Dog
Talk--Unconventional Band Mixes Crazy Lyrics With Wierd
Instruments To Make Fun, Positive Music
The Daily Ledger (Noblesville /
Hamilton County), December
15, 1994
by Betsy Reason
 INDIANAPOLIS--If it makes
noise, these guys probably play it.
Whether it's a conventional instrument or a toy or a pot
or pan from Mom's kitchen--anything that makes noise is
up for grabs with these guys.
"It's fun to watch adults play with kids' toys--and make
music with them," said Dog Talk drummer Michael Beck,
who has pizza pans, pot lids and a variety of other household
items attached to his own drum set.
Overall, the band uses conventional instruments, such
as drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards.
However, this is no conventional band by any means.
"Where it gets really different is all the odd toys and
things from different countries and how we arrange things
and put them to use," Beck said.
"That's probably what sets us aside from other bands who
have maybe tried the same thing before."
Although some of the percussion instruments are from other
countries, many are from the band members' own homes.
The musicians play pizza pans, dishes, can lids, canisters,
antique toys, whistles, tin cans, a propane torch canister,
sleigh bells, shakers, a gong, tambourines, timbales,
a cowbell, an Indian drum, xylophone, a conch shell, keys.
The list goes on. The guys keep adding more.
The whole sound is based around percussion, especially
unusual percussion, such as kids toys and wierd instruments.
Their music is a blend of Caribbean and African drum music
combined with pop, reggae and alternative styles featuring
four-part vocal harmonies that are both rich and witty.
"It's refreshing and different," said bass player Jim
Litchfield of Westfield.
The band brings to the stage more than 50 percussion instruments
from all over the world. A unique blend of Calypso, Reggae,
Latin and African rhythms merge with irresistible pop
and a dash of humor into what they call "Mambo World Beat
Music."
"There are all kinds of influences involved," Litchfield
said.
"It's like Frank Zappa meets Paul Simon on a Caribbean
island," he said.
Once a week, Beck stops by Salvation Army or thrift shops.
He's always looking for items from which to make new instruments.
He'll bring into the band anything that makes a noise.
Although each member of the Indianapolis-based band knows
what kind of sound each instrument makes, he might not
be able to recite every instrument's name. There are so
many, Beck said.
"I've got a basement full of stuff and continually throw
more stuff down there," said Beck.
Litchfield said, "Every couple of weeks he (Beck) comes
in with something new to bang on or to shake." The new
instruments will eventually get scored into a new tune.
Beck tinkers around with different pieces and figures
out what sounds best.
"Sometimes you use a triangle, and sometimes you need
everything you've got," Beck said.
How do they know when to play what pot or pan or lid or
bell?
"It's pretty worked out," said Beck, who writes most of
original pieces.
"He has a pretty good concept of what he wants to hear
where," Litchfield added.
"I usually know where I'm going--what I'm going to use,
when I'm going to use it and why," Beck insisted. "And
then we can kind of improvise off the top of that."
The only guy who's pretty "rambunctious" is Cliff White,
up front with the congas. He jukes from one thing to another,
playing whatever White feels right at the time.
The audience can't just listen. It must watch--to experience
the full effect.
White, who sings and plays percussion, is a "wild man,"
according to Beck.
"We never know what he's going to do."
White admits the energy and the wackiness comes from hopping
around on stage, and being "kooky."
"Kooky is one of my favorite words," White said.
He plays about 20 different percussion instruments, with
the most unusual an udu drum, made from clay. The rhythmic
instrument, his favorite, resembles a giant flower vase.
"It makes kind of a wacky, kind of a crazy kind of sound,"
White said.
"I like the drum so well that I named my dog after it,"
said White, who brings to the stage his stuffed animals,
hats and other items, along with the band's mascot dog,
Woody.
"We never know what he's going to do," Beck said.
"We laugh at each other just as much as everything else."
"That's part of why things are so fun," he said.
White also plays, or shakes, what he refers to as "a bunch
of junk that I found on the street and put together with
a coat hanger." "That is basically what it is--a bunch
of junk that has fallen off of people's cars," he said.
