On The Verge

Groovatron

Hammond, Indiana
Schizophrenic Rock
www.groovatron.com

Although the name might evoke imagery of hula hoops and fairy wings, Groovatron steers its psychedelic ship down a much darker path. In addition to its thudding, pinpoint bass and a dual guitar attack, Groovatron adds saxophone player Tony McCullough for a darker dimension. The band sounds like six, music hungry 20-somethings should today—excited and a little crazy. “It was our manager or a friend who called us ‘Schizophrenic rock,’” guitarist Nicholas Ferrer recalls. “We all have very strong personalities and views on how the music should go and it’s really apparent in our music. It’s kind of all over the place with different genres, different feels or different tempos. There’s always going to be something that catches you as weird or awkward, but that’s kinda what we’re going for.” Having bounced around various festivals like Summer Camp, Wakarusa and this year at Forecastle, Groovatron has had sit-ins from members of The String Cheese Incident, moe. and Umphrey’s McGee. After releasing a self-produced all instrumental album earlier this year, the band is striving to spend more time in the studio perfecting its production chops. “We’ve really slowed our approach to our touring and we’ve really been putting a lot more focus on the recording process.”