[av_slideshow size=’featured’ animation=’fade’ autoplay=’false’ interval=’5′]
[av_slide id=’527′][/av_slide]
[av_slide id=’526′][/av_slide]
[av_slide id=’525′][/av_slide]
[av_slide id=’524′][/av_slide]
[av_slide id=’523′][/av_slide]
[av_slide id=’522′][/av_slide]
[/av_slideshow]

BoomBox at Hangar 9

BoomBox and Signal Path live at the Hangar 9
Review Written by Matthew McGuire
Photos by Nicholas Hess, Sean Hersch

Carbondale, Ill — BoomBox drafted up a hot 2013 Winter Tour with stops throughout the Midwest during the colder months of the year. The due took to the road to spread their blend of dance music that has people buzzing about it worldwide. This March they making stops in Atlanta, Ann Arbor, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. as well as many other performances across the country. On Friday, February 22 BoomBox and Signal Path rolled into Carbondale, Ill for two intimate sets of high energy music.
Russ Randolph and Zion Godchaux are from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and find their second home on the road. They were dialed in by phone for an interview to go over future plans for the band.

Q. The band is on an impressive nationwide Spring tour that looks like a lot of hard work. What is your favorite/least favorite part about Spring touring?
A. (Zion) We pretty much tour all year. The first part of the year we are excited about getting back on the road, but this has been a pretty busy 2013 already for us. I’d say the worst part is, it’s been cold everywhere we are going.
A. (Russ) Yeah, the weather is the only issue.

Q. Single Path is top notch band to be able to share a piece of a tour with. Do you get along well with the guys in Single Path?
A. (Zion) No. Those guys are assholes (laughs). No, we love those guys. They are good friends of ours, and they are out with us for another week or so.

Q. BoomBox steps outside the box in each genre of music. Does being innovative ever become a problem or do you use it to your advantage?
A. (Russ) We are not feeling any pressure to sound a certain way. The fact that our only job is to sound like us, you know I think ultimately does make it easier. We are not trying to sound like anybody but ourselves.
Q. Are you currently developing a new album?
A. (Zion) We are working on a new record right now. I would say it’s %85 done. It will be out within the next few months.

Before the show Nick Hess, a photographer and I captured some of the moments as the bands were loading in their gear. During sound check the bass and reverb was rattling everything in the building. I noticed the wires connected to the amplifiers were shaking, the door handles were vibrating, and Nick’s tripod was pulsating from beats by BoomBox. Signal Path and BoomBox brought in additional sound equipment, and one could hear Signal Path tuning up two blocks away. Both sound checks were impressive and exciting.
Signal Path cracked opened the music for the evening with a power packed set of polished electronica. The band is from the mile high state, and brings a powder keg of music for each set. This would be my second time seeing the band. They have performed live at the Summer Camp Music Festival before, and brought the same high energy style of music to the Hangar 9. After the rocked and awed the crowd, BoomBox started to setup their gear for a highly anticipated performance.
The Hangar 9 crowd is known for being a music lovers paradise in Southern Illinois. It brings in some of the biggest talent for being one of the tightest venues to fit people inside. The additional sound equipment had the crowd spilling all over the venue. Girls dressed up, and went wild during the starting moments of the BoomBox set.
BoomBox performed at the Copper Dragon in the Spring of 2012, and the Carbondale crowd has been buzzing about it since the set wrapped. There was an even larger buzz for the Hangar 9 set. The band has a unique way of arranging their performances, and it has a way of pulling audiences back for more and more new organic music from the duo.
The Friday night set at the Hangar was another solid performance. It was my third time seeing BoomBox perform live on stage. They may have been test driving some new tracks out for the crowd. In order to find out more on the tracks that were performed I talked with Russ after the show about going over the setlist. He mentioned that the setlist created live on stage. The spontaneous nature in the band is felt when you watching their show live. Anything seems possible, peace of mind and dancing comes easily. Their music is reminiscent of dance therapy in a way. To find out more on the band check out the link at: http://thisisboombox.com