The Program continues. The five night stand. One each for the senses.

Tonight’s Neumos presentation of Blue Scholars features their backing band,
Big World Breaks.

BWB guitar player Dan Rapport is with us now.

Are these shows any different from the previous shows Big World Breaks has played with the Scholars?
Dan: They’re slightly different. Early on when we were doing these shows, like New Year’s last year at Neumo’s, it was more Blue Scholars AND Big World Breaks, meaning we did some of our original and breakbeat material along with doing the Scholars songs. Now, we’re just doing Blue Scholars songs, and I think the show flows much better because of it.

Are you all playing any new songs?
Sabzi likes to cover a couple current hits, which is fun for the band. We’re doing Kanye’s “Good Life” and Soulja Boy “Crank Dat.” It’s cool because the BWB’s percussionists Teo and Ab’s little brother Atticus is playing with us for the steel drum part and the dance that goes along with it. I think he’s like 13 or 14 years old and he’s totally into it and loves the Blue Scholars. Here’s to the younger generation, you know? Wait till y’all see the Soulja Boy dance.

How does the band go about adapting the songs for live performance? Do you try to make them sound just like the CD? Is there a process?
We get a CD of the tunes they want us to play and we all individually sit down and learn our parts. Then we come together as a band and rehearse. Saba and Geo play with us for the last couple of rehearsals, once the band is sounding tight. Obviously we have to take some liberties with the tunes as far as adapting them live. The other guitarist, Andy Coe and I have so many frikking guitar pedals that usually we can mimic and get close to any sound. Anything we can’t do, Saba has synthesizers. The drums, bass, and horns are almost always really straightforward parts. Sometimes I make up my own parts. Really though, it’s about being complimentary to the vocals and blending well with the rest of the band. When you’re in a group with this many people you have to keep the shit simple and that’s always what I think of first when I make a new part up.

The process is different for every song. Some are just like they are on the album and some we add different rhythmic feels. When we play “Opening Salvo,” we add a dancehall feel to it for the percussion solo. We’re always coming up with different ways of doing these songs and like I said, we’ve done a few shows with them now, so the process is getting more and more refined.

Do Geo and Sabzi direct the band?
Most of the songs are straightforward enough that we don’t need a whole lot of direction. Saba’s real cool about letting everyone’s ideas get through and he’s not super controlling or anything like that. He is the boss though, and if there’s ever any question as to what to do, we look to him for the answer. Our job is to make Geo and Saba sound as good as they possibly can and to that end I just try to play my parts cleanly and with precision.

Any treats in store for tonight?
The Scholars are funny guys. There are some goofy props and dances that will happen throughout the show. Treats, yeah. It’s all about giving the audience the best possible show and having a good time doing it.

Is it the same BWB lineup?
Pretty much the same lineup. It changes from show to show depending on who’s available but Big World Breaks is more of a collective than a band, so it’s easy to have different people step up when others can’t make it. We have a pretty good grip on the Scholars’ music. We have good notes typed up of where all the breakdowns are, so getting people who haven’t played the music before up to speed is usually pretty easy.

What I am going to ask you to do now is talk about gear. I need gear, and I need it now. What will you be playing? Tell me right now.
Not too much crazy gear for these shows. One thing I’m kinda sad about is that Sabzi isn’t playing the Fender Rhodes keys. Instead, he’s playing a Korg Triton, which sounds great, but the Rhodes just does it for me. My setup is a Fender Telecaster into a Matchless Spitfire amp. My pedals include a Moogerfooger analog delay, Freqbox, and phase shifter, along with a Budda wah wah, a Fulltone distortion, and my most important pedal of all… the Boss tuner. Andy’s setup is similar. He also uses that Moogerfooger analog delay (they are the best). He plays a Gibson Les Paul. That’s really why I use the Telecaster. It’s sort of the opposite sounding guitar to the Les Paul and it helps us to have more definition between our parts. I put my amp on a really tall stool so I can hear myself. I definitely wear earplugs as well. I’m not trying to go deaf any time soon and this band is LOUD!!!

How many times did you all rehearse?
We’ve had the combined experience of all the rehearsals in the past, but for these shows we did four three-hour practices. I think it’s the tightest the band has ever sounded.

Is it smooth all the time? Any challenges?
The music has always been the easy part for me, even though it’s a lot of work. I think all the guys in the band would say the same thing. The hardest part for me, at least emotionally, was working out the business end of things. It took some back and forth to get everyone on the same page. But it’s all worked out now, and it’s all good. I think it’s really cool that they are willing to hire nine or ten musicians to come rock with them. That’s a whole shitload of people that need to get paid! I guess we’re all artists and can be kinda sensitive people, right? I think one of the reasons the Blue Scholars are as popular as they are is that they have their shit together, not just on the music tip but on the business end as well. It makes a huge difference.

Geo and Saba love the music and their fans and want to give them the best show possible. They really are great guys. They do it for the right reason. They’ve been nothing but awesome to all of us. I feel so lucky to get to play with them and be a part of this and hope to do more in the future.

Hold on, I got a phone call. (Picks up phone.)

“No Geo, I said the caviar needs to be Beluga. On low salt Triscuits. You heard me. Don’t give me this Dick’s Burger stuff again. And Cristal. It’s gotta be Cristal. The salt on the Triscuits ruins it. And the James Brown DVD needs to playing in the limo when it picks me up. Dang.”

Just kidding. Long live Blue Scholars. Much love and props.