Last time frontwoman Kalmia Traver and her band Rubblebucket came to South Florida, they all got their wallets stollen. After playing at a LandShark Lager promotional event on South Beach, they decided to take a late night dip in the ocean. Though the others got totally screwed, Traver lucked out, kinda. "Everyone got their phone stolen. Mine was a little bit apart from the group, just in the pocket of my pants. So, I was lucky." Adding of this Miami experience, "The mood went from so good to so bad in like one second."
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Luckily, this isn't deterring them from returning to Florida. They'll be performing tonight with the Resolvers at the Funky Biscuit thanks to Brotherly Love Productions. Traver and bandleader and trumpeter Alex Toth first met in Vermont and moved to Boston to join reggae act John Brown's Body. There they got 15 of their friends to form Rubblebucket. Nowadays, the crew has become more, "manageable" at a mere seven members based out of Brooklyn.
Known for their wild stage shows, they'll continue to impress us with some madness. Though they started with just a plain Jane set up, she says, "We've been more inspired and had more resources and more time to figure out who we are and who our audience is. We had fun just letting our imaginations go wild." And in their imagination, there are giant robot puppets that crowd members manage at shows, neon streamers are to be expected as well.
"It augments my experience as well," Traver admits. A few years ago during a performance, she says, ;"I had a deeply euphoric moment. There are a couple of songs when whomever is running the light board really goes wild, because it's a really intense song. I just remember having the mic in my hand, looking out at the crowd, and I looked up at the lights just flashing all these different colors, and I was like, 'dude.' It was like the euphoria just hit me, and I thought, 'this is so amazing that I get to do this every night.'
"There's so much of a grind that goes into performing and touring, but I think that we're all sort of born to play. We just love it. That part of the day is the best part."
They recorded their first LP Omega La La at DFA studios. "That studio was awesome," the singer remembers. "They had a really amazing collection of old analog and vintage synthesizers that ended up on the record."
Just last month they released an EP, Oversaturated. Off the album, she especially favors the tune "Oooh Wa." Her dad came to a show and noticed, saying, "Wow you really love that song." Traver thinks of an appropriately Floridian image of a palm tree lined strip every time she sings it.
"All our parents try to come out. We love our parents, we've got a good bunch. We're always debating who's got the coolest dad." She reveals, "It's obviously an impossible debate. Because you can't really agree on someone other that your own dad."
We asked if having such great fathers made them the band they are today. "If you took all the dads, and deeply analyzed them, and looked at their entire history, and then projected a band to come from that, it'd probably be Rubblebucket."
Given that their show will be here around Halloween, the big day came up in conversation. "I have guilt or shame attached to Halloween. I love getting dressed up, but it always sneaks up on me." But as far as the band goes, "Undoubtedly, whatever our costumes will be, there will be a lot of spandex, leotards, stuffed crotches."
Brotherly Love Productions presents Rubblebucket with the Resolvers 9 p.m., October 25 at the Funky Biscuit, 303 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton.
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