Bassist Ryan Tierney explains that “the pia
mater is a Saran Wrap-type layer that encases the central nervous system,
following all the grooves of the brain.” The quintet known as Pia Mater says their music will get all up in and
throughout the grooves of your brain.
Just “come see our live show,” says Tierney, 22, who came up
with the band’s name. He, along with Luke Sienk, 21,
on guitar and background vocals, Tom Montagliano, 25,
on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, and the two — yeah, two — drummers, Bob
McCook and Matt Blauvelt, both 21, form this funk/soul/dub/reggae/jazzy jam
band of current and former RIT students.
I had the opportunity to chat with the Mater guys at a
recent practice session. Their rehearsal space in the heart of the St. Paul
Quarter is spacious enough for the band’s two drum kits to breathe easily. The
ceiling is high, allowing their musical journeys plenty of hang time in the
airy room, decorated with a couple 420-friendly posters, foam “sound-proofing,”
and a slew of empty beverage containers. The six of us chatted in the makeshift
guest area while the band took a break between songs to figure out what kind of
music it is that they play exactly.
“We are just this kind of gigantic clusterfuck
of musical backgrounds thrown into one,” says Blauvelt of Pia
Mater’s genre. “Luke has the whole jamband thing
going; Tom has the reggae/Sublime thing; Bob’s all metal; I like jazz a lot.
But, without Ryan” — who is more into funk — “we wouldn’t sound the way we
do.” Thanks, Ryan, because the sound projected whenever these dudes get into
their music will certainly funk you the funk up. “I guess the common
denominator would be rock and funk, with sprinklings of all this other stuff,” adds Sienk. “We do
whatever.”
Pia Mater has been doing “whatever” since
the two drummers met as freshmen dorm-dwellers in 2003. They were playing on
the drum kit that McCook brought up from his home in New
Jersey when they got busted. “Ryan was an RSA, which
is like a student-campus-safety type thing,” says Blauvelt. “He said, ‘You guys
are making too much noise.’ But, actually, he was just a bassist that wanted to
play.” From there, Tierney hooked back up with Sienk,
who he used to play with in another band back in Buffalo.
Montagliano was the last to join the band, giving
voice to the outfit for the last year and a half.
The group has been pretty steady with shows of late, with a
few gigs at their RIT home base, and at Richmonds and
Damian’s; in the future they hope to play Milestones and a Groove Fest or two.
“Things have just been falling in our lap for the past couple of shows we’ve
been doing,” says unofficial booking agent Sienk. And
these live shows have garnered quite the following.
“We like to think of our live shows as a giant party,” says
drummer McCook. “And we like to interact with the crowd. So, we have an
interpretive dancer.” That would be Patrick Dobson, who the band describes as
their human, musical accessory.
“Originally it started because we didn’t have a singer,”
says Sienk. “We needed something to help hold the
attention of the crowd while we were playing.” Though Montagliano
has taken over the vocal duties, they kept Dobson around. He spends equal time
on the stage and in the crowd, singing along with the band, and, along with a
bag of props, improv-ing acts to keep show-goers
visually entertained.
The actual musicians on stage usually have the audio side of
things covered. But, don’t forget to bring your earplugs: it’s loud, Sienk says of the band’s two drummers. “Though you don’t
notice it unless you pay attention, to see, like, the
poly rhythms and the syncopation that’s going on.”
“It’s a challenge, it’s fun to try
to figure out who plays what part,” says McCook. For the percussive pair, which
is more heard than seen, it has been a learning experience. “We’ve been
overlaying fills, trying new things,” he adds, “and our music is constantly
evolving. It’s definitely made us better musicians.”
For more information on Pia Mater and to hear a few songs, check out the band’s
website, http://PiaMaterMusic.com.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2006.
