On The Verge

Floating Action

Asheville, N.C.
One-Man Record Bin
www.floatingaction.com

“A lot of records start with a single idea, and it may be a good idea, but the record ends up being the same idea ten times,” says Seth Kaufmann, the man behind Floating Action. “I want to make records that contain lots of ideas, almost like a mix tape.” A mix tape is indeed what Floating Action’s new self-titled album recalls: a Latin, Caribbean, Afro-funk and one, to be precise. A native of Greensboro, N.C., Kaufmann grew up playing the violin and spent the ‘90s reluctantly fiddling in Dave Matthews Band-inspired outfits in the college towns of Appalachia. Kaufmann later cut a self-produced demo and mailed it to Hightone Records who released the album, Ting, in 2006. Ting was followed by Research in 2007, another bedroom-produced effort, this time released on Park the Van Records, a label that Kaufmann thought might understand his vision after he read an article about one of its bands, Dr. Dog. Like Dr. Dog, Floating Action’s hallmarks include wandering guitars, greasy bass lines, and rumbling organ notes that have the home-brewed exuberance of early Traffic and The Band filtered through a crateful of imported and domestic oddities. Says Kaufmann of his eclectic approach, “I don’t like to dwell on any one style for too long, so I’ll steer things in a different direction if they get too Motown or too bossa.”