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The Speedbumps take a turn for the orchestral
By John Benson
Here’s a pop quiz for you: What are a few hollow-bodied instruments?
If you answered cello, upright bass, ukulele and acoustic guitar, then not only would you be correct, but you’d have described Kent-based, nationally renowned eclectic act The Speedbumps — Erik Urycki (guitar, vocals and ukulele), Sam Kristoff (cello), Kevin Martinez (upright and electric bass) and Pat Hawkins (drums) — which for the past seven years has been spreading its unique sound around the globe.
“It’s kind of all over the place, and we are definitely different,” said Urycki, a 2001 Tallmadge High School graduate. “It’s our blessing, and I think it might also be our curse, but we are not normal. We are trying to straddle into that pop side, but we just don’t do it. We don’t write that way. We have catchy songs but not pop songs. If I were going to describe music right now, I’d call it acoustic groove. But I always put like a side note, not jam. There’s a chillness and a grooveness to it.”
Urycki said his quintessential singer-songwriter tenor voice often draws Jack Johnson comparisons, but the quartet’s chillness is definitely not the island breeze variety. In addition, the group has garnered a Dave Matthews Band-meets-Steely Dan vibe, but Urycki said while he’s not offended by the connection, it’s not apt. The groove apparently is what gives The Speedbumps its creative mojo, which for the group’s upcoming third studio release will be more of an orchestral vibe.
“Every album we’ve made has sounded a little different,” Urycki said. “On our first album, we showcased more like banjo mandolin, and the second album was more piano and ukulele. This next album we’ll do more string arrangements. I’ve always been a band of strings. That’s why I had a cello player. Our new bass player, who has been in the band a year and a half, has a jazz composition degree, so he can arrange music. I’ve been in that mood.”
The Speedbumps were really able to scratch that orchestral itch this fall when the foursome performed with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Though Urycki stressed the group had already planned to go more in a strings direction for its next album before that show, he admitted playing with a symphony orchestra was inspiring.
New material in the fold for the act is the melancholy “Big Joe” and groove-oriented “Montreal.” Urycki said the outfit plans on playing those tunes at its upcoming fourth annual Winter Fun Time Extravaganza show scheduled for Friday at the Kent Stage.
Considering The Speedbumps have performed with Amos Lee, Matt Nathanson, OKGO, Chrissie Hynde and Andrew Bird, as well as played around the globe, the notion of booking a Northeast Ohio show is something special.
“We’re a Kent band, and we decided we’d do this when school’s out,” Urycki said. “It’s something to do for people. It’s like our official home show. We don’t play in Kent very often. We don’t do Christmas songs. It’s just our home show.”
But wait, it’s a Winter Fun Time Extravaganza show?
“That’s just total [expletive],” Urycki said, laughing. “It’s just another concert.”