Published: May 20, 2009 11:54 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight May 2009 Edition
The Voodoo Fix
The Voodoo Fix
Get ready to be amazed when you take a listen to the music of The Voodoo Fix. The band has the perfect style with their fusion of Rock & Blues into one harmonious soulful enriching sound. One of the strongest parts to The Voodoo Fix is their ability to tell powerful colorful stories through their music. In a recent spotlight with the band, The Voodoo Fix talks music with our Webzine.
Isaac: How do you sum up 2008 for The Voodoo Fix?
Abe: 2008 was mostly a very transitional time for us as a band. On one hand, we started our first professional recording, and on the other hand without the help of a manager or agent, we began developing our infrastructure as a professional business. 2008 was a year where we realized that our goals and dreams of being a grass-roots, self-sustaining, and self-funded genuine independent band, weren't going to come without a leap of faith against a seemingly endless struggle.
Will: Being that Trey, Abe and I were graduating that May, pressure to make something of this band increased. The next logical step as a band was to invest in a record that people could groove to. We all severely underestimated the entire recording process and we assumed we would have the record ready to go by fall, 2008. It's May 2009, and we're finally ready to roll.
Isaac: Expound a little about growing up Los Angeles, California.
Abe: Scott is the only one of us who actually grew up in Los Angeles, we all met at Whittier College, and actually started as the Whittier College Blues band, usually playing old blues tunes nobody our age had even heard of.
Scott: Well some people call it LA LA land for a reason I guess. I mean it really is quite easy to get lost in one of the "scenes" here, which seem to find you whether you like it or not. LA is classy, dirty, mean and sweet all at the same time. As a result, LA has become a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, as a wise man once said. But I suspect that it will always have a way of charming me. Thank God for the junkies, pimps, bums, and tweekers for bringing at least some form of continuity to LA. I mean people forget that this place is really a slue of extremely different pockets that we collectively refer to as "Los Angeles." The trying, dangerous and sometimes superficial entity that is LA tears at my character but also defines it. All I know is it's an extreme place, but I am also an extreme person. I suspect it'll work out between us, over time.
Isaac: What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment for 2008?
Will: Recording The Voodoo Fix EP.
Abe: I would have to agree. We started recording in July, 2008, and since then we've overcome countless obstacles. The actual recording was only the first step among many in actually getting the CD out. I always wondered why it always took bands so long to get a CD out, and I have to say it's a process you really shouldn't underestimate with your time and money. It's great to finally have a product in which we started from scratch with absolutely no help from any corporate label or music business insiders, and ended up far exceeding our own expectations with something we can truly be proud of.
Isaac: What has drawn each of you together musically?
Abe: We all came to college with our different musical paths. I came to college as a songwriter, and there I began exploring my roots in the blues. Trey and I met our freshman year, and we'd always jam with my acoustic guitar and his electric drum set, and we eventually ended up co-hosting a radio show at the campus station, KPOET. The same year, Will was on his own path, slapping the hell out his bass with whoever could keep up, but we never played together until our mutual professor and mentor, Danilo Lozano convinced him into playing bass in the Whittier College blues band I had started sophomore year. It was our junior year when Danilo Lozano introduced us to guitarist and then-freshman Scott, who completed our lineup with his roots in the Orange County punk scene. Blues was just the meeting point for all of our personal and diverse musical perspectives, which have expanded ever since.
Will: Like Abe said, I was actually asked to play in the Blues Band that became the Voodoo Fix by Danny Lozano, and I accepted because I knew how dedicated Abe was to forming a legit blues band. It had been attempted the year before but was lacking. I was hoping I could become the spine that Abe's dream blues band so badly needed.
Isaac: What is the concept behind the name The Voodoo Fix?
Will: The name, "The Voodoo Fix" has been a topic of much controversy within this band, mainly because some of us thought it was too defining as a title, too bluesy, if you will. But as I found myself dragging my busted ass 97' Chevy Blazer up Route 5 from Santa Ana with a broken fuel gauge, tires worn to the wires and a driver's side door held on by a piece of extension cord at 8:30 in the morning twice a week, I realized that this music we pour our lives into really was a "fix" that I couldn't live without.
Abe: Well, I've been sworn to secrecy never to reveal where we got this unconventional name from, but I will tell you it is meant to describe a sound and feeling. A sound and feeling I've felt has been lacking in recent times. Lately, music trends have had an obsession with how an artist or their music looks, opposed to how it sounds. Our music provides something that is a reflection of the roots of American music, a music that has provided a purpose, in which people could lose themselves in, even if only for a short while. For me, real music can be like a drug, which you can escape your troubles. We hope our music provides to our listeners the same fix that it gives us.
Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the music industry and why?
Abe: There are just too many influences to name…Bob Dylan's songwriting and lyrics has been one of my biggest inspirations. When it comes to guitar playing, I'd have to say my two biggest influences are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Shuggie Otis; they have a profound way of working the fretboard.
