When Scott Hill, Bass player/Singer/Architect of The Left Channel, asked me to write his band's bio, I did what so many others have with the band - charted a course to their universe and began to create.
Comprised of mainstays Scott Hill and Dan Groves, and now newest member, Dave Rizer, The Left Channel's sound, and of equal importance their method, found its roots in one of Scott's earlier bands - Detroit's own Outerdrive. A centerpiece to OD's sound was Scott's ferocious bass playing, his...
When Scott Hill, Bass player/Singer/Architect of The Left Channel, asked me to write his band's bio, I did what so many others have with the band - charted a course to their universe and began to create.
Comprised of mainstays Scott Hill and Dan Groves, and now newest member, Dave Rizer, The Left Channel's sound, and of equal importance their method, found its roots in one of Scott's earlier bands - Detroit's own Outerdrive. A centerpiece to OD's sound was Scott's ferocious bass playing, his notes being felt as much as heard. Signed to the Motor City's "Elsie And Jack" avant-garde label, Outerdrive released only one record, but it was the shape of things to come - the material was improvised and recorded live to two-track, a once and for all performance.
Travel forward ten years - the Rocky Mountains of Colorado play host to a chance meeting between Scott and local guitarist Dan Groves. Dan’s playing and writing has been described stylistically as a "melodic chain saw" - he never seems to let up but always has a great sense of the highest purpose of the music at any given moment. As a young brass player in Missouri, Dan confidently predicted to his friends that he would one day play with Les Paul. I was not too surprised to learn that only a few years later, the cosmos granted his wish as he was plucked from the front row of a Les Paul performance at the famed Iridium and asked to sit beside and play with the legend.
While Scott and Dan clearly have their individual talents, it is the collective vision and its manifestation that is truly The Left Channel. They have created something that is far bigger then the sum of the parts and allowed it to flourish. Twice a week, almost every week of the year, The Left Channel plays host to an infamous freeform improv session, attended by those who are intrigued by The Left Channel’s periodic internet ads, friends, friends of friends, as well as people who just mysteriously show up. Diverse musical elements such as the singing saw, harmonica, sax, strings, brass and more find their place in the collective palette. Drummers and keyboard players as well as the core duo's requisite bass, vocals and guitars, round out the sound. At Leary's behest, the players "turn on, tune in, drop out", as sessions go into the early hours of the morning. Using skeletal song ideas or simply free improv, the tunes grow over time. Many are treated to subsequent overdubs as Scott lovingly records every note of every performance. Parts are replaced, layered and moved about and in time, each piece comes into its own. It is the process by which The Left Channel exists that makes them special…They are truly all about the journey, not the destination!
Suffice to say, in an industry full of homogenized and prescribed music, the Left Channel make a compelling argument to be yourself! And in a world where we seem to need more and more control, this band is quite content to let something greater than one individual pilot the craft. Here's to you, the listener, climbing on board.
Joe Turse
San Luis Sound
July, 2008
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