Music Fit For Any Galaxy: Android Amaker, Fresh Espresso & The Fame Riot

Android Amaker at Neumos (Photo by Mocha Charlie)

On Friday night, newly formed Android Amaker debuted his current (evolving) project to fans at Neumos in Capitol Hill. Along for the cosmic ride, he added Seattle’s Fresh Espresso, and Tacoma’s The Fame Riot to the night’s line-up.

The Fame Riot is an eclectic, funktastic, electronic, techno-pop band. They obviously have fun on stage, jumping and writhing, while playing their own brand of music that seems to defy gravity. Motioning to the crowd, entering the crowd to sing and play, lead vocalist Liz Scarlett can also often be seen atop the shoulders of fans, working the crowd. Their debut EP, Dust Funk, can only be purchased in hard copy at shows, but check out their videos and soundcloud pages to hear select songs. Their next project is already in the works. They plan on spending a month in Portland in early 2015 to again work with producer Rob Daiker (Katy Perry) to create an EP that will be released later next year.

Appearing next was Fresh Espresso, (whose members were once banned from performing at Neumos along with other venues in the city in ’09).  Since then, the band has bounced back by performing all over the city, including many of Seattle’s music festivals. Their hip-hop style includes multiple electronic beats. They’ve been noted as one of the best hip-hop bands to come out of Seattle since Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Posse on Broadway. Their last full length CD, Bassalona was released in 2013, and they released a new single, On in January 2014.  Most of their lyrics are labelled as explicit, but that doesn’t stop fans from singing along and contributing when the band asks them to join in.

Before Android Amaker took the stage, buckets of dry ice were activated, giving the crowd the sensation of being transported to another planet. It was all part of the plan. Android Amaker is a collaboration which began in January. Their self titled debut CD was released in October. The band was born from Brent Amaker and Vox Mod, and is produced by P Smoov (Fresh Espresso), who also joined them on stage. It is what Amaker describes as western meets sci-fi, but it’s not the “Space Cowboy” you may know from the Steve Miller Band. Amaker has created more than songs, and music. He has created an entire music experience that can only be understood during their live show. Known for his elaborate, yet tightly choreographed performances (if you’ve seen his other band, Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, you’ll know what that means), Amaker left no stone unturned. Fans were greeted at the door prior to the show by performance artists dressed in harlequin clown inspired costumes – on stilts! Once he took the stage, his team created a cosmic light show filled with lasers, and imagery cast on white sheets that were raised & lowered throughout the set. Dancers wore white Tyvek suits with goggles, and had moves like robots, as Amaker – “The One, King of the Outer Galaxy” – sang from center stage. Friday night was billed as a “one-night-only,” but as “King of the Outer Galaxy,” Amaker should make a few more galactic stops here.