I’ll admit it takes a hell of a lot for a live act to impress me. The musical curmudgeon in me almost always refuses to be won over by an unheard act. So imagine my surprise when I had to pick myself off of the floor of Manhattan’s legendary venue, The Bitter End, this past December when I caught a set from Scratch Track. You’ve heard it here first – Scratch Track is THE band to watch in 2005. If this band is not signed to a major label in the next few months, then I will have lost all faith in the industry.
Mixing equal parts Hip/ Hop, folk, rock and soul; Scratch Track is a most welcome blast of inspiration in a static musical climate. Defying categories at every turn, the band consists of vocalists Will Gray, DJ Lee and acoustic guitarist Jason Hamlin. “Ooh, like Simon and Garfunkle?” Not even close.
While on the surface you hear soulful, harmonized vocal and the aforementioned acoustic guitar, the rhythm section, complete with turntables, is the driving force behind it all. But there is no rhythm section or turntables or rhythmic machinations of any sort – it is all done vocally. Will & DJ simulate all of the above, in real time; one sings the other ‘beatboxes’. Seeing this performed live is astounding, you almost cannot distinguish who is doing what! Their delivery is so ultra-precise, with nary a sour note or off beat to be found. Guitarist Jason Hamlin deserves credit for bring such a wealth of influences, ranging from Led Zeppelin to Radiohead to Tuck Andress to the band’s sound.
As the band is on track to do more than 200 shows this year, go see Scratch Track live; you won’t believe it. And one day you’ll be able to say, “I remember seeing them….”
MusicTAP (Passarelli): How did you arrive at your sound?
Will: Our sound really came from what felt natural to us. As we would get
together and play through different songs that we knew and liked, we
would try to become the whole band – or the whole production. Since
we only had an acoustic guitar as instrumentation, we improvised and
embellished the rest of the tracks with beatbox, and Jason’s
percussive guitar techniques.
DJ: Back when we were in college the 3 of us used to sit around in our
dorm rooms or some random spot on campus and just jam. I mean it
wasn't pre-thought; Jason brought his 6 string and Will and I
would sing or do beatboxing type stuff over it. It really began as a
stress release to get away from the intense amount of schoolwork.
Jason: We were just friends that enjoyed the same music and
we jammed frequently in our dorm rooms. It basically just happened,
that's what makes it special.
MusicTAP: When did you decide to use a vocal 'beatbox' as opposed to a drummer or drum machines/loops?
Will: Since none of us knew
how to play drums we did what we knew. Besides, drums are too
limiting - We can do a beat for a while imitating a drum, and then
switch to a bass guitar, and then do both at the same time, make up a sound, sing and then rap. You just can't do all of that
on a drum kit. Ultimately, we just enjoy the
chemistry that we have among the three of us.
DJ: No decision was ever made. I think it could be that neither Will nor I
play drums or had access to a drum machine. But the more we started
doing it the more it just kind of became "our sound."
Jason: Like our sound, I think it just felt right. Anything else wouldn't have
worked as well as the beatbox.
MusicTAP: What is your songwriting process like?
Will: Our songwriting process varies from song to song. Mostly we have
little tape recorders of individual ideas, and then we present them to
each other, and just work the songs out until they feel right. Be on
the lookout for some new songs in '05 – we're trying to expand and
grow as writers, and musicians. Hopefully our fans will come with us.
DJ: It's kind of weird. Normally Jason's got a guitar riff or Will's got a
beat or melody or something. Or occasionally I'll put an idea out. It
varies song to song. Sometimes during sound check Jason will make up a
riff and we just rock to it. It's still fun at times in that way. But
we always kind of build and feel the songs out together. And we play
them until they feel natural. If they don't feel natural after enough
time with the song we usually don't keep the song.
Jason: It depends, but most of the time it's individually. Will and I write
most of the music, which is not to say that DJ doesn't because when he does
it's usually a GREAT SONG like "Don't Go" from 'The Simple'.
MusicTAP: What's in store for Scratch Track in 2005?
Will: In 2005, Scratch Track and all of the people that love the music -
and love coming to the live shows - are going to take it to the next
level. We're going to take over the world, but that's just between
you and me, so don't tell anyone.
DJ: God only knows really. We have a lot of colleges on our schedule. We
really want to introduce ourselves to the rest of the world. Not sure
exactly how that's going to happen. It might be attacking college
radio, a record label, a national tour or playing at a circus. Whatever
it takes, in 2005 we will make a bigger dent that we did in 2004. So
in order for that to happen we'll most likely be playing more, writing
more, recording more, traveling more, and sleeping less!
Jason: Hopefully we're going to keep everything rockin'.
