Dopapod has made quite the noise around the Allston/Brighton Boston basement scene, but in my eyes they bring much more to the table than your average feel-good house party band. Even after seeing them play a couple shows in the area my eyes hadn’t truly been opened to their sound until the talented keyboardist, Eli, handed me their first full length recording. The cleverly entitled ‘Radar’ is a palindrome itself, taking after the bands name. It’s a witty title yes, but the music is what makes this album worthwhile. It really shows the growth and maturity you would deem necessary to consider this band a worthy recipient of your time and money, as well as a leading member of the jam-funk-blues-dance-trance community.
The band started out as a duo, with Eli (synth, organ, & piano) & Michelangelo (drums) meeting at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The two started jamming, which turned into writing, which easily transformed into the live setting-which, as I’ve mentioned before, is Dopapod’s encapsulating factor. In March of 2008, the two realized their potential, yet they needed to expand their sound, so in came guitarist Rob Compa. They performed as a trio for a while with guests coming on in each live show to add tasteful instruments as they pleased. They funked out basements, bars, and even the infamous “Headyfest” based out of Oneonta, NY, and acquired some live recordings. But that still wasn’t enough. With all the experience they earned and different instruments they experimented with, it was time to implement a permanent lineup. The official 5 person band consisted of Eli Winderman on Hammond Organ, Piano, Fender Rhodes, and Synthesizer, Michelangelo Carubba on Drums, Rob Compa on Guitar, Chuck Jones on Bass, and Neal “Fro” Evans on Percussion. Now with a full arsenal of band members and an array of live shows under their belts, the only thing left was a full length debut.
‘Radar’ catches your ear’s attention in so many ways, yet does it so subtly. The first few listens, I put the album on as background music while I was getting some work done and killing time in my room – as per usual with any new CD I get. However, I found myself forgetting what I was listening to and constantly re-opening the iTunes to see what had came on next, and sure enough it was still Dopapod. Now I’ve come across this type of recording before, and have never found it extremely effective because of the lack of cohesiveness that it displays. However, Dopapod does it well and it keeps me interested. The songs are all over the place, ranging from funky jams, blues dance jams, and instrumental jams. And that’s the keyword, JAM. All of the cuts on the CD sound like straight up jams yet on average each song only clocks in between 4 – 5 minutes.
To get an idea of what I believe epitomizes Dopapod’s signature sound, I’d suggest listening to the opener “Indian Grits” and the fifth song “Bet on Tales”. “Bet on Tales” is also the only song to feature vocals, and it works well. The vocalist Dave Brandwine (courtesy of Galaxy Smith) has a white boy reggae vibe similar to another Boston-bred band, IlaMawana. The drumming fits nicely into the track where Michelangelo’s snare is high resonating and piccolo sounding – perfectly backing the blaring Tenor Sax, provided by Timo Shanko. As a whole I get the feeling that before the synthesizers kick in, the songs usually sound gritty and southern funk influenced, with some tight crisp drumming and slow drawn out guitar. Then, it’s time for the finisher – Eli’s masterful organ and synth work – never letting either hand take a rest. This is especially apparent now that they have a full time bassist relieving Eli of his left hand down-low work. On the other hand, sometimes the organs take the back burner and let Rob do the talking with his blues guitar-which brings in the Southern influences I was talking about. This is especially true in the track, “Brookline Bridge”,-paying homage to their hometown roots. Then they pick up the pace a little bit with the Biscuits-esque “Ellemenno”. And yes, that applies to sounding almost like the Disco Biscuits. Not in the-”I take drugs and space out for 20minutes Biscuits”-but in the happy goofy jolly Disco Biscuits where Magner isn’t intently staring & drooling over his keys, rather keeping it lighthearted, quick, and upbeat acting as a lead synth whirling and twirling around with a tremolo wheel. Finishing up the CD comes the last two tracks “We Are Not Alone” & “Royce Road”. “Not Alone” comes as the longest song on the CD and in my ears almost plays as a ballad. It presents a beautiful sounding piano and features all sorts of special guests, such as a Baritone Sax, Violins, Flute, an extra Synth and various sound effects. The melody in it sounds like something [epic] I’ve heard before yet I can’t quite put my finger on it. The closing track, “Royce Road” sounds appropriately like a song that would be playing during the closing credits of a couples tropical island vacation movie.
Overall, as you might be able to tell, I thoroughly enjoy this CD and think it is well worth everybody’s time. I’ve heard some people say in the past that they liked Dopapod but they didn’t feel that they had anything that truly separated them from what’s been done before. However, the new album does nothing but disprove that. It keeps you interested and has a little something in store for everyone. The drumming is constantly keepin’ it movin’ (neva gunna stop) with an extremely tight dance beat, something the UseYourHead crew loves all too much. And to play to the other side of that, a friend of mine even said he thought My Morning Jacket had come onto his iPod when in fact, it was still RadaR. Another aspect that makes it enjoyable is how well it’s mastered and mixed. Each song has the perfect levels, never letting any one instrument take over the entire CD. Those respects can be paid to Craig Welsh over at Hillside Sound in Boston. Yet as their fans are aware of, their live show and recordings can be completely different at times, so I only suggest for you to come to 20 Pratt on Friday, December 4th for the Future Rock AFTER RAGE feat. DOPAPOD!!! Until then, here is an exclusive LiS interview, some tracks, & live archived recording! ENJOI!
