Roots music from another planet

American roots music steps out at Lucerna Music Bar next week in the form of Hazmat Modine, New York's finest example of contemporary blues meets eclecticism.

The group is led by Wade Schumann, its songwriter, main vocalist and lead musician on an electrified diatonic harmonica, as well as a side player on guitar and banjitar (guitar-banjo). "I'm actually living a double life," he tells The Prague Post from his home in Harlem, where he also heads the Painting Department at the New York Academy of Art.

Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Schumann lived for 16 years in Philadelphia, where he studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Hazmat Modine came together soon after he moved to New York City, as a result of a principled decision he made in his life at that time.

"After I moved to New York, I decided to do only what I love, even if it means it's without success, just artistic passion," he says.

But Hazmat Modine turned out to be a lot more successful than he expected. "The band is now almost 12 years old - that's 67 in band years, since so few bands can survive that long," he jokes. "It has evolved over time, starting with five members. Now it has eight."

The name Hazmat Modine merges the term "hazardous materials" with "Modine," a type of heater. And the current lineup personifies that volatile mix: Bill Barrett (diatonic and chromatic harmonica, sheng and vocals), Joseph Daly (tuba), Pamela Fleming (trumpet and flugelhorn), Steve Elson (saxophones, clarinet, duduk and flute), Richard Huntley (drums, percussion), Pete Smith (guitar) and Michael Gomez (acoustic and electric guitars, banjitar, and steel guitar). Their backgrounds incorporate Latin, jazz, klezmer, rhythm & blues, pop and reggae, though the overall sound is an otherworldly blues with a postmodern twang.  

Tom Waits' music also comes to mind, but Schumann is quick to point out the differences. "The similarity is that I am influenced by the same music he is, but not by his music at all," he says. "There is a similar sonic impression, but this is simply because people are less aware of the points of origin. Waits is influenced by Captain Beefheart, Dylan, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and early field recordings. Our influences are the blues - Little Walter, 1920s and '30s jazz, and Romanian music. I'm also obsessed with 1967-71 rocksteady Jamaican music."

In some ways, it's easier to say what the band's music is not.

"We come out of a roots background, but we're not traditional music," Schumann says. "It's all coming from traditional sources, but there's no preciousness about the music. It's no retro thing. I'm interested in the sensibility that made the music great, not making fake traditional music."

As for the style, he says, "We are not a jazz band, but we do a lot of improvisation. Most of our players have a background in jazz, so there are a lot of changes in the songs. It's a morphed sound, but the basis is still American roots."

The choice of instruments may seem eclectic, but that also reflects the roots of the music. "There were many harmonica bands coming from a blues idiom," Schumann notes. He plays a variety of harmonicas tuned to minor chords. "I carry 40 with me on tour," he says. His Hohner harmonicas are also customized, so "they are as close as you can get to an instrument. You are making them do something they weren't meant to do."

Schuman first visited Prague in 1986 on a student arts grant. He remembers it as "a quiet town. Everything closed at 6 or 7, and people were very circumspect. It was like in a time warp."

That's certainly not the case anymore. But when Hazmat Modine makes its debut in Prague, it will bring its own modernized time warp sound.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com