Long slow burn

Jam bands are becoming an increasingly popular site in bars and clubs. Everyone wants to be like Phish or Karl Denson. But what if you take a jam band, throw in some funk, a little soul and a touch of rock and roll? You get something original -- you get Percival Potts. \nMade up of four IU students and Bloomington residents, Percival Potts is breaking out of the Bloomington music scene and taking their act regional in hopes of someday making it to the national level.\n"Ideally, I'd like to stay with it as long as possible. To make it national would be a dream come true," lead guitarist senior Will Pierce said. \nPercival Potts, or P. Potts as it is known to fans, played its first show under the name on February 1, 2003 at Uncle Fester's. The inspiration for the band name came from the British scientist, Sir Percival Potts. According to band member senior Rob Reynolds, Potts studied chimney sweepers and their development of cancer. He discovered that cancer was dependent on the environment. The air coming from the carcinogens of the coal dust that the sweepers breathed in caused cancer to develop. Reynolds said he happened upon Potts one day and learned more about him. \n"We thought, wow, this is a hip guy, especially these days with the amount of chemicals that are in everything that we eat, breathe, drink. We want to promote something that will make you think as opposed to something that doesn't," he said.\n"It's also a question on the MCAT," Pierce said.\nThe band became what it is today when bass guitarist Kevin Boas joined in May 2003 and Pierce, joined in August 2004. Boas, an IU alumni and Bloomington resident, entered the band with a strong jazz background and is well known for his improvisational skills.\nPierce also brought a heavy jazz background to the band. He was a member of jazz band throughout high school and his father was a jazz guitarist. Currently, he is working towards a music informatics major. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Bela Fleck, music is a mainstay in Pierce's life and he says it is something he wishes to continue doing.\n"I rather make $10,000 a year playing music than $100,000 doing something else," Pierce said.\nReynolds takes the role as leader as vocalist/guitarist/keyboard and coronet player as well as composer of most the band's music and lyrics. Reynolds also picked up music at a young age. He had hopes of being a trumpet major in the IU School of Music until he blew his lip out in high school. Instead, he began playing piano, guitar, and teaching himself to sing by listening to greats such as Otis Redding, Motown and Stevie Wonder. Reynolds' persistent attitude and passion for music is what led him to start the band. \n"Dealing with music, I'm ready to rock n' roll for the next five, eight, ten years," Reynolds said. "I'm always writing. It's a constant process. Listening and writing. Trying to improve upon what you can do as a musician."\nSenior Neil Michalares met Reynolds about six years ago when he saw Reynolds playing in a band called Cova. Michalares told Reynolds he wanted to play drums for him someday. Taken up on his offer, Michalares is the second P.Potts original member. With a family background of percussion, Michalares took up the drums in high school and has played in bands ranging from heavy metal to punk. \nTogether these four personalities make up Percival Potts. They blend together to make the smooth, "groovin' danceable vocally intense music."\nBeing an upcoming band is not an easy task. It takes patience, hard work and determination -- it also takes money. With classes, practices and an extensive road schedule it was often difficult for the men of Percival Potts to find a job and work a lot of hours at that job. But nonetheless, they are passionate about making music and sharing it with others. Initially, the funding from the band came out of their pockets. They took their own cars to shows, paid for gas and saved by not staying overnight anywhere. Now, as their popularity rises, they have a band van they take to shows complete with TV and Play Station 2.\n"We use money from previous shows to pay for gas. We try and buy food and everything on the road with money from the band account, and then we split what is left when we get home. Most of the time, we're just breaking even, but we have a blast," Michalares said.\nLife on the road is still something Percival Potts is getting used to. At times, it can be quite taxing.\n"When we drive 5 hours there, 5 hours back, setup and tear down for 2 hours, and only play for 45 minutes, it feels a little like we're more in a moving company than a band," Michalares said.\nBut there are also perks to being a band traveling from venue to venue. Most places give Percival Potts free meals and drinks as well as a VIP area to relax in before the show. But more important is the reward of seeing the same people over and over again. As they go back to the same bars repeatedly, this becomes a more common occurrence. \n"Seeing people that come back even if it is like three or four people that are like 'We saw you last time in Chicago and we came back.' That's awesome," Pierce said.\nBooking shows regionally is largely dependent on the amount of work a band puts into it. It is Michalares' job to find gigs for Percival Potts. He said he makes calls to venues to see if they are accepting band promos. A promo usually consists of a CD and information about the band. After sending out a promo, Michalares waits a week or two before contacting the venue again and hopefully, setting up a date to play. It typically takes sending out five to ten promo packets for a three- or four-show tour. One of their first shows outside of Bloomington was a learning experience they won't soon forget.\n"One of the first (shows) was traveling to Lafayette to play the Lafayette Brew Company. We got there and they had free dinner for us, so each one of us got the most expensive thing on the menu and had a few beers apiece ... and only 7 people came out the whole night. Needless to say, they have never called us back."\nPercival Potts discovers new things about making it in the music world as their experience on the road grows. Pierce said the key to gaining popularity is not playing a lot of covers, but rather, doing your own thing and making a unique presence. He also said you just have to keep doing it. \n"The classic quote we hear at the bars out of town is 'it is usually busy, don't know, must be more of late-night crowd'," Pierce said. "You just have to stick with it."\n"It's about time and pressure. If you have the talent, people will come," Reynolds added.\nThis summer is an example of that mentality as the band is on the road almost every Friday and Saturday as well as some Thursday nights. They are trying to get their name out there and start a demand for CDs. \n"We'll practice when we can, usually Monday and Tuesday nights. Thursday we'll break everything down from the practice space and load it into the van, and either head up to Uncle Fester's at 8 p.m. or try and get on the road by 2 p.m. or so," Michalares said. "We stay at hotels or with friends we make, a lot of times we'll crash at people's houses who we've never met before. The rest of the weekend is driving, playing PS2, loading, unloading, setting up, tearing down or just chillin' in the bar. Cell phones keep us in touch with our friends, it's pretty cool when people call you up to see what you're doing and you say 'We're about to play this 50,000 person festival in Chicago and open for My Morning Jacket -- let me call you back in a couple hours'. Saturday nights we'll pack up and try and head home, get there by 7 or 8 a.m. so we can get some sleep."\nDespite this tough schedule, they all agreed that they would love to do this for the rest of their lives. "I'd love to be able to travel with these three other guys, record and play music for the rest of our lives," Michalares said.\nPercival Potts is working on their first CD, which will be released July 1st on the road and in August locally. Until then, you can check out the music of Percival Potts every other Thursday night at Uncle Fester's or catch them on the road or at www.percivalpotts.com.