Pete and J (Pete Harper and Jason Blynn) have moved from a folk-rock sound influenced by CSN&Y and Simon and Garfunkel to a more rock-oriented sound while still emphasizing harmonies. They are currently working on their forthcoming album "Loneliest Generation" which explores themes of disconnection among their generation. Boombox combines live instrumentation with house-influenced beats and draws from various genres including disco, soul, and the Grateful Dead. Band members Zion Godchaux and Russ Randolph met while recording with the Heart of Gold Band and were inspired to form Boombox after a trip to Burning Man.

1. Scene & Heard
MEN AT WORK
Pete and J
Against Hope
Pete Harper and Jason Blynn—aka Pete and J—who were on
tour with Rusted Root last fall to support 2008’s EP, Plenty
Good Reasons, admit that playing large rooms affected their
former folk-rock sound that drew parallels to CSN&Y and Simon and
Garfunkel. Harper explains, “We get those comparisons less and less
because we’re more of a rock band now, but we’re certainly heavy on
the harmonies.”
After meeting at Amherst College in 2001, the two moved to
Brooklyn after graduation where they solidified their initial harmony-
laden approach. “There was a lot learned from a songwriting per-
spective up there,” Harper says of their college days. “After we got to
New York, we learned more about what we wanted the band to
sound like.”
Between the duo’s 2005 debut, the acoustic LP Without a Band, and Pete Harper and Jason Blynn
the full-band, electric effort Dressed for Conversation, released two
months later, they rapidly explored new aural elements and dynam-
ics. The quest for the right combination continued with the release of
two EP in as many years: 2007’s In Any Situation and the aforementioned Reasons. As always, Pete and J are writing and road-test-
Last summer, Pete and J spent two weeks in the studio with producer Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, ing material, some of which will be considered
Emmylou Harris) laying down a chunk of tracks for their tentatively-titled forthcoming effort, Loneliest for the new album as they continue to win fans
Generation. Says Harper, “[Burn’s] motto in the studio was to just keep adding melodies everywhere over through direct connection at performanc-
you can because you know what? Everyone loves a melody.” es. “We’re playing all these new tunes live, trying
According to Blynn, the album’s name (and the title track) represents an attempt to “speak to an out different arrangements,” says Harper. “Seeing
increasing feeling of fragmentation and disillusionment our generation shares.” Harper concurs, how people react is a really valuable way of fig-
adding that “People are more likely to send a Facebook message than they are to actually make plans uring out what is going to have punch on the
and hang out with someone.” record.” , Matt Franciscovich
In late spring, BoomBox released its sopho-
MEN AT WORK more album, downriverelectric, which the duo
intentionally tried to make more aggressive than
Boombox 2005’s Visions of Backbeat. This summer, the
band will be touring in support of the new record
Grandma’s Piano Saves Band with festival stops at Joshua Tree and Wakarusa.
“We want to hit up Berlin and a lot of cities in
Europe, but until then, we’ll be ripping around
“How seriously can a guy take himself when he’s wearing some crazy feather boa and furry this country…and creating dirty disco-delic funk-
fedora hat?” BoomBox guitarist Zion Godchaux jokes from his Florence, Ala. studio. “What I tronic sounds.”
wear just keeps things light and like a free party atmosphere.” He equates these accessories to The duo is also known for inviting live
what a shaman would bring to a spiritual ceremony: “This allows us access where we wouldn’t nor- painters onstage to interpret the energy at shows.
mally be allowed,” he says with a smile. “We dig having other types of creative mediums
Combining house-influenced beats produced in real time with drum machines and live instru- being used,” Godchaux says. “It’s all like one big
mentation, Godchaux and DJ/drummer Russ Randolph craft what they term “hypnotic, pulsating pool that everyone’s dipping into.” , Amy Jacques
rhythms and dirty basslines.” The two met in 2003 while recording an
album with the Heart of Gold Band and decided to form BoomBox
after a trip to Nevada’s Burning Man festival—the name is a nod to the
device used to propel the festival’s impromptu, high-energy dance Zion Godchaux
parties.
The BoomBox sound is not limited to one genre, but rather a sum-
mary of the band’s different influences including disco, soul and The
Grateful Dead. Godchaux, the son of vocalist Donna Jean and late
keyboardist Keith, earned a spot in the Dead’s folklore when he
unearthed long lost reel-to-reels from his grandmother’s houseboat
(the ‘71 shows chronicle part of what would be Pigpen’s last full sum-
mer tour and prompted the release of Dick’s Picks Volume 35).
26 RELIX R JUNE 2009