Oftentimes bass and drums get lumped together into the singular "rhythm section" category. It makes sense. The Rochester ska scenesters in Mrs. Skannotto go even further with the blending of classifications; though he doesn't play any brass, the vocalist is considered a member of the horn section.
"I think it creates more of a frontline than a front man," says trumpeter Justin Lloyd. "The horns are strategically placed up front and they are also in the spotlight of the melody." Consequently the listener leaves a Mrs. Skannotto show humming an infectious, reinforced melody.
"The melodies come from the horn section," Lloyd says. "So it's very horn driven in that respect, as opposed to some ska bands that gravitate toward more rock with a horn accompaniment, with the horns adding color to a rock tone."
"We'll come up with this broad fabric of songs, the basis of songs," he says. "And for me the hard part is getting the right horn line for the songs...and that can take months. You can have a million horn lines but there's only one that goes there. A lot of times I'll wait until the vocalist is done finalizing his part before I write the horn line, because I want them to interact."
Originally formed at Bates College in Maine in 1997, Mrs. Skannotto migrated to Rochester in the early 2000's after Lloyd (a Flower City native) had finished his studies in trumpet performance and American cultural studies. The band emerged just after the national ska scene had experienced its boom. Ska had been frequently used liberally as a rhythmic kick in the pants for pop, punk, and pop/punk bands. Now it was back underground a bit. Lloyd and Mrs. Skannotto missed out on the ska boom.
"I think we're 10 years too late in that regard," he says. "What came in the 90's was very poppy ska with the pop/punk stuff.
So besides positioning a formidable front line, Lloyd and the rest of the band - Joe Harmon (vocals), Alex Charissis (guitar), Rick Stiles (trombone), Dan Carter (bass), and Ben Harmon (drums) - set out to write the same way, from the horns down. In a way that matches the way the music plays out over your body: if you've ever seen Mrs. Skannotto, the dancing the band brings out of you is like the pogo in reverse. You jump down before you jump up.
There's plenty of bouncing and bounding about the stage, but Mrs. Skannotto is busy playing - often at accelerated time signatures - leaving the shenanigans to the crowd.
"We're not one of these bands that's over the top with theatrics on stage," Lloyd says. "It's really hard to play trumpet when you're jumping around."
Mrs. Skannotto has just released the EP "Good Enough," a little taste, a tease, of material that'll be on the band's next full-length release, which is due out this summer. The band thought it was a good idea since going through line-up changes since its last recording, 2006's "Bet You Didn't See That Coming."
Though taken out of the full LP context, Lloyd feels all four tracks on the EP have legs of their own.
"We thought about that," Lloyd says. "But we wanted a product out that represented the band available at shows." Lloyd is not concerned of the impact this will have on the upcoming album's sales.
"In reality what ends up happening is we've given away two-thirds of the ones we've made," he says. "We just got back from Philly and I must have given away, I don't know, like 50 because I'd rather have [the fans] have it and have an interest in us than make a dollar or two. We're not looking to turn a buck on this, we just want people to have these songs."
So while producer Calvin May puts the finishing touches on the new album at Black Dog Studios, the band will storm the northeast whenever it can.
"A lot of people our age are into that part of life where they've let that dream go," says Lloyd, who just turned 30. "We have aspirations as a band, we go out and play, but it comes down to, ‘Hey we have a gig somewhere this weekend, can you take Friday off?' And it's like, ‘No, I have a corporate job.' There's a lot of stress with that." But the band will abide. And though perhaps toying with some dancehall rhythms, Mrs. Skannotto is sticking to its ska guns.
"I don't see us branching off into this alt-calypso band," Lloyd says. "We love what we are."
Mrs. Skannotto
Opens for Big D and the Kids Table
Thursday May 13
Water Street Music Hall, 204 North Water Street
7 p.m.| $12-$14 | 325-5600