La Push - Bellingham, WA
La Funk Initiation - Feature Interview
By Patrick Ferris

It's been in the Seattle music scene limelight for years, attracting fans, filling clubs but being overshadowed by grunge. But as the GenX crowd settles into their 30s, ripped jeans and plaid shirts have been replaced by slacks and button-downs, grunge is no longer cool, and funk has come into the mainstream as one of the new sounds defining the Seattle music scene.

Throughout the musical upheaval that took place over the last 15 years, the Seattle club scene has prevailed. Audiences hungry for quality entertainment have kept establishments alive with a constant draw if the band is good, creating an environment that has spawned one of the newest and most exciting things to come out of Seattle in the last decade.

La Push is a powerful, horn dominated funk band that calls Bellingham, a small college town about 90 minutes north of Seattle, home. I reviewed their debut CD 'Baby' in July of 2004 and have looked forward to a feature interview as I've watched their popularity and fan base grow. As I started this feature, I borrowed and have added to some of the things I mentioned in my CD review to give the readers a better idea of what La Push is all about.

From the opening notes of the first track, My Bus is Comin', Baby is a CD that grabs and holds the listener with a blast of all original high-energy funk and Motown scorchers with a sound that is both retro and fresh. It's hard to say this without sounding cliché, but there's no other way to say it...Baby is a CD that makes you want to get up and dance!

If I were to draw comparisons to give the reader an idea of the sound, La Push could be compared with the funk of the Red Hot Chili Peppers fronting the horn section of Chicago. I've always been a sucker for great vocal harmony, and La Push delivers them with all of the finesse of a 1960s Motown heavyweight. Full, funky, exciting and tight can all be used to describe the fat sound that comes from this Bellingham 10-piece.

Rather than focusing on introspective, deep or politically volatile topics, Baby is all about the now. Lyrics about fun, sun, girls and sex take the listener away from the worries of the world and teleports you into the non-stop party world of La Push.

In these days of electric instruments, it's almost a novelty to see a rock band fronted by a horn player, but singer and lead trumpet player Joel Ricci's voice has the power and soul reminiscent of the late Terry Kath (Chicago) while, in an almost super-energetic James Brown kind of way, maintains command of the stage, directs the orchestra and is the engine that drives La Push to ecstatic house-packed performances. It's difficult with that many band members to not sound cluttered, but each musician compliments each other to create a sum greater than all the individual parts. The horn work is exceptional, with well thought out arrangements, innovative soloing and fills, adding color and excitement that bring an already fantastic core band to the next level.

I hooked up with Joel online for a feature interview:

HotBands - Hey Joel

Joel Ricci - Howdy

HotBands - Let's start at the beginning of your music career. How did you get your first interest in music and how did it develop?

Joel Ricci - I was lucky enough to have a piano in the house as a little kid, then in 5th grade I got to play trumpet in the school band. I really wanted to play contrabassoon but they didn't let 5th graders play that, so trumpet was my second choice. When I was in 10th grade, I was given the opportunity to improvise in the Everett High School jazz band under band director, Gary Evans. From there, I improvised my way through college, got a degree in music composition and have been improvising my entire career.

HotBands - Were you playing around with music on the piano before you got into band?

Joel Ricci - I think everyone actually thought I would become a great artist. The piano went to storage and I drew like crazy. I also started my producing career making cassette tape collages.

HotBands - How about private lessons?

Joel Ricci - I didn't dig lessons.

HotBands - So you didn't take them or you tried and decided you didn't like them?

Joel Ricci - I tried, and of course I had them in college.

HotBands - What type of music did you listen to growing up and what were your influences?

Joel Ricci - That's easy! In addition to just random sounds of birds and friends picked up on the tape recorder, I put bits of the 'Top Gun' soundtrack, rock radio, Time/Life's 'Hooked on Classics' which is all the classic themes put to a disco beat (this was like 5th grade, you know.) My mother and father were divorced and I lived with my mom, but later on I discovered my dad's bossa nova, Latin and jazz samba collection on vinyl.

