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Duo gives their music the freedom to evolve
Photo Courtesy of Jews and Catholics
Jews & Catholics is composed of Alanna Meltzer, who plays upright bass, and Eddie Garcia, a singer, guitarist and songwriter.
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Published: September 4, 2008
The last thing singer, songwriter and guitarist Eddie Garcia had on his mind in 2004 was forming a band. Then he met upright bassist Alanna Meltzer.
He had just ended a frustrating period as a member of Hombre Dado, a Triad band that he described as sounding "somewhere between The Replacements and Thin Lizzy."
"It was most linear and accessible band I had been a part of -- which might have been part of the problem," he said laughing, during an interview last week. "It had reached a place where I just wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with the rest of the band, as I had ideas that didn't seem to coincide with where they wanted to go. So it was fun while it lasted.
"But I walked away disgusted at the whole idea of being in a band."
Even so, there was something about the idea of casually making some music with Meltzer, who had 10 years of classical training on upright bass, that appealed to Garcia, who had been playing guitar since he was a youngster. He had already moved through what he thought was a natural progression of playing -- from scorch-and-burn metal guitar, a brief flirtation with the "guitar nerd" acrobatic school of guitar playing as personified by guitarist Joe Satriani, and into the more textural and abstract guitar of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth.
"By the time I met Alanna, my playing had evolved into a sort of self-imploding style of playing that was somewhere between control and chaos," Garcia said. "I didn't so much play guitar as I attacked the instrument. I was using lots of pedals and delays and experimenting with new ways to produce sound out of those six strings."
From this fusion of bowed bass and experimental guitar was born Jews & Catholics, one of the most spectacularly singular bands to ever come out of Winston-Salem. The duo's two recordings -- the album God's Trash (2007) and the EP Inside, released this year -- stand as creative wonders, layered, rocked-up soundscapes of electronic beats; dense sheets of guitar chords, sounds and riffs; upright bass and evocative vocals. It's a head-spinning approach, more akin to sculpting sound than conventional playing. Whether heard live or on disc, the duo turns music into a sensory experience that engages and demands reaction.
"We have people come up and tell me they really love the way we worked keyboards into this or that song -- and there are no keyboards on the song," Garcia said. "What you hear is just guitar, acoustic bass and a drum machine, so people are hearing a lot more than what is really there.
"And I think that's because of our note selection, the way we combine sounds, and my use of various effects. The overtones that come from all of this can create this sort of phantom sound, and that's what people are hearing."
The duo's sound is so mammoth that it's fascinating to learn that the compositions start out on acoustic guitar. "I know that sounds crazy, but we've found that really works, as it allows the songs to grow really organically, as Alanna can hear and approach things from a more orchestral foundation," Garcia said. "If I started out on electric, with all my pedals and stuff, the sound would likely go way overboard. So we really don't so much write a conventional song as compose a song that evolves in stages."
He laughed. "That's why we don't exactly spit out songs. We sort of learn all the rules, then break them, and see what comes from it all."
Garcia and Meltzer made a decision early on that the band was going to limit its performances in Winston-Salem -- to keep local audiences from burning out on the band and to inspire them to go outside the city and state to perform.
To that end, Jews & Catholics has steadily moved farther afield, touring in three-or-four-show bursts, amassing great press and building a fan base. Garcia said that he hasn't really approached any music labels about signing the band, preferring, at least for the time being, to let things naturally evolve.
"It's hard to decide what to do these days, as the music industry is changing so fast, and clubs are closing," he said. "Sure, I wish we could devote more time, which is something that would come with a record deal, but that isn't the reality right now. We each have personal romances and jobs to maintain -- although we each have terrific support from our partners and from our jobs (Meltzer works at Edward McKay Used Books, Garcia at WFDD radio).
"I wish we were a little bit farther along sometimes, but at the same time, I have this feeling that we are just one right blog posting from something happening. That's the way the business seems to working these days. So for now, we will continue to make our music the way we do, and make it count."
Jews & Catholics will perform at 9 p.m. today at The Garage. The Winter Sounds, Nothing Noise and Beloved Binge will open. Admission is $5. Visit www.the-garage.ws or call 777-1277. The band will also play at 6 p.m. Sept 19 at Rock the Block in downtown Winston-Salem. That show is free.
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