Pseudopod shines

By Nate Seltenrich

What is Pseudopod? For the biology majors out there, you might recognize the term as referring to a small little "foot" on an amoeba. For the more musically inclined, you should know that it is the name of a young and talented jam/funk/jazz/rock band from Los Angeles. And, for the rest of you Santa Clara students, hopefully you know it's the name of the group that opened up for Blackalicious and Ozomatli at the APB Spring Concert Festival on Monday.

Pseudopod, the four-member band that took the stage before Blackalicious, came up to the Bay Area specifically for this show at Santa Clara.

"This is kinda just a one-off thing, actually. We just came up to do this because we love playing with Ozomatli," said lead singer and guitarist Kevin Carlberg in an interview before the concert.

Shows with Ozomatli in Detroit and St. Louis, in addition to the fact that both bands are signed to Interscope Records, formed enough of a bond to bring them together again for this special evening.

If that's what it took, then thank you Ozomatli, because Pseudopod's impressive set likely opened the eyes of many Santa Clara students to their unique mix of different styles of music. Drawing from influences such as Ben Harper, Medeski, Martin and Wood, John Coltrane, Dave Matthews and Eric Clapton, Pseudopod took a little bit of each, along with their own special stuff, and served it all up as a delightful introduction to their original sound.

Carlberg, along with Ross Grant on guitar, Tim McGregor on drums, and Brian Fox on bass, impressed an audience of a couple hundred at Stanton Field, even as a gentle mist fell from a foreboding gray sky. Luckily, the rain never fell any harder, and their set went off without a hitch.

Over the 45 minutes or so that the band performed, Pseudopod's sound ranged from guitar shredding to four-point harmony, mind-bending jamming to perfect pop, creative rap to radio rock. A very distinct and memorable cover of Ben Harper's "Burn One Down" was not only fantastic in and of itself, but also appealed to many students' familiarity with Harper's hit.

This points to another awesome aspect of their performance - Pseudopod knew just how to play to their audience. Their style seemed to blend in with the Santa Clara atmosphere effortlessly, and many students immediately picked up on their Dave Matthews moments and The Recipe-style college rock jams.

Grant's guitar solos were a crowd pleaser as well, showcasing a rare ability to simultaneously stand out as a very talented guitarist and also fit in as a conscientious part of a greater whole.

Pseudopod's musical prowess is all the more remarkable considering their relative youth on the national music scene. All four members attended UCLA, with Grant, Carlberg and McGregor having recently graduated, and Fox still in grad school limbo.

In 2000, Pseudopod earned the title of "Best College Band in America" from iuma.com's Musicomania 2000 Contest. With the aid of their first album, Pod, and through weekly online voting, they competed against nearly 500 other college bands in tournament-style brackets. When they made it to the final four, they won a gig at the Fillmore opening for Primus, along with the other three finalists.

They won that competition as well, and before Primus came on stage, Pseudopod was presented with an oversized $10,000 check and a budget to record their second album, Rest Assured, which came out in early 2001.

Their first two albums were released independently by the band, but they have since signed with Interscope Records. Their third album and first major label release will hit stores on August 13.

Now that the band is their full-time job, the members of Pseudopod couldn't be happier with the way things are going.

"We're doing what we love to do," said Carlberg. And despite the fact that a lot of work is involved, they remain thankful for what they have achieved. "It's not a bad thing. Believe me, it's very fun," he added.

Over the summer, Pseudopod will be touring across the United States. Until mid-June, they will be playing a number of dates in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico. After that, they will hop on board the Jeep World Outside Tour for a month, and will play with Sheryl Crow, Train and Ziggy Marley, to name a few, at amphitheaters from Atlanta, Ga. to Mountain View, Calif.

A native of the Bay Area, Grant is particularly excited to finish the World Outside Tour at the Shoreline.

"It'll be cool to be playing there, rather than sneaking in to see other bands play there," he said.

The show at the Shoreline won't be the end of their tour, however. The band hopes to add more dates throughout the summer and fall. For all tour dates and other information about the band, check out their website at www.pseudopod.net.

So, what does Pseudopod really mean? "It's kind of spacey, which is kind of what we were thinking ... we didn't want to lend it to any specific genre," explained Carlberg. Mission accomplished.