Dub Trio

Dub Trio left to right: DP Holmes, Joe Tomino, Stu Brooks

Photo: Shon T.

****Flashback, December 2008****

Joe Tomino is wondering: "Are you happy?"

If the look on Tomino's face is any indication, he's not only happy, his room in a Northern California hotel is heaven.  With a $10 bottle of wine and a chocolate bar (Hershey Dark) from the gas station around the corner, the eternally upbeat drummer of New York experimental/hardcore/dub/metal crossover outfit Dub Trio is beaming, and appears genuinely interested in how I'm doing.

"I'm loving it, man!  We're living like rock stars!"  I answer, waving a warm Heineken, a leftover from the night before.

"Whattaya mean..."LIKE rock stars...we ARE rock stars!!!", he proclaims, waving his chocolate bar and paper cup around the hotel room, as if toasting an invisible royal court.  Bassist Stu Brooks, who has been watching a movie on his laptop, looks up, removes one headphone, and eyes us in mock sinister suspicion, before returning to his movie and headphone isolation.

We're all a little bleary-eyed from the ten hour drive from Portland.  Dave (DP) Holmes, who was "feeling it" today, drove the entire way, as did I in my "muscle machine" rental car (a PT Cruiser!! ). I'm on day three of a week-long road trip with the band on their west coast tour swing from Seattle to San Diego, and after two raging hangovers, have finally got into the swing of things and am in "road mode".

Even without the occasional night of post-gig pissups, if you really knew how difficult the regimen of touring can be on a person, you would have a newfound respect for musicians. Fortunately, tonight is an off-night for the band, so we're just chilling in the hotel room, having some drinks, and channel-surfing. It's a well-needed break, for me, at least.  The guys have been on the road for three months, and only have two weeks left in the tour. 

Stu Brooks and Joe Tomino

Photo: Shon T.

"I make a point to ask the guys every day how they're doing.  See if they're happy", Tomino tells me.  Guitarist DP Holmes nods his confirmation.  Considering the band are in constant close quarters in the van, on the stage, in restaurants, or in a hotel room (they carry an air mattress with them and take turns sleeping on the floor), the lines of communication must be open and clear at all times. 

Whatever they're doing is clearly working.  Offstage, they are just a group of good pals traveling the world, cracking endless one-liners and getting into deep philosphical/political debates, which are fueled by their apparent addiction to podcasts, NPR, and a Starbuck's Coffee addiction that warrants an endorsement deal.

Onstage, however, is where the communication transcends professionalism and verges on the supernatural.  Without the benefit of vocal cues or traditional rock formulas (verse, chorus, verse, bridge, verse, etc...), Dub Trio seemingly employ some kind of extrasensory communication, fusing the complex and chaotic sounds of hard rock/metal with the sublime and ethereal world of dub. 

Dub?

If you're not familiar with the "dub" genre, you may not be as fortunate as I was to get a crash course from the guys themselves, but I'll relay it as best I can. It originated in Jamaica in the late 60's, in the form of "remixes" of reggae albums, using delay effects, echo, and various studio tricks. Some of the Dub Trio guys' favorite dub pioneers are King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Scientist.  The most common example of a dub artist today would be the DJ, combining instrumental versions of popular songs with sound effects/loops/etc, of their own choosing.  So how does a "Dub Trio", using drums, guitars, bass and keyboards pull this off live? 

Good question!

A big part of the "dub" sound is the spacey, echoey, delayed guitars and drums.  Aptly enough, both Holmes and Brooks use a pedal called a "Space Echo", which they apply not only to their own instruments, but to Tomino's drums as well (they each have a mic line running from Tomino's drums to their own pedals).  This adds a delay/looping effect that is most predominantly heard on the snare, hi-hat, and guitar, usually during the "dub" jams of the songs.  Holmes and Brooks also have their own keyboards, and Tomino triggers samples, effects, and mashup montage interludes between songs.  While their sound may not be immediately accessible to the average concertgoer who hasn't heard of them, they put on a musician's clinic that has drawn them some major attention, and secured them some seriously high-profile session gigs.

Dub Trio's latest contribution to the sonispshere can be heard on "Divided", a track from the "new" Candiria album entitled "Toying With The Insanities": a four-volume set of remixes of Candiria songs, produced by Candiria themselves.  Tomino explains how it all came about: "John (Lamacchia), Candiria's guitarist, was a fan of the band and approached us about doing a remix for them.   I've also done a little recording with John for the next Julie Christmas solo record.  They (Candiria) were such an amazing and talented band.  Talk about mixing it up.  These cats really had their own sound and could play the shit out of their instruments."

Dub Trio: House of Blues, San Diego

Photo: Shon T.


During a live radio interview in San Francisco, the guys are put on the spot with the stock question:  "Describe your sound?"

