ACL Fest Interviews

String Cheese Incident

Among all the groups in the jam-band scene, Boulder, Colo.'s String Cheese Incident takes the most chances on stage.

Still, with the release of Untying the Not, SCI is going to turn heads all the way around. It's a radical departure from anything they've done before, and that's saying something for a band that's a self-described "sacrilegious mix of bluegrass, calypso, salsa, Afro-pop, funk, rock, and jazz."

"The band really needed to do something different," says bass player Keith Moseley. "We were feeling a little stale, and we wanted to break some new ground."

They started by choosing Youth, best known as bassist for British post-punk act Killing Joke as well as producer for the Orb, Crowded House, and even the London Philharmonic, as their producer for the project.

"Youth was someone who was outside the box for us," explains Moseley. "He became sort of a sixth member of the band, pushing us to experiment and try new things."

The results are part Pink Floyd, part house, with the occasional folk tune, of course. Though they haven't played many of the new songs to a live audience yet, Moseley says fan reaction has been positive.

"Our fan base in general expects us to take chances and go out on a limb at times. It's really the nature of our music. I think our fans are adventurous enough to go somewhere new with us, and I think they're going to enjoy it."