Sunday, June 27, 1999 | 4:33 a.m.
First published March 24, 1999.
I'm a sucker for vocal harmonies--especially of the male-female duet type. When done right, these harmonies remind me of all things innocent and pure. So this night, in a warehouse space off Industrial Road, when Deana Hartman and Rob Henry of Floor Thirteen are gently working out a new vocal arrangement to the accompaniment of Henry's guitar, I'm in seventh heaven. It's a jam-packed practice night for the eight-piece group, or for the five-eights of the band that have made it tonight. Missing are Floor Thirteen's trumpeters Chuck Garcia and Chris Castellanos and saxophonist Ken Green.
It doesn't hamper the practice, though because in addition to working out new material, Hartman, Henry, bassist Shawn Hunt and trombonist Rich Brewer are teaching their latest drummer, Marshall Zeigler, some songs. Zeigler has been with the group four days at this point, and Floor Thirteen is scheduled to hit the road in a week and half with four shows in three days in California. But if there's any trepidation among band members as to whether or not they will be prepared when the day comes, they sure aren't showing it. In fact, Floor Thirteen has set its sights way beyond the upcoming shows.
"The thing I want to stress is we're evolving," says guitarist Henry. "In a month we don't know where our sound will be, but it'll be something to check out. We've got the players; we've got the talent. We just need to put it all together."
To hear Henry tell it, Floor Thirteen sounds more like a recent throw-together group than an accomplished--albeit young--and recognized band. Its debut CD, "Show Me What You Got," is just a month old, and over two recent CD-release shows at the Boston Grill and Bar and Huntridge Theater, the band played for nearly 900 devotees. "Empty," one of the cuts from "Show Me," has been getting some local radio play, and after the mini-California tour the band has a number of shows in Las Vegas through April, including another appearance at the Boston and an April 16th gig at UNLV's Rebelpalooza.
Not bad for a group whose name was selected because of the difficulties surrounding its original organization. Says Hunt of the name, "Getting everything together was just real, real slow. The superstition of the 13th floor in hotels or wherever, we just figure it related to us."
Formed in July 1997, the group, all original members save Zeigler, practiced until December of that year before deciding it was ready to perform in public. After more than a year of relentless gigging, Floor Thirteen sequestered itself to record "Show Me What You Got." Emerging earlier this year with the disc in tow, the band doesn't seem to be enjoying the self-satisfaction that should accompany the completion of such an undertaking.
Although all agree they're happy with the sound of the new album, the consensus is that "Show Me What You Got" exemplifies what Floor Thirteen used to sound like. The material they're working on at practice this night only hints at the direction in which they're going. "Evolve," and numerous conjugations of the word, crop up so many times in the course of our conversation it feels like the monthly meeting of Young Social Darwinists. And, at times, Floor Thirteen's MO seems based on the perception people might hold of the group.
"In the beginning," says Henry, "We were trying to be the hot thing at the moment when that swing-pop-ska deal was in. It was weak. It was just real bubblegum."
The ska aspect, so firmly rooted in "Show Me," is something the band wants to leave behind. But, they all agree, the fact that half the band is made up of horn players is going to make that a hard association to shake.
"It's funny," says Henry. "There are funk bands that have horns, but you don't call them ska bands." And, as a guitarist and songwriter, horns add another level to his creations. "You get the guitar part done in a normal rock band (song) and it's done. (With horns) you just get to create a whole other layer on top of the cake."
What upsets Hartman are comparisons to Orange County band No Doubt and its vocalist Gwen Stefani. Though both are ska-tinged groups fronted by female vocalists, comparing them makes as much sense as saying two bands who have guitarists automatically sound alike. Why is it, asks Henry, that bands like Less Than Jake and Suicide Machines can have the same-sounding frontmen and not get called on it?
"Floor Thirteen was the first (in Las Vegas) to have female vocals, and then (people) drew immediate comparisons to No Doubt."
Compare-contrast aside, and despite Floor Thirteen's desire to move beyond Show Me, one can only hope the group doesn't take it too far. Yeah, there are some definite musical nods on "Show Me What You Got" to ska and otherwise, but there are also plenty of moments of artistic clarity. On songs like "Head Up High," for instance, Hartman pulls an almost Ella-like scat move, demonstrating the strength and wisdom of a voice beyond its 18 years.
And though the overriding philosophy is to be a "high-energy rock outfit...with horns," Floor Thirteen could do well to look at its CD where songs like "Everyone's Favorite" close in a smoky lounge ambiance and every track ends on the up beat.
Declaring that he likes "happy music," Rob Henry outlines his songwriting strategy.
"I try to tell myself, 'Now, would you hear this on the radio?' The reason I do that is because most of the stuff you hear on the radio is the stuff that people walk home from a show singing in their head. It's got the catchy hook; it's got the catchy phrases...I just want it to be catchy enough and fun enough that people are going to walk away and be singing it in their car on the way home and go, 'Damn. That was a really good time.'"
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