Live at Nectar’s – Burlington, VT
Last time I saw you guys you were a 3 piece with your bassist filling in for live shows. Now it seems you are permanent 5 piece. Can you explain that transformation into the 5 piece and what instruments do you guys each use? Do you still bring guest musicians – such as a sax – in for live shows?
The band initially started as a duo with Eli (organ) and Michelangelo (drums). After playing shows with just organ and drums for about a year, we decided to add Rob on guitar after he sat in with us at a gig. The chemistry was undeniable, so we went with it. We went on touring like that for a couple months until we decided to add Chuck on the bass. He helps really round out the sound and it also frees up Eli from playing bass with his left hand. Soon after, we added Neal to the mix to layer percussion over the sound. We’ve been touring with this configuration recently and it seems to be working. We’ve been lucky enough to work with saxophonist Sam Kininger (Lettuce, Soulive), as well as saxophonist Timo Shanko (G.love and Special Sauce, B3 Kings) as well. We always love having special guests with the band.
From what I’ve listened to so far from Radar, the tracks are multi faceted and don’t just stick to the funky jazz dance influenced live shows I’ve seen you play. Do you have different attitudes towards both, and how would you classify Dopapod’s sound?
For our albums, we take it as an opportunity to play many different genres. We know that our listeners are generally listening to it while driving, on the train, etc. This is a great opportunity to play ballads or songs more on the progressive side. For live shows, we’ve learned what people are really trying to get out of a live performance. We try to get the crowd dancing and having fun first and foremost. I guess we would classify our sound as instrumental funk trance dance music.
I know some of you guys are Berklee students, here in Boston. Has the whole band studied there, and do you see yourselves continue to homebase in Boston over the next couple of years?
The whole band studied at Berklee at one time. Were all finished now though. We didn’t all finish, but Berklee really helped us develop into the musicians we are today. Were most likely moving to Brooklyn in the fall of 2010.
I’ve heard all sorts of live covers from you guys that aren’t your typical party jams, yet I’m always more than impressed and enjoy the tasteful style you guys put into it. Can we get a list of some of your favorite or “go-to” covers you guys perform? Do you have any recordings you’d like to share?
We love covering lots of different tunes. Some go to covers include Radiohead’s National Anthem, and Nirvana’s In Bloom. We’ve also covered Fixing a Hole by The Beatles. We keep tunes like MMW’s Chank and Ain’t it Funky by James Brown in our back pocket for shows.
So once Radar came out you guys probably felt it was a good time to put a full tour into affect. Can you describe how that experience was and what a tour of that nature brought to the table?
We recently got back from a 20 date tour from Burlington VT to Atlanta GA in support of our debut album ‘Radar’. It was our first tour of that kind of duration, and it was a blast. We ended up coming out on top financially which is really tough to do these days. We were able to make it without any hotels thanks to some old and new friends. We toured the south with a great band called Josh Phillips Folk Festival from Asheville NC. Josh used to sing in Yo Mamas Big Fat Booty Band, and other members also play in a great band called Laura Reed and Deep Pocket. We got to take a tour of the Moog Factory and demo the new gear they’re releasing. Overall it was just a great experience.
What are Dopapod’s plans for the near future? Any new recordings popping up or big plans for next summer? (i.e. festivals, tours, etc.)
Our plans for the future are to basically keep writing new material to keep it fun for you and us, and also hopefully play as many festivals as we can this summer. We love playing house parties and festivals more than anything. We’ll probably start recording our next album this spring as well as a spring tour hopefully down to New Orleans.
-’RADAR’—Five Tracks/Downloads-
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Dopapod really there’s no denying these bad mamajamas. Hope to get them on the circuit for sureeeee.
“Then they pick up the pace a little bit with the Biscuits-esque “Ellemenno”. And yes, that applies to sounding almost like the Disco Biscuits. Not in the-”I take drugs and space out for 20minutes Biscuits”-but in the happy goofy jolly Disco Biscuits where Magner isn’t intently staring & drooling over his keys, rather keeping it lighthearted, quick, and upbeat acting as a lead synth whirling and twirling around with a tremolo wheel.”
and by this you must mean: the keyboardist is the only talented member of this band. there..i fixed it for you.
These guys straight killed it @ 20Pratt on Friday!! Much love & thanks, and expecially loved the Daft Punk cover, sick rendition and perfect tempo! got that dance party mooovin
great post as usual
Thanks, very useful.
I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!!