ZapTown

There is a degree of confusion when it comes to multi-instrumental music in the 21st century. The term, in a pop context, can be broad enough to mean one person overlaying many different instruments together or a single group of musicians cramming as many instruments into a band’s repertoire, sometimes masking talent with layer upon layer of instruments, which result into a bleeding wall of sound.

While that is sometimes a good thing, if done properly, it makes one reminisce back to the late ‘80s when the coffee shop scene was booming with strange, eclectic instrumental groups that existed more in the classical sense of multi-instrumentalism. Poets and musicians alike flooded the downtown java joints to pluck out the evening on a rooftop down Ohio Street, or embed themselves in a basement on New Jersey. Musicians grabbed whatever they could fit in a suitcase and acclimated themselves to an environment that allowed them to be creative and diverse without sacrificing the essence of their style.

(Photo by Gary Mead)

For Rod Schindler, he has taken that philosophy to heart with Tonos Triad, keeping things simple and all of his instruments confined to none other than a vintage, baby blue suitcase.

“I didn’t want to tangle with a lot of gear,” Schindler said. “I don’t envy bands that are hauling in amps and big stacks to a gig. We originally wanted to play all acoustic, but you just cannot do that.”

From left: Aaron Ransdell, Rod Schindler, and Yevgeny Baburin (Photo by Gary Mead)

For as diverse as the Noblesville three piece is, their set up is quite simple. Schindler trades off between an accordion, a mandolin, and a melodica. Aaron Ransdell towers above on a double bass, while Yevgeny Baburin effortlessly riffs on a classical guitar, plucking away notes with pieces of ping pong balls cut out and glued to his fingertips, a simple solution to the long fingernail technique that is common with classical guitar playing only without the long fingernails.

“It started with the accordion,” said Schindler. “I got a small one and Aaron bought a cello, then the melodica. Aaron wrote this piece that sounded good with a mandolin, so we introduced that into the mix.”

Rod Schindler (Photo by Gary Mead)

…And about that suitcase? Schindler not only uses it for hauling gear and to display the band’s signage, — handwritten on a cut-out paper bag stretched along the front of the case — but he also converted it into a suitcase drum kit, using the suitcase as a kick drum and a cardboard box as the snare.

“I was really fascinated with the suitcase set up The Eels had on The Eels With Strings’ Live At Town Hall. He was playing this old tanned suitcase and something that looked like a 50-gallon drum. And it sounded good.

“I asked a couple people what they thought I should use as a snare. One day I was talking to my best friend from Wisconsin, who suggested a shoe box. I didn’t use a shoe box, but instead tried a cardboard box. I grabbed a generic USPS box and turned it inside out. I still use the original box to this day.”

A utility mic and some brushes go into creating a laid-back and cool percussive instrument that not only visually identifies the band, but also really adds character to their well-rounded sound. When you see Tonos Triad play, you cannot help but be mesmerized into watching what they do and how they do it.

“Our favorite show is where you can play a room where everyone can sit back, and they want to hear the music,” said Ransdell. “The appeal to this band is that if you don’t like what you are hearing, just wait for a few minutes. It’s still fun to watch people like us play all of these types of instruments.”

Aaron Ransdell (left) and Rod Schindler (Photo by Gary Mead)

After intrigue dissipates, you begin to discover that these people can really play each and every instrument as accomplished musicians with a breath of stylistic diversity rarely seen in a band. From sea shanty to gypsy jazz, waltz rhythm to tango, there is no boundary this band is tied to.

“We would like to say that we are decent song crafters,” said Schindler. “It doesn’t matter what the instrumentation is as long as the song is good. We incorporate a pop element to the songs, a verse-chorus-bridge style with sometimes an outro section or space for some avant-garde experimentation. And even though Yev’s style is completely different while Aaron and I tend to write similar instrumental styles, it works out really well.”

But a band of this caliber was not easy at first.

“The sound was more of a crutch to us at first because we didn’t know what direction to take,” said Ransdell. “It took up to a year to develop enough material to go out and play. During the early gigs, we would play our set list twice.”

“It was tough at first for me,” Baburin added. “It took six-to-eight months to really get comfortable. At first we asked ourselves, ‘Is this good? Does this sound good?’

“We didn’t know if we would watch our own band,” Ransdell continued. “We just practiced our asses off, got out and played coffee shop gigs. We terrorized every coffee shop we could find.”

They played and people came, with numbers increasing and more interest every time.

“Practice hard first then gig is our policy,” said Schindler. “We practice twice a week for two-to-three hours with a gig usually on a Friday or Saturday.”

This strict discipline developed from three people who grew up in the classical tradition of proper music training. For Schindler, he may have spent the last decade jamming with bands, but being a graduate with a music degree from the University of Wisconsin also paved the way for him to teach guitar for the last seven-to-eight years. While at the university, he focused on the technological and recording side of the business. He came to Indianapolis as an intern for Air Born Studio in Zionsville, as well as teaching at Meridian Music.

Between then and now, he worked at the Indianapolis Museum of Art where he met Ransdell.

“When we applied and started working there, we had to give a brief bio of ourselves to co-workers during orientation. When they asked what we did, and I said that I was a musician and was into recording, Aaron had the same response.”

“After Rod talked about what he did, and my turn came to give my bio, I just said: ‘Everything that he said!,’” Ransdell laughed, pointing over to Schindler. “After that we became friends.”

For Ransdell, he was required to take two years of piano instructions in elementary school. By sixth grade, he had the option of picking what he wanted to play.

