Ryan ChartrandImagine driving down a gravel road through orchards and coming up on an older house with a red illuminated room that is attached to the rest of the house. Inside the room is a full drum set, multiple amplifiers and other music equipment. This is where the Shamblers practice for their performances.
The band will play this Saturday at Frog and Peach at 10 p.m. to celebrate the release of its new self-titled album. They will also be playing downtown at Farmers’ Market tonight.
The house described is the agriculture student housing on campus where fruit science senior Lucas Ohio lives, the lead singer and guitarist. The other band members are Colby James, drummer and materials engineering senior and Mike Marotto, bassist, guitarist and Cal Poly graduate.
“It’s a pretty sweet set up,” Ohio said. “We started out with just a small amount of space in the room and as people moved out, our space got bigger and bigger. Eventually it was all ours.”
The Shamblers have a sound that is completely unique, which is what they say that’s what they like. “We love that nobody can compare us to anyone else,” James said.
When asked what kind of music they classify themselves as, Marotto said, “It’s hard to explain when nobody else sounds like us, but we just say rock.”
“We are more like Led Zeppelin and less like Bach,” James said.
Inside the room, posters fill the walls including one that says “The Fray.” James says this used to be their band name. “Then, we realized there was a band that just got signed to Epic with the same name and knew we had to change it,” he said.
They use both their own material and cover material when they perform, Ohio said. “We have enough of our own material and play it most of the concert, but it’s fun to play covers too. Plus, all the covers have their own Shamblers’ spin to them,” he said.
The band would love to get signed, but it isn’t their top priority, Marotto said. “We just love to play, and it’s really hard to get signed in SLO.”
Since they just want to play, they plan on touring this summer, James said. “It would be great to tour. It’s funny because you live in a van for months and still people tell us it is one thing we just need to do.”
The band doesn’t have any political agenda, Ohio said. “My music does have important stuff in it, but each listener takes what they will from every song.”
A lot of the music originated from Ohio’s solo career, James said. “Luke was a solo act before we came together, so a lot of the music comes from that,” he said.
The new album was independently produced, Marotto said. “That means we paid to have it made, so we spent lots of money.”
The reason all of the money and time is worth it is for the feeling, all three guys said. “If you have ever seen us after a show, we are all giddy and goofy and that is why we do it,” Marotto said.
The album will be sold in places like Boo Boo Records, online at cdbaby.com, at shows and on their Web site www.theshamblers.com.