Rising jam wizards TAUK just released their fantastic sophomore album Collisions, blending psychedelic funk and futuristic dance-rock to superb effect. We conducted an interview with the band’s guitarist, Matthew Jalbert, before their upcoming show in DC this weekend.

What’s it like to be an instrumental band in an era dominated by vocal-centric music?
At first we weren’t too sure how people would respond to it, but we knew we were doing something we wanted to do so we just went for it. Now we don’t think about it too much. Even without words, there’s enough in our music for people to latch onto. We’re very focused on melody and giving every song a sense of direction. I’ve been finding that people have been listening to more and more instrumental music lately anyway. Whether it’s EDM or bands like Lettuce, Bad Bad Not Good, Moon Hooch, people just want good music, words or no words.

How has working with Robert Carranza influenced Collisions?
We’ve been working with Robert for a while now, and he’s basically another member of the band at this point. He really understands our sound and what we’re going for, so he really knows how to capture that in a studio environment. Before we even started recording the record, he came out to where we rehearse in Long Island and helped us take the raw ideas we had for songs and piece them together to get the songs to where they are now. It’s rare to find somebody who is willing to go through the rough, gritty parts with you. 

Do you see Collisions as the logical progression of your style from Homunculus?
Collisions is definitely the next step for us after Homunculus. With Collisions we expanded on some of the aspects of Homunculus that we thought worked best. Mainly, we got more into the groove and letting each member of the band experiment a little more. The songs on Collisions are a little more open to allowing us to play off each other musically. Homunculus had moments of this, but the compositions were more compact. We really wanted to try to capture what we do live on a record, so allowing more room for improvisation helped us capture that aspect of the band. 

What do you have to say about the album art?
Jeff Jordan does amazing work. When we saw the piece for the cover, we knew it worked perfectly. What I like about the name of the album is that it’s kind of open ended. Collisions really just evokes a powerful image in your mind, and Jeff’s piece does the same thing.

You’ve dropped some covers (like I Want You) that come out as strong as your originals. How often do you play covers together when you jam? At shows?
We usually try to throw a cover or two into our sets depending on how long the set is. There’s always new people showing up so it’s nice to have something in the set that they may recognize. We’re always messing around with different covers when we rehearse and then find the ones that really have potential for us to do something interesting with and stick to those.

What do you want people to think when they walk away from one of your shows?
“When’s the next show!” Always wanna leave people wanting more. Every show is different. Different setlist, different venue, different crowd. It all adds up to make each one unique so hopefully people want to come and see what happens at the next show. 

What are you all listening to these days?
I can’t speak for the rest of the band, but lately I’ve been getting back into some older fusion stuff. I’ve been circling back around to some Weather Report, Jeff Beck. Radiohead always gets thrown in there. It’s always changing though for me. Mars Volta, I could go on and on.

Who would you love to share a bill with?
Getting on a bill with Radiohead or Phish would be mind blowing, but we’re really happy with where we’re at right now. Maybe Umphrey’s Mcgee or Lotus or Sound Tribe, there’s so many incredible bands out there. It’s kind of amazing that we’re starting to share the stage with a lot of bands that we’ve been looking up to in the past. We’ve been lucky enough to play shows with Robert Randolph, Karl Denson, Dopapod.  Later this year we’re playing on some lineups with Snarky Puppy, Papadosio, and some other really amazing bands. Needless to say, we’re pumped about what’s been happening this year.

You’ve played major festivals, garnered a following, and released a stellar second album. What’s the next step for you?
Right now we’re focusing on all of the shows we have coming up. That’s always where our major focus is. We’re constantly trying to figure out ways to make the show better. It starts with the music, but we’ve also been discussing other ways to add to the show. Our schedule is really filling up for the next few months so any time we have to work on new material and covers is crucial. We’ve had an amazing year so far and it just makes us want to work harder and harder so we can make the most of the opportunities that we have coming up. 

TAUK plays The Hamilton, DC with fellow jam-rock kings Big Something on Saturday, 8/2. Get tickets here!

Photo credit: Kyle Dean Reinford

Asher Meerovich (@Bummertime)

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