THE ROYAL NOISE
Wednesday Aug. 8 at Molly MacPherson's Scottish Pub, 311 W. Congress St.
Thursday, Aug. 9 at Live Wire Music Hall (with Those Cats), 307 W. River St.
Friday, Aug, 10 at Congress St. Social Club, 411 W. Congress St.
Mike LaBombard, the Royal Noise's sax player, is releasing his first solo CD this week. It's an electronic, pseudo-experimental funk record he calls Sohma, and the band - which, despite the fact that guitarist and lead visionary Johan Harvey now resides in Pennsylvania - is using the Thursday Live Wire date as a CD launch party.
"Initially," LaBombard explains, "this whole idea was simply that, an idea which was a fun way for me to make beats, grooves, and add some cool effects to be able to kind of just set a loop and jam along with my saxophone.
"At this point, if I'm honest, I was still pretty resistant to the electronic music scene as a whole ... Just wasn't really my thing at the time. I think in the first part of this year is when I started to realize maybe I had something worth putting some effort into and working out the songs I had, and make something of it."
Harvey is in Savannah to record the funk/jazz band's second full-length album. The Royal Noise's debut, Keep on Moving, was recently accepted into Pandora's Genome Project collection. And the Royal Noise Pandora station goes live at the end of the month.
"Despite a lot of geography getting in the way (I know I-95 between Philly and Savannah a lot better than I wish I did!), our music has continued to move forward," notes Harvey. "While I'm involved with a lot of music up north, the friendships, camaraderie, musical synchronism and energy of this band just can't be replaced. Playing with these guys is always worth the trip.
"Creatively, we have so much to pour into this project - when I write bass lines I hear Darius' playing, when I write melodies I hear Mike, and so on. It's easy to collaborate over distances too - we constantly send ideas back and forth online."
Next week's Royal Noise shows include Molly Maguire's (Aug. 15) and Peg Leg Pete (Aug. 17); the band returns Aug. 31 to play at Tybee Island Social Club, and on Sept. 15 they're back at Congress St. Social.
Oh yes, the Royal Noise is also booked for Square Fest, Aug. 25 in Forsyth Park.
That's a lot of gas-guzzling for Johan Harvey. "What this all means for the band is, as long as the music continues to write itself, we will be in its service," he says. "I'm not sure what is set to happen for this band, but I for one can't wait to find out."
CHECK IT OUT
Always a pleasure to recommend the trio Whaleboat, one of Savannah's brightest new bands. The guys play Blowin' Smoke BBQ Aug. 11 ... The Louisiana "chamber rock" band England in 1819 returns for the second time in a month - they'll be at the Jinx Aug. 11 ... Also recommended (in a similar vein): Michigan's indie-folk group Doug Mains & the City Folk, Aug. 10 at the Sentient Bean. The harmony-heavy acoustic band has been compare to The Head and The Heart and Mumford and Sons ...