HotBands - So you were making dance mixes of ambient sounds at age 10 on a cassette recorder?

Joel Ricci - More like stories.

HotBands - Stories?

Joel Ricci - I was mostly just trying to string together bits of sound in a way that might make sense. Like the car crash sound from Janet Jackson's 'Control' with some other bit about a car or going fast, like "Ride into the Danger Zone" from Top Gun.

HotBands - Did your band teachers have an influence on you in a positive way? How do you remember your relationship with them and the role they played?

Joel Ricci - Hell yeah! I'll never forget my first jazz solo in high school jazz band. I told my teacher that I thought I played like crap and he said, "You are perfect in your present moment of development". That is the cornerstone to my philosophy now.

HotBands - That's awesome. My music teacher was one of my life's biggest influences and it was because of patience (he had to have lots of that in my case), as well as words of praise and encouragement that I'm still involved with music to this day.

When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a career in music?

Joel Ricci - Even after I got out of college with a degree in composition, I thought I would work, raise some money and start an organic farm. I know this sounds corny, but the act of pursuing music was divinely ordained.

HotBands - How so, and which God?

Joel Ricci - Which God? You know like your usual Father/Mother God; All in All; The Great Spirit; The Great Mystery; Omnipotent, Spirit, Soul, Mind, Truth, Life, Love; The One…that one.

In the span of a short nine months, I graduated from college, got hit by a car while on my bike, got engaged, cleaned out my mom's garage, healed, moved to Bellingham, got dumped by my girlfriend and finally in the depths of a broken heard asked what I was supposed to do. I heard a voice that said: "You are to rock soul funk shows". I asked again and got the same answer, so I got up, wiped the tears and started The Lucky Seven the next day.

HotBands - I knew R.L. (guitarist), Shane (bassist) and Denali (drummer) from a previous project they were involved with, and heard La Push for the first time at their house through a cassette ghetto blaster. They weren't in the band at the time but said it was a band that was just forming and had a lot of potential. From the raw energy of that recording, I knew there was a band in the making that I wanted to see. Tell me about how La Push came into being.

Joel Ricci - La Push was a concept that originated while I was in Europe and New York. I saw some great bands, shook hands with them and said "I really appreciate your work" They included the Desco/Daptone/Soulfire crew, the Antibalas, Dap-Kings, Sugarman 3, Keb Darge, and Jazzman Records, Big Daddy Magazine and The Poets of Rhythm, DJ James Trouble, Breakestra, Deepfunk, Funk45 and students of Tony Allen while in Paris. I watched them perform and learned how to deliver the funk message. But the name La Push came from La Push Washington. The band that was gonna be my rhythm section was Beecraft and I knew those cats from college. I was a big fan of theirs and La Push was supposed to be just a studio thing that I could take back to Europe (on tape) with me.

HotBands - What is the funk message? And why did you name your band after La Push Washington?

Joel Ricci - I went surfing there for the first time. I was still trying to think of the right name for the band and one of the guys I was with suggested "The Push". I knew that was it, but unfortunately, there were about eight 'The Push's" out there, so I stuck with the French thing. I'd just returned from France, so it made everybody think it was related to my trip. As far as the funk message, it's all about unity, joy, ecstasy, organization, discipline, grace, harmony, and humility…the same qualities that it takes for being a good person.

HotBands - So you recorded a demo using Beecraft as your rhythm section. Was your intent to have a horn-dominated band?

Joel Ricci - I never made a demo with the band, I did however make a 4-track cassette that I gave to Beecraft. A year later we were in Mike Iris' garage

HotBands - Do you write the charts for each part?

Joel Ricci - I write all the charts for the band, but I will often just sing them (the horn section) the part if it's simple enough. I also do all the arranging, but I like to improvise that aspect of the show so I never can stick to any arrangement.

HotBands - It's really a nice change to see a band fronted by a horn player. You are a great horn player, arranger, singer and composer, but you also have the charisma to get the entire band tight and together. That's no small feat considering the size of your band.

