Estradasphere draws unmistakable influence from the genre-defying experimental rock of Mr. Bungle and Secret Chiefs 3, honoring the expansive artistic goals of those predecessors. Tim Harris on violin and trumpet, Dave Murray on drums, Jason Schimmel on guitar and banjo, bassist Tim Smolens, and John Wooley on saxophone first connected during the late 1990s at the U.C.-Santa Cruz music program, bonded by a shared taste for the most garish corners of pop culture and the most extravagant musical forms.
The band’s debut, It’s Understood, surfaced with minimal commercial notice in spring 2000 as Mimicry Records’ inaugural release, the DIY label started by Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance. Their restless fusion of jazz, metal, video game themes, and bluegrass found an eager audience among dedicated Mr. Bungle devotees while remaining largely overlooked elsewhere. Although the ensemble’s instrumentation often recalls Bela Fleck and the Flecktones more than Mr. Bungle, their frenetic, short-attention-span approach to composition clearly echoes the latter.
Drawing material from across the musical spectrum, sometimes inside a single track, Estradasphere reveals the depth of its technical command on a piece-by-piece basis. While the first album lacks the compact focus of Mr. Bungle or Secret Chiefs 3, it unfolds as a striking musical vista for such a young group.
Joined onstage by an eclectic troupe of Bohemian performers that includes fire-breathers and book readers, Estradasphere projects an excess of youthful vigor and imagination that, with adequate exposure, could eventually build a devoted underground following.
