John
Erickson -
Guitar
Bill Paul - Drums
Jeff Jarrard - Bass
REVIEWS / LISTENER COMMENTS
"I've seen this ensemble develop from its earliest
stages. More then anything during that time, and as a
friend of the band, I basically thought of Whoopgnash
as a freakspilling-plasterjam-warpspeed-Allan
Holdsworth type-protege garage band. This to me was
the best and rarest kind of protege garage band, the
kind you could always have fun with as an experienced
musician due to the fact that they really were
influenced by one of the truest jazz geniuses of our
time, thus making their music challenging and
interesting by default. That was in the beginning,
but ever since then I can honestly say with total
objectivity that Whoopgnash has continuously impressed
me with their progress cultivating an artistic
identity and powerfully blazing drive as a refined
(yet hardcore) modern jazz/fusion band.
My newer impression of Whoopgnash was egged-on by
their latest release "Full Scrape" (a CD acting as a
hard-edged stylistic template for their overall
sound), but was totally smack-over-the-head solidified
after seeing their DVD release "The Unclear Channel"
from beginning to end. When I first put The Unclear
Channel on I literally jumped up with excitement for
my friends, immediately followed by that feeling of
'whoop-ass' invincibility and inspiration we sometimes
feel when hearing 'whoop-ass' music of any type (you
know what I mean). The funny thing is, I haven't
really stopped doing just that whenever watching this
DVD. "The Unclear Channel" is a 'clear' representation
of, and excursion into, how musically fearless,
adventurous, and just plain TIGHT this band is,
coupled with a range of intensity that spans from the
most hardcore "fusion shredding" vibe to the most
haunting of ballad sentimentality. This DVD is a
visual production that literally shows you what
Whoopgnash is: an expressive avant fusion band that
translates with blatant precision.
Whoopgnash proceeds to get more intense in the
'rawest' sense of the word as time goes by, and one
thing I'm certain you will never have to worry about
Is that they will meet the commercial fate that so
many musicians (professed legends) have met throughout
jazz/fusion history. I don't think you will ever have
to worry about this band someday going muzak, or
standard, or new age due to trend pressure and/or
opportunist temptation, an assessment going on their
individual backgrounds alone: John Erickson started
out a heavy metal guitar player, and though you can
still hear overtones of this in his soloing ability
his growth as a melodically-complex yet edgy
player/composer should be perfectly obvious; Bill Paul
is a drummer whom I've known ever since he graduated
from The Berkley School Of Music and who’s main
interest has NEVER CEASED to be music in its most
progressive, complex, and envelope pushing form; Jeff
Jarrard's history encompasses avant rock, progressive
rock, avant-folk rock, and all things uniquely
psychedelic, even his personality can be described
that way. Going on attitudes and backgrounds of the
Whoopgnash members AT HAND, it's no wonder they
artistically "give it such a beat'n" now, and will
continue to in whatever direction they happen to take."
-Dean De Benedictis (keyboardist - Surface 10, Brand X)
