Galactic, the New Orleans based jazz-funk-rock fusion band, will descend on Baton Rouge for two shows at The Varsity Theatre this Friday and Saturday.
Bassist Robert Mercurio, a Washington, D.C., native and Tulane alumnus, took some time to talk with The Reveille about the band, life and the importance of following pasta recipes.
So Robert, how would you describe Galactic?
The future of funk.
Did you ever think you would be in such a successful band?
I guess I always hoped after college. I definitely would not have given it a shot if I did not think it had some potential. Right when I finished college I decided to give it a few years to see how it would go.
You guys recently released your fourth studio album. The decision to have Dan “the Automator” Nakamura produce it obviously played a major part in creating a completely new and unique sound. How do you think the band evolved while working on your latest album, “Rukus?”
It had been a while since our previous studio album, so we had definitely started evolving since our last studio album. We definitely put a lot of emphasis into actually trying to write songs and concentrate more on the vocal tunes and expand a little more with our own voice. We decided to go with our own sound and just let ourselves go a little more and give into some of our more modern influences like hip hop and DJ culture.
What typically goes into your song writing process? Is it democratic?
Yeah, it is usually a democratic process. Usually the basis of our songs comes from a jam or something. Maybe we will listen to a recording from one of our songs – from an improvisational section – and say, “that was really cool, let’s try to work with that.”
I have seen you and Jeff Raines cite many New Orleans locals as inspiration. But the two of you grew up in D.C., so what was it that drove and inspired you musically in the beginning?
Before we moved to New Orleans, we started off as little punk rockers. Then we started getting into James Brown and stuff like that. We were not all that familiar with the Meters until right before we moved to New Orleans, but once we moved we just got kind of drawn into the culture here.
This is not the band’s first time playing in Baton Rouge. We know there is nothing special in the water, so what is it that keeps you coming back?
This is our first time doing a two-night stand here. But it’s so close to home and the kids have always been so enthusiastic. It’s cool to be able to drive home and sleep in our own beds, and it’s always just such an enthusiastic crowd. It’s great.
At some point in everyone’s life they have a dream about being on a stage with fans worshipping them, I am pretty sure it’s not just me anyway, what is it like to be living that dream?
Yea it’s definitely pretty cool, but there are definitely downsides to it. I mean you have to be away from home a lot and within every band there are conflicts and problems and stuff. But it’s definitely better than what I was doing before, which is waiting tables.
But it’s different every time, I mean at the end of a seven-week tour I might be like ‘Oh God, I want to go flip burgers,’ because you just spent such a long time away from home. But you get to do some really fun stuff that makes it all worth it.
I am curious about this unusual pasta that Prosciutto ham with a raw egg, mozzarella and cheese that made you “violently ill” several years back. What exactly possessed you to concoct such a questionable dish?
Oh man, that was so long ago. It was out of being poor and only having certain ingredients in the refrigerator. All I say is stick to the recipe!