Scott: Mike Ness was a huge influence on my songwriting and, more recently, John Frusciante on my playing. But Social Distortion kind of brings me back to earth and reminds me never to lose sight of my roots. I remember when Danilo Lozano, the legendary Latin jazz musician who put us four knuckleheads together, told me "Listen to Muddy! Listen to John Lee Hooker! They ain't playin' a thousand notes, they're playin' the shit out of 3 notes. Let's hear that from you Mr. P, bend that shit like you mean it. Feel it!" So I guess anyone who "plays like they feel it" plays some role in shaping my style, whether it's through my iPod or a dingy LA tavern, you know what I mean?
Trey: Charlie Watts is one of my favorite drummers because he always plays exactly what needs to be played. He's just a good old fashioned rock drummer. My playing philosophy is to keep that simple and steady groove and not play more than what needs to be there.
Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel you will bring to the music industry?
Scott: Memorable, soulful, and true music that people can move to. But also on this EP, I think that there is enough lyrical substance for people to think about after they've been stomping their foot for 16 minutes.
Trey: There's too much repetition on the radio and many independent radio stations are getting shut down, making it hard for smaller bands to get noticed.
Abe: And that's what we're working on changing. With our music, we bring a sense of authenticity. We bring a fresh modern spin to a music that was rooted here in America.
Will: Honesty and a big School Bus.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one artist or group, who would it be and why?
Will: Dead - Beethoven because he might be the most celebrated musician of all time, he hardly ever wrote lyrics…and he was deaf, Living - Prince, he can play anything and fill in wherever we're lacking…And he's Prince.
Abe: Depending on which day you ask me, I'd probably have a new answer each day. I wish I could have worked with John Lee Hooker. That guy only needed one chord to get you hooked. I'd love to work with Bob Dylan, but he won't answer my calls. I'd definitely be down to jam with Beethoven too.
Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?
Will: Bluesy Funk Rock if I had to keep it simple. But we try and stay versatile and not limit ourselves to any specific genre of music. Maybe we'll do a country album one day, who knows?
Abe: Our sound fits somewhere between Blues, Rock, Funk, Folk, and Alternative. "Blues band by day, Funk band by night, Rock all the time."
Isaac: What is your definition for Rock Music?
Scott: I'm not too keen on genres to describe music, so I guess it makes sense that I'm in a band that blurs them so much. But I would venture to say that rock does just that; it combines different genres and the roots that preceded them. So yeah, I guess we are also an example of a "rock band" if you must use that term.
Abe: Yep, Rock just has a taste of everything. It's really a genre that transcends and borrows from everything else.
Trey: Rock music is energetic music that features grooving bass lines, howling vocals, and lots of steamy hot licks. In other words, The Voodoo Fix EP.
Isaac: What type of feedback have you received from your previous releases?
Abe: After we recorded our demo in 2007, we started to pick up a following at our school, Whittier College. We started playing all over LA, from Jane Gooddall's International Peace Day at Griffith Park to B.B. King's in Universal City. We've received some great feedback playing around Los Angeles and San Francisco, and even got our songs played on some local independent and college radio stations. The Internet has also gotten us noticed by some curious music-lovers overseas. We're really humbled and grateful for having the support of such awesome fans.
Isaac: What has been the inspiration behind your latest releases in 2009?
Abe: Our 5-song EP explores themes of lost love, self-empowerment, sex, drugs, and fear conquering hope. As for musical styles, our inspiration is harder to define besides as a mix of everything. Just take Funk, Soul, Punk, Rock, Blues, Alternative, and put them in a blender.
Isaac: What can fans expect from your latest CD, you are working on currently? What is the inspiration behind the CD?
Will: Fans can expect some variety, energy and above all, quality. Our experiences, stories and social observations since forming the Voodoo Fix serve as our inspiration for The Voodoo Fix EP.
Isaac: Where can fans locate you at online?
Will: www.myspace.com/thevoodoofix, www.thevoodoofix.com, Also check out our EP video trailer on YouTube, just search for: The Voodoo Fix. Our EP is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, Rhapsody, eMusic, and Napster.
Isaac: What can fans expect from The Voodoo Fix in 2009?
Will: The Voodoo Fix EP, live energetic performances, and a West Coast Summer tour on our mobile mascot, Gus the Bus.
Isaac: Time for some shout outs to your family, friends, and fans…
Will: Thanks Mom and Dad for your support and acceptance, Rafe for the inspiration, and my amazing lady Laurel for her uncanny love and faith.
Abe: We all want to thank our friends and families, our beloved crew, Danilo Lozano, Whittier College, and supporters of genuine independent music.
Isaac: Final words from The Voodoo Fix…
Scott: Everything is unfolding all at once on this end. Catch us while we explode up and down the West Coast.