Aaron Ransdell (Photo by Gary Mead)

“My last name starts with an ‘R,’ and they went down the list in alphabetical order,” he said. “Everyone picked things like saxophone and trumpet. When it came time for me to pick, not much was left, so I chose the tuba.”

The tuba became a part of his lifestyle all the way through high school not knowing it would pay off down the road. On the side, Ransdell picked up the guitar and taught himself how to play.  By 15, he may have been comfortable playing guitar, but he had an ear for the bass. The tuba transitioned to a bass guitar and he never looked back.

“In my mind, you are a bass player,” said Schindler. “You are a bass guy who plays guitar.”

The two spent time at the Wheeler Arts Community in Fountain Square. The manufacturing plant turned art residency was the perfect environment to help tap into their eclectic creativity. With some different art style and artist around every corner, it was a way to gather the gamut of the Indianapolis arts community all under one roof, and a great way to form a band.

Ransdell moved on to work at Meridian Music. One day Baburin came in to get his classical guitar re-strung. The initial conversation did not start out so well.

“You get jaded with all types of people who think they know more than you. Yev came in  to get his guitar re-strung, and the way you have to re-string a classical guitar is difficult, and it just pissed me off. He kept making small talk and asked if I was in a band. I told him no and kept giving him short answers, hoping he would go away. He went over to play some of the guitars on the wall and just tore it up. I immediately thought, ‘This guy really knows his chops!’ When he came back, I asked him if he wanted to be in a band.”

Yevgeny Baburin (Photo by Gary Mead)

Rock and roll was what Baburin started out playing, joining a high school metal band. It was his first taste of the recording experience, recording and releasing an album of his own.

“I had to buy my own album,” joked Baburin.

He went to IUPUI, and learned how to properly play guitar. For a few years he learned classical technique, but exchanged that for a journalism degree while still picking up his guitar on the side.

When he joined Tonos Triad, he was as intrigued as he was skeptical.

“At first, I couldn’t keep up. They definitely had the chops. I thought it was really funky. But the more we played the more it came together, which in turn gave me more confidence in the band.”

Rod Schindler (left) and Yevgeny Baburin (Photo by Gary Mead)

Lots of hours were logged in practice until enough material was collected to make their debut album. With the combined experience and connections they made, it all came together within a weekend as they converted Schindler’s house into a studio. They hired Paddington Productions to come over and set up their gear, using his teaching space for their recording gear and snaked the mics into the living room where the band set up.

“We met Andrew Malott from Paddington,” said Schindler. “We played him our music, and he loved it. They came out to record us at Bitus, which is this open mic-ish kind of gig.  They came out with their high-tech gear and under hostile conditions got a recording of the night.”

“Setting up high-end, fragile equipment is not an easy thing to do, let alone getting a great recorded sound,” said Ransdell.

But they did it, and it began a great relationship between them and the band. A month before the album session, they did a quick and dirty two-track recording. It was a way for them to just spend time getting to know and study the material.

By recording time, everything was recorded live to tape with very little overdubs. Even the overdubs they had to do lined up perfectly without modification.

“It’s just not normal for that to happen,” said Ransdell. “All of that practice paid off.”

The result is a musical journey through style and elegance, from the dimly-lit, flamenco-infused “Solewhole” and the Jobim-esque Brazillian jazz number “Gulro Joint” to some ragtime with a little swing mixed in (“Gypsy Treasures”) and just cool jazz experimentation like on “Three Martinis.”

The key element to any Tonos Triad song is melody. According to Schindler, if you don’t have melody, you don’t have a song, as it is incorporated into all modern music.

“Underneath the accordion and suits, we are really just rockers,” said Schindler. “We like a bag of different stuff.”

And that esprit de corps is something that stands out beyond anything else.  Whether you catch them live at the Castleton Grill one evening as they set the mood for your evening meal, at some intimate event playing outside on dirt, or on a lavish stage opening for someone like Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, you can be certain that they put on a high-quality show no matter what the environment is. Every twist and turn is an experience to be hold as Schindler boasts how they have the most universal audience and experiences.

Aaron Ransdell (Photo by Gary Mead)

“We have to be careful where we play,” Schindler continued. “The reason we fit in a place like that is that we are not singer-songwriters. We don’t sing, we simply let the music speak for yourself.”

Rod Schindler (left) and Yevgeny Baburin (Photo by Gary Mead)

One thing the band does not do much of is improvisation. All of their songs are structured to an extent. Most of their songs are in the five minutes or less category as they have a strict no jamming or extended solo policy.

“I like that we don’t play three songs for an hour and a half,” Ransdell said. “We play more like 20 songs in an hour and a half.”

Whatever the band does or wherever they go, the biggest charge is when they see people become genuinely interested in their music and witness the audience making that connection. It’s why they keep their musical beginnings and the coffee shop days near to them.

“Coffee shops are a great grassroots place because you can sit down and concentrate,” said Schindler. “Something like the Castleton Grill is perfect because you can have a nice meal and check out original music.”

“I think it’s really great that they bring in live music like that,” Ransdell added. “Restaurants usually pipe in Muzak. Who wants to hear Kenny G playing Bobby McFerrin songs during their meal?”

To keep an eye on the band’s upcoming performances, order their music, or simply find out more information about them, you can go to www.tonostriad.com.

From left: Rod Schindler, Aaron Ransdell, and Yevgeny Baburin (Photo by Gary Mead)