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The Flux

About Me

The Flux blends Afro-Cuban rhythms, progressive jam rock, and funk into AfroJam - a style that amazes the trained musical ear and heats up the dancefloor. Since their genesis in early 2005, The Flux has electrified the West Coast scene from their home in Berkeley, California. In that time they've shared the stage with bands such as Albino!, Vinyl, Blue Turtle Seduction, Delta Nove, and the K23 Orchestra, building a devoted fan base attracted to their combination of quality compositions and a bit of on-stage silliness.

The Flux released their debut CD Burst in October 2006, with a blow-out party at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley. The 10 song collection runs the gamut from funky dance tunes (O Anna, Love is a Wave, Sorcerers of Funk) to Caribbean grooves (Downhill, Feed) to epic AfroJam explorations (Aloft, Subterranean Refuge). Burst is set to be released in Japan by Grey Dog's Records in October 2007, with 2 bonus tracks that define the current evolution of the band's unique sound (Volta Basin and Entropy). The progressive music underlies a progressive message: an appeal for social and environmental justice and self-empowerment. The songs on Burst urge the listener to "Feed your hopes, not your fears", and affirm that we still have the ability to change the world through our everyday decisions.

The five members each bring a unique contribution to The Flux sound. After studying neo-classical composition, Joe Balestreri developed his soulful lead vocals and sublime guitar style with Midwestern jam band Torque. Recently, Balestreri has enjoyed stints with Zigaboo Modeliste and Congolese guitar master Samba Ngo. He is joined by Phil Gorman on keyboards/vocals/trumpet, another classically trained composer with serious jazz chops. After composing musicals for several years, Phil now aims to turn the rock show into a theater piece. On Percussion, Matthew "Smitty" Smith's 13 years of African and Afro-Cuban Drumming experience includes an intense half year in Ghana as well as studies with Michael Spiro, Trevino Leon, Mark Lamson, Sandy Perez and Jesus Diaz. Smitty also tours extensively with Afro-beat band Albino! and has recorded or performed live with artists such as SambaDá, Friday Jumbo, Karl Denson, The Josh Jones Ensemble, Izabella, and Blue Turtle Seduction. On drum set, Brian Huston brings an explosive and fluid beat, refined at the Berkelee School of Music and countless rock, pop, and Latin fusion projects on the East Coast. He, like Smitty, has studied drumming extensively in Ghana, and the two lock together with the precision that only a decade of playing side by side can bring. Rounding out the rhythm section is bassist Ryan Lukas, a graduate of the Crane School of Music proficient in all styles of music from jazz, to classical, to rock and funk. He is a serious composer as well, having won the Music for Miracles songwriting contest in 2004. Solid grooves, intelligent lyrics, innovative arrangements, positive energy… that's what their fans expect and what The Flux delivers!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 29/11/2005
Band Website: www.thefluxmusic.com
Band Members: Joe Balestreri - guitar, vocals
Phil Gorman - keyboards, vocals
Ryan Lukas - bass
Matt "Smitty" Smith - congas and percussion
Brian Huston - drums
Influences: Phish, Frank Zappa, Fela Kuti, the Beatles, Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Led Zeppelin, Mansour Seck, Stevie Wonder, John Scofield, The Who, Amadou et Mariam, Toubab Krewe, Konono #1, Thomas Mapfumo, Miles Davis, Beck, Radiohead, Manu Chao, The Bad Plus, Cake, many more...
Record Label: Unknown Indie
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Save us from this brew pub

Help, we're trapped in the Ukiah Brew Publik house. The doors are locked, and the beer is flowing. We've found that the good people of ukiah are most precipitous in their precipitation of participati...
Posted by on Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:42:00 GMT

Many Thanks

Hey everyone! Phil and Smitty Here. We would like to personally thank all of you who came out and made our Starry Plough show a huge success. We were told by the management that it was the best thurs...
Posted by on Sat, 10 Dec 2005 11:30:00 GMT

FluxBlog is Open

The Flux is blogging!  Welcome to ourSpace; make yourself at home and try to ignore the advertising.  The Flux is busy this week prepping for our Starry Plough show on Thursday (John Lennon...
Posted by on Sun, 04 Dec 2005 11:48:00 GMT