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Taken from The Bulletin (Oct 17, 2019)
Angelo Moore brings Brand New Step to Bend
Fishbone frontman's electro-soul-funk side project plays Volcanic
by Brian McElhiney
Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore, center, fourth from left, will bring his electro-soul-funk side project, The Brand New Step, to Volcanic Theatre Pub on Friday. (Submitted photo) - Bulletin |
Angelo Moore doesn't like to stay in one place musically.
That much is apparent from his main gig as frontman and saxophone player for Los Angeles sextet Fishbone.
Since forming in 1979, the group has melded funk, punk, reggae, ska, heavy metal and more into an immediately recognizable signature sound as heard on albums such as "The Reality of My Surroundings" (1991) or "Chim Chim's Badass Revenge" (1996).
That musical adventurousness has earned admirers and collaborators ranging from Tool and Alice in Chains to Branford Marsalis and George Clinton. Fishbone was part of the Parliament Funkadelic founder's recent farewell tour, which played Oregon Spirit Distillers this summer.
Moore, one of Fishbone's founding members, found time to release a string of solo albums in the late '90s and 2000s, as well as a book of poetry, "Dr. Madd Vibe's Comprehensive Linkology," in 1993. With these projects plus Fishbone's wide-ranging tastes, it might seem Moore has left no stone unturned.
Enter The Brand New Step, an electro-funk-soul collaboration with producer Jim Greer, guitarist Kris Jensen and a rotating cast of musicians including Ween drummer Claude Coleman, Thievery Corporation's Ashish "Hash" Vyas and The Coup's Hassan Hurd, among many others. The group - with Coleman on bass, Hurd on drums and vocalist Yunoka Berry - will make its Bend debut at Volcanic Theatre Pub on Friday.
"For me, it goes to a deeper dimension, as well because I'm with Fishbone, so this is an outside-Fishbone type of venture," Moore said recently while taking a break from rehearsals with Jensen, Greer and Coleman at Greer's studio in San Francisco. "And it's also a brand- new step for me, too. That right there - it's a brand-new step for a new perspective, new lyrics, new musical challenges ... new genres of music and everything, man."
He singled out the group's electronic element specifically.
"We're playing with tracks," he said. "But I like it though. I'm getting there, man. It's taking me a while, and I like it. It's a new - it's definitely a brand-new step for me personally."
Jensen, who writes much of the group's music, agreed.
"Because we can't do Fishbone-style, fast ska, we've done more groove-based - more of a Thievery Corporation-style and electronic," Jensen said. "Bringing that element to Angelo's world is new for him. Everything that we're doing, we're just trying to do something slightly different than he's done."
"I always tell people The Brand New Step's got the disco ball on it," Moore added. "That's the part that I like. I get to wear my bell bottoms and my glitter with this (stuff)."
The Brand New Step began life as a single of the same name, which featured Moore collaborating with Jensen and Greer's production duo, The Rondo Brothers. The three musicians met at a Fishbone show, Moore said.
"Angelo came to the studio and it was like a musical blind date," Jensen said. "And that song, 'Brand New Step,' came out of that session as our first song, and then I think it kind of shocked all three of us. Angelo went back to L.A., and then he was like, 'Man, that was kind of cool.' We just slowly started hanging out more and writing more music."
"Sacrifice" started the band's list of all-star collaborations, with guests including Faith No More's Mike Bordin and rapper Casual. "Centuries of Heat" expanded the list with Coleman, Galactic drummer Stanton Moore, The Coup rapper Boots Riley and more.
Since forming, the band has focused on studio time as opposed to playing live (although in seven years of existence, it has plenty of shows under its belt).
"Fishbone's been around forever and they have a market that works and they're out there," Jensen said. "They've been doing that for so long, that's part of the deal. For Jim and I and Angelo - well, Jim, who's the producer ... he has an amazing studio. So the fact that we have this place that we can come make great music in this state-of-the-art (studio) really helps us."
The band has made good use of Greer's studio, focusing on singles and videos in the last couple of years. "Pendulum Swings," a funky rocker described by Moore as "a song that Trump's foolishness has inspired," dropped last year backed with "Inner City Blues."
Two more songs arrived this year: "Open Your Mind" and the sprawling, psychedelic "Side Trip to Jupiter," which combines Moore's spoken word poetry with a spaced-out chord progression from Jensen.
"I thought it was really out there and a little jazzy, but Angelo really took to it," Jensen said. "I couldn't believe what he wrote to it, and it's kind of become my favorite live song - it really opens up with Angelo's ... horn part."
"(It's a) spoken-word opus that's a full-on story about a romantic venture I had," Moore added. "And it was very bizarre and upside-down, and so I wrote about it."
Moore teased new singles in the pipeline, including a song called "Los Angeles." Jensen said the band will eventually compile these releases into a third studio album.
"It's an adventure," Moore said. "It's forcing me to become more of a musical director than I ever thought I would be: putting the music together with these guys, working with tracks, working with different musicians that have styles that I haven't necessarily worked with."
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