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  Sector 9 Fortunately for Sound Tribe Sector Nine, music is played with the upper appendages. They'll be at the House of Blues tonight.

By Shana Dines

Daily Bruin Reporter

The days of concerts being solely about the music are over. With the incorporation of painters, poets, visual technicians and DJs, the Atlanta-born, Bay Area based band, Sound Tribe Sector Nine is taking live shows to the next level. Merging the timeless jazzy instrumental styles with the increasingly popular electronic genre, STS9 does not even include vocals.

Noting that it would be too hard to classify their sound into a specific genre, they are aiming for the inclusion of tribal-esque feeling music with some down tempo electronica, jungle, funk, jazz and reggae.

Tonight at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, STS9 will expose the L.A. jam and rave scenes to its unique marriage of the two seemingly unrelated styles.

“It’s the full spectrum of music, all the way from really organic tribal elements to the most technological that you could get at this point and it reflects that in the music,” said David Murphy, bassist for the band.

Growing up next door to each other in suburban Atlanta, Murphy and guitarist Hunter Brown have been friends most of their lives. After learning to play together and honing their skills, they met drummer Zach Velmer. After being introduced to keyboardist David Phipps through mutual friends, STS9 was completed by the addition of percussionist Jeffree Lerner, who they met while playing in Asheville, N.C.

On stage, all members of the band are equal, which is why they are illuminated by an extravagant light show and not just a single spotlight. According to Murphy, they are really trying to expand the visual elements of the shows through this kind of creative lighting.

Other performing arts aspects of the live shows have also come to include painters working creatively on the stage alongside the musicians. The clicking of a typewriter can often be heard as background to the techno-organic sounds while a poet or two work onstage as well. DJs are a substantial part of the show, as they warm up the crowds and continue to mix live samples throughout the show.

A great deal of the music they play at shows is created on the spot with hoards of improvisation. The men of STS9 get so involved in the music that they do not even take breaks to introduce themselves.

“It’s a nonstop musical event, that’s the way we try to go at it, we try to give people the full experience while they’re there,” Murphy said.

About more than the music and the visuals, the name is a complex combination of the spiritual and artistic influences that go into the music. The Tribe encompasses the entire community, from the painters to the fans to the technicians. Sector Nine comes from the most artistically, culturally and scientifically advanced Ninth Baktun cycle of the Mayan 13 Moon-Earth calendar. The whole creation of the music and the environment is a very spiritual experience for the band.

Starting out as a member of the ever-growing jam band scene, STS9’s fans were initially the typical college crowd of hippies. With the band’s growing popularity, however, the band has started to see more diverse crowds flock to its shows, especially in the big cities. The older fans and raversa are starting to even out the mix. Murphy noted that the fans are his favorite part of the experience and are, in his opinion, the most important part.

“I feel like the people are coming to our shows with a lot of clarity and just wanting to experience a good live music show and ultimately just to dance their asses off,” Murphy said.

Getting inspiration from everyday life, especially the mountains and beaches of California, STS9 takes the best of the impromptu solos from shows and works to finalize them into solid, full arrangements.

Murphy’s dream is to be able to keep playing for another 10-plus years. He hopes the music will constantly evolve and foresees the next step for the show as the possible inclusion of dancers to further expand the Sound Tribe community. He is also playing with the idea of showcasing art galleries with works from their onstage artists and band members.

“You see a lot of these bands go out there and set up long tours and they are not giving their heart every night musically,” said Murphy. “We’re into spreading out the shows more and putting a lot more attention and focus into each show. I definitely see it moving into more of an experience.”

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