"It creates this kind of kooky tambourine energy," White
said smiling.
What's next? The wild man brings out a washboard, which
he plays with a wrench to the tune of "Boom Boom."
A friend of the band might bring a dozen similar washbaords,
which she distributes to members of the audience--so they
can play along, too, with keys or eating utensils or whatever
they can find. By the end of the song, White and the "washboard
players" have formed their own conga line and are making
their way around the room.
White, Beck and Litchfield aren't the only ones having
a good time. Everybody joins in the fun.
"It's pretty evident the way I jump around," said Bob
Schneider, who sings lead and plays keyboards, acoustic
guitar and percussion.
"I've never had this much fun with a band before," he
said.
Joining the band was the best thing he ever did--musically
and entertainment-wise, said Schneider, who has a theatre
background.
The fun thing about the band is no one knows quite what's
going to happen--not even the musicians in the band.
One minute they might be playing their own "Mambo Doggie
Thing", the next minute they might be playing a song title
that someone hollored from the audience--one they've never
played before.
But they pull it off, Litchfield said.
With titles like, "It's A Doggie Day," "Dog Talk," "jungle
Heat," and "Whisk Brooming In Brazil"--fun is the obvious.
Litchfield said the song are a lot of fun to play. "Some
of them are silly."
"It's world beat with a twist," said Litchfield, who plays
bass drum and shakers.
Unlike some bands today that are focused on negativity
and death, Dog Talk is focused on being positive.
"Our stuff is about being happy," he said.
Beck added, "We don't really have a negative or dark side
to us. Everything's pretty much a fun time."
A lot of their fun comes from feeding off the audience.
"The best seat in the house is on stage--because you're
looking at the audience--and everybody is smiling and
laughing at the band and dancing," said Bill Lancton,
percussionist and guitarist and newest member of the band.
Cliff Fortney, another relatively new member of the band,
said his favorite instrument is the more conventional.
It's the flute, which he believes has been his most difficult
instrument to master. Multi-talented and also a lead vocalist,
Fortney plays keyboards, penny whistle, harmonica, percussion,
an African drum and bells.
He and Beck have known each other since they were youngsters.
Fortney recalls when they used to comb the local flea
markets for new instruments.
Beck said it was his own idea for the music concept.
Their story began a couple of years ago, when Beck submitted
his own material for Rock The Ripple. His tape was chosen
and he was asked to perform at the local band night. There
was only one problem. He didn't have a band. So he quickly
called up a couple of friends and put the group together.
"It just happened to kind of fit like a glove," Beck said.
The band developed from there.
The members of the band can probably get away with just
about anything--thanks to their maturity level and experience
level, Beck said.
"Everybody's a very accomplished musician and experienced,"
Litchfield said.
The band's name, Dog Talk, came from a song written a
long time ago by Beck.
"When we first got together, we were so different, so
jungly and sort of street sounding," he said. The name
seemed to work well for the band--so it stuck.
They hope the name will raise people's interest levels.
Dog Talk opened for Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby at
Deer Creek Music Center this summer. They have been seen
and heard at area clubs, colleges and events such as Rock
The Ripple and have appeared on Dick Wolfsie's "Daybreak"
on WISH-TV Channel 8, and other television and radio stations.
Dog Talk was selected by Nuvo to represent Indianapolis
in the Missouri River Music Festival in September.
What was all the noise Wednesday night?
The band recorded a live compact disc at the Jazz Kitchen
in Broad Ripple, with the engineering experience of George
Strakis, an Indianapolis native. Whitney Houston's live
sound engineer, Strakis has also worked with the Eagles,
Al Jarreau, Dan Fogelberg and Anita Baker.
Litchfield said the fans have been encouraging the band
to make a CD.
"This is the reason we decided to do this live--because
the band feeds off the crowd," he said, looking around
at the crowded room.
And it was obvious. As the night went on, the crowd became
louder and more responsive.
One could see and hear the band feeding off the audience.
Now they were really making music. Litchfield was right.
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