Baton Rouge has more to offer than what first meets the eye. In a city based on legislature, sports and LSU, culture can seem to be somewhat of an afterthought. Luckily, there is a small but talented local music scene that students and non-students alike should know about.
Many bands and other musical acts are trying to make a name for themselves through shows at venues like Spanish Moon and house parties, relying on word of mouth and the Internet to grow their fan bases.
Hydra Plane is doing just that. The self-described up-and-coming psychedelic surf rock band is from Baton Rouge. The band, made up of Jacob Stanley as the trio’s singer and guitarist, Eric Stewart as bass guitarist and Stephen Nelson as drummer, are all enrolled in the University’s College of Music.
Stanley initiated the start of the band about a year ago when he was looking for a group to play with. Through mutual friends, he teamed up with fellow classmate Stephen Nelson, and Hydra Plane was born.
The group was originally called No Diving after a brainstorming session by the pool one day. They kept this up for a few gigs until they learned that a band by the same name already existed in California.
“We wanted to keep it aquatic, since we play surf rock,” Stanley said. “Hydra Plane is a play on hydroplaning and also incorporates the mythical creature of the Hydra. It’s a multidimensional name.”
The trio eventually settled into the new name and have now played more than 20 gigs.
When asked what type of music Hydra Plane plays, Stanley chuckled. “That’s a tough question that we’re still working to piece together. I would say we play a mix of psych rock, surf rock, jazz fusion and funk,” he said.
The band mostly performs original songs, with the members collaborating equally. Stanley wrote the first few songs himself and brought them to Nelson and Stewart with a rough idea of how they should sound. From there, “the band just knew what to do, which was really cool,” Stanley said.
Some songs are born out of improvisation, but a majority are based on Stanley’s ideas. Stanley said that even though he may write a song, he doesn’t just tell the other guys what to play. It’s a collaborative effort to work on the sound that best embodies Hydra Plane.
The group also performs a few covers here and there, such as “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix and “Come Together” by The Beatles. “It changes pretty regularly,” Stanley said of his favorite song. “We perform the first song we ever did together, ‘Causality,’ pretty much every show, and we change it up a lot to keep it interesting.”
Hydra Plane’s biggest and most successful show to date was this past February at the Varsity Theatre. Along with _thesmoothcat and Ship of Fools, they said they completely owned the stage with their performance.
“There was the most hype surrounding [this performance], and we worked really hard to get people to come out,” Stanley said.
Even though Stanley graduates this semester, he said he has no intentions of putting Hydra Plane on hold.
“The farthest I would move is to New Orleans, which gives me no excuse not to continue playing with the band,” he said. “I love playing with these guys.”
Hydra Plane’s main priority is to go on tour this summer. Though nothing is official, look for possible performances in New Orleans, Lafayette, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and even Colorado.
Stanley also revealed that the band is looking to put out an album before their summer tour. Hydra Plane currently has a couple of recordings on SoundCloud and their first ever recordings on Bandcamp. Along with three unreleased and five new songs, the band already has a good discography, especially for being so new.
Stanley said he wants to provide an “environment for people to come together.” He hopes the community can unite, as friends or even strangers, and listen to music they haven’t heard before, dance, and have a good night.
“I want people to be really surprised and go, ‘Wow these guys are playing in my city, and I never knew about them,’” Stanley said.
Hydra Plane’s next show will be at Spanish Moon on April 7. The band is the opening act for three other bands and plans to debut all new material.
Be sure to follow them on Instagram (@hydra_plane), like them on Facebook, and support their music on SoundCloud, Bandcamp and at whichever show they’re playing next. With their infectious, dance inducing sound, Hydra Plane is sure to always put on a great show.