Spring Break
Music Spotlight
Review of Ocean Commotion
Melissa Crowe
Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
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Pulling influences from Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Mars Volta, the band's 12-minute tracks aim to carry listeners off to another world.
Though bassist Royce Vick jokes they should be categorized under "psychedelic/funk/jam/blues/ninja," he might be closer than he actually thinks - minus the ninja part.
"We do not want to sound like someone else," Vick said. "What is the point? Then you will only be compared to the people you sound like."
The two-piece band with Vick on bass and music senior Dane Ernst on drums improvises the entire set. Mostly instrumental, Vick throws in some freestyle and rap to "break the ice."
Depending on what kind of psychedelics you're on, joking of course, Vick said, "you can just be chilling. It can be background music or you can really get into it."
Their first show was only two months ago at the Ridglea Theater, just south of downtown Fort Worth.
"Halfway through the show, a third of the audience got scared and left," Vick said. "One-third really got in to it and were screaming and hollering, and the other third were on stage with us."
What was originally scheduled as a 30-minute set turned into three hours.
They had pieces of an extra drum kit around the bottom of the stage, and the bartender passed out drumsticks to the audience. Talk about crowd participation.
The duo also has a rotating cast of friends who perform with them. While one might be on saxophone and another on guitar, one more might step up and grab the microphone for some freestyle.
"We're never going for a particular influence," Ernst said. "Everything we know how to do comes together. We have our own style because of that."
They said the people who get it defy the categories and do not adhere to labels.
"You're not a skater, you're not a punk, you're at a show, man," Vick said.
Ernst and Vick are toying with the idea of a Texas tour for next summer after Ernst graduates. The end goal, Vick said, is to be "washed up in America and famous in Japan."
To find out more about Ocean Commotion, check them out Thursday nights at Ridglea Theater or online at myspace.com/oceancommotionband.
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