Local band performs in celebration of its new CD release
Michael Woodworth
Equinox Staff
“Calling all Fuzzies!” rang out as the band known as Fuzzy Logic took the stage for a second time on Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Starving Artist for requests from the audience after the main performance.
Fuzzy Logic is a local band that tries to perform as much as it can, according to the group’s members.
The band put on a CD release show for the celebration of its second full-length album.
[singlepic id=859 w=320 h=240 float=right]
The album, titled “Snow Shadows,” was played in its entirety to a packed house.
The audience got really into it by either tapping their toes or bobbing their heads to the beat.
“It was great. They sounded awesome,” Dave Delolliz, a longtime friend of the band, said.
Delolliz works at Okemo Ski Resort grooming the snow and runs a golf course on the side as well.
The band members loved the audience reaction to the concert as well as just playing in front of friends and family.
“I get an enormous amount of pleasure of just practicing; the audience takes it up another notch,” singer of the band, Elizabeth Sumner, said.
Sumner and her husband, Michael Cohen met playing in a garage in 1987 in a band called Lip Service in Washington state.
They moved to the East Coast in ’94 and performed at open mics with the current band’s drummer, Steve Bourque.
The next two to join the group of three were Elizabeth and Michael Nieckoski, singer and guitar player.
After those two joined, a little while later, Traci Booth, the third singer, and Steve Armstrong, the bassist.
There is a running joke throughout the band that everyone has a name and a number; this is because there are two Elizabeths, Michaels, and Steves.
All the members also have a number next to their name because of the number they were when they entered the band.
“Snow Shadows,” which can be found on iTunes, took almost two years to make because everyone in the band has a job and this is basically their second job.
“It wasn’t difficult, but because we would only do a two-hour block at a time, and that made it hard to do,” Elizabeth Nieckoski said.
Sumner agreed and said, “It took a long time, it was mostly wonderful, but getting it finished was tough.”
The record can also be found on CD baby and Jamendo, a European music-sharing site when independent artists can upload their music and have people download for free or for charge.
Even though “Snow Shadows” took a long time to finish the album, the whole band had a great sense of relief.
“It is such a great sense of accomplishment,” Booth said.
“It was really strange to actually see it; every Wednesday for two years we recorded and practiced and all of sudden we didn’t have to go in,” Michael Nieckoski confessed.
Playing live is something not many people have the guts to do, but not only did the members have the guts, they made it into something fun to do.
The band’s stage presence got laughs from both the band members and audience. “I’ve just always been that way; it gets me positively reinforced,” Booth said.
The musicians’ stage presence consisted of really getting into the songs and emoting and acting the lyrics out as if you are doing it for a video.
They also shared their experiences of playing live in front of a crowd. “We rarely play as a full ensemble; I love that energy,” Armstrong said. “If I can see someone in the audience is getting it and reacting, then I’m happy,” Cohen said.
Cohen writes all the songs himself, some of which appear in the musicals he writes.
He explained how he writes music for his musicals.
“The songs are sung by specific characters; the characters need to be doing something,” he said.
He also mentioned how he incorporates all he’s worked on in his music for Fuzzy Logic is a lifetime of listening to every kind of music and trying to assimilate everything he’s heard.
An additional thing he incorporates into his music is harmonizing.
All three singers, Booth, Elizabeth Nieckoski, and Sumner, have such great voices that blend together.
To make these voices blend together well is Eleanor Martin’s job. Martin is the daughter of the Nieckoski’s and is the newest member of the group, even if she doesn’t perform on stage.
The band members confessed that they aren’t looking for a big break in the music industry, but it certainly would be nice.
“I would like to play in front of more people,” Nieckoski confessed.
With their second album recorded, mastered, and edited after hours on end, the group can now take a break, until they start to work on their next project.
Michael Woodworth can be contacted at mwoodworth@ksc.mailcruiser.com