The Indobox

"Westonite Brings Rock Band to Westport"
Wednesday, December, 13, 2006 – pg. A21

“By the end of 2005, the band had changed its name and their legacy. Indobox began attracting interest and drawing larger crowds to its performances. During 2006, the group has played in 11 states on nearly 100 concert dates.”
- Carol King - Westport News Living Editor

The Mean Fiddler, New York, NY January 19, 2007
Relix.com - Wednesday/January/31/2007
http://www.relix.com/Features/Show_Reviews/The_Indobox.html

T’was the first snow of winter in New York City and the Mean Fiddler beckoned. The Indobox, a quartet consisting of Mike Carter, Joe Zarick, Steve Learson and Quinn Ferree, packed the midtown club to what seemed like maximum occupancy. A 1AM start time did not detract the pack of energized and enthusiastic “BoxHeads” from coming out to party. In fact, the cold snowy weather and late-night elements encouraged fans to bask in the shelter and warmth of the club and as the opening bass synthesizer line of “Catcher in the Red” began, the heads started to bob and the lyrics belched from every direction. The only time I had seen The Indobox previously was at Camp Bisco V for a brief set. Since then, the band, which aptly characterizes its sound as “dance rock,” has taken off, tightening its compositions and harmonies and developing catchy dance and trance elements. Hailing from Boston, MA, The Indobox sounds like a product of the ‘90s, its combination of styles evocative of Weezer, 311 and Radiohead. They also manage to incorporate “happy trance,” a fast paced, major-key themed dance groove.

“Graffiti,” a rock song resembling something from 311’s Soundsystem, took off and flawlessly segued into “The Right Time.” The Indobox provide dual lead guitar lines and melodies and vocally harmonize with clarity, though it was difficult to distinguish when one song ended and the next began, which can be attributed to their remarkable capability of segueing seamlessly from song to song while maintaining their “dance rock” vibe.

Venturing into “Chemical Rose”>“1987”>“Chemical Rose,” the band concluded its performance with a dub-like trance jam evolving into a dueling climactic guitar solo. Guitarist Mike Carter managed to break a string in the final minutes of his solo while continuing to shred. As The Indobox sings, “At the right time, take over the night,” they seem to have predicted their own future.

Setlist: Catcher in the Red, Graffiti, The Rite Time, Out on the Run, T.V., UFO, Chemical Rose, 1987, Chemical Rose
- Jared Hecht

I'm With The Band
3/29/2007 - Page 20

Take three Northeast Pennsylvania boys, add one West Chester dude for flavoring. Then throw in one perpetually grinning manager and a dash of idealist philosophy. Sprinkle in synthesizers, a seizure-inducing light show, a generous handful of influences (anything from Miles Davis to Grandmaster Flash will do), and mix well. Finish with a grueling tour schedule and lots of merchandise, and you've successfully acquired the recipe for The Indobox, the transient foursome that overtook Heil's this past Saturday night. With a generous helping of friends and family cheering on these local-boys-done good, the band played two sets of jams that had even the bouncers (called "babysitters" at Heil's for some annoying reason) swaying their heads to the beat.

Despite the inherent laziness and complacency that afflicts some in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, there are others who use wits, talent, and ambition to shake off the coal dust and venture out into the world to seek their fortune. Guitarist/vocalists Mike Carter and Joe Zarick grew up in Green Ridge and Dunmore, respectively, and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Drummer Quinn Ferree, who went to high school in Clarks Summit, also attended Berklee. The three became friends with fellow students Steve Learson (keyboards) and Forrest Chess (manager), and the rest is a long, convoluted history.

The band was calling itself Moonbox until a year and a half ago, when, according to Ferree, its former keyboardist "got a Yoko complex and had to go. And he wanted to practice like once a week. That's not how we are." In tandem with Chess, The Indobox has been booking gigs, selling CDs, networking, and writing music. Its debut record, Installation, was released last November, and the boys have been touring since December. "We love it. It's a fast-paced life," blurted the charismatic Chess in between holding a video camera, hawking merchandise, and greeting fans.

