It’s the day before Tempe rockers Black Carl head out to the Coachella Music Festival — not as performers, but as music-loving ticket holders. One would think they’d be mulling over whom they might watch perform at the festival. But they seem more concerned about other things.
Namely, singing and writing jingles.
“I love my Metropolitan Mattress//MATRESS!” the band croons.
They wax philosophical over infectious slogans longer than most would be able to, or even have the desire to. Bassist Ian Woodward is also curious about the plastic Zima sign stapled to a wood paneled wall at the back of HB Hanratty’s in Central Phoenix. Most everybody in the band can spit out a distant memory involving the malt beverage, but Woodward has never tried one. It’s not that the band isn’t excited about Coachella, but these side notes showcase their love of tangents.
Woodward’s curiosity quickly prompts a round of Zimas for the band, only to be followed up by ebullient disappointment when the bartender returns to the table with the news that the establishment doesn’t carry the beverage.
Drummer Chad Leonard strums the table and robust laughter booms from the bellies of the band members, most notably from that of frontwoman Emma Pew. The couple making out by the pool table take a moment, looking to the back of the nearly vacant saloon, wondering what’s so funny. Pew’s laughter echoes the soul and depth that she brings to the stage, a voice that has been bringing locals back again and again to Black Carl performances.
The band isn’t all sultry singer, though. They’re also steeped in many genres of music, particularly soul, funk and hip-hop.
In the early part of 2007, when recording music in his apartment with some help from Leonard, guitarist John Krause had no clue that he would be the instigator and a driving force behind one of the newest bands to get people off their asses and onto their feet with their funky beats. Pew happened to be in Krause’s apartment as well. She asked if she could hum along with the music, which was intended to be Krause’s solo project. The guys had been longtime friends with Pew, but Krause never knew she could carry a tune, let alone carry one with ease and grace. (“She hummed a melody and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck,” Krause says, remembering the scene.)
Within two weeks of that fateful night, Woodward was recruited, the band’s first material was recorded and Black Carl was conceived.
Now after nearly two years of shows, a full-length record in Borrowed (recorded by Bob Hoag) and playing with acts like King Khan and BBQ Show, Grand Ole Party, Dear and the Headlights, Limbeck, Extra Golden, Lymbyc System and What Laura Says, Black Carl is beginning to launch into their set on the small stage at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, where they’ll be able to add Michael Franti and Flaming Lips to their list. A handful of people sit in the audience. Things are quiet on this side of the grounds. But not for long.
Residual festival-goers from the main stage find their way to the local stage. Stragglers from the Indian fry bread booth and psychadelic shirt vendors pass by and stop to listen to Black Carl. Within a couple songs, the area is packed, and by the end of the set the band had everybody up on their feet, bobbing and weaving as close as they could get to the minuscule stage — a stage not big enough for what the band was putting down.
And while the local stage at McDowell Mountain Music Festival is great, if the Coachella stage doesn’t come calling, well, Black Carl can always fall back on a jingle writing career.
Download Black Carl “Hussy” here
Tour Dates :
6/29 – Mississippi Pizza (Portland, OR)
6/30 – Comet Tavern (Seattle, WA)
7/2 – The Bouquet (Boise, ID)
7/7 – Freakin’ Frog (Las Vegas, NV)
7/8 – Hotel Monte Vista (Flagstaff, AZ)
7/9 – Drunken Lass (Prescott, AZ)
7/10 – Studio Live (Sedona, AZ)
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