Young musicians debut in Boston
By Joe Viglione/ Special to the Belmont Citizen-Herald
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Belmont Musicians Debut at Saturday Afternoon Show
at Central Square Cambridge's ALL ASIA BAR
http://www2.townonline.com/belmont/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=147648
A debut performance of the band "Slop" at an
established Cambridge hotspot, the All Asia Bar in
Central Square, proved to be a thrilling experience
for Belmont High School students Pierre Ratzki and
Joey Jebari. The all-ages show on Saturday
afternoon, December 11, contained an interesting blend
of originals and music by some of the group's heroes -
from Jimi Hendrix to Bob Marley, and what they lacked
in proficiency this new group certainly made up for
with heart.
Belmont's Pierre Ratzki is lead and rhythm
guitarist for Slop with his friend Joey Jebari
handling the bass guitar. The two met at Belmont High
where Ratzki took Music Technology 2003 - a class
which consisted of music theory, transcribing music to
the computer, and basic keyboard. Pierre currently
takes guitar lessons from Mark Delorme of the group
The Freeze Pops, formerly with local television
chef/bar band personality Dave Samarco.
Joey Jebari is a self-taught musician who hooked
up with Ratzki at the school around April of 2003.
His musical tastes range from blues to jazz to 60s
rock and indie music to techno. Born in Cambridge
the Jebari family moved to Morocco from 1988 to 1995.
They returned to Massachusetts setting up residence in
Belmont. Joey has owned his bass since 2000 and
joined a local pop band with other Belmont High
musicians James Green and Geoff Wright. That group,
Suburban Legends, performed at the 2004 Belmont Talent
Show at Belmont High Auditorium. The final gig with
"Suburban Legends" was on May 19th - a celebration for
the passing of the Gay Marriage bill. At that event
Jebari jammed in public for the first time with Pierre
Ratzki. Ratzki commented on his friend's skills:
"Joey's basslines often become the backbone for songs,
and if I introduce a song I've written, I know that
his bassline will complement the guitar perfectly. We
feel very comfortable playing together, and I don't
think either of us would have as much fun in a band
without a good friendship, which is what we have." The
guitarist went on to explain the composition of their
own material: "The way we write originals, there's no
set method. Joey will start with a bassline, and I'll
come up with a guitar part, and Matt will do something
over that, while Jake brings it all together, etc. But
it could start with any of us, and most of the
originals we will be playing at (upcoming shows) were
created on the spot like that, and refined later. We
just jam a lot in practice, which helps fuse a band
and make them communicate well together. You can't
just throw four guys together and expect them to be
tight on the first song, you have to jam first. Plus,
jamming is awesome. So far, Matt has written all of
the lyrics, but I hear that Jake has a bunch of
originals he will soon be introducing to the band."
Though he is an ultimate Jimi Hendrix fan his
influences go deeper than that: " I listen to the same
things my parents listened to when they were my age,
and I often educate them on music that sometimes
predates their births. I feel that the public is
growing restless of music sounding the same, of it all
being an image industry, and I feel that we all want
music to mean something again, like it used to."
Appreciation of music often has much to do with
where one lives and Pierre told the Belmont-Citizen
Herald his thoughts on the city that he calls home:
"I've always felt, and I'm sure Joey does too, that
even though Belmont is not too diverse, it is a very
open community to all, and I've always felt lucky to
go to the high school here. I've always seen Belmont
as being a very artistic town, supporting and
encouraging all artistic expression, and music is no
different -- there are tons of opportunities for bands
to play in front of others, like the talent show or
the GSA dance."
Ratzki is a member of the Mock Trial team, the Gay
Straight Alliance (GSA), the Performing Arts Company,
the Operation Smile Club, and more.
