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Second Self


Band: Second Self

Members: Jimmy Hunter (lead guitar), Nick Stampone (bass), Adam "Tweeter" Walsh (vocals, percussion), Jeff Hunter (drums), Dave Thomas (lead vocals, guitar)

Who we talked to: Hunter, 22

Where'd the name come from? It's dealing with a Hindu philosophy of what's called the true Self, written down as a capitalized "S" on the Self, which symbolizes the atman, the collective consciousness, which is what Hindus believe we all have. The lowercase self is kind of the ego, their personality, and then the capital "S" Self, which is the second Self, is more what our true nature is.

Describe your sound/style: We write the music organically. We improvise, jam out, maybe play something from a certain style and work from there. Our sound is rooted in reggae, blues rock. There's funk in there, too, and a lot of jazz styles. And we tend to improvise a lot live.

During a jam session in the middle of a song, how do you guys know when to all come back together into the song? Physically, it's a nonverbal communication thing where we kind of lift our eyebrows and look at each other and make sure everyone's on the same page and nod our heads a little bit.

Who are your influences? Me personally, I listen to a lot of Grateful Dead and Phish and a lot of classic rock like Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa. The Mahavishnu Orchestra is a big influence for us.

What songs do you or would you like to cover? "Pinball Wizard" by The Who. It's such a short song, but . . . I just get pumped up playing it each time. It's one of the better-written classic rock songs ever. And everyone in the band feels better after we do it. And as far as crowd involvement goes, it's on top because everyone knows "sure plays a mean pinball."

Who would win in a fight: Phish or The Grateful Dead? Based on sheer numbers, I think the Dead might have a better chance, but they are true hippies. . . . I don't know if they'd be as willing to fight as Phish might be, but I think Phish is in the same mindset as well. I'd definitely say Grateful Dead because of their numbers. They're pacifists, but The Grateful Dead seems a bit wilder than Phish.

Plug one other local band: The Glorious Filaments are definitely a band to check out. They have a really tight sound that keeps getting better. Every time we've played with them, they impress us more and more.

- JASON COX, FLIPSIDE STAFF