Enchanted Ape
Three Ring Symphony

Saturday night at St. Paul’s Hat Trick Lounge, Enchanted Ape did what they’re known for – jam. The group known to some as the Phish of the Twin Cities (we’ll get into that later) just released their debut album, Three Ring Symphony — a fantastic first offering for the band, but after seeing them perform live, it’s obvious the songs are just a necessary evil to set up the almighty, rocking out jam. I’ve quickly learned genres are a tricky entity and touchy subject for some musicians, so with a surprisingly wide breadth of song writing approaches, Enchanted Ape don’t let labels pigeon-hole them.

“This band and the music we create is constantly evolving–constantly “under construction,” so to speak,” said Chris O’Brien, the group’s acoustic guitarist and lead vocalist, in an interview with Perfect Porridge. “I think that, in part, is why we’re often labeled as a jam band. That’s not to say that bands in other genres don’t evolve, but I think there’s a conscious effort on our part to reinvent songs every time we perform them.”

And with influences including Allman Bros., Rusted Root, Widespread Panic and String Cheese Incident, Enchanted Ape has quite the musical repertoire, and by recording much of the new studio album material live, the group were able to give their debut an authentic feel that carries through to a live performance.

Saturday night’s gig yielded stellar solos song after song for guitarist Alec James Knutson, including Anastasio-like wails mixed with southern Govt Mule flair and even Petrucci-like syncopation up and down the frets. Brad Danielson’s bongos and cymbal work added in all the right places and “False Flags” — a 6/8 track with audience-encouraged clapping – was a definite outstanding tune of the evening. Other highlights included: “Soulfood,” “Memphis, Trouble Free” and “Fungi Lullaby,” all which can be found on the new album.

Before the show, we sat down with Chris O’Brien to further discuss the jam band genre, setlists and how exactly Laura Ingalls Wilder used to heat her little house on the prairie…

What’s new with you guys?
The current lineup of the band is less than a year old, though I have been playing with our lead guitarist, Alec, for about two years now. We’re all very serious about this (as serious as you can be about rock and roll, I guess), and we’d like to take this thing as far as we can. We just bought a bus, which should be ready for travel by April, and we’re planning to hit the road heavily starting this spring.

That’s great. Bus = serious musicians, we know for a fact. So tell me about the songwriting process with so many talented musicians in the group.
Up to this point, I’ve written all but a couple of our original songs. Generally, I’ll bring songs to the band with the chord structure, melody and lyrics pretty well figured out. The band then adds their parts and sometimes helps to restructure the songs. Most tunes have some sort of open-ended jam section that we try to change up from night to night. We’ve started to perform a few of Alec’s songs as well, and I’d like to continue to delve into his catalog. Our bass player, John, is also a writer—so there will be a fair amount of group collaboration in terms of songwriting as the band moves forward.

Which bands would you compare yourselves to or do you look up to?
We have many various influences, but I think this band most resembles The Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic, Rusted Root and String Cheese Incident. These bands, like us, are rooted in blues-based and folk-based music, but they’re not afraid to take it way into outer space from time to time. Neil Young’s work in the late 60’s and early 70’s was another similar approach to ours. I suppose we’re kind of a throwback to that time period.

So with that said, how would you respond if I called you a Minneapolis Moe., St. Paul String Cheese or tried to fit Phish or Widespread into another clever pun?
I think I speak for everyone in the band when I say that I have a love/hate relationship with the term “jam band.” It’s useful in the sense that it identifies us quickly to people who will probably dig our music. I’ve found that the same people who love the Dead, Widespread and Phish tend to catch on right away to what we’re doing, and I absolutely love to play to that kind of audience. There’s a general openness and a level of participation
in the music that I’ve rarely experienced when playing in front of a mainstream rock crowd. On the other hand, I know that some people have misconceptions or stigmas against jam bands, and I bet a lot of those folks would enjoy our music if they gave it a chance.

So in other words, tie-die and dreadlocks not required, but don’t hurt either! So what’s the draw of being in a jam band? What’s the draw for fans?
I think the draw of being in a jam band and watching one as a fan is pretty much the same thing. It’s a desire to be part of something spontaneous and unexpected. It’s an exchange of energy between the musicians and the audience that allows the music to physically affect everyone in a shared manner. People who aren’t into jam music often complain that the songs are too long. However, if a band is trying to go somewhere uncertain, I respect an audience who is willing to go along for the ride. The anticipation of a climactic peak that makes you practically jump out of your skin can bring people together and make them feel like they all have something in common. Of course, it’s up to the band to deliver. In order to pull it off consistently, musicians have to be extremely tuned-in to what their bandmates are doing and be ready to react at a moment’s notice.

I see you post your setlist online. Do fans trade tapes, too?
We do post setlists on our website, and we encourage tape trading. We have had fans tape our shows, but I wouldn’t say it’s common at this point. That may be partly due to the venues we’ve been playing (people are more likely to tape you at Red Rocks than at the corner bar), and part of it may be that taping is not as big here in Minnesota as in other areas of the country. I also think that the large number of live CDs and MP3s issued by
bands in recent years has caused the number of “do-it-yourself” tapers to shrink considerably. We have begun to record our own shows, post them on Archive.org and give away hundreds of free bootleg CDs, so hopefully folks are sharing the music with their friends.

How does your debut album stack up to the live experience?
I think our album stacks up pretty well to our live show. We recorded all but one of the songs live-in-studio to begin with. Then, we basically kept the parts we liked and overdubbed the parts we didn’t. In particular, we kept all of Alec’s original guitar solos from those live sessions. Most of them were the first or second take, and you can hear the raw intensity he puts into those songs. Plus, the arrangements were built around his solos, rather than him having to fit his solos into a specified number of bars or whatever. I’m a firm believer that a band should support whoever is leading the band at any given moment. If I’m singing, then generally I’m leading
the band, but when Alec starts wailing on his guitar, we all need to follow him wherever he takes us.

Anything else interesting to note given the new members and future albums in the works?
One thing to note is that our rhythm section is the newest part of the band. Our drummer Adam, bassist John and percussionist Brad all joined the band midway through the recording of our album last summer. So, we’re really just now hitting our stride with them. I can’t wait to get in the studio and crank out an album with those guys in on it from the beginning. We haven’t scheduled studio time yet, but it’s probably going to happen late this summer/early fall.

So we know jam bands always have weird shit happen to them. What’s your weirdest live performance story?
As for the weirdest live performance, that’s like asking Michael Jordan to name his sweetest jump shot. This band is a magnet for weird gigs. However, the most recent insanity took place in mid-December down in Winona. We were playing a show for Winona State’s NORML chapter, and they had rented out a city-owned shelter for us to play in. Basically, it looked like a old one-room stone schoolhouse–something out of a Laura Ingalls Wilder novel. When we arrived with our gear three hours before showtime, we were shocked to realize that the place had no heat and no windowpanes. What looked like windows from a distance were really just open holes with a metal grate to keep out pesky kids and critters. Plus, it was 15 degrees out and falling!
So, we hatched a plan, and after spending several hundred dollars at the local Fleet Farm, we managed to insulate all the windows and grates with 3-inch-thick foam. Then, we fired up a jet-engine-like kerosene heater and got the place up to 65 degrees just as people started arriving. It actually turned out to be one of the best times I’ve ever had performing.

Upcoming gigs?
So, I think that just about wraps it up. Our upcoming schedule is updated daily on our Web site After our show at the Hat Trick Lounge, we probably won’t have a full-band show in the Twin Cities until late April. We’ll be working on the bus quite a bit in March, except for a trip to St. Cloud on the 9th.