Coltrane Motion, a duo comprised of two Ohioans who recently relocated to Chicago, has taken the city by storm with their extremely danceable music and new album Songs About Music. Distorted, delay-laden guitar work by Matt Dennewitz complements the electronic contributions from lead singer/music programming wiz, Michael Bond. The result is music with a lot of character and feeling, despite being created partly through an artificial medium. Don’t miss them Sunday, Jan. 27 at Canopy Club as part of New Sound Sundays.
buzz: How have you found Chicago to be similar or different to your previous residence in Ohio?
Michael Bond of Coltrane Motion: Well, it’s bigger for sure [I grew up in a town of 700.] Musically, it kind of forces you to step your game up a bit, as you’re surrounded by a lot of great bands constantly doing new things.
buzz: Even though Coltrane Motion is a duo, you still have loads of equipment on stage. What do you typically bring along on stage for performances?
Michael: Right now we tour with a Farfisa Mini compact organ, a Korg MS-10 synthesizer, Moog Rogue, Telecaster, laptop and a bag of random noisemakers. Without drums, it all basically comes down to how many vintage keyboards we can stuff in a car trunk.
buzz: Where is your favorite place to write a song?
Michael: I wrote the bass lines and drums to most of our last album while walking home, which may explain why they all kind of match up to my walking pace, tempo-wise. From there, it ends up being a combination of poring over ProTools for hours at home to get the recordings perfect, then the fun of watching the songs take on a second life on stage. Most of our songs evolve into something a bit more after a week on tour.
buzz: What’s the story behind the name — are you guys jazz fans?
Michael: I like “Giant Steps” as much as the next guy, but it’s got as much to do with jazz as the sheriff from Dukes of Hazzard. The name actually is ’70s slang from a Blaxploitation movie, whose name I forget.
buzz: How much did programming your own synthesizers help you achieve your goal of making this music?
Michael: Well, programming is both of our day jobs, so it kind of overlaps into our nights as well. I really like the overlap with using older analog synths, and then pushing the envelope with what we can do on the laptop live.
Stop by Canopy this Sunday night for New Sound Sundays when Coltrane Motion will be playing with The Dot and The Feather, The Sapiens, Brian Esmao and Claire Stahlecker. Tickets are $5, and the show starts at 9 p.m.
