By Morgan Rousseau
The Middle Eastern−influenced band Consider the Source plans to start off the New Year with a serious bang, with hopes to keep its momentum going strong as 2009 progresses. And it looks like it will be a groundbreaking year for the Bayside−based group, with multiple national tours, a new album and various festival appearances in the works for 2009.
In the year since the group was profiled in these pages in December 2007, Consider The Source has worked its way through three national tours and four festivals. Its new album “Are You Watching Closely?” drops sometime in March. The album follows “Esperanto,” its debut full−length album, which was released in 2006.
In July, the group did a six−week residency at Mehanata, a Lower East Side club formerly called The Bulgaria Bar (www.mehanata.com), the underground hot spot where the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello launched their career.
In September, Consider the Source headlined a festival at The Knitting Factory in Tribeca called The Media Allstars alongside artists G.E Smith, legendary guitar player and former band leader of Saturday Night Live, and Adam Levy, Norah Jones’ guitarist.
In August, the band organized and headlined a festival at Crash Mansion on the Lower East Side called Image of Music, which featured musicians and artists displaying their talents, many of whom painted live to the music and auctioned the art off at the end of the night. Their Knitting Factory show also included live artists, as well as other smaller scale shows with artist and musician combinations.
“It’s an idea we had to create a community of experimental, expressive free thinkers in the five boroughs,” percussionist Justin Ahiyon said. Ahiyon described CTS as going for an interactive sort of show, with plans of expanding this idea to include dancers, aerial performers and comedy teams.
“We try to bring (our fans) all together under one roof and cross pollinate our art, music, inspiration and ideas on making the evening worth much more to the customer than the $10 door admission,” he said. After the new album is finished, the band’s goal is to keep this style strong as it brings its show around the country.
“All this touring has made us tighter as a unit,” said Gabriel Marin, who plays the guitar and fretless chaturangui (an Indian adaptation of the slide guitar) for the group.
Ferrara and Ahiyon, both Queens natives and Queens College alumni, met Marin, a Hunter College alum and Upper West Side native, through a heavy rock circuit of musicians when they were in their mid−teens.
Since that time, CTS has done a lot to craft its eclectic sound and promote its music in New York and beyond, putting 40 thousand miles on its van in 2008 alone. This is why the group is promoting its Sullivan Hall show as a fund−raiser — to buy a new van. It plans on hitting far more spots this year — doubling the number of shows.
“We plan to more than double that distance in 2009, but we need a rugged van to handle the load,” Ahiyon said.
Over the past year, the group’s national tours brought its unique progressive ethno−fusion style to 45 cities from coast to coast, including Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Dallas and among others.
While the New York City shows have been scarce compared to the countless cities where CTS has spent its nights, the band did perform last week at Sullivan Hall in the West Village. The gig was its last before heading to their Brooklyn recording spot.
“On the last album, we were trying to confine our stuff,” Marin said. “We’re doing this album much like a live show.” Which means more improvisation, and longer stream of consciousness songs.
The title may seem random, but the band cites a quote from the film “The Prestige” starring Christian Bale as the source. “The movie in general is really cool,” bassist John Ferrara said. “The [Alfred Borden] quote ‘Are you watching closely?’ talks about magic and how it is an illusion. A trick, pretty much.”
Ferrara said the band tries to do the same thing with its music. “We try to take our audience by surprise. Try showing them new things.”
Referencing certain films in its performance is not new to the band, which has been known to dub quotes from “Borat” over its live music, mainly as a transition, lightening the mood when its songs wind into heavy tones. Film audio dubbing adds a vocal texture to the music, filling vocal space. Although it is open to guest performances and other collaborations, CTS has said it does not feel its music lacks anything in the absence of a singer. According to Ferrara, “the three of us are the core.”
That strong sentiment, that dynamic connection in music, has made self−promotion a natural and productive way of supporting its music. CTS relies on “word of mouth” and Internet promos from its MySpace page. The independent musical trio say they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“So far we enjoy doing it,” Ferrara said. “We have a street team. We have a lot of support.”
When considering the future of CTS, Marin said he is very hopeful that 2009 is going to be a good year. “The future is very bright. I think this album will give us a big boost.”
The band’s upcoming shows are announced on its Myspace music site, myspace.comâ„considerthemusic, or considerthesourcemusic.com where the previous two albums, “Esperanto” (2006) and their self−titled EP “Consider The Source” (2005), can also be purchased.
