That's a VIP booth for 4 with tickets, CDs, and Still Time gear!!!
Funk-rock band Still Time, which formed in San Luis Obispo, will perfrom at SLO Brewing Co. Friday after a four-month national tour. Photo courtesy of Bryan Fong
After a four-month national tour, Still Time is back in town.
The groovy funk-rock band that formed in San Luis Obispo in 2004, will play at the newly-renovated SLO Brewing Co. on Friday night to a full house of their biggest fans.
Eight people cooped up in an RV headed cross-country, the band spread its sound in states such as New York, Texas and Louisiana. Lead singer Dan Curcio said one of his favorite spots is New Orleans.
“They showed us a really good time,” Curcio said. “We had this guy — Antonio — a trumpet player from Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington and the Roadmasters and he was this incredible trumpet player and he came up every night and played with us. It’s just a really cool and open music culture.”
Another highlight was playing at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, featuring acts such as She & Him and Rogue Wave.
“We did some good networking and they liked the music,” Curcio said.
Although the band got off the road in the beginning of the summer, the clock hasn’t slowed. Between juggling finances, starting a non-profit organization and working on a new album to tentatively be released next year, Still Time isn’t stopping the momentum.
“We’re getting back on our feet for a strong push coming up,” Curcio said.
Most recently, the band spent time in the mountains of Santa Cruz and started working on a few songs. However, the band members are giving themselves time to develop their sound and create a more cohesive album — something Curcio said they have been hesitant about doing until now.
“We feel we need to hook people who know nothing about us yet,” Curcio said. “I think in the past we’ve maybe been afraid of looking at it like that, but we are just kind of keeping that in mind and knowing that we have to get this thing moving forward.”
The band has also explored expanding its circle with saxophonist Ryan Mosse who has been featured in songs and helped with the sound mechanics. Curcio, who’d seen Mosse playing gigs around town, roomed with him when he moved to Shell Beach.
“I’d seen him around, playing jazz gigs, so it was random that he became my roommate,” Curcio said. “We started having him jam here and there, and it’s worked out recently that he was able to join the crew.”
Mosse said he’s enjoyed the environment the band creates on stage.
“It’s a lot of fun because the high energy is connected between all the guys on stage,” he said. “It makes a really fun environment to jam and play.”
The momentum doesn’t stop at Mosse. Guitarist Nick Bilich has been working on community-based collaborative Meals for Moms to provide meals for single mothers and their children once a month.
Bilich said he was inspired to start the organization after a volunteer trip to Rwanda in 2007. One of the activities his group helped with was an AIDS support group. The volunteers provided lunch for the attendees and listened to their stories.
About 90 percent of the attendees were single mothers with four to five children, Bilich said.
“We would talk to these people and hear their stories and their histories,” Bilich said. “And some of them had AIDS, some of their husbands had AIDS, some of their husbands had left, some had been raped. To see them totally stepping up to the plate to really make ends meet while only having 20 percent of the resources of anybody in the U.S. was one of those experiences where you leave and you’re just like, ‘Wow.’”
After the trip, while sitting in Sally Lou’s, the light bulb turned on.
“I was reading over this passage and remembered the Rwanda trip and thought we could totally team up with local restaurants and feed single mother families,” Bilich said
After getting such a strong initial response from the community, the band wanted to start the organization to get involved in the community, Bilich said.
“The hope is to raise an awareness that it doesn’t take a lot to make a difference,” Bilich said.
Although the kick-off date for the organization was scheduled for October, Bilich realized time was tight between the candid project and the band.
For now the band will work on getting local restaurants on board.
“Trying to find the time and resources and connect with the people you need to connect with — it’s kind of a job in itself,” Bilich said.
Despite full plates, the band is still excited to return to its birthing ground – SLO Brewing Co. The band is using this opportunity to test out a new song, which will give the audience a good idea of the band’s new direction, Curcio said.
“The thing I’m looking forward to most is this song that we don’t even have a title for yet,” Curcio said. “I’m really looking forward to the fans’ response to this song. It’s kind of the sound I think we’ll be going for.”