Joel Ricci - Thanks, I'm very proud of that.

HotBands - Your first CD, 'Baby', came out about a year ago. Your response in Seattle has been overwhelming from the beginning for your live shows, and I'm curious to know how your CD has been received beyond the region.

Joel Ricci - I just sent two to Switzerland today, and CDbaby has been shipping to Korea, Japan and China, but it's still pretty grassroots until we get proper distribution.

HotBands - Prior to La Push, I'm assuming you were in other bands. How much of the material did you perform before La Push, or were the songs written for this project?

Joel Ricci - The Lucky Seven were a legendary Bellingham party band. It was all my original music, but we never made it to the studio. I was frustrated by this and left for six months to Europe. About half of 'Baby' were songs performed by The Lucky Seven.

HotBands - It's a huge chore to just run and organize a band of your size aside from booking, distribution, songwriting and more recording! How soon can we expect a follow up CD?

Joel Ricci - As you know I got 'Apparatus' (a slimmed down version of La Push) every Thursday at The Scarlet Tree, and we are getting ready to record a live CD. I do have a live recording from the Flowmotion Summer Meltdown with original band members that will be out by end of July. Other than that, I'm more interested in releasing singles.

HotBands - Why are you putting out singles? Are they for purchase via download? Will they eventually become a collection for your next studio CD? I'm just trying to get an idea of what marketing angle and advantage that singles have over a full CD. These days, CDs are going the way of the dinosaur, so I'd like to see how bands are coming up with new and innovative ways to sell their music.

Joel Ricci - I'm pursuing releasing singles because every song needs different treatment, different studios, and even different personnel. Yes, they will all be released someday, but Westsound Record Company needs a singles catalog.

HotBands - So from the time La Push formed up to now, how did the band members solidify? What was the first response at your first show, and how has it grown. Give a short summary of what happened in the last 18 months.

Joel Ricci - La Push has initiated thousands of people and dozens of musicians into the funk message. We were born in Bellingham at The Boundary Bay Brewery on December 4th 2003. We blew up from the very first night…there was people dancing in the streets because they couldn't all get in. It's been a non-stop solid party ever since.

HotBands - There are so many bands that would give anything to have that kind of a start out of the gates. Would you contribute it to people remembering The Lucky Seven?

Joel Ricci - The Lucky Seven were special. We were always a thing of mystery... of legendary status. We sold out houses parties monthly for a year, but we are more of a thing that people talk about without knowing. La Push belongs to the people. It's an initiation.

HotBands - That's an interesting way of looking at your band. It's like your main goal with the band is to 'initiate' or educate people about the funk message...right?

Joel Ricci - I suppose so. This is a subject for an entire other interview.

HotBands - Your band dresses up on stage like traditional performers...it's a fresh change from the 'grunge' of the 90s.

Joel Ricci - I'd like to think that when people dress up, they feel good about themselves. In our circle, the cocktail party has become the popular thing...dressing up, drinking wine... that kind of thing. I don't allow anybody in the band to look 'grungy'...I demand they dress up for shows. Think about the ladies...they spend HOURS getting themeselves ready to go out to the club...how come guys don't do that?

HotBands - What are the short and long-term goals for the band?

Joel Ricci - To rock huge shows, make great recordings, spread the funk message, vibrate at the highest frequency possible and to realize our true selves as divine ideas. Truly Pat, each guy has his own short and long goals. These are just mine.

HotBands - Do you have any message that you want to share with the readers? This is your chance to put what you can of your message into words...not quite the same as a La Push initiation, but at least they can get your inner most thoughts

Joel Ricci - Come to a show, be nice to yourselves an others, make good decisions, try to relax, smile often and call your mom. Thanks for talking with me. It's always fun to have people interested in what I do. You've been very helpful to me and the trajectory of this band. Thank you for your support Pat. You're an initiate!

HotBands - Thank YOU! I wouldn't be so interested if you didn't have something that was really magical.