Setting their sights on high
Article by Dan Eldridge, Photo by Dennis Wise
Resonance, 12/01/2000
It's something of a modern rock miracle, and it's happening right here in Seattle: An instrumental trio are popping up in bars and clubs and galleries all over town, literally rewriting the history of modern experimental music with every show they play.
Sounds a bit far-fetched? Maybe so, but consider, for a moment, the case of FCS North (pronounced Focus North). Based on the assumption that rhythmic rock and futuristic jazz-fusion are two tastes that taste great together, they've created a singular sound that's leaving first-time listeners with their jaws on the ground. Their strange mix of orchestral keys and rapid-fire beats sounds almost supernatural--a bizarre but beautiful noise.
To hear FCS North tell it themselves, though, theirs is a fairly typical case of The Misunderstood Band. Stray too far ahead of your time, they seem to believe, and even in a city as musically progressive as Seattle, most folks just won't get it.
"Just the other day," says bass-player and web-designer Josh Warren, "some kid e-mailed us. He'd bought our new record, and told us he was sitting around getting stoned to it!"
And yet while the first FCS North studio effort may indeed build complicated jazz rhythms and textured electronic layers by the dozens--the very things a perfect drug record is made of--the truth is that a sober, careful listen may very well be listeners' most mind-expanding musical experience yet. Consider, for example, the FCS North pedigree: Two out of three members have held starring in the New-Wave-cum-punk band Satisfact. Their sometime-violinist is a loaner from Red Stars Theory. They claim Latin samba, John Coltrane and Afro-Cuban drum beats as primary influences. And the strangest of all? It sounds good. Even, well, heavenly.
So whether they've got connections with The Man Upstairs or not, one thing's for sure: more FCS North is a good thing. Swear to God
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