robert

“I can tell you that, for me, my earliest recollection of being connected to music began around the fourth grade,” recalled Rob Derhak, fondly. We caught up with the bass player, songwriter, and vocalist for the award-winning jam band moe. sitting in the lobby of the moe.Republic Hotel, sipping cappuccinos and wolfing cinnamon-sprinkled doughnut holes. “The album was Frank Zappa’s, ‘Just Another Band From L.A.’ That did it for me. To this day, when I hear someone say ‘Eddie, are you kidding?’ I know I’ve met a fellow traveler. I listened to that album like I was studying for the bar exam. In fact, I first started to play listening to that album, even though it was only the air guitar,” he added with a smile.Fortunately for us, Rob put down the air guitar and picked up the bass while in college. He started playing seriously when he was twenty. He learned by listening to variety of influences, such as Stu Hamm, Paul McCartney, Flea, and the music of Fishbone. “My first bass was an old Klira. One of those imitation Hofner’s, looked like the bass McCartney played with the Beatles,” he reminisced. “It had flat-wound strings and I use to slap away on it all day long.”The practiced paid off when Rob met guitarist Chuck Garvey at SUNY Buffalo. They started the band moe., originally called ‘Five Guys Named Moe,’ after the old Louis Jordan song, in 1989. The band quickly gained a following in and around Buffalo and upstate New York. Several personnel changes in the early years contributed to their success, including the key additions of guitarist Al Schnier, then drummer Vinnie Amico. With the return of former drummer Jim Loughlin as percussionist in the late 1990s the band was complete. Today’s moe. has risen to international prominence. They are renowned as one of the top jam bands in the country, winners of four Jammy Awards, including best studio album for ‘Wormwood,’ in 2004.Their success has had a lot to do with their philosophy as musicians. From the onset the group made a conscious decision to compose over covering tunes. “We thought that if we were going to make a difference, we had to have our own sound,” Rob acknowledged. “I truly enjoy composing. We all do in the band. It keeps things fresh.”The originality of moe.’s music has always drawn positive reviews from critics and fans alike. The style is their own. “I’m not a traditionally trained musician,” he said between sips of coffee. “So my approach was non-traditional from the time I first picked up the instrument. I found myself venturing into melody, all the while keeping a solid groove with the rhythm section. I didn’t like the idea of settling into repetition—some bass players are okay with that, and that’s fine. I interpreted the bass differently. I liked the idea of being in the rhythm section but incorporating riffs and contributing to the overall movement of a particular composition. I still look at it as an ongoing experiment.” Over the years Rob has had the opportunity to experiment on many occasions. He’s co-produced moe.’s last three studio releases, ‘Dither,’ ‘Wormwood,’ and the upcoming release, ‘The Conch.’ He’s applied his non-traditional approach with several side bands, including HA, HA the Moose, and SwampDonkey. He’s also shared the stage with some of the leading bands and performers of this and any generation, including the Allman Brothers Band, The Who, Robert Plant, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade, Little Feat, Rat Dog, and many more. “We’ve also completed our first DVD, ‘Live From the Fillmore,’ which was just released. You know you’re on your way when you’ve recorded live at the Fillmore. I think it’s a rite of passage for any band and we’re grateful to be in the club.”Anything else on the horizon for our gifted musician and moe.? “With everything that we’ve done here in the last few months, the DVD, finishing ‘The Conch,’ and wrapping up another moe.Down,” which is the group’s annual rock festival in upstate New York over Labor Day Weekend, “we’re ready to slow it down.” By looking at their upcoming schedule, if slowing it down means plenty of touring and concerts ahead, then we’re fine with that. If doing what moe. does best, jamming and entertaining for the faithful (affectionately called moe.rons), and their ever-widening legion of fans, then we’re happy to report that the sun is rising and the view of the horizon from up here is broad and limitless. In other words, to all the once and future fellow travelers out there: ‘no Eddie, we’re not kidding.’