There's a brief moment of silence as they try to decide on their latest favorite.  Dub-rock?  Dubcore?  Holmes weighs in:  "MAN-ROCK USA!" 

My laughter shatters my wallflower stealth mode, as the band turns to me and decides to put me on the spot by asking me to describe to the listeners out there what they sound like.  I have a few seconds to blurt out: "Uh...kinda like Fantomas getting into a fight with King Tubby...?"

They deliberate for a moment, then unanimously accept this answer.  My first appearance on radio feels pretty awesome.

Joe Tomino, Doug Fir Lounge, Portland

Photo: Shon T.


Wandering through the "Hiphop/Reggae/World Music/Electronica" sections of a music store with Dub Trio is a learning experience.  They pick up metal, folk, blues, classical, opera, reggae, house, and country CDs, and lament not being rich enough to afford them.  Interestingly, when they find "Dub Trio" in the "World Music" section, all of their CDs have been sold.  Again, so much for the "rock star" lifestyle.   At my request, the guys point out CDs they've played on as studio guns for hire.  50 Cent, Mos Def, Common, Tony Yayo, Tupac, Mike Patton's "Peeping Tom" project, Wyclef Jean, are just a few. It was the Patton collaboration that led me to the band, but with their studio background and vast spectrum of tour mates (Gnarls Barkley, The Who, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Dillinger Escape Plan, Helmet, Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello, Clutch, Matisyahu, etc..) there are countless ways to "stumble" across the band.  Understandably, fan reaction can be mixed when seeing the band for the first time.  When asked about his career highlight so far, Tomino deliberates for a moment, then laughingly responds "That's a tough one. Being booed at Madison Square Gardens playing with Peeping Tom?"  

It may very well be this kind of carefree attitude that drives the Dub Trio songwriting engine. Combining disparate genres like dub and metal could be considered a risky venture, but according to Stu, the dub parts are just as heavy as the metal parts.  At least for him:  "there's just something about that low, sludgy sound of the dub stuff that just...it's just so f***king heavy!   I think I get more into the slower stuff than the fast stuff." 

The audience may agree to disagree: "We get a lot of mixed reactions", Brooks explains.  "Some of the "metal guys" out there really dig the dub stuff, others hate it.  Some of the reggae/dub fans out there really dig how we throw the metal in there. Some people don't like the new stuff, others love it.  We're just doing our thing."

Tomino and Z-Trip, Sunset Strip, Hollywood

Photo: Shon T.

Since 2004's "Exploring The Dangers Of" (on the legendary ROIR label), which was decidedly "dub-intensive", Dub Trio have shattered their own limits and struck off into strange, new, and dangerous territories.  Building on the dub foundation, the band's latest release "Another Sound Is Dying" (Ipecac Records), takes the riff-heavy direction hinted at in  2006's "New Heavy", and cranked the intensity up a few more notches.  Have you ever done one of those ear-candles?  It's kinda like that.  Basically, they clean out all the crap and leave your ears feeling shiny and new, although it can be a little painful and unfamiliar at first.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  While listening to "Funishment", for example, you may wonder, "is this studio trickery?  How the hell do they do this live?"  (answers: sort of/very well).

While it's impossible to pick out any "marquee" player in the band (they're all world-class musicians in their own right), as someone who fumbled around the guitar for about 15 years, watching guitarist DP Holmes at work is humbling.  Versed in just about every known rock/pop/reggae/jazz guitar style and proper use of a wide array of effects, ebow, magnetic wristbands, and several signature guitar tricks, he also manages to hit unearthly harmonics while physically bending his guitar to imitate a whammy bar. 

And if that isn't cool enough, both he and Stu are Canadian. 

Brooks (left), Holmes (right), friend (center)

Photo: Shon T.

Shortly after the band's set supporting the mighty Bad Brains at House of Blues in San Diego (my last stop of the tour), Joe and I are hanging back sidestage and watching the Brains stir the crowd to a boiling point.  This is another of several times the two bands have performed together, and it's clear the thrill still hasn't worn off.  Nobody needs to ask him if he's happy.

Over the course of a week that covers 3000 kilometres and includes several hangovers, awkward/hilarious radio interviews, me getting lost in Sacramento for three hours, a shady soundman stealing a mic, broken strings, snares, skins, pedals, countless coffees, a thousand one-liners, hanging with the legendary DJ Z-Trip (a close friend of the band) and Helmet's drummer Kyle Stevenson, I'm wishing I could do this every day. 

But I can't. 

I have to drive home now. 2500 kilometres.  By myself.  In a PT Cruiser.

For the first time this week, I am not happy.

Come on down and make yourself happy at the Commodore October 18th. 

http://www.dubtrio.com
 

Left to right: DP Holmes, Kyle Stevenson (Helmet), Joe Tomino

Photo: Shon T.