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feature
World on a String:
The String Cheese Incident Keeps on Getting Bigger
interview Page 1
Page 2 of interview
Boulder, Colorado's String Cheese Incident called its last live album Carnival '99; the description couldn't be more accurate. The rock quintet fuses jazz, bluegrass, and world beats into frenetic, jam-filled live shows. Each member plays several instruments and takes turns singing. Kyle Hollingsworth plays piano, organ, Rhodes, and accordion; Michael Kang plays five-string electric and acoustic mandolin, as well as violin; Keith Moseley plays five-string electric bass and four-string acoustic bass; Bill Nershi plays six-string acoustic guitar; and Michael Travis plays drums, congas, timbales, djembe, and other percussion. This varied instrumentation allows SCI to perform in a wide range of styles—including calypso and Afro-Cuban—which the group mixes together with traditional country and bluegrass.
With four albums under its belt, String Cheese Incident prepares to release a new record in Spring 2001, and debuted new material from the project during its recent East Coast Fall tour. The band now prepares for its New Year's Eve extravaganza, "2001: A String Cheese Odyssey," which takes place at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland for the second year in a row.
We spoke with keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth about the band's new album, its increasing popularity, and hula-hooping.
musictoday.com: SCI has an eclectic sound; where does it all come from?
Kyle Hollingsworth: From all of us. Each of us brings a certain sound to the group and together it makes SCI. We're influenced by lots of different things, like our drummer is really into Afro-Cuban Latin beats, the mandolin player is more of a classically-trained violin player, our bass player and guitarist are kind of bluegrass, and I have more of a jazz background. We kind of bring in all the ingredients of the soup and make our own string cheese soup.
mt: What would you say about Baltimore and how it shaped your musical influences?
KH: I went to Towson State and studied jazz piano there, so that had a very strong influence on the type of music I play and like to perform. I'm the youngest of a very large family, so I was influenced by what my brothers and sisters were listening to—one of my sisters saw the Beatles in concert, so I was really into them—then, as I grew up, I got into more complex music like jazz.
mt: How did the band come together?
KH: I was in Baltimore playing with Black Friday and some other bands. Then, when I finished my jazz degree, I was drawn to Colorado. I was looking to be a forest ranger or something, so I moved to Boulder. In 1996, I was playing freelance, and the band said, "come on the road with us for one tour"; and I did. By the end of the tour, I was like, "this is great." It was very challenging in lots of different ways. It's not just bluegrass or just rock or just Latin music, it's a lot of different influences that kept me in and challenged.
mt: Are you the only one who wears shoes?
KH: Yes. I didn't wear them one day and I was wondering if anyone would notice, because everyone notices when you wear them.
mt: Is it frowned upon by the other guys in the band?
KH: Not at all; everybody does their own thing.
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