O.A.R. to play Lantz Arena Sunday

By: Evan Hill/ Staff Writer

Posted: 10/31/03

Of a Revolution (O.A.R.) is set to rock at Eastern on Sunday with their eclectic fusion of different jam-band stylings. O.A.R will make a stop in Charleston on their "back-to-grassroots" college tour to promote "In Between Now and Then," their first album released under a major label.

Although it's known that O.A.R. stands for Of a Revolution, very few people know the name's meaning. Bassist for O.A.R. Benj Gershman said the full name is actually "blank of a Revolution," but he would not say what word is really in place of blank.

"It's a secret and I can't tell you what it is," Gershman said. "We thought it would be cool when we first started out to have something mysterious."

Back when they did start, O.A.R. started as so many bands do, a few neighborhood friends getting together to play music. The first incantation of O.A.R. played their first gig, a junior high talent show, with a different name and a slightly different lineup.

Bassist Benj Gershman and saxophone player Jerry DePizzo were absent from the original band that included Mark Roberge on guitar and vocals, Richard on playing electric guitar, Chris Culos on drums and a temporary bass player.

Later when the band was in high school, they recruited Gershman and then rounded out the lineup in college with DePizzo.

Now O.A.R. has a recording contract with Lava, an off-shoot of recording industry giant Atlantic Records. Their recent album "In Between Now and Then" debuted at #54 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and Gershman believes they are improving with every show they play.

When asked what fans can expect at an O.A.R. show Gershman replied, "it's a new and improved O.A.R. We really learned about what it takes to put on a good show."

Gershman said the band spent the summer improving their showmanship on Sprite's Liquid Mix Tour where they shared the stage with a diverse group of artists including The Roots, N.E.R.D, Robert Randolph, 311 and more.

O.A.R. are on a cross-country tour that began on Oct. 17, in New Orleans and will end with a two night visit to one of Gershman's favorite venues, New York City's Hammerstien Ballroom. A press release referred to the tour's finale as "soon-to-be-legendary."

And "soon-to-be-legendary" isn't an exaggeration as O.A.R. sold out both shows the last time they played the Hammerstien. However, it isn't surprising that O.A.R. has a large fan base. Gershman and Roberge both have said they owe a large part of their popularity to the online music sharing program Napster and other file sharing programs.

Gershman said file sharing programs have only helped the band to this point. However, Atlantic Records, the parent company of O.A.R.'s label Lava, has a different opinion of file sharing software and its users.

Atlantic belongs to the Recording Industry Association of America, an organization that has taken an aggressive stance against the file sharing community, first by bringing Napster to a close with a lawsuit and more recently by suing a number of users doing the actual file sharing.

"I think the industry is beginning to adapt and change their treatment of the situation," Gershman said. "But in a way, its only blown up the issue and made the people more clever and sneaky.

Gershman said he didn't know if file sharing would affect the band now they are signed to a major label that stands to lose a lot of revenue from illegal file sharing. But he thinks they will have to try harder to make the sharing stop.

"I don't think its really changed what's going on out there," he said. "Our listeners are still doing it. That's a fact."

While some people may argue over whether the RIAA deserves to keep the revenue it is losing to file sharing, Gershman seemed unworried despite the amount of work the band does in the studio to produce the music people are downloading for free.

"In the studio I'm really focused and concentrating on what I want the bass lines to sound like," he said. "It's like taking a test."

He said the studio work was more intensive than what he does on the road. O.A.R. spends about 14 to 15 hours a day on music when they're working in the studio, compared to only a few hours each day when touring.

The long hours and hard work O.A.R. have put into their music pays off on "In Between Now and Then." Gershman said this album has allowed O.A.R. to tap into their live sound.

"In Between Now and Then' finally ranks up with our live stuff," he said. "Hearing the crowd mixed in with music, to me, is more enjoyable."

Also, the band spent more time on pre-production with this record he said. He felt their first two albums were little more than practices on tape. "Risen," their third studio recording, was the band's first time working with producer John Alagia. They continued to work with Alagia on "In Between Now and Then", which "is our first true record," as Roberege was quoted in a press release.

While Alagia helped to hone Of A Revolution's sound, its roots were grown from the diverse assortment of music the band's members grew up with. O.A.R. has been labeled as a jam-band fusion of many genres including rock, jazz, reggae, ska and folk.

Gershman lists his influences to include Bob Marley, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Aerosmith and acid-jazz bass player Jaco Pastorius. He said he was currently listening to the Kings of Leon and his top three albums of all time are as follows: "Physical Graffiti" by Led Zeppelin, "The White Album" by the Beatles, and "Babylon By Bus" by Bob Marley. "Babylon By Bus" was a big influence on everyone in the band he noted.

Regardless of how O.A.R. is categorized, Gershman repeatedly referred their style as "happy, positive music."

"When we started, it was out of shear love for playing music," Gershman spoke about O.A.R.'s motivation. "Now it's out of a dedication to what is going on around our music. It seems like it means a lot to a lot of people."

O.A.R. will be performing Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Lantz Arena.