Diocious

The Rocket Club hosts an awesome triple bill, featuring Diocious, a psychedelic-funk band (pictured; and featuring a Warren Wilson alum); the energetic indie rock of the Broomstars and the infectious, terrific Nerd Parade from Atlanta. 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. therocketclub.net. - Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Hard-working and constantly touring, Orlando's psychedelic funk-rock act Diocious is definitely making waves throughout Florida and the Southeast. The trio is riding a swell of shows through the month of March, including three dates opening for the prominent San Francisco jamband Tea Leaf Green and a slot at the La Viance Festival in Central Florida. But with a three-day run of shows starting March 10, Diocious washes up on South Florida shows for the first time.

Diocious is composed of Alex Robertson on guitar, Josh Hoffman on bass, and Partin Whitaker on drums with each sharing vocal responsibilities. They are serious players, and live, everything centers around improvisation and spontaneity. Still, it's all anchored in a progressive song style but also a driving dance beat. Check out this band before it blows up on the jam scene -- and keep an eye out for the rainbow-spitting panda bear!

Hit the jump for full show details and a couple of the band's live jam videos.


http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/crossfade/2010/03/diocious_south_florida_titanic_funky_buddha_dive_bar/297639 - New Times Broward/Palm Beach

http://www.axismag.com/the-magazine/?album=1&gallery=14 - Axis Magazine

"Diocious, one of Gainesville's best jam bands ..." - Gainesville Sun

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090108/NEWS/901081010


Rock, jazz musician comes to town

Published: Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 12:04 p.m.
...

Market Street will host the CD release show for Diocious, one of Gainesville's best jam bands, on Saturday night. The new EP "The Thumb & The Brain" features the single "Pierre," which is a funky ballad filled with "Shaft"-like wah pedal effects and a driving dance drum beat.

The band definitely specializes in more funk and jazz than anything else, but don't be surprised if they rock out from time to time. The show as a whole will be a jam band show featuring Inca Maya from Jacksonville and Juniper Spring also from Gainesville.
Other notable shows for the week are The Duppies at The Atlantic and Starmaker at The Kickstand on Saturday night, and Timbre and Eden at 1982 Bar on Tuesday night.

Contact Dante Lima at danticus@ufl.edu. - The Gainesville Sun

these guys are probably worth a look see and I would recommend you going." Gainesville Records
UPDATE (August 19, 2009): Apparently, this group is down to a slender three piece after the departure of the lead singer. This makes most of my comments below pretty much bunk and for me it is time to check this out once again. I am not sure if there will be no vocals at all or if someone else will start singing but you should go check it out.
–
Alright, I have finally seen these guys (opening for Stanton Moore and Robert Walters and here is my brief review. This is pretty good for Gainesville. I have to admit, at this point in time I am not sure there is much better around. The lead guitarist is quite good and really carries the band. He seems to be content sitting back and not being too flashy. In my opinion he seemed like the heart of the band.
The drummer is at least solid, although he seems to want his shirt off. Which leads me into my next observation. Between the drummer and lead singer, they seem to be convinced they are rock stars and adored by huge crowds of fans. I wish we could just watch music sometimes and not have to deal with that ‘pop’ look at me thing. I know I am going on a tangent here, but an ego can be seen from a mile away. What made a band like Unkle Funkle or even Umoja great was the air of friendliness and music for the sake of fun. Either way, these guys are probably worth a look see and I would recommend you going.


Full Story here:

http://gainesvillerecords.com/?p=1247 - Gainesville Records

Diocious is a local funk-rock band whose first CD releases on Jan 10. Lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Griffith, lead guitarist and vocalist Alex Robertson, bassist Josh Hoffman, and drummer Partin Whitaker tell us about who they are, their new CD and their favorite memories as a band.

Fine Print: Who is Diocious? How did you all get together?
Alex: Josh, Steve, and I are all friends from high school. After college, we all ended up back in Florida, and Josh and Steve approached me about starting a band. At that point it was just a matter of finding a drummer.
Josh: So I bought a $90 drum set in the hopes of luring a drummer …
P: My end of the construction was fairly haphazard. A friend of mine that used to play with Alex asked if I was interested in jamming out with some swank dudes, which I almost always am. We clicked, and voila!

FP: Where did your name, Diocious, come from? Does it mean anything?
Josh: I’ll tell you later …
Steve: It's completely fictitious.

FP: How would you describe your music?
Alex: It’s a mix of rock, funk, jazz, post-punk, reggae, and bluegrass.
Steve: It is an eclectic mix of genres held together at the seams by funk and rock n' roll
Josh: Psychedelic Post-Punk Improvisational Funk-Rock.
Partin: Pysch-glockenspeil-heavy-polka. But we tell people we're indie-alt-country so people come to our shows.

FP: What are your influences?
Alex: There really are so many of them so it’s hard to keep it brief, but some of the most important ones for me are Frank Zappa, Thelonious Monk and Phish.
Partin: From a drumming standpoint my first loves were Billy Martin and Matt Cameron, so there's your funk and rock. Compositionally, I was raised on Frank Zappa and then Beck and Ween, and then I found Radiohead on my own.
Josh: The Talking Heads, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, Pearl Jam a
nd Parliament-Funkadelic.


