Organic instruments + electronic synthesis + clever song writing. Three musicians exist in a web of sound constructed electronically with the use of live samples. The audience dances at the show and hums the melody at home. Future Rock.
Chicago sound guru and promoter Leif Moravy assembled the trio in early 2004. "I saw the niche and I attacked it. Everything in Chicago is moving in this direction," Leif explains. Mickey Kellerman and Felix Moreno utilize a myriad of synthesizers, electronics, and instruments to compose and arrange their instrumental music. The audience can rarely identify the origin of each sound. "I love that look of confusion... when the audience sees me play my bass and they have no idea what's coming out," says Moreno. Drummer Darren Heitz finishes FR's sound by blending acoustic and electronic drum timbres with live sampling through his synthesizers.
Kellerman explains, "We manage to pull off our live show while keeping pre-recorded samples to a minimum. Ninety-nine percent of our live show is live." This concept is at the core of Future Rock: technology has progressed so that real-time sampling and electronic synthesis can now occur on-stage. "Its really important to not get to geeky with our music. People want to hear songs with melodies or grooves they can dance to. Its a question of utilizing the new technology with the old song structure so that kids can rock out the same way, but to new sounds," Heitz adds.
Already, FR has accumulated an impressive list of successful shows sharing the stage with: Benevento-Russo Duo, Conspirator, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Brothers Past, Lotus and Signal Path. Chicago is buzzing...
