The Red and Black

Some vegans and vegetarians are fans of Dark Meat.

No, not the food, the band.

Dark Meat includes both Campbell sisters from hope for agoldensummer and members of We Versus the Shark. It's like a band sampler CD in the form of one very multitudinous group.

And it will play Wednesday at 40 Watt Club.

Composed of a whopping 17 band members, Dark Meat is described by trombone/coronet player Aaron Jollay as "psychedelic cult rock."

Having so many people in a band is not always an easy task. But Dark Meat likes to keep things fun and lighthearted.

For instance, every single band member has a nickname.

"There are three levels of names," said bassist/singer Ben Clack. "The first identity is proposed by the member upon which everyone decides whether to accept the name or change it."

He said once the name is altered, the member has to take the name as it is given and eventually he or she will achieve second and third identities.

"The other rule is that you have to be your most recent name," he said. "Good things are in threes. Third Eyes for example."

The band also has a horn section which has been dubbed the "Vomit Lazer Family."

Clack claims the band has been here before.

"We have existed for thousands of years," he said.

These are common responses for a band with such a quantity of people to look after.

When the band tours, as it's doing right now with Ginger Envelope and Vicariously Through Cats, it usually takes a couple of vans to move the band and all its equipment around.

"We've had at least 11 people at every show we've played, and we have had as many as 20 people playing on stage at one time," Clack said.

The most challenging effort was at a show in Greensboro, NC., Clack said.

"We had singers sitting on the bar, and we were having to stand on our amps to be able to fit.We literally had trouble wiggling our elbows," he said.

"But those intimate moments create waves of energy that send us sky high and really inform how we're feeling."

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