Stankfut brings eclectic musical style to Los Angeles

  Stankfut The band Stankfut, whose style cannot be clearly
defined, will be playing three shows at The Gig in West LA during
the next month.

By Chris Young
Daily Bruin Contributor

Like books and their covers, bands probably shouldn’t be
judged by their names. Stankfut, for example, does reek of funk,
but it’s the musical kind, not the foot kind.

Audiences have compared Stankfut, an Ohio-based band performing
a series of shows at The Gig in West Los Angeles, to groups like
Morphine, the Police and Primus, but the band’s sound is
still unique.

Stankfut isn’t like a regular band. Kristoffer Carter on
bass and vocals, Andy Stephan on saxophone and Jason Woods on drums
demonstrate the musical possibilities a band can explore without
using guitars.

“No other band is combining ideas and influences like we
are, which is what makes us so unique,” Stephan said in a
interview from the recording studio where the group was finishing
up its album. “Our music is a combination of our funk, jazz,
singer-songwriter and pop tendencies.”

Stankfut’s sound is characterized by energetic rhythms and
grooves. Woods calls Stankfut’s music “modern rock
fusion.”

“It’s an organic sound; there’s no guitar to
hide behind here,” Carter said.

Taking the traditional place of the guitar is Stephan’s
saxophone, which leads the sound in a different direction than a
guitar would.

“Andy’s the primary soloist in the band, and
it’s just a pleasure listening to something besides a
screaming guitar doing a solo because I hate that,” Carter
said.

Stankfut, however, is more than just a band that plays a heavy
groove for the audience to dance to.

“If we’re locked in and rockin’, people get
out there and try to shake it. But we’re also more of a
sit-down-and-watch kind of band. If people dance they’ll miss
some of the musical aspects,” Stephan said.

“We thrive on gaining peoples’ attention; they might
stand still for four songs and not even realize they haven’t
moved,” he said.

In a vein similar to a jazz trio, Stankfut’s members bring
an improvisational aspect to their live performances. Carter
pointed out that they could have a four-night show with a different
set and groove each night.

At the same time, the band realizes the potential danger of
playing music that is too complicated and inappropriate for the
average concertgoer.

“We don’t want to go too far down that avant-garde
trail where it’s just a bunch of wanker musician
music,” Carter said.

Stankfut’s originality largely stems from the
players’ differing musical opinions. Carter, Stephan and
Woods, who have played together since 1996, acknowledge that they
don’t have a perfect relationship musically. They often have
conflicting ideas regarding how a particular tune should be played
and disagree on technical and stylistic ideas. Usually, they make a
compromise that actually strengthens the music.

“I think it’s the compromises that make the
music,” Stephan said. “Any great band has to butt heads
and argue.”

According to Woods, all bands need to disagree sometimes in
order to remain creative.

“They’d probably get stale if they didn’t
argue among themselves,” Woods said. “They would end up
sounding the same on every album because they wouldn’t
progress.”

Even with the group conflict, the trio doesn’t emphasize
one instrument over another. All three instruments and vocals are
integral parts of the band.

“All of us are equal. You might expect the sax to be up
front as the main instrument but we’re all pretty much
equal,” Stephan said.

As for the future, Stankfut has a number of projects. The group
plans to produce another full-length CD, and hopes to tour with a
major label and play venues larger than the L.A. clubs it has
appeared in so far.

Carter would like to achieve the rock-star notoriety that many
groups hunger for but still maintain the band’s musical ideas
and not accept compromises from outside forces.

For Stephan and Woods, to be able to support themselves on their
own music is reward enough. Because the group works full-time in
addition to performing in the band, being able to live off of its
music is important.

According to Carter, college students can widen the band’s
fan base and support this goal.

“The audience, while we’re playing, is drinking and
having a good time and the music lends itself well to that,”
Carter said.

CONCERT: Stankfut plays at The Gig, Feb. 25,
Mar. 11 and Mar. 25 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5, $3 with flyer. The
Gig is located at 11637 W. Pico Blvd. Call (310) 444-9870 or go to
www.stankfut.com for more
information.