Spring Break
East meets West in organic, electronic split
KATIE ANDREW and JOHN BARRETT
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Out & About
Politics has a way of sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. Due to the Western world's current relationship with the Middle East, musical influences from that part of the world are often overlooked.
with EP3 and Landsquid
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Georgia Theatre
Cost: $10
Socially conscious trio Telepath, who combines influences from Arabic, Indian and Jamaican music, remind listeners there is more to a culture than what American news media portrays.
"The sound that we use could be stereotyped and pigeonholed into a very negative thing," bassist Curt Heiny said. "I think that it's been spun the wrong way, and I think it's important for us to [show] that these cultures have been around way longer than Sept. 11, 2001."
Telepath started as the brainchild of keyboardist Michael Christie, who single-handedly composed its debut album "Fire One."
"I had a lot more time to refine the vision of what ['Fire One'] was going to be," Christie said. "I narrowed it down to the Indian, Arabic and dub theme, and made sure that every track had some element of one of those in it. That defined what Telepath was going to be from that point on."
Christie's next challenge was figuring out how to replicate the album live. He enlisted Heiny and drummer Mike "Mike B." Bocsusis to help flesh out the sound and bring Christie's musical ambitions to life.
"We have the unified outlook on music in that it's a powerful thing," Heiny said. "It can make a difference. It can make a change. It can influence people's lives."
With the permanent lineup in place, Telepath quickly forged a distinctive musical direction.
"When it came time to make 'Contact,' the direction was already there and it was a lot easier to write the material for it," Christie said.
Despite comprising only keyboards, bass and drums at its core, Telepath has no problem incorporating non-traditional instruments into the mix.
TELEPATH
with EP3 and Landsquid
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Georgia Theatre
Cost: $10
Socially conscious trio Telepath, who combines influences from Arabic, Indian and Jamaican music, remind listeners there is more to a culture than what American news media portrays.
"The sound that we use could be stereotyped and pigeonholed into a very negative thing," bassist Curt Heiny said. "I think that it's been spun the wrong way, and I think it's important for us to [show] that these cultures have been around way longer than Sept. 11, 2001."
Telepath started as the brainchild of keyboardist Michael Christie, who single-handedly composed its debut album "Fire One."
"I had a lot more time to refine the vision of what ['Fire One'] was going to be," Christie said. "I narrowed it down to the Indian, Arabic and dub theme, and made sure that every track had some element of one of those in it. That defined what Telepath was going to be from that point on."
Christie's next challenge was figuring out how to replicate the album live. He enlisted Heiny and drummer Mike "Mike B." Bocsusis to help flesh out the sound and bring Christie's musical ambitions to life.
"We have the unified outlook on music in that it's a powerful thing," Heiny said. "It can make a difference. It can make a change. It can influence people's lives."
With the permanent lineup in place, Telepath quickly forged a distinctive musical direction.
"When it came time to make 'Contact,' the direction was already there and it was a lot easier to write the material for it," Christie said.
Despite comprising only keyboards, bass and drums at its core, Telepath has no problem incorporating non-traditional instruments into the mix.
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