The Eclectic Jambourine Band began with Andrew Bloom joining the band Lopera featuring Alex Gibson, Nielsen Chapman and Thai Nguyen. Thai lived too far away, so he stopped coming to practice. This was the end of Nielsen as well, because Thai was his ride to practice. The Trip began when Alex and Andrew began playing together in Alex's garage and for about a year did nothing but experiment with the music, electric, acoustic and multi instrumental, with Andrew on bass, tin-whistle, acoustic guitar, sitar, and Indian chanting and alex on violin, viola, banjo, electric guitar, harmonica, tin can and stick and also Indian chanting. Andrew made the transition to guitar as bass and guitar alone was not really an option. The band went through several changes, including name (from 10:23 Enigma to Hardwood Floors to Intrepid Doorknobs to Don't Feed the Head! to Dancing Philosophers) and finally settled on The Eclectic Jambourine Band.
Alex and Andrew finally both began writing songs, which originally started basically as poetry set to music. "Indigo (Death was There That Night)" was a primary first song (which was a desert walking song with banjo), along with "Little Alice" (an acoustic fingerpicked song), "Little Red" (A psychedelic epic with organ and fields of voices and a dramatic finale), and "The Ugliest." The first step towards the new sound was with the writing of the riff for "What is a Jambourine?" and the writing of "6 P.M."
Spring of '06, Alex and Andrew began jamming with Michael Clabaugh on drums (after unsuccessfully going through several others) sporadically, and came to settle with him as a semi-permanent drummer Summer '06. Winter '06/'07 Will Firch became the bassist for the band. Later, Andrew and Will switched instruments improving the band setup. Spring '07 Michael quit after putting his drums up for sale and deciding on a different career choice, and the band adopted Max Brain as a new drummer who is currently practicing with us and will play at our upcoming shows with us.
It seems the sound has returned full circle, from its chaotic roots to a crystalline rock sound to what is now the synthesis. If you come to any of our upcoming shows, be prepared for a musical experience that defies words. We have been developing now a sound that integrates the familiarity and warmth of the two-minute pop song with the spontaneity and intrigue of the extended jam song. It is something that must be experienced first-hand.
Currently, the band is working on recording, getting show dates, perfecting current material and working on new material. We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you at our shows.
BEWARE of the COULORFUL SNAIL
Pink Floyd
