No major deal

After Sony, moe. do their own thing

by Don Fluckinger

The Utica, New York quintet moe. are different from your average groove-rock band. Their songs are catchy, packing pop hooks that resonate in your head for days. The group have survived the ups and downs of nine years together, and maintain a larger fan base than most other bands on the groove circuit. And they do cool things -- like playing Pink Floyd's entire Dark Side of the Moon live onstage with The Wizard Of Oz playing on a screen in the background.

That performance was inspired by moe. bassist Rob Derhak's enthusiasm, but the idea, believe it or not, wasn't original. An entire Internet culture has sprung up around alleged "synchronicities" between Pink Floyd's music and movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Echoes, and Yellow Submarine. Several Web sites have dubbed this the "Dark Side of the Rainbow" theory, claiming that things happen in the music that coincide with the events on screen. Apparently, if the film and the band start at the same time, the chimes in "Time" go off at the appearance of Mrs. Gulch (Wicked Witch of the West), for example. Vigilant investigators (who turn off the movie sound and crank up the stereo) have reported 92 such Floyd/Oz "synchs"

Pink Floyd refute the theory that the songs on Dark Side of the Moon were composed to coincide with scenes in the 1939 movie -- a credible denial, for sure. But just for kicks, and to make their Halloween-night show just a little bit eerie, moe. decided to take the synchronicity experiment one step further and performed "Dark Side of the Rainbow" live, note-for-note, with guest keyboard and sax players covering the extra parts. Because timing musical cues with the film's action was so crucial, band members listened to the Floyd album on headphones as they played.

"We were all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. . . . I was Dorothy," says moe. lead vocalist Al Schnier, laughing. "You'd think that it would take a lot of rehearsal, but we gave ourselves a day and a half, and we pulled it off. I'm amazed that we did, because we only rehearsed it four complete times, and the fifth time was the time onstage in front of everybody."

Local moe. fans who will be attending the band's Friday gig at the Palladium might be in for a cover or two from Dark Side of the Moon. Although Schnier demurred when asked whether any of the tunes they'd worked up for the Halloween show would make it into the touring set-list, he did say "That was the last show that we played, so that remains to be seen. . . . Some of the songs are great, so I'd love to keep some of them in rotation." Furthermore, the keyboard player who was with the group on Halloween is coming with them to Worcester -- a little synchronicity in itself.

moe. refined their live performance throughout the 1990s, and they now incorporate a state-of-the-art light show. The songs, of course, are polished to perfection -- as evidenced by the performances on L, the double, live moe. CD released earlier this year -- yet leave open windows for improvisation that allow the players to deconstruct the music and strip it down to its bare rhythmic and chordal essence. Lurking around every eight-bar strand, however, is a chorus to scream along with -- in crisp four-part harmony.

L was the first recording moe. released on its Fatboy label. The group had been signed to Sony 550 Music, which released two well-received albums, no doy (1996) and Tin Cans and Car Tires (1998). But moe. got lost in the shuffle of the major-labelocracy and didn't get the airplay they thought Sony could deliver. When they added up the sales figures, the band realized they could sell as many CDs on their own -- and keep the profits. Having survived the experience, Schnier says, they're much better off having control over their own music.

"[Sony] was a good learning experience for us, and probably necessary for us to do. . . . It seemed like a great idea," Schnier says. "Unfortunately . . . people were more concerned with their own personal careers within the company [than with the band]. We just didn't get the unanimous support that we needed."

So, when the Sony contract ran out, the band spurned a couple of other major-label suitors and decided to make their own records again. They've recently completed a new studio album, due out on Fatboy in February, featuring "improved song-writing" and "adventurous departures" in sound for the band, Schnier says. Those adventures include using a Moog synthesizer and a guest appearance by DJ Logic, who made his mark on the groove scene accompanying Medeski Martin & Wood.

"It's sort of a sonic departure for us," Schnier says. "It's not so guitar-centric -- it's got a wider variety of sound."

moe. play at 8 p.m. on November 17 at the Palladium. Tickets are $18. Call (508) 797-9696.