Hidden Ritual

Hidden Ritual is a three-piece R'nR band from Austin, TX. They are currently on the road opening for Bill (Smog) Callahan, and will play tomorrow at "a secret location" in Louisville, one which has been described to me as either a bunker or a cave. So...
LEO spoke with Jaime Zuverza.



LEO: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard you yet?
Jamie Zuverza: Well, I always describe the tunes in a different way; today I'll say it would be the secret soundtrack of Shaggy and Daphne's tumultuous times in the early '80s "Scooby Doo" cartoons. Shaggy and Daphne's secret love was like the slowly blooming flower of the bittersweet nightshade.

LEO: How do your surroundings inspire your music?
JZ: Half of our songs were written in Chicago's winter. I grew up in the desert, so the Chicago weather was awesome but also unstoppable. I felt trapped in my basement apartment and I had no control over the radiator heaters. I was either a frozen corpse or a rotisserie chicken rotating slowly on a diabolical spit. Some songs written during that time are "Dusty Dagger," "In a Room," "In a Daze," and "Loner Stays Healthy/Loner Dies".

LEO: In the studio, how much do you try to capture your live sound? How free do you feel to experiment with sounds you might not be able to recreate live?
JZ: Our most recent recording has very minimal overdubs, so it's pretty live sounding. The previous recordings were about creating lush environments that we couldn't duplicate live. Sometimes the recording artist and the performing artist don't match up, but I think that's cool. I can't imagine trying to get a 6-member band together to play all the neat noodles on a recording.

LEO: Do you read your reviews? If yes, do you find that helpful?
JZ: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, yes.

LEO: What is your favorite song to perform? What do you think is your worst song?
JZ: We have a song called "To the Cave" that's my favorite to play. We love all of our children, and to disown one in print would release a curse into the wind that we are not prepared to deal with. Very similar to a fart.

LEO: Do you get a lot of groupies?
JZ: Only body-less ghost groupies.

LEO: Does your music ever make you horny?
JZ: Well, we do use bongo drums.

Bill Callahan with Hidden Ritual
- a secret location -
Wednesday, July 6
http://hiddenritual.tumblr.com/



c. 2011 LEO Weekly