Mosse will play a few songs with the group and is looking forward to the packed and rowdy crowd, he said.
“They throw a lot of energy at us on stage and we kind of reciprocate and give it back,” Mosse said.
Doors for the 21 and older show open at 7:30 p.m. and openers ZuhG and Central Currency begin at 8 p.m. Pre-sale tickets are available for $12 at Boo Boo Records or ticketweb.com and are $15 at the door.
Interview with Still Time
After their amazing set at this year’s West Beach Festival we met up with San Luis Obispo’s own Still Time to discuss their music and future plans
CentralCoastRocks.com:Tell us about your start in San Luis Obispo, and your ties to the Central Coast
Dan Curcio: Well, there are currently seven of us and we all pretty much met at Cal Poly. We’re
from all over California. I met Haircut, our Guitar player in the dorms, he was two doors down from me. When we were walking in, the first day of College, parent’s day, my dad sees this guy and says “There you go, there’s your Guitar player.” As soon as I went to College my goal was to start a band. Anyways’ he has all these Rammstein, Tool and Heavy Metal band stickers on his pedal board and I was thinking, I don’t know because at that point I was pretty much a singer-songwriter kind of guy. I finally ended up going over to his room a few weeks into school and asked him if he wanted to jam on Acoustic. I think an Acoustic Guitar to him at that point was definitely a new thing, he was a Heavy Metal guy (Laughs), and so it kinda worked out, we started jamming, doing our thing and met piece by piece over the course of a couple years to where we have the seven of us now
CentralCoastRocks.com: What dorm were you living in at the time?
Dan Curcio: It was at Sierra Madre dorm
CentralCoastRocks.com: Describe your live show for someone who has not seen you
Dan Curcio: A lot of variety and a ton of energy, positive energy bringing people together. I think it’s one of those things where…hopefully what we want to do with our music is have it be something that’s appealing to 16 and 17 year olds but also 40 and 50 year olds and everything in-between as well. Our favorite shows are at The Cliffs (Shell Beach), where literally there’s new born babies and 90 year olds and everywhere in-between, we love playing to diverse crowds.
CentralCoastRocks.com: You have played numerous shows and have shared the stage
with many diverse acts, (Pepper, Ziggy Marley, UB40) do any shows stand out for you personally?
Dan Curcio: For me it was last year here at the West Beach Festival. We played before Ben Harper on the main stage. He’s my idol, I love Ben Harper. That was a huge one for me
John: There is a lot of them, but one of them for me is when we played up in Avila Beach with Robert Randolph and the Family band. They just ripped it up. They had the same thing we’re going for with the energy and changing it up every time but bringing it every time. Just watching them was pretty awesome
CentralCoastRocks.com: Tell us about your current CD “See America”, which was released last year (May 2009)
Dan Curcio: We went more bluesy on that one with T-Bone on board with the Harmonica so we have a little more Blues thing happening on that record than the first one but it also has a variety and mix. We’re actually working on a third record right now, we’ve been home from this National Tour and trying to get down to writing some new songs. But yeah “See America” is basically another step towards defining our sound.
CentralCoastRocks.com: With 2010 coming to a close soon, what are your plans for the rest of 2010 and goals for 2011?
Dan Curcio: At this point for us it’s about being financially stable as a band and keeping the business thing going in the right direction so we can do this for a living. With this next record we hope it’s a very soulful and inspiring record. I think it might be us recording ourselves, which is kind of exciting and a bit of an adventure also.
John: Whenwe recorded the last one “See America”, we tried to get that live energy so we recorded it at Downtown Brew (in San Luis Obispo), which is the place where we play a lot of our live shows. We kinda got that with that one but with this one I think we’re talking about doing it ourselves just to not feel rushed like we have. Just to take the time to get every song perfect and right, so we can come back and add this to that song, come back to it when we’re feeling it and just make it an awesome, flowing, feel good record that we’re all really happy with
Dan Curcio:Ithink the environment that we record in is really important to us too. Like on the last record we also recorded at a mansion in San Francisco with really nice hardwood floors, there was incredible acoustics in this place. So for this next one I definitely want to find some new spots that inspire. It’s cool to be able to record in a spot that you feel inspired, and not some sterile, bland recording studio
CentralCoastRocks.com: Final words for your fans?
