Hang a Left into new year with riotous Rialto romp
Local jam-funk extravaganza Left on Tenth has quickly made a name for itself around the greater Bozeman area for its energetic shows and indistinct genre, now looking to capture that live magic in the studio.
The band blends elements of funk, reggae, jazz, hip-hop, rock n’ roll, blues and everything in between to satisfy the sonic palates of any audience. The powerhouse group employs acoustic and electric guitar, sax, trumpet, drums, auxiliary percussion, keys and bass for a performance of entirely original music with the occasional cover tune.
In anticipation of their year-end Rialto celebration, the Rolling Zone sat down with guitarist Max Laws and drummer Jared Clos to talk concentrating the band’s sound and their long-gestating debut EP.
Rolling Zone: Left on Tenth is hosting the aptly titled “20/20 Back to the Future New Year’s Eve” at the Rialto. What can partygoers expect from the show?
Max Laws: Something really different about this show, we’ve really put in the time to dial it in. We would usually play a very loose Zebra show but we’re getting older, more professional and have been playing with each other longer.
Jared Clos: We’re definitely trying to hone in on creating more of an actual live music experience, rather than just a jam thing. It seems like a lot of our fans are still super down for that, but we’re excited to give them something a little more refined.
ML: Another exciting thing is that half, maybe more than half of the songs are going to be new since the last time we played. New set with some old stuff, more honed-in. We’re also going to have music coming out on Spotify so that’s kind of exciting for us to promote.
RZ: What sets this one apart from the other New Year’s bashes?
ML: Honestly, we’re just fun to be around. We’ve got a bunch of people in the band, we’re young and like to have a good time.
JC: A lot of energy, for sure. You’re not going to be waiting around for the ball to drop. You’re going to be amped up and ready to go.
RZ: Are you guys going to be all costumed out for the theme?
JC: We’re not entirely sure if it’s going to be a full-band thing, but we’re definitely going with the Back to the Future theme. People will be in ‘80s stuff –
ML: – retro. It’s always fun to dress up.
RZ: Opening the show is local band Armless Statues, who use adjectives like “disgusting” and “strange” to describe their sound. Who’s this group to you guys and how did you come to collaborate for this show?
JC: We’re pretty good friends with all of them and they’re just super cool people.
ML: We see us in them, like three years ago. We think they rock and want to help them out. They have this lead vocalist, Graeson, who’s really good and they have this attitude that’s super cool. We relate because of how much fun they have playing.
JC: And with the two bands together, it’s just going to be an overall good time. You’re not going to want to show up just for the main act and miss the opener, or vice versa.
RZ: Turning back to you guys, what motivated this group of musicians to come together as Left on Tenth?
JC: Our other electric guitar player, he used to play acoustic, called me up one day with a trumpet player and was like, ‘Do you want to go play down at Colonel Blacks?’ It was his idea to form something more permanent, whereas I thought it was a gig I could fill in on. There ended up being a snowball effect of people joining the band.
ML: I didn’t think of it as anything either until we started playing shows. No one came, no one came. Then people started to catch on, then a lot of people started to come. It was like, let’s just keep doing this. How we all got together, I knew Ian (acoustic guitar) and Casey (bass) from around and they just started coming to the garage to play music. We started adding more people, and we’ve had guitar and trumpet players join and leave, but the core has stuck together throughout the years.
RZ: Are you planning on modifying the lineup in the future?
JC: We’ve reached our cap with what we’re expecting the actual band to be. There will be times we’ll want to hire out full horn sections and whatnot just to produce a bigger sound, but it’s become more honed-in with what we’ve got.
RZ: What is that sound?
JC: We’re not necessarily genre defined. When I first joined, I wanted to have some heavy rock, metal-ish sort of stuff. I remember playing a bunch of reggae and super easy, laid back songs.
ML: There are like four songwriters, Ian is one of them. He writes pretty much all reggae songs. Then you have Casey who’s more indie poppy, and I would say the best lyricist. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if people would… [laughs]. I write some of the songs, Jared writes some and David (sax) writes some, too. We have a bunch of songs coming from different people who listen to different music who want to write different things. That’s why we get so many different sounding songs.
RZ: Content-wise, what do you guys like to write music about?
ML: It’s kind of typical, but we’re young-ish and still going through school. There’s definitely a lot about coming of age, stuff with girls, emotions. It’s a really good way to feed that.
JC: When I hear the lyrics, it seems to be a lot about camaraderie, being together and experiencing the things that you experience. It’s not necessarily that we want to talk about girls, it’s just what’s happening.
ML: That’s something we’re thinking more about. We have all these original songs, like 40, but didn’t necessarily write them all as a band. This EP we’re working on is kind of going to be all over the place. In the future we want to have a project and say, ‘this is the idea, this is the direction we’re going to go in,’ and all work together through that. We’re definitely working toward that. We were just a jam band before and only cared about playing live, but now we’re just thinking about recording. The cool thing is we don’t have trouble writing and coming up with music.
JC: A big part of that is just the size of the band. If a person starts with one idea and we all collaborate, there’s so many ideas that we’ll have to pick and choose what we want to work with. That’s something I really appreciate, the amount of input.
RZ: Creatively speaking, how does that process work for you guys? Do you write separately and bring lyrics and chords into the rest of the band, or is it more of a workshopped group effort?
JC: It’s both. People sometimes have an idea, come in and play it and we noodle around on it until they hear something they really like. We add to the idea and just roll with that and try to build around it.
ML: It’s different for everyone. My creative process, I come in here and I can work on Logic and easily map out what’s in my head, then put things to it and work with other people. It’s never really a set thing, people offer their opinions and see where it goes. Whereas like Casey, he has his thing and knows what he wants, and David (sax) writes out all his stuff on his own. But at the same time, we all write together. We come in and just start.
RZ: With so many musicians in the lineup, is it ever difficult to ensure each is given the space to showcase their individual talents?
ML: Sometimes I worry about that because I’ll write a rock n’ roll song and it’s heavy and doesn’t need saxophone at all, but we have a sax player and try to accommodate them, but it is what it is. If someone came to me and said they didn’t want me playing guitar and to just sit on the side and play the shaker, I’d be fine with it so long as it’s not every song. I’m totally okay with that. I think we’re all good enough friends now to the point where you can talk freely without hurting someone’s feelings – I hope.
RZ: In the spirit of 20/20, do you guys plan on keeping the momentum going in the new year? Maybe after a short breather?
ML: We’re focusing on content right now, so after New Year’s we’re going to be recording more stuff and creating videos.
JC: Working on that online presence.
ML: We also did the music for a local ice climbing film, so be on the lookout for that. Then I think our plan is to maybe move from here because we want to be able to play more shows and be in more of a circuit, which is unfortunate because this place is awesome.
Catch them while you can! Left on Tenth fronts the “20/20 Back to the Future New Year’s Eve” at Downtown Bozeman’s Rialto on Tuesday, December 31st. Local four-piece Armless Statues will kick off the music at 9pm. Advance tickets to this all-ages show are $15 at www.logjampresents.com/rialto or $19 in-store at Cactus Records. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door, depending on availability. Doors at 8pm.
Left on Tenth is Max Laws (guitar), Jared Clos (drums), Casey Kerrigan (bass), Ian Bailey (acoustic guitar), David Kaltenbach (sax), Daniel Harvala (keys), Reef Larwood (percussion) and Conor Adams (trumpet).
Learn more about the band at www.leftontenth.com or find them on Facebook and Instagram for updated show details and other announcements. Look for their new single and debut EP, coming soon to Spotify. •
