FLIPSIDE Online

Green Lemon is living life in a perpetual recess

By Tonia Howerton
The Southern

Green Lemon: 10 p.m. today, Hangar 9, 511 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale. Cover $4. (618) 549-0511.

(Provided)

The best musicians are the ones who are difficult to categorize.

At least that's the theory of Green Lemon guitarist and vocalist Steve Schaber. "I think, as with any art form, it's important to have as much variety as possible in your art form," Schaber said.

The band members are influenced by everything from jazz to indie rock to reggae, which is why Green Lemon's sound defies labels.

"We play a lot of different genres of music," Schaber said. "We even incorporate the different genres into each of our songs."

That mix of genres results in a sound that is organic, techno, dance beat, reggae and indie rock.

"It's like champagne and caviar, but with mayonnaise," Wayne Allen said.

Schaber quickly agreed with the analogy offered by his fellow guitarist and vocalist. "I don't know what that means exactly, but, yeah, that's about right," Schaber said.

Schaber said the band has four song writers, with each drawing influences from a variety of musical genres. While he studied jazz in college for a while, Allen likes Irish rockers U2, Jon Cordero (keys and vocals) and Jesse Fioravanti (bass and vocals) prefer indie rock, and percussionist Chris Cox "likes reggae ... and Maroon 5, but you should probably add a disclaimer that he just doesn't know yet that he doesn't really like them," Schaber said.

So how did these guys with such different interests in music come together? Everyone except Schaber started getting together to jam back in 1999 while in high school in Oklahoma City. Looking for something fresh and new, Allen said, the band made a move to Colorado after graduation, where they lived together. "We were able to play and write together," Allen said. "As a result we were able to create our own sound."

Schaber said he joined the band a little more than a year ago, but has been enjoying the ride.

And a long road it has been. The band has been busy playing shows and touring all over the country. And they rarely take time off, despite the inconvenient breakdowns of their tour bus, such as the one tire blowout they endured Tuesday afternoon while traveling through Missouri on their way to their Wednesday night gig in St. Louis. "It's not really surprising anymore," Schaber said. "We buy old buses so there are going to problems."

But they love to tour. "We get to travel around and play music. There's nothing better than that," Schaber said while getting the thumbs up from his bandmates for his answer.

Schaber said they are hoping that their continuous touring will afford them the opportunity to get back in the studio to record a follow up to their 2003 self-titled debut album. "We have so much material now we'll probably have to do a double album," Schaber said. Which they hope they'll be able to do soon.

In the mean time, they're having the time of their lives. "It's not even like a real job," Schaber said. "It's like ... a perpetual recess."

tonia.howerton@thesouthern.com

(618) 529-5454 ext. 5179