Instrumental band creates a buzz about town.
Ideateam’s ensemble of music is extraordinary, complete with an epic band of nine guys and a full complement of instruments, ranging from horns to guitars and of course, a drum set.
Surprisingly, one will hardly hear words when this band plays its music.
Sitting in midtown at Temple Coffee Roasters on S Street in Sacramento, it was easy to see the friendship among the band members. As Roibeard Kyle Pulskamp Lockhart who plays bass and Justin Butler who plays guitar, drank their tea and laughed as they discussed the beginnings of Ideateam, their amity was obvious.
Joey Carusi and Tim Snoke as well as Butler and Lockhart, make up the original four members of Ideateam.
“We [the original four] went to high school together,” said Butler, when asked how the band was formed.
“Justin and I were early jam buddies. So we’ve all known each other for a while,” said Lockhart. “We’ve been playing music seriously though for two to three years.”
Ideateam is as unique a name as it is a band.
“We kind of just came up with it, [expletive] around,” Butler said. “For me personally, I was thinking of the collaborative element … we wanted to include different musicians and get different influences and not write the same song every time or stick in one genre.”
Ideateam has played at the Sacramento State campus a couple times this past year according to Ajamu Lamumba, a UNIQUE adviser.
“They are a fun bunch of guys who enjoy laying down the funk with a tight brass section,” said Lamumba. “They are a bunch of fun guys who enjoy playing their music together.”
Ideateam’s debut album was released Halloween night. The album release party at Harlow’s on J and 27th street in Sacramento was a wild night, according to the band.
“It was a good show,” said Lockhart. “It was one of those shows that you were just glad to be a part of, for sure.”
With so many members, fitting on a smaller stage is a process.
“It’s a combination of what we have to work with,” said Butler. “There are some things that we’ve discovered just plain don’t work. For example we used to have our percussion player in front of the drums … Like anything else, you kind of find something you’re comfortable with. We kind of have asset up now that caters pretty well to what we do.”
Though Butler would like to see a few more instruments added to the musical entourage, there is not yet a consensus amongst the band to add more members.
Butler said, fundamentally Ideateam is an instrumental band but it does have a lyrical component.
“I love the instrumental section of the band but now that they have added a lead singer (Garret Wildegust from The Old Screen Door) they are really reaching new heights musically,” said Lamumba.
In five years the guys of Ideateam hope to be able to fully support themselves with their music and hope to tour the world as well.
