Three Stars: Gestures

Many times when we see that a band has more than five members, we predict certain combinations of instruments. But Gestures isn't your ordinary band, so they haven't tripled up on guitar players. They don't even have one guitar player. With two drummers (including Mark Cisneros from Medications), one clarinet, one trombone, one saxophone, and one tuba, Gestures has all the elements of a jazz band or a classical ensemble. Yet the driving rhythms and melodies clearly draw as much from punk rock as they do from jazz or classical music. You won't hear any vocals, but it's just as easy to imagine a guitar playing some of the parts that are instead played by trombonist Bob Chapman or saxophonist Kriston Capps (who is also DCist's weekend editor, so he did not participate in this interview). In fact, it's easy to hear some of the same psychedelia that permeates albums like Sookie Jump by The Rude Staircase (a band in which tuba player Jon Lebovitz was a member.) Yet, for the large variety of influences and their occasional tendency to go completely unhinged, all of their songs are actual songs, not extended jam sessions. Which is why we're eagerly anticipating their upcoming EP.

We sat down with drummer Jess Matthews and clarinet player Rebecca Mills to talk about the roots of their unique sound, playing in Europe and where you can find them on Halloween.

Find them online at: http://www.myspace.com/gesturesdc

Catch them next: Tonight at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore opening for So Percussion. Or in D.C. at the Big Bear Cafe on November 9.

Buy their CD: At one of those upcoming shows.

What are your day jobs when you're not playing music?

Rebecca: I work at the Federal Aviation Administration. I make signs. And web sites.

Jess: I just do music. This is it. On the clock, right now.

How long has Gestures been around?

Jess: A couple of years. Three years? The first tour was recently.

When did you start doing music full time?

Jess: Like four months ago.

Do you do a lot of the writing?

Jess: No, we write everything pretty collectively. I think I often come in with some neat ideas and we'll work around them. But yeah, I'll do more of the legwork.

You do a lot of the promotional work as well?

Jess: Poorly.

Rebecca: No, she's been doing it well.

Jess: So, our EP is coming out in the beginning of November and we have a show here on the 9th and then we go out for a couple of days. Like Philly, New York, Amherst, Jersey, just a little East Coast circuit.

What made you decide Amherst?

Jess: Well, we really wanted to play in Providence because of the noise scene. But AS200 was already booked. They were really nice too, they just can't do it.

Rebecca: We were just looking for a show in the northeast basically and nothing in Providence or Boston was working out so Amherst was the next logical step.

Is this going to be your first EP coming up?

Jess: Yup. We started recording it last November with Hugh McElroy and just did it all live in the course of a couple days. And it took a while to get it kind of mastered and slowly got the artwork together, but I'm pretty excited. We get it back in the next couple of days. My friend who's an artist did the artwork for us and it's really cool. I don't know how to describe it.

Rebecca: I don't know how to describe it either. But, it's cool.

Jess: It fits with the sound, somehow.

Are the songs that are on the EP the songs that are on the MySpace right now?

Jess: Some of them are the same. Not all of them. The MySpace has a mixture of recordings from our practices and then the EP tracks.

How much of what you play live is improv?

Jess: We don't play a lot of improv. Our first year we pretty much played improv. I don't know, it was interesting because every show you never knew what was going to happen whatsoever. Then it started to shift to where it was partial songs, partial improv. Now, it's definitely where we have songs, but kind of jam out.

Rebecca: I'd like to think that I play a song differently every single time. So, that's my improv. But mostly, we've gotten a lot more structured songs in the past year or so.

Jess: I think the structure is mostly in how we play together. It's like, OK, you're going into that part, so I'll go into this part.

What instruments does everyone in the band play? Rebecca, I know you play clarinet.

Jess: So, I play drums and Mark Cisneros also plays a full drumset. And then Jon plays tuba, Kriston plays saxophone and Bob plays trombone.

So I guess it makes sense for you guys to be playing with So Percussion.

Jess: I'd like to think so. That's probably ambitious.

Yet, it's gonna happen! Had you known about Aural States for awhile? Did they contact you?

Jess: I wrote to Greg 'cause I knew about this site and sent him a music video just in case he wanted to write about it and he wrote back saying, "Oh, this is cool! Can you send me the EP so I can write about it." So, I sent him the EP and he was like, "This is perfect. Do you want to open for So Percussion?" He also is a tuba player and he asked, "Can I play tuba with you guys sometime?" And I said yes. When we play Baltimore you can totally play tuba with us. Let's double up on tuba.

Rebecca: We still don't know if he's playing with us.

Jess: I don’t think he’s doing it for this show because in our back and forths I’m always like, “So, are you going to learn that song, “Conceptual Seduction”? Because if we had two tubas it would be awesome.