FP: What sort of effect do you hope your music has on other people?
Alex: First and foremost I hope it makes people feel good. With the live shows, I hope people feel like they are part of something that is authentic and unique to that moment.
Partin: Blindness. Total, irreversible, blindness.
Steve: I hope it makes them move.

FP: What type of message do your lyrics convey?
Josh: Satirical hindsight in double vision.
Alex: Well we all write the lyrics for different songs, but for mine I don’t know if they really have a message at all. They’re just fun and silly.
Partin: Keep a good head, and always carry fresh stem cells.

FP: How do you feel about Diocious’ songs? Do you any favorites?
Steve: I think as a whole, they are pleasantly different.
Alex: Its really hard for me to pick a favorite because I feel like I like them all for different reasons, but my favorite ones to play are the ones that leave us the most room to be spontaneous.
Partin: I love the scatterbrained approach we have when it comes to picking a style. Which makes Burgle The Box a particular favorite of mine. It's 14 or 15 songs in one, last time we counted.

FP: With your first album coming out in January, what can people expect from it?
Partin: A tasty sample of what you'll get if you buy the whole scoop of ice cream.
Alex: There is a great variety to the album. I think the listener will be surprised to hear what’s next. The album covers a broad range of styles, emotions, and sounds, but at the same time I think there is a thread that ties it all together.
Josh: Remember when they would ‘port’ arcade games to a home console? That’s what I feel the album is, the ‘port’ of our songs from a live show to the studio.

FP: Was the album a collaboration or is there one main song writer?
Alex: It was a collaboration, and I think that is what gives the album its variety. We all have different styles and influences that we bring to the table.
Partin: The drummer wrote a song! I contribute to songwriting whenever I can. I'm waiting to make my Yellow Submarine.

FP: Are you excited about your CD release show? What’s your favorite part about performing live?
Josh: The second before we start playing anything can happen so that is really exciting.
Partin: I can get mostly naked and people eat it up. Though the points mid-song when I find that my eyes have rolled back into my head? Pure excitement.
Steve: I like the fact that every song is different every time we play it. All of the sounds we make in our improv are based on the real time interactions between each other...they're a snapshot of that particular moment in time. Adding a live audience, influences this process in a profound way... you know, energy and stuff.
Alex: Very excited about the CD release show. When we’re playing my favorite part is always improvising. We have so much fun bouncing ideas off each other – throwing new themes out there and having the other guys pick up on them. For me that spontaneous interaction is what it’s all about.

FP: Where else other than Gainesville have you played?
Steve: Actually we are originally from Orlando, and began playing in Gainesville six months ago or so. We will be playing in Asheville, N.C. for the first time in January, and Tampa in February.

FP: What was it like the first time you went on stage?
Alex: It was actually really good. We played three sets on Cinco de Mayo at a bar in our hometown, and the place was packed. It was the most fun I had had in years, and it reminded me how great it is to play live.
Partin: I don't really remember, but I'm sure I was nervous and accident-prone.
Steve: There was a definite period of anxiety that disappeared almost immediately.

FP: Do you have any moments from playing shows that you will never forget?
Steve: No, but I have moments from shows that I can't remember.
Alex: I will never forget our first show at Tanqueray’s in Orlando. We had just changed the lineup of the band and it was our first show without a saxophone. We had to rearrange a lot of our songs, and we were really unsure how it was going to come out. We were also working on improvising more as a group and were anxious to try that in front of an audience. We went on and played a great show that was really well received. It sort of validated all of the choices that we had made.
Josh: We played a show that was booked in Cocoa and ended up being in some unincorporated area. There were maybe five people in the bar so we called audibles on the set list all night. We realized we could do whatever we wanted, due to the small audience size, so we really went for it in our improvisation that night and played a really great Sick Puppy.
Partin: Scars on my hands and feet, man. No better memento than permanent injury!


http://www.thefineprintuf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:qaa-with-diocious-&catid=1:art-a-culture&Itemid=4
- The Fine Print

Thomas Wynn & the Believers, Diocious, The Beauvilles
Friday, August 29 at 8 pm
Critic's Pick

Our Gainesville neighbors host their “only outdoor music and camping festival” Sept. 13-14 at the Alachua fairgrounds, where four stages boast appearances by national darlings Drive-By Truckers and Mates of State, as well as a dozen or so Orlando-area A-listers (Summerbirds in the Cellar, Band Marino, the Legendary JC’s). To build anticipation and support for the Real Big Deal, Back Booth’s planned an enthusiastic send-off for some of our boys who’ll represent us in G-ville. Performing at the pep rally are Thomas Wynn and the Believers, back in town after recording an album up north, along with Diocious and the Beauvilles. Music aside, the pre-party offers a chance to practice drinking and macking on hippies, both of which activities are sure to be abundant at the September campout. (Staff) - Orlando Weekly