Dan Curcio: I think one of the biggest things is to keep supporting us. We play a decent amount on the Central Coast to make sure that we can pay our bills and do this for a living but we really are trying to make it to the next level and be able to do this on a big scale for a living, and we’re really getting there but we just really need the continued support at this point. It’s a really critical point for us to kinda get over that hump, so just keep coming out to the shows, please keep supporting us and look into our new music coming out soon
John: Keep bringing the energy that they bring right now and we’ll do the same. They’re inspiring us
Dan Curcio: San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast is the coolest place on the planet as far as we’re concerned, so we’re very blessed to be living there
Please Visit: www.StillTimeMusic.com www.MySpace.com/StillTimeBand
Very Special Thanks: Stephanie Ramirez
I totally experienced one of those moments last Thursday evening, ( Aug 5th 2010) that just makes you feel really glad you were, where you were. My wife and I were heading down to the Kirkland Summer Concert Series at Marina Park in Kirkland and to be honest, I couldn’t even remember the name of the band that was going to be playing. As usual, I had some camera gear with me, but this night I actually brought a long lens (70-200 f2.8) and my mono-pod so I could sit on the hill and get some closer shots. So with a big towel laid out we sat and listened as the band was just getting started. I was just grabbing some shots of the band from about 100 feet away and we were really digging the sound of these guys.
Still Time is a band from San Luis Obispo California, and these guys were gettin it done for Kirkland! It wasn’t long into their set when I told my wife… “After their break I gotta get down closer and capture some of this, in the way I am hearing and feeling it.”
By the time they started playing their second set, it must have been close to 8pm, and I had lost almost all the light that was going to make it possible to shoot them with that long lens, or at least that was my first thought. I knew as soon as I stared shooting in that low, late evening light, that the shots I was getting were exactly how I was feeling the music. This, my friends, is another one of those moments that is pretty freakin cool!
I ran the ISO up to 800 or even 1600 on some shots and was shooting wide open (f2.8). I was not looking at many of the shots on the display at this point, as I did not want to take my eye out of the viewfinder, it was just too good of a show!
To sum this up, I am going to be buying both albums from Still Time and if you are a local and you are not coming out to the concerts….. you are seriously missing out on some fantastic music!
We are very excited to announce that Still Time will be headlining, for the first time, Slim's in San Francisco on August 20th! This is a huge show for us, it is the biggest ALL AGES venue we've ever headlined. So we need all of your support to make this show a success.Caught in Still Time
By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer
Funky with a slightly jam-band influence, the California band Still Time has made Ketchum, Idaho, a much-anticipated date on its three-month tour of North America. The band members met in the dorms at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in 2002, and in 2010 have dedicated themselves to pursuing their dream.
"We love what we are doing," said Still Time's lead vocalist, Dan Curcio. "We call ourselves eclectic groove rock because we come from all types of different musical backgrounds."
Still Time musicians Chris Arntzen and Nick Bilich on guitar, bassist Paul Smith-Stewart, drummer John Vucinich and harmonica player T-Bone Steak along with Curcio all contribute to creating the band's signature sound.
"We all write as a group," Curcio said. "We come up with the music while in a jam session and write lyrics over the music, which turns into songs. It's a fun way to create music and allows us to have a variety of songs."
Still Time is influenced by a lot of '60s and '70s musicians and bands including Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, James Brown, the Grateful Dead, Ben Harper, Phish, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Still Time has been garnering recognition especially with its song "High Tide," which Curcio said has done very well and was a No. 1 radio hit in California for seven weeks.
"As a group goal we would like to get to the point of bands such as Dispatch or Ben Harper who are commercially successful but not total sellouts," Curcio said.
Still Time has also been savvy about its promotion with an update video journal on its website chronicling its tour across country.
