Funk is hard to describe, but your limbic system knows when it’s there.
The Motet, a seven-piece Colorado band, has spent the last two decades figuring out how to tap into nerves and instincts. Shows are high-energy dance parties, patchworks of ropy disco grooves, fast jamtronica textures and long-burning slow jams, with room left for extended solos. And as “Totem,” the Motet’s latest studio album, demonstrates, the band knows how to write solid, catchy songs.
The Motet performs at Hartford’s Infinity Hall on Oct. 6. Tickets are going fast, in part because of the band’s local connection: bassist Garrett Sayers, and his younger brother, saxophonist Drew Sayers, grew up in West Hartford.
“Both of my folks really loved music,” Garrett Sayers says. “There was always music on. It was cool to have a giant stereo system. My dad would turn the music loud enough so that he could mow the lawn and hear the music from inside the house.”
West Hartford values (and funds) public school art and music programs. “I polled people around [Colorado] what their experiences were like, and that’s when I realized that West Hartford was really unique,” Sayers says.
Sayers has a learning disability. He pushed himself further into his musical studies, and his parents were supportive. In middle school, Sayers studied privately with Dave Stoltz, learning jazz structure and harmony. He watched pianist Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Joel Frahm perform during Hall High School Pops ‘n Jazz concerts. “Those guys were unbelievable, even as high schoolers,” he says. “I recognized that.”
At Hall, Sayers learned how to conduct himself around other musicians.
“Many of them are very good players, but lack the professionalism to actually sustain a career,” Sayers says. “A lot of people just don’t understand that’s a very big part. You have to show up on time and be prepared.”
At the New England Conservatory in Boston, Sayers formed the Miracle Orchestra. The Motet, formed by ex-Shockra drummer Dave Watts in 1998, met Sayers at the High Sierra Music Festival in 2000; two years later, when the band’s bass player left, they reached out.
“I was one of the first people they called,” Sayers says. “I was ready to get out of Boston. I had been out of school for a few years and I wanted to hit the road.”
As with most big bands, membership in the Motet has always been somewhat fluid. Drew Sayers, formerly of John Brown’s Body, joined the Motet earlier this year. And last year, the band said goodbye to Jans Ingber, the band’s vocalist for the past 15 years.
The Motet sent out messages to its friends, including the Brooklyn band Turkuaz. “We’ve been touring for years and know a lot of the music community,” Sayers says. “We have a lot of friends who are singers, but we kind of knew that we had to look for very specific traits to make this work the way we wanted it to.”
Turkuaz suggested taking a look at Lyle Divinsky, a young musician from Portland, Maine. Sayers and his bandmates viewed clips and listened to recordings. “[Divinsky] gigs all around the Northeast and he made a great record that’s getting some traction,” Sayers says. “At the same time, I think he was ready to do something new also.”
What ultimately sold them on Divinsky were his skills as a songwriter. Ingber left in the middle of recording “Totem,” and there were a number of unfinished songs. The Motet sent Divinsky an instrumental track that was proving difficult to whip into shape; Divinsky returned it a week later, with vocals. “He made an incredible song, and we were blown away. We were like, ‘Let’s do it again!'”
Another track went back and forth, before anyone had even met in person. After a 10-day tour, the Motet asked Divinsky to join up. “We realized he really is a great dude. It’s not a facade. He’s a genuine, awesome guy. That sealed the deal.
“We are closer than family, and it’s because of this thing that we love to do,” Sayers says. “Unlike a family, unconditional love is not always there. It can be difficult. … Making a business out of it is making sure that everyone gets along.”
Although making good studio recordings will always be a priority, the Motet earns its keep largely through constant, efficient touring.
“Each one of us in the Motet comes from a background that is either jazz or funk or jam, some form of music that really has never made money on records,” Sayers says. “Unlike a lot of musicians, none of us grew up with dollar signs in our eyes. We’ve always prioritized playing live, even before we were in this band. … You can’t be in a band without being okay with going in and out of debt. It’s a dance, and it’s a lot different than the recording world.”
As a bassist, Sayers balances what he calls “the Miles Davis approach” (“the notes you don’t play are the most important”) with the path carved out by the late Weather Report virtuoso Jaco Pastoriu, who introduced a more active, leading role for the bass in a group’s sound.
Sayers also worships Francis “Rocco” Prestia, Tower of Power’s tasteful, sixteenth-note-crazy bassist, without trying too much like him. Often, when Sayers plays, he listens for notes that don’t need to be there at all.
“Funk music in particular is less about how many notes and more about where notes are placed in time,” Sayers says. “When you play groove music, every note has to fit in the pocket. That makes the groove happen. You can’t leave anything on the back burner.”
THE MOTET performs at Infinity Hall in Hartford on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $29 to $39. infinityhall.com.
