Concerted Efforts The Bobs will give one of their quirky,
signature musical performances this Saturday at McCabe’s.
By Antero Garcia
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Call them quirky, call them talented, but don’t dare call
them a cappella singers.
Though the four musicians of The Bobs may use only their voices
on the majority of their records, the musical act has transcended
common notions of the a cappella sound. Bruins will get a chance to
hear this humorous and established group this Saturday when it
performs at McCabe’s.
“A cappella has this kind of novelty stigma attached to
it,” Matthew “Bob” Stull said in a phone
interview from his home in Seattle. “You put a cappella in a
name and everyone says “˜Oh, God, it must be barbershop or
doo-wop,’ and it’s not.”
The Bobs, currently comprised of Stull, Joe “Bob”
Finetti, Amy “Bob” Engelhardt and Richard
“Bob” Greene, formed 20 years ago and was primarily the
idea of Stull and ex-Bob Gunnar Madsen. The two entertainers met
while working at another quirky music related job ““
performing for Western Onion, a singing telegram company.
“I didn’t go out in the field as much as Gunnar
did,” Stull said. “I used to do telephone singing
telegrams all over the world; very strange job. I’d call a
nunnery in Switzerland and other weird places.”
Shortly after the company shut down, the two colleagues were
inspired to form their own blend of humor, wit and music by
creating a vocalist group.
“We put an ad in the local paper in Berkeley, California,
looking for a bass singer, and one person responded,” Stull
said. “That was Richard Greene, and the three of us went from
there.”
The members band were brought closer together by a strange
coincidence that actually occurred prior to The Bobs’
formation As Greene remembered in a phone interview from his home
in San Rafael, he was inspired by a show that seemed to have a
similar effect on Stull and Madsen.
“They went off to see a concert, and the opening act was
an a cappella group, and I’m sure they were saying to
themselves, “˜You know, this doesn’t look too hard, I
bet we could do that,'” Greene said. “As it turns
out, I didn’t know them but I went to the same concert and I
said, “˜You know, this doesn’t look too hard, I bet I
could do that.'”
Instead of simply being a cheesy a cappella group, however, The
Bobs has always approached music and performances in a much more
band oriented manner.
“The thing about The Bobs is that things aren’t
conceived in the way normal vocal arrangements would be,”
said Engelhardt, calling from Florida.
“We don’t go about our music thinking we are four
singers,” Stull said. “We think of it more like Richard
is the bass, and someone has to be background, someone has to be
percussion and someone will be lead.”
The Bobs’ offbeat songs are, for the most part, crafted by
a single Bob ““ there is no main songwriter for the group.
“I write songs, Joe writes songs, Amy now writes songs and
Matthew does what he’s told,” Greene said jokingly.
“Well, he doesn’t do what he’s told, but he
doesn’t write songs.”
One example of a quirky, signature Bobs song is
“Fluffy’s Master Plan For World Domination,” on
The Bobs’ latest album “Coaster.” The song was
crafted by Engelhardt and is the boisterous narrative of exactly
what its name suggests.
“I actually came to Los Angeles to be a songwriter,”
Engelhardt said. “A lot of people would listen to my stuff
and say, “˜OK, that’s, um, really smart, kind of offbeat
though.’ That’s why I fit in with The Bobs; it’s
just a completely insane, smart group of people.”
With such a boisterous group of musicians, it isn’t
surprising that the group is known for its unpredictable live
shows.
“We don’t script anything, and nothing is set down
in stone,” Stull said. “We’ve done shows where
we’ve taken all of the songs we do and put them on pieces of
paper, put them in a hat and have had the audience pick the
songs.”
In addition to its improvisational concerts, another aspect that
makes The Bobs unique is its odd repertoire of cover songs. Often,
The Bobs so radically changes a song that it sounds nothing like
the original version.
“We pick songs where we can bring something new,”
Greene said. “A lot of times its pointless to cover a song
because the original is good.”
The groups’ version of the Beatles’ “Helter
Skelter” earned Gunnar and Greene a Grammy nomination; a
cover of “Light My Fire,” originally popularized by The
Doors, is an example of the group’s unique take on a
well-known song.
Despite the popularity of the group’s cover songs,
however, for “Coaster” The Bobs decided to focus more
on its members’ song writings abilities. In addition, The
Bobs did something on the latest album that it had not attempted
since its debut recording.
“We actually indulged ourselves and played instruments on
it,” Greene said.
Whether using sparse background instrumentation to accompany its
melody or pushing the boundaries of vocal music, The Bobs’
true focus is on its music and its fans.
“Everybody in America works really hard,” Stull
said. “We’re almost a 24/7 society these days and
sometimes you just need to kick back, have a good time and forget
what’s going on outside. And that’s what happens at a
Bob show. You don’t worry about it. You laugh for a couple of
hours and then you go home.”
MUSIC: The Bobs perform at McCabe’s on
Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. For tickets and
information, call (310) 828-4403. The group’s latest CD,
“Coaster,” is available on Primarily A Cappella Records
at www.singers.com.