Dub Sultan’s sound is so unique that band members Gabe Lavin and Sam Krutch were reluctant to pin it down to a specific genre.
Lavin described the band’s music as “middle eastern music mixed with funk, hip-hop, reggae, dub, jazz...what’s great about it is everybody has different influences.” The result is a sound different from any other Montana band.
Dub Sultan consists of three main members: Lavin, who plays the saz (a traditional Turkish string instrument), guitar and oud (an Arabic string instrument); Krutch, who also plays in the local band Landlocked, on drums; and Loren Block, an MSU computer science graduate, on bass. Right now the band’s two other main members are Alex Schwab, the drummer for the local band In Walks Bud, who plays percussion, and Domingos Cardoso, a Brazilian PHD student studying plant sciences who plays the berimbau, a single-string Brazilian instrument. Other musicians frequently contribute to Dub Sultan’s sound, and while their music is typically instrumental, they are hoping to collaborate with a vocalist to record an EP or a short album by December.
The band has been together for about a year and a half, but took a break this past summer. They started playing shows again this fall, and things have been going well—Dub Sultan won second place in the Chamberlin Showcase at the Zebra on Oct. 14. “Now that we’ve been playing again, things have sped up a little more,” said Krutch. “As long as we all get together in the same room, stuff comes out.”
Although it’s hard to describe, Dub Sultan’s music speaks for itself. Krutch’s advice is, “Don’t try to form an opinion until you see it—come and see a show.” Lavin agrees: “We just want people to listen, check it out; it’s not something you normally see in Montana.”
Dub Sultan will be playing two shows this weekend—Friday at the Murray Bar in Livingston and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Filling Station’s Compound Apocalypse Party.
If you can’t make the shows this weekend, they are also playing at MSU’s Upheaval Fine Art Show in the SUB ballrooms on November 30.
To listen to Dub Sultan’s music and learn more, look them up on Facebook or visit www.reverbnation.com/dubsultan.