Rebecca: That song particularly is hard on the tuba player. It just tires him out and if we had two tuba players it would be pretty cool.

Jess: I think that Greg just liked the idea, but hopefully we'll play with him.

I remember seeing jazz punk as the term you defined your band as on myspace. Is that how you see the band’s sound or is that myspace needing you to pick a term?

Jess: It’s really hard to put yourself into one word. I usually tell people that it’s a jazz instrumentation but that we’re still playing rock. Everyone’s very very different in terms of what they listen to. I think Jon is the most classical of the group. Then Bob and Mark and Kriston are totally jazz guys who also love math rock a lot. And then, Rebecca’s like, the noise.

Rebecca: I came from experimental laptop rock mostly.

Were you in any of the Sonic Circuits Festival shows?

Rebecca: Not this year. But in past years, yeah. And I’ve been an organizer, too.

One of the first bands that came to mind when I heard you was The Rude Staircase. Are there any Rude Staircase fans in the band?

Jess and Rebecca: Jon was in the Rude Staircase.

That makes sense!

Jess: I think they played things very structured. In my mind, that’s how Jon’s playing. It’s good, because me as a drummer, to know that the rhythm section, “Okay, Jon’s going to be doing this this and this. Becca’s going to be bringing her noise.” And we all like punk rock, I guess.

What are some of your favorite punk rock bands?

Rebecca: You mean throughout my entire life or recently?

Let’s do recently.

Rebecca: Oh god, that's worse. As far as recent bands that have influenced me, the answer is really none. I like Audrey Chen a lot, the cellist from Baltimore. I like Twilight Memories of the Three Suns. It’s stuff like that which I consider punk rock. That isn’t really punk rock to the masses or three chords or whatever, but I still consider it punk rock. It’s weird. That’s the essence of punk rock. I don’t feel like it needs three chords and a drum, a bass and a guitar. No, that’s not necessarily what it is for me to find it influential and interesting.

Jess: All my friends’ bands! They’re all my favorite.

I feel like there aren’t many other bands in the area that are even going for a similar focus as you guys.

Jess and Rebecca: Nope.

Do you feel like you have peers in the area?

Rebecca: We have peers who get it definitely, but they’re not out there doing similar types of things. So, I don’t feel like we’re in a genre with a bunch of little bands are something. I mean there is a sense of community, I think, with musicians in DC. And that extends to other kinds of artists and writers and journalists. So, there are other people who understand what we’re doing and I consider these people my peers. But they might not be going out and doing exactly the same kind of thing.

What shows have you been to recently?

Jess: We did a show with Edie Sedgwick. We played with Partyline and this guy Noisy Pig. We played a show that he DJed in Berlin. It was just like, him and a projection and his background music. I feel like that’s really difficult to engage an audience.

So have you toured overseas as well?

Jess: With Edie Sedgwick.

Where'd you guys go?

Jess: It was Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, U.K.

How were you guys received over there?

Jess: People were really excited. There's a lot of DIY punk people there. Some really hardcore record collectors who bring energy. Also, you play shows where it’s just DJs or with another band that’s totally different and then there might be a techno dance party immediately after. In fact, there often is. So it’s not like here where it’s a venue of a specific genre of music that everyone goes to see. It’s like, there’s a party. Everyone comes and sees what you’re doing.

So far, what’s been your favorite spot to play? Or favorite type of spot to play?

Rebecca: I like unusual spots. I like parties, house shows, outdoor guerrilla performances which I don’t really think we’ve quite done yet, but we’re about to.

Jess: Halloween. We’ll have two outdoor performances. One at the Farmer’s Market and one in Dupont Circle. So that’s cool.

Rebecca: In the fountain, hopefully. Dressed as a hazmat team.

Jess: I got my suit today.

Rebecca: We ordered six of them. Kriston found them. They’re hazmat drill uniforms or practice outfits, so they’re not expensive, they’re like $22.

Jess: They won’t actually protect you from hazardous materials but they look like it. But we didn’t get our act together and order all six of them so we were just ordering them individually. Of course it’s some small hazmat training suit firm. So, we’re all calling them and by the time I called them, they were like, “Are you in the band?”

Rebecca: ‘Cause six people calling and ordering these. And before we all called, Kriston called to get details about it and all of that so they were amused, I’ll bet.

Have you been accused of being unlistenable?

Rebecca: Well, by Jon, our tuba player. That’s what he says about the early days.

Jess: The early days were pretty on the edge.

Rebecca: He always says “Those days were fun as hell but completely unlistenable.” My concept of listenable is probably a little bit different than most people’s concept of listenable so I probably shouldn’t comment on that.

Jess: You like to be challenged. A lot.