At one with the Buddhahood
by Oliver St John
It's been a busy time for the Buddhahood; playing, recording and keeping up with day jobs is a tough task, as anyone who's every tried to make it without an American Idol TV appearance will know. The Green Room recently had the opportunity to chat with the Buddhahood's Andrew Bellavia.
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"Vivacious" is the term Bellavia uses to describe the band's sound - indeed, it may be the best way to pinpoint it in one word, since the Buddhahood draw from so many styles that a simple definition is impossible. "We do what we love, and all of us come from such varied backgrounds musically, have performed many different kinds of music - there's classical, big-band and small-quartet jazz, rock and roll, punk, top 40, musical theater.... we all have this really rich background in music. We do have a strong.... Caribbean flavor that we add to our rock and rhythm-and-blues funkadelia. Because of the pan drums, the songs get that flavor. There's a cliche to that which I want to avoid, because we work very hard at adapting the pan to the song rather than saying "today we're going to do a calypso-feel song, let's get out the pan". Instead the pan plays with the song and by virtue of its sound gives it a bit of a Caribbean feel. It's a strong rock and roll jam band with some flavors from Caribbean, Brazilian and West African music." The band started out around ten years ago, very much as a jam band, a "revolving door freedom-fest of music" through which uncountable musicians came and went. Gradually, as certain personnel came in on a longer-term basis, the band began to gel into the cohesive unit it is today. The band originally focused very heavily on the drums, and no brass section at all. Nowadays, while the drums are still prominent, the four-piece horn section is a big part of what makes the Buddhahood what it is. Another part of this is the band's ethos. "The basis of the Buddhahood has always been collaboration amongst the musicians, regardless of who is a principal songwriter, we all participate in the arrangement and formulation of the music." A far cry from the stereotypical prima-donna of the music business, but the collaboration appears to have been healthy for the whole band. "You really open yourself up to ideas, and it's the best place to be in music." |
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Indeed, Bellavia's general message is simple. "The people around you do not have to be perfect for you to come together and bring about great things. Diverse people can intersect and bring about warmth, happiness - and yeah, frustration - but a sense that we're all in it together."
The band describe themselves as being very environmentally conscious - while their advocacy is currently limited to word of mouth discussion due to their busy schedules, they are very green minded, and, as Bellavia puts it, "deeply concerned about the American love affair with the automobile". The band try to bring their music to environmental causes as much as possible, including playing Earth Day gigs and similar engagements.
So, to use a really bad pun, let's talk about sax. Bellavia's own musical influences are similarly widespread. His horn sound derives partly from the great Clarence Clemons. As he shaped his sound, he studied many of Clemons' solos and worked on the rasping sound that exemplifies Clemons' own style. He also cites David Sanborn - "particularly in his work with David Bowie on the Young Americans album and his work with Ian Hunter on an album called All-American Alien Boy". His flute sound, on the other hand, has been heavily influenced by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
His own favorite artists include One World Tribe, "whom I advocate with my heart as well as my ears". When asked who he would wish to see featured in The Green Room, he replies without a moment's hesitation: "Boy With A Fish. I heard them two weeks ago at the Blue Heron Festival and was absolutely haunted and hypnotized by the music. I'd almost call it 'The Cure meets folk.'" We'll have to listen in!
An MP3 of the Buddhahood's recent "No Mind" can be found here, and more are available on their website at www.thebuddhahood.com.