have every intention of building properly and making something that the fans of these three groups are truly going to get something unique out of. I’m really excited for the Northeast people, and for the people down at Wanee, to experience this in the next month when we’re hitting all these places. I think there’s going to be some real great excitement happening around it, and I’m just looking forward to the future. I’m very excited.
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