Dog
Talk puts some bite into its performance
Decatur, IL Newspaper,
March, 1996
by David Burke
 The
Indianapolis band Dog Talk wants to do for reggae what
Frank Zappa did for rock 'n' roll.
"We're really different, and that works in our favor,"
drummer Michael Beck said. "You never quite know what's
going to happen next."
Indeed, Dog Talk--which performs Saturday night at Lock,
Stock & Barrel in Decatur--has been known to go from
the show tune "Hello Dolly" to Dave Brubeck's "Take 5"
in the blink of an eye, Beck said.
"We'll do a James Brown funk and then go into a waltz,"
he said. "There's usually a conga line somewhere in the
place before the night is over."
Although voted the best reggae band in Indy by local publications,
"We're really not a reggae band," he said, "because we
don't do reggae all night long."
Instead, the band's business card lists its specialties
as "Caribbean-African-Pop-Reggae-Jazz-Big Mambo Fun."
"I kind of started it with my idea," he said. "I had the
tunes to start with, and it's what came out of me and
the rest of us."
As percussionist, Beck takes up most of the stage with
80 different instruments, from drums to cowbells, he said.
It's the second time the band has played at LSB, he said.
Besides its share of clubs, Dog Talk has appeared in such
diverse venues as college ballrooms, country clubs and
the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
Beck and the other four band members are around age 40.
"We don't act our age," he said. "That's worked well for
us."
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