Life on the road is so far, so good to the members of The Indobox, who travel, write music, and play an average of three gigs a week together. "It's like being married to three other guys," said a sweaty Ferree on his way to the bar after the first set. Chess agreed heartily: "You fight, you annoy the shit out of each other. But we get over it." The boys share a common goal: "You gotta sell your records, you can't just sit in one place that's comfortable," said Ferree. "You live out of a bag. You eat what's available, you sleep on floors. It's worth it to me. ... But I know I have a comfy spot to stay tonight. No floors for me."

To those of us who travel an average of 10 miles in a week, there's something mystical about seeing three different cities in the course of five days. "Even if we're in a place and we don't know a soul, people are usually OK. You don't get a lot of assholes," said Ferree. "In the next few weeks, we'll be going down south, the Carolinas, Virginia. It'll be warm. I can't wait."

The Indobox does not skimp on shows for smaller venues. It features a rainbow of sounds ranging from jam band, bounce-around-the-moon stuff to '80s do-the-robot electronica. There's also some '70s glam rock, a helping of soul, and some Zappa-esque zaniness floating into the mix. The strobe lights, glaring spots, and colored beams were probably better acclimated to places like the Knitting Factory (a New York club where the boys played two weeks ago), but the Heil's crowd didn't seem to mind. Fans packed the dance floor, animating themselves in the strobes.

These boys have got stores of energy (or so it seemed on Friday night; if The Indobox was road-weary, it didn't show), are schooled in the vicious music business, and are driven against cutthroat odds to make it happen for themselves. They're doing what they love for a living, and I don't know about you, Good Reader, but I don't know too many people who do that. In our gimme-gimme culture, pursuers of passion are often ridiculed. Their motives are questioned; they're seen as frivolous if success isn't instamatic.

The Indo boys, however, seem to have a support network that's encouraging them every step of the way. "Our friends here are super-supportive of what we do," said Ferree. "The same thing with our friends from Berklee, our friends in Boston. They love our music."

Closing out the night was an amped-up version of Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights:" part cheeseball, part strangely adequate. If these hometown fellas ever start "wondering if they could ever go home," they needn't worry. They'll be welcomed with open arms.

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18140284&BRD=2228&PAG=461&dept_id=447983&rfi=8 - Sarah Stachura - E.C./D.C. Contributor

April/7/2007 - Radiobeat program

Everyone in the Allston-based The Indobox attended Berklee, and it shows. For their Left End live set on WERS, the band performs its brand of semi-psychedelic (the sci-fi keyboard sounds and whirring guitar distortion can’t go unnoticed) indie-dance-rock that manages to be incredibly fun and meticulously detailed at the same time. Mike Carter and Joe Zarick (childhood friends from northeast Pennsylvania) put their guitars through hell—minimalist new-wave riffs turn into blaring rock solos—and their vocals are just as layered and intertwined: harmony here, sudden shift in tone there, echo effect, etc. Bassist Steve Learson and drummer Quinn Ferree keep the rhythm in check by keeping it driving. This all keeps the music moving, which is important for a band that wants to make you dance.

Movement applies to being in band as well. Ferree, Zarick, and Carter began jamming together in high school. It wasn’t until the trio gathered in Boston, though, that the then-named Moonbox took shape, after finding bassist Learson, who implies that the term “bassist” may not be entirely accurate: “I went to school actually as a keyboard player,” he says. “So I was forced to learn bass, which I picked up pretty quickly, but I still managed to incorporate some keyboard work into some songs. It gives the song a more fantastical element, which is good for us.”

