Interview by Scott Preston
The music of Woodfish can be described as a combination of rock, jam, funk and progressive styles which, infused together, provide audiences with an intoxicating and entertaining musical experience. Whether playing in a concert hall or an intimate barroom, in front of 3 or 30,000 people, Woodfish remains true to the spirit of rock and roll by bringing charisma and passion to every song they write and perform. At a Woodfish show a wide range of audiences, from young children to baby-boomers; hip-hoppers to punk rockers; tweens to teens and college students to jam band enthusiasts, are often seen moving and grooving together throughout an explosively energetic performance which typifies the live Woodfish experience.
Cincy Groove: How did Woodfish get together?
Steve Kalorin: Basically at jam nights around New Jersey. My brother Dom and I would go around and play at various places around town. It just kind of progressed into what it is today. We started taking it more seriously and meeting the right people. Everything became much more developed.
Cincy Groove: I know your EP Breathe came out in March of this year. Is the band working on any new projects?
Steve Kalorin: We are still deciding what to do. Either we will put out a double cd of about 17 songs or dividing it up into two albums. We have this really awesome rehearsal studio, kind of like an old warehouse space. Its a great room for recording. We basically hired this guy that has a mobile recording setup. He came in and we mic everything up and just played everything right there. In 2 days we recorded 22 songs. Actually just today I got back 17 songs from the guy that was mastering them. The other 5 are on the Breathe EP. They should be out soon, very soon.
Cincy Groove: Who are some of your influences?
Steve Kalorin: We have a very wide range of influences. I come from a heavy bass background. I’m into from everything from Flea, Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten.
Jim Counihan: I started out listening to the Beach Boys and The Beatles. I like Steppenwolf, Sublime, Jack Johnson. I have a wide range of interests.
Cincy Groove: Whens your next gig?
Steve Kalorin: We are playing Oct 28 at Ashbury Park, NJ. Really we don’t have that much coming up in the immediate future.
Jim Counihan: We are working on a lot of new music at the moment. We are trying to play bigger shows here in New Jersey and then kind of spider web out from here. We have played as far north as CT and as far south as Delaware. Its really hard to go really far from New Jersey because we all still have day jobs.
Cincy Groove: What are your day jobs?
Jim Counihan: I do masonry work, Dom our drummer has his own landscaping company, our guitarist teaches music lessons, and Steve and Don both work with computers.
Steve Kalorin: We will pretty much go anywhere to play. We all have saved up our vacation time so we can take some extended roadtrips. We have taken a whole weekend and driven out to PA to play a gig and drive right back to NJ for work the next day. You kind of find yourself in a catch 22 thats hard to break out of. In order to play at certain venues you have to bring a certain amount of people. The first thing out of their mouth is how many people can you bring to my bar? Its really a difficult situation especially when you are trying to branch out into farther away places.
Cincy Groove: How did the band name Woodfish come about?
Steve Kalorin: I came up with the band name before the band was actually together. I started here in NJ, with my youngest brother, who isn’t in the band, had decided to join the military and move to CA. So I decided to goto with him and we drove across the country literally playing golf the entire way. We had a blast. One morning in San Diego I was eating breakfast and I saw this surfboard with the word Woodfish carved into the side of it. For some reason that triggered me getting back into music. I decided to go back home to NJ and start a band and play again and call the band Woodfish.
Cincy Groove: Have you had any international airplay?
Jim Counihan: Our publicist has gotten us some international airplay in Australia, Germany, Ireland. I was listening to a podcast that was in German, and I didn’t understand anything until he said Woodfish. He could have been saying this band totally sucks (laughing).
Woodfish:
Steve Kalorin – bass
Dom Kalorin – drums
Don “The Guy” Honeycutt – sax
Doug Mikula – guitar
Jimmy Counihan – vocals
Upcoming Woodfish tour dates:
for complete show details visit http://www.woodfishmusic.com
10/29/08 – The Saint Asbury Park, NJ
11/1/08 – Cagney’s Parlin NJ – Halloween Party with Uncle Funk