The show at the All Asia is the first since
Ratzki's return from a trip to Paris, France, where
he has relatives. He was born July 17, 1987 at Beth
Israel hospital in Boston and lived in Cambridge until
the age of 7. After a year in Portland, Oregon, he
returned to Cambridge and then moved to Belmont, where
he has resided for the past seven years. After
attending the Chenery Middle School Pierre enrolled as
a student at Belmont High School where he is
currently. The industrious young man worked at the
local "7-11" as well as volunteering for the
Samaritans Suicide Prevention Hotline, the Warren
Tolman Gubernatorial Campaign, and last summer
canvassing for MASSPIRG, the statewide non-profit
environmental group.
Ratzki told the Belmont Citizen-Herald "My favorite
guitarist is Jimi Hendrix, and I love delta blues,
like Robert Johnson, Son House, Skip James, etc. I've
been playing guitar for a little less than two years,
and I would bring my American Fender Stratocaster
guitar and my Mesa Boogie amp with me to a desert
island." Indeed, the young musician is holding his
own as a core member of a band which features a
veteran of the Seattle and Los Angeles music scenes,
lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt O'Connor.
SLOP formed shortly after O'Connor emerged from
the recording studio at the end of summer 2004 putting
to tape music by his friend from Los Angeles, the late
Greg Zera. At a Boston Common festival on September
18, 2004, O'Connor met Ratzki and Jebari after he
performed to over 200 people at the event. They formed
a quick friendship and thus "Slop" was born, an old
school blues sound fused with hard rock that began by
playing a mixture of songs composed by Matt with
instrumentals from Joey, Pierre and an earlier
drummer. A bassline from Jebari led to "The Slop
Anthem" when O'Connor and Ratzki put additional music
to it. O'Connor added lyrics later. Drummer Jake
Staley came on board after being introduced to Matt
O'Connor through a friend from college. Staley is a
sophomore at Berklee College of Music majoring in
Contemporary Writing and Production. His solid beats
keep the Slop boys organized. Staley takes private
lessons from Casey Scheurell and cites Led Zeppelin's
John Bonham and session musician Vinnie Colaiuta as
his influences. Born in Silver Springs, Maryland,
the 19 year old Staley now hails from Toledo, Ohio,
though the pull of Berklee College brought him to New
England and this unique and creative quartet.
Ratzki commented on the importance of the band's
newest member: "Jake is the key ingredient to the
band, because he is sort of like the director. He
brings the songs up or breaks them down, and has
complete control over dynamics. Without him, we sound
thin and lacking. It's humbling to play with someone
from Berklee, especially someone with as much musical
talent as Jake. He can play faster and louder than any
drummer I have ever heard, but he can also play soft
and jazzy."
Prior to the formation of the band lead singer
Matt O'Connor, the group's most veteran member, found
himself on the Cambridge Central Square music circuit,
performing solo at the All Asia Bar, The Zeitgeist
Gallery as well as the Cantab. The decade before he
found himself in both the Seattle and L.A. music
scenes, ultimately recording a two song tape on 24
track tape resulting in the tunes "Errand Boy" and
"The Barking Dog Band". When he returned to the Boston
area, landing on Garfield Ave. in Medford, he began
hosting a television program, The Rehearsal Space,
which featured interviews with The Supersuckers,
Audrey Ryan Band, Pat O'Hara and The Deal and Chris
Poland of Megadeath.
His webpage is http://www.mattoconnoronline.com
Where SLOP will go in the music industry is anyone's
guess, Pierre Ratzki hoping the band will continue to
be part of the Boston Music scene, "...especially
during the summers. If we could get a record deal,
sign me up, but right now its just about jamming and
having a good time."
- (C)2004 Joe Viglione. Mr. Viglione is the
producer/host of Visual Radio-Television, an
autobiographical variety program available on many
cable systems in Massachusetts. He is also a critic
for AMG, The All Media Guide ( http://www.allmusic.com ).
Check out his Web site at http://www.JoeViglione.com
or http://joevigfirstimpressions.blogspot.com