So your bassist doesn’t play bass? He’ll learn. A “middle-aged, three-piece folk band who plays a café in Oregon once a month” already has the name Moonbox registered? You change it. “We wanted to keep the ‘box’ part. We liked that part,” says Zarick of the group’s four-hour binge of placing words in front of “box” to decide a new name. “We settled on Indobox. It wasn’t some magical thing that came to us in a dream. It was just a long process of trying to think of something nobody else would think of.”


This last line seems to characterize the band. Sure, they keep momentum going: The Indobox is touring the South before making their way back up to New England again. But if inventive, conceptual, detailed dance-rock songs are to come to fruition, it’s a long process of finding what works. “We all approach songwriting differently,” Learson says. "Myself, even in school I was a contemporary writing major so I’m very into telling everybody exactly what I want them to do. Mike and Joe prefer to bring something to the table and then work it out together. I’m much more picky, but it’s whatever works."

It seems to be working for The Indobox, who maintain that despite their classical education, there’s really not much to what they do. “We call ourselves ‘dance rock’ simply because when we play live shows we like to basically throw dance parties,” Carter says. “But we’re also a rock band. Two guitars, bass, and drums. Rock and roll. But, you know, dance-party-style.”

http://www.wers.org/articles/?id=425

photos = http://www.wers.org/dynamic/imagezoom.php?article=425&pic=1 - Jon Meyer - Interviewer/Radio Personality

http://www.relix.com/on-the-verge/2009/07/15/the-indobox

Armed with instrumental chops developed at Boston's Berklee College of Music, The Indobox has gradually become one of the hottest jamtronica acts to emerge from the northeast club scene in recent years. "[We write music] to create a danceable party atmosphere, but also to evoke emotion," says guitarist Mike Carter who mentions that The Indobox's influences pull from jamband giants such as Phish and the Disco Biscuits, as well as more experimental, forward-thinking acts like Battles and LCD Soundsystem.

"The Songs reflect parts of day-to-day life, but extending the songs with instrumental jams is what leads to a hot, crazy dance party." The band originally started gigging around its native Boston, but over the past few years has reached other East Coast pocket's like Mariaville, NY's Camp Bisco festival. Although The Indobox is currently wrapping up a new studio album, like any good jamband, they place a heavy emphasis on the live performance. "[They're] dark, with wild lighting and sweaty youths dancing their brains out while we weave in and out of songs and jams for a set or two or occasionally three," says Carter of a typical Indobox concert. "Have your dancing shoes on and keep your ears open" - Andrew Bruss

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/12/13/bands_and_artists_share_space_and_spontaneity/

"an up-and-coming dance-rock band from Boston", and, "Heavy electronic beats coalesced with melodic keyboards and distorted guitars, and most everyone in front of the stage danced with no-holds-barred enthusiasm.". - A Different Kind of Mashup - by Sean Teehan

The Indobox (Moonbox) Jams With a Mission
Wednesday/June/21/2006 – pg.15

“Its a quirky combination that, in theory, could make for a band that is quite polished, yet a lot of fun.”
“The Drive for such musical depth, says Carter, comes from the band’s jammy and classic rock favorites, but also from the modern-rock sounds of the ‘90s which the group’s members grew up with, plus elements of electronica and even the rhythms of hip-hop. All of it, he says, can come out at any given moment at any live show.”
- Alan K. Stout – Weekender Editor

"Weston High School graduate brings rock band The Indobox to Westport"
Thursday, December, 7, 2006 – pg. 8a

"The band is touring throughout the northeast and has recently released its debut CD. This summer the group embarked on a 42-date summer tour traveling from Maine to North Carolina. The band plays what it calls DanceRock.." - Patricia Gay – Weston Forum Reporter

http://www.boston.com/thingstodo/special/firstnight/nyenights?pg=9

These guys look like fun, huh? Allston Rock City-based Indobox is heading north of the river to Middle East to ring in 2010 with you. And forgo the stiletto boots for comfy Chucks — the band's new wave-y, synth-heavy tunes are totally danceable. Jimkata is also on the bill, as is a champagne toast at midnight.
- Boston.com - Things To Do