| The Heavy Pets | |
|---|---|
The Heavy Pets perform in 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Goshen, New York |
| Genres | pop, rock, ska punk, folk rock, jam, |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | 102° |
| Associated acts | Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors |
| Website | www.theheavypets.com |
| Members | |
| Jeff Lloyd Mike Garulli Jim Wuest Jamie Newitt Justin Carney |
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| Past members | |
| Joe Dupell Ryan Neuberger Felix Pastorious Julius Pastorius Mark White |
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The Heavy Pets (THP) are an American jam band based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida who perform rhythm and blues, jazz-funk and reggae fusion with rock and roll. Officially formed in 2005, they appear regularly at music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Langerado, the New Orleans Backbeat Jazzfest, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, and their namesake PetZoo. Currently the group is composed of guitarists Jeff Lloyd and Mike Garulli, keyboardist Jim Wuest, bassist Justin Carney, and drummer Jamie Newitt, with Lloyd and Garulli chiefly sharing vocal duties. In 2010 they released their second studio LP The Heavy Pets. The album was dubbed a “Top 10 Album of 2010” by The Huffington Post.[1]
Contents |
Original members Jeff Lloyd, Mike Garulli and Joe Dupell befriended each other at Goshen Central High School in upstate Goshen, New York.[2][3][4] Garulli was in a hardcore band named Strep Nine when he met Lloyd. Together the trio formed Anthem, the first iteration of their band named after the 1938 Anthem Ayn Rand novella.[5] The group practiced under several more names (such as My Friends Band) before sticking with The Heavy Pets, only to fizzle apart when members left for college.[4][5] While at Syracuse University Lloyd befriended classmate and keyboardist Jim Wuest.[2] The band partially regrouped after college, but remained a completely underground band.[5]
In 2004 Lloyd got a call from former Heavy Pets bassist Joe Dupell, who had moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to start an internet marketing company. Dupell invited him to visit, and Lloyd saw it as an opportunity to leave New York.[5] Garulli followed, and The Heavy Pets were officially formed. Wuest arrived soon after.[2]
Lloyd had his first Florida debut jamming with George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic on New Years between '04 and '05.[3][4] Their first South Florida show was late in 2005, on a patio in a Broward County, Florida condominium just after Hurricane Wilma.[5] Afterwards the band recorded a demo and began booking at Florida venues such as Fat Cats, Alligator Alley, and Tobacco Road, Miami.[6] By April 2006, they had already played over 350 gigs and shared the stage with Bernie Worrell, Oteil Burbridge and the Peacemakers, and Tea Leaf Green.[4]
The lineup changed several times after the release of Whale, with drummer Jamie Newitt joining the group just before 2008 Langerado Music Festival, right before a heaving summer touring schedule. Dupell left the band suddenly in late 2008, and bassists Mark White of the Spin Doctors and Felix Pastorious (son of Jaco Pastorius) began moonlighting at shows.[2][7] By mid 2009 the band permanently filled Dupell's vacancy with bassist Justin Carney of Los Angeles.[2][5]
Langerado 2006
The band's breakthrough came in March 2006. They were selected by popular local vote out of 350 other local unsigned bands to perform at the 2006 Langerado Music Festival. While there they played along bands such as Ben Harper, The Flaming Lips, G Love, and Robert Randolph.[3]
High Times
That May they were selected as the High Times "Unsigned Band of the Week".[4] In July 2006 the band embarked on an East Coast festival tour, hitting as far as upstate New York.[4] That September they also performed at the Symbiosis Gathering in Angel's Camp, CA.[3]
Jam Cruise
The Heavy Pets were invited to perform on Jam Cruise, specifically the annual music-festival-at-sea's 10th voyage in January 2012. The Heavy Pets will donate a portion of proceeds from Swim Out Past The Sun sales between its release and the band's inaugural voyage upon Jam Cruise in support of Positive Legacy's community outreach projects in Haiti.
In March 2007 the band released their first studio effort Whale. The album was recorded from September 2005 to March 2007 at Dreamfactory Studios in Boyton, Florida. It featured the original line up, with Ryan Neuburger on drums and Joe Dupell on bass.[1] The double-disc debut has 21 tracks ranging from rock, to reggae, to folk.[3] The hit tracks "Operation of Flight" and "Sleep" were rotated heavily on Sirius Jam-On, earning the band "most-played" status for an unsigned act.[8][9][10] They toured heavily in Florida to promote the album in the fall of 2007.
In 2008 they released a three track EP entitled Slow Moving Conductor.[11]
In 2010 the band signed with the label and management team 102° and traveled to Marin County, California to record a new album.[7] That winter they spent six weeks recording the album in Scott Matthews' TikiTown studio.[12] The band had self-produced everything up to that point, but Matthews produced the album. As a Multi-Platinum award winner, some of Matthews' previous projects have included Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Joey Ramone, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Steve Perry, Ry Cooder and Neil Young.[7][13] It was mastered by Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller of Universal Mastering Studios NYC, and released on both CD and vinyl.[8][14] Tom Lueken served as engineer. John Popper of Blues Traveler made a guest appearance on the track "Girl You Make Me Stupid" with a harmonica solo.[8] An old college friend of Wuest and Lloyd, Mike Kammers, arranged horns.[7][13]
The band returned to their acoustic roots on Swim Out Past The Sun. Featuring a three song sit-in by longtime Jerry Garcia collaborator David Grisman, Swim Out Past The Sun was produced and recorded by multi-platinum, Grammy and Oscar Award-winner Scott Mathews and mastered by Grammy Award-winner Vlado Meller. Its cover art was contributed by American painter Mark T. Smith. It is the band's third studio release and second effort with 102° Records.
Major festival darlings, THP have taken the stage at Bonnaroo, High Sierra Music Festival, Gathering of the Vibes, moe.down, Langerado, Summer Camp Music Festival, All Good Music Festival, Wakarusa Music Festival, Bear Creek, Mountain Jam Festival and their namesake PetZoo. They tour the country year round and have played well over 1,000 shows since their late 2005 inception.