By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: The sounds of a pop-rock band with strings, a horn, flute, trumpet, and a dozen choral singers began germinating in Tim DeLaughter's head while he was still playing this kind of rock with the Dallas band, Tripping Daisy.
[Cut: "Brown Eyed Pickle Boy" from the Tripping Daisy album, Bill]
Zeeble: More than two-and-a-half years ago, Tripping Daisy was defunct, DeLaughter was married with two children, running his new record store, and running out of money. Meanwhile, those vague sounds in his brain became more defined and started sprouting forth as songs.
Tim DeLaughter, songwriter, leader, Polyphonic Spree: I'm daydreaming and playing and it provokes a feeling and you're singing about a feeling and it's playing out in your head and you're singing what you're seeing. A lot of times it's not clear and sometimes it fades out but the melody continues. You keep playing, then spit out lyrics. To me, it's like a musical playing itself out in my head.
Zeeble: DeLaughter cannot read or write music, but this is what he was hearing...
[Cut from "The Beginning Stages Of..."]
Zeeble: Even though DeLaughter had no band at the time, he accepted an offer to play at a local club. The gig was in two and a half weeks, so he scrambled for musicians who could realize the sounds in his head.
Tim DeLaughter, songwriter, leader Polyphonic Spree: This was born out of a necessity of something I wasn't hearing. If I was hearing it, I wouldn't have put the band together.
Zeeble: Some musicians came from Tripping Daisy. Most were friends, according to chorus member and DeLaughter's wife, Julie Doyle. She explains how they found French horn player Andrew Tinker.
Julie Doyle: Andrew is the son of someone who knew Tim's best friend's father for years, and had spoken of Andrew for a long time. Tim always wanted a French Horn player. This band rolls around, Tim's hearing the sounds, he wants this and that, calls his friend and says what about that kid, blah blah blah. He walks in the day before the first show. We rehearse 45 minutes, he came up with his parts, and boom. He was really the first symphonic instrument.
Andrew Tinker, French horn: This is the convergence of classical and rock in a fashion that it's never been done before.
Zeeble: Andrew Tinker, who's just out of high school.
Tinker: You've had bands tour with the London Symphony Orchestra and stuff, but that's not a part of that group.
Zeeble: Music insiders agree that the Polyphonic Spree presents an unusual fusion of sounds.
Brent Grulke, SXSW, Creative Director: One of the things that makes them so enjoyable is because they really aren't quite like anyone else.
Zeeble: Brent Grulke, Creative Director with the huge South by Southwest Music festival in Austin has been with the festival since it started 16 years ago. South by Southwest is like the music equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival.
Brent Grulke: They were probably the biggest single act last year. They were the one people felt they discovered.
[Cut from "The Beginning Stages Of..."]
Zeeble: Pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim Derogatis, saw Polyphonic Spree in Austin, and loved them.
Jim Derogatis, Chicago Sun-Times Pop Music Critic: A guy who can get two dozen friends together and rehearse them, and to get a cynical, jaded, self-centered, solipsistic, burned-out crowd of 500 rock critics, music executives and the worst species of all, radio people, to be jumping up and down to his music and be excited about something...that's a good trick and not just hype.
Zeeble: That's because audiences and band members say they believe in DeLaughter's vision and his music. Critics have likened it to the Beach Boys' melodic, densely harmonized classic album, Pet Sounds. Others compare it to psychedelic rock from the 60's and early 70's. Chorus member Jesse Hester, who's 19, wasn't alive then, but sounds like he could've been.
Jesse Hester, chorus member, Polyphonic Spree: I don't know where the music's going, I just know where it takes me at the time. It kind of turns me upside down for a minute, then it helps me to re-realize some things. It's like a wake-up call, like a reminder of some things we already knew. It's a comforting thing, is what it is. It fills you with reassurement and comfort and lets you know things truly are OK.
Zeeble: Music editor Zac Crain, with the weekly Dallas Observer, says now may be an especially good time for DeLaughter's kind of feel-good music. And not just because of 9/11. He says it's time for something besides new metal and what he calls "poor me" bands.
Zac Crain, Dallas Observer, Music Editor: They just all sound upset that they had bad childhoods or their dad didn't love them or they scream and moan and cry and stuff. It's kind of getting worn out. It's too much for people to bear. It's like, you want to have some break.
Zeeble: Music writers and fans alike worry that such a large group cannot stay together, or find enough work. But the Polyphonic Spree has already played twice in the U.K., including an appearance at David Bowie's Meltdown festival. The band's performed in Los Angeles, and is heading again to New York City.
Crain: I think it's much easier for two-dozen people to stick around than it is for four, because you can't go anywhere, you're in a van. You going to switch seats? That's all you can do. 24 people, you can. It's like a field trip in high school. You find a buddy and stick with them. If you don't want to trade lunches with them, you trade lunches with someone else.
Zeeble: Band members, including Julie Doyle, just have faith things will work out.
Julie Doyle: It's supposed to happen. It's supposed to happen, as hokey as that sounds to some people.
Zeeble: DeLaughter - sounding as optimistic as his music - isn't concerned, either.
DeLaughter: It's going better than what I expected. There's this whole other element of an energy, a movement that's happening that came out of left field.
[Cut from "The Beginning Stages Of..."]
Zeeble: Tim DeLaughter and The Polyphonic Spree play New York through the weekend. Their next Dallas appearance is December 20th in the Lakewood Theater. Their one CD, called "The Beginning Stages Of..." is on the local Good Records label. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.
To contact Bill Zeeble, please send emails to bzeeble@kera.org.