Events

[JAM] Despite (or perhaps because of) the flood of music provided by the internet, it can be a struggle to find substance. TAUK is an instrumental band from Oyster Bay whose sound often gets lumped into the jam scene, but if it’s substance you’re looking for, this band provides it with their mentally stimulating jams. While that may imply endless noodling, these guys actually have a tight focus. During a phone interview, guitarist Matt Jalbert described their fight: ”We definitely get thrown into the whole jam band thing, but we have a heavier and more progressive side to us. I think it’s more progressive rock with a lot of groove. I listen to a lot of different music—everything from Radiohead and Medeski Martin & Wood to Aphex Twin—so there are a lot of influences in me and everyone in the band.” The fusion has a particularly tight feel, given how exploratory the band’s music can be, but they’ve jammed with each other for a while now. ”Myself, Charlie [bass], and A. C. [keys] have known each other since middle school and played together since early on. It kind of just stuck and we figured out that we were really into it and wanted to keep it going,” says Jalbert. “About three and a half years ago, Isaac [drums] joined the group. We were looking for a new direction and I think that is where it sparked.” The foursome only employ a guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard-organ, but their sound has a weight not normally heard in so small a lineup. 

Their latest album, Collisions, was released in the middle of last year, and with it they’re really starting to carve out a unique sound. ”[Collisions] was a little different in terms of our approach to writing the music. Earlier, it was more one person writing a song and bringing it in. With this album, we wanted the band to come through a little more in terms of the players. There was a lot of collective writing which helped to find the grooves that really worked. We were responding to each other as players and not just focusing on the song writing,” says Jalbert. TAUK performs at Buffalo Iron Works this Saturday, March 21, with support from Ocular Panther.