The HT&E Interview - ALO

"They can improvise and jam as good as anyone I've ever seen. But they got these songs that really stick in your head as well." Says Jack Johnson of Californian quartet ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra). With a sound that draws from the sun-soaked seventies and infuses jazz, R&B and soul sensibilities, ALO is the jam band you wish you could have booked for your last pool party.

Effortless gliding grooves and a healthy dose of quirky charm make for the perfect blissed out aural experience with sets that can sooth and rock in equal measure. No surprise then that ALO forms part of the placid posse that make up the aforementioned Mr Johnson's Brushfire Records label.

Stand-out musicians in their own right, the band consists of vocalist and keyboard player Zach Gill, bassist Steve Adams, guitarist Dan Lebowitz and drummer David Brogan. The list doesn't do the band or individuals enough credit however with many different co-conspirators filtering in and out since the band's conception in Santa Barbara (including five-piece brass section The Free Range Horns) and each member multi-tasking when it comes to their roles, instruments and songwriting duties.

Two studio albums and a handful of EPs into ALO's evolution, HT&E caught up with founding members Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz and Zach Gill to help unravel the story behind one of the west coast's most intriguing ensembles.

HT&E: How do you succinctly define your sound?

DL: Succinctly speaking, we are a rock and roll band that likes to experiment and spread joy.

ZG: Bohemian Jam Pop

HT&E: Musical experimentation seems to be your thing. What new avenues are you keen to explore?

DL: With Roses and Clover, we scratched the surface of our group composition skills. Specifically, recording our instrumental explorations and then crafting them into songs with words and melody. I'd like to explore that some more.

ZG: To be in a band that functions like ALO, where everyone has equal say, is always going to be a bit of an experiment. It happens very naturally. The last few years we have put some musical parameters on ALO, I am excited about the idea of tweaking some of those parameters in certain areas and seeing what happens.

"Our name has been misinterpreted many times, sometimes mistaken for an animal rights advocacy group and sometimes mispronounced to be AOL"

HT&E: Has your name ever caused you any problems?

DL: Depends how you look at it. It has definitely caused controversy. A little of that never hurt anyone though.

ZG: Our name has been misinterpreted many times, sometimes mistaken for an animal rights advocacy group and sometimes mispronounced to be AOL (America on Line). It's hard to say if this has ever caused us real problems. It has definitely raised a few eye brows and stirred a little controversy here and there, although I am not sure that is a bad thing.

HT&E: How did it come about?

ZG: Band names are a funny thing, a bunch of musicians get together and start making music together and pretty soon it comes time to name the project. I have been in bands with most of the guys in ALO for many years, we would change our band name every time we got into a new style of music or a member left. I don't think any of us expected that when we chose the Animal Liberation Orchestra that we would keep it for all that long. But for some reason that one stuck, of course now I think most people call us by ALO. When we chose the name I think it really reflected our musical sense of adventure. We had just finished up with our university music studies and we were searching for a way to merge our academic training with our sense of humor, music and lifestyle. The original line up, called the Animal Liberation Orchestra and the Free Range horns, featured a five piece brass section as well as drums, keyboards, guitar and bass. The original drummer was our college Jazz band professor. So we really did have this sort of quirky, orchestral rock band thing going.

DL: We were college students enchanted by satire.

HT&E: You often play with Jack Johnson and notably collaborated on Girl I Wanna Lay You Down. Any hook ups planned for the future?

DL: There are always ideas on the table. We all like to talk music and hang, and that is where the best colaborarions seem to come from.

ZG: We are in close contact all the time, I am sure there will be some exciting collaborations in the near future

ALO and Jack Johnson on stage. Image courtesy of randylane via Flickr

HT&E: You're all involved with solo projects. Does this mean the next album is on hold?

ZG: We decided to take a good part of the year off for people to explore other musical endeavors and to give the ALO chemistry a little break. So far it's been really great, all the members have been having lots of new successes in lots of different realms, and I think when ALO returns to the studio some time in 2009, theses new experiences will help to inspire and re ignite the flame of inspiration. Its kind of like when you take a year off from planting crops in a field, so that the soil can regenerate itself. This is what we have been doing

DL: Actually, we're already discussing ideas for it. At the moment we are all putting a lot of energy into our solo projects, which feels really good, because over the past few years there has been no time for it. The next ALO album isn't too far off though. I think that we all like to wear many hats, be it the leader hat, the collective hat, even the side man hat.

"The kid was simultaneously laughing and crying as he clung to the neck of Steve's bass. Far out indeed!"

HT&E: What's the strangest thing to have ever happened to you on tour?

ZG: Everything about touring is strange, you loose yourself, you find yourself.

DL: Once, while playing a festival set, a young man who was clearly tripping on acid climbed up on stage, walked over to our bass player Steve, and tried to take his instrument. All of this happened in the middle of a song! The kid was simultaneously laughing and crying as he clung to the neck of Steve's bass. Far out indeed!

HT&E: Do you have a favourite memory from ALO's history so far?

DL: When we were 14 years old, we had this jam in Zach's parents basement. I've never been the same since.

ZG: there are so many good ones I would never be able to choose just one, sometimes I like to think about the old days, when all five of us would sleep in the same hotel room, like a giant slumber party. At the time we all complained about this or that, but now it sounds like fun.

HT&E: Which other artists are you interested in working with?

DL: I'd like to work with Amos Lee. I just discovered him and think he's fantastic. Of course, Paul Simon and B.B. King are living legends that I admire.

ZG: Off the top of my head right at this moment...Ben Folds, Bjork and the Flaming Lips. maybe we could write a musical/rock opera together?

HT&E: Which label would you prefer, cult classics or chart toppers?

DL: Cult Classic!

ZG: I could be happy with either, depending on how big the cult was or how high the chart was topped. Somewhere between the two might be perfect for me.

Find out more at www.alomusic.com
Download Roses & Clover on iTunes HERE

Watch ALO perform Girl I Wanna Lay You Down with Jack Johnson

Comments

[Erin]

I saw ALO at the BellyUp Tavern in San Diego and they were amazing. They played the longest show I've ever been to and it's refreshing to hear music that makes you happy! Great interview.

[Ben (HT&E)]

Hey Erin, thanks for the feedback. We're big fans of ALO and I'm glad you enjoyed their show and the interview on HT&E.

Best wishes,

Ben - HT&E