"We want to keep fans back home in the know of what we are doing," Curcio said.
Still Time will play a show at Whiskey Jacques' in Ketchum on Friday, June 11 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door and the band will have CDs and other merchandise for sale at the show.
-Sabina Dana Plasse
With its laid-back and upbeat sound, Still Time seems like a perfect match for the Lowcountry.
On a first national tour for its second album, "See America," the band will make its Holy City debut Tuesday night at The Pour House.
The up-and-comers out of California describe their music as groove rock; mixing blues, rock, jazz and funk. Influences include Ben Harper, Dave Matthews and Van Morrison.
The band says that fans can expect a positive and happy experience at the shows.
"What we try to do is just kind of bring random groups of people together to enjoy a positive and high energy kind of show," said Dan Curcio (vocals, guitar), on the phone from New Orleans.
"It's mainly about the positivity. We love so much what we're doing and it comes through in our show."
He'll be joined by bandmates Chris "Haircut" Arntzen (guitar), Nick Bilich (guitar), Paul Smith-Stewart (bass), John Vucinich (drums) and T-Bone Steak (harmonica). The guys and their songs are no strangers to the mandolin, slide guitar and upright bass, either.
"We have people come out that are heavy-metal fans. We've even opened for some metal acts, but it works," Curico said. "If you like a different style, you can still like what we're doing."
As a testament to their versatility, Still Time has shared the stage with Jason Mraz, G. Love and Special Sauce, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Ziggy Marley, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, UB40 and Robert Randolph.
"We're for fans that appreciate honest and genuine kind of music. I've heard Charleston has that kind of scene," said Curcio.
"We're for people who want to come together and have a good time and hear new, unique music."
After conquering its first scene at San Luis Obispo, Calif., Still Time toured the West Coast with its first album, "Stream of Consciousness" (2007). The new album and tour is a 65-date national circuit.
Wherever they go, though, just be sure to keep an eye on bassist Smith-Stewart. He tends to wander during shows: anywhere from the bar at a local venue to the balcony at the South by Southwest music festival.
Our show last night at The Mint in Hollywood was a pretty big milestone for us, in large part because of the rich history of the venue. The Mint has been open since 1937, and although it’s a relatively small room, it’s had it’s fair share of big artists. The walls are lined with signed pictures of Ben Harper, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder—loads of famous musicians that jammed there when they were up and coming. Apparently Ben Harper was discovered at The Mint, so it was pretty cool playing at the place where one of our major influences made it big. The vibe of our set reminded me of some of the festival crowds we’ve played to in the past—everyone was really digging the tunes, dancing, and singing along. We met a bunch of new people who hadn’t seen us before—one guy in particular came up right after the set and was commenting on some of the future venues we’ll be playing. I asked him if he’d seen us before (I thought he’d definitely been a fan for awhile because he knew so much), but he said, “Nope, first time I’ve heard you guys and I love the music!!” It’s definitely those moments that make you happy—when you see someone really positively effected by the music. The band we played with was Great American Taxi, fronted by Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon. They rocked it with some amazing jams, and Vince plays mandolin like it’s his third arm or something. Headed out in the RV, which has bullhorns on it now (thanks Haircut!), to jam at Gallagher’s in San Diego. It’s our last show in California until June, so we’re going to make this is one heck of a night. Talk to you soon!
-ST
Hello from San Luis Obispo!! The band is back home for a few days, getting some much needed rest, and working to make our RV roadworthy. Apparently the floor was caving in and rubbing against one of the tires. Not a good situation for our safety.
So the last few shows were ridiculous. Ps—just to let you guys know, the trend so far has been that every show turns out to be pretty epic. Who knows what the rest of the tour is going to be like, but it’s been really cool to see such positive reactions from a lot of new fans. We can’t wait to head east, and spread the tunes in some uncharted territories!
Two more shows in California this week, The Mint in LA, and Gallaghers in San Diego, and then we’re off to Arizona and beyond!! See you guys soon!
Hugs and High Fives,
Still Time
