Phat Lui impresses at Day of Rock 2009 with four new originals that left the audience cheering and banging their cowbells

One and a half years ago, Paul Marino, then a senior at MVHS, had a problem on his hands.  His band, Phat Lui, needed to be on stage for the IDC talent show in an hour and the drummer just quit.  By sheer luck, Ab Menon, a freshman who knew something about playing drums, happened to walk by.  The bassist, then junior Kevin Hayes, knew Menon from drama and persuaded him to join.

Countless performances later, including appearances at Battle of the Bands, Pasta Night, and Senior Gala, they became a part of the music community in Cupertino.  On Aug. 16, Phat Lui came to play at yet another gig, Day of Rock 2009, hosted by the band Slak in front of the Cupertino Library.

Phat Lui, one of the many bands featured, performed eight original songs in the afternoon.  They quickly captured the audience’s attention by interacting with them.

During the routine sound check before the band began, they made sure the audience liked the settings for each of the amps.  Immediately after the first song, “Everybody (Wants to be a Cat)”, started, people began leaving the shade of the trees to get up close to the band.

Each successive song showcased something different about the band.  “A A A” featured an impressive bass solo by senior Kevin Hayes while “Orange” contained melodic riffs that reflected the mood of the lyrics.  Between songs, nearly every member of the audience clapped, cheered, or banged loudly on a cowbell.

The amount of original content that Phat Lui came up with amazed everyone.  Phat Lui, consisting of alumnus Marino, junior Menon, and senior Hayes composed four new songs explicitly for this event.  The process for creating each song always is the same.  Marino, the main songwriter, comes up with a general direction and leaves the details to the band to work out together.

The band sits down with any ideas they have and jams a bit to see what works and what doesn’t.  Then, while sitting in front of a whiteboard, they write out all their plans for their parts and the lyrics.

Though many of the lyrics give the impression that there is a deeper meaning to the song, Phat Lui insists that isn’t the case.

“What you hear is what you get,” Marino said.

Most of the lyrics come from random scenes.  One verse of “Everybody (Wants to be a Cat)” was “Carpet ripper outer router.”  The inspiration came from a group of construction workers that were remodeling Menon’s house as they were practicing.  Router was something thrown in to ensure the line had the right number of syllables.                  

Coming up with the parts for each instrument also follows the same process.  Each member comes up with his own parts and the band jams through the song together, changing the parts as necessary, until they feel that each of the pieces fit together.  The result: music reminiscent of a cross between Sublime and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The band is especially proud of Menon’s drum line for many of the songs.

“I’ve never heard a drummer like Ab in terms of creativity,” Hayes said.  “Literally, [drummers] usually have a simple line, but with Ab, the drum line is always amazing.  He seems to have his way with the drums.”

Though the hot weather made it hard to be on stage for so long, the band felt that it was worth the warm response from the audience after every song.  Many members from other bands, such as Brown Sound and Crash on Garage Doors, stayed to cheer on their fellow performers.

“Even though we’re all garage bands, we all support each other.  Music is a community,” senior Chris Beall, a member of Brown Sound, said.

With each successive performance, Phat Lui has gained experience, and the members are excited to see where their journey together will take them.  Using their creativity and musical potential, Phat Lui is certain to come with new songs that will delight rock fans all over Cupertino.