music: A groove of jazz and improv
YuWei Gao, Arts Editor

Defining their music as "unique, eclectic, jazz with groove," guitar player and spokesperson David Watts is the only band member of The Absinthe Groove left in Vancouver. Although this group is now scattered across the globe, their newly-released CD is a memorable collection of the band's work throughout the years.

Studying in the Science and Applied Science faculties, the band members includes bass-player Colin Pan, sax-player Andrew Watson, guitarist James Anstey and on drums is Trevor Van Dyck, subsequently John-Glenn Sheares The Absinthe Groove met through the SFU Jazz Club. Wishing to add a groove element to the genre of Jazz, all took part in the creative process, with their first goal to jam together.

Being one of the main songwriters, Watts confirmed that their inspiration comes from personal experience with love and relationships. With most of the songs being instrumental, "The Exploding Boy" really summed up the band's identity.

Self-recording, Watts admits the quality is not as good as studio-produced ones, but the sound was good and the experience was valuable. "Granted if I were gonna do it all over again, there would be things I do differently, but considering that we spent ten percent of the cost of the studio, we did it ourselves, and we learned. And the next time we do, it'll be that much better."

Asked about the band name, Watts response was, "the groove is what's it's all about. It's about playing music and trying to capture that music, that groove. That's the style of music we like to play, and The Absinthe adds a bit of history, of an artistic edge."

Not only using the CD to capture the essence of The Absinthe Groove, Watts explains that it records a chapter in people's lives and the spirit of the band members.

In regards to the band ever re-uniting again, "Yeah, whenever they come back to Vancouver, we will jam together. Any time the band come together, The Absinthe Groove is alive."

"It was never about making money, or getting on the radio, or selling cds, it's about the music and the improv. Sometimes, we would actually go to a gig with different group members or instruments...therefore we're kinda seen as a mysterious band."

Asked about finding time during school for their music, the response was, "It was tough. Sometimes, we had to cancel shows because of exams. School was always first."

Now all of them have graduated and gone on to achieve their separate dreams, yet they wanted to leave something behind to inspire other musicians to go ahead and do something about that dream of having an album of their own.

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