Tabla Rasa finally filling in the musical blanks

Knoxville rock band Tabula Rasa

Knoxville rock band Tabula Rasa

KNOXVILLE — After years of experimenting with different names, musicians and sounds, Knoxville quartet Tabula Rasa had to go back to the drawing board. Upon the blank slate from which the band took its name, it drew up its current style, an instrumental-minded, improvisation-heavy, unpredictable take on prog rock that incorporates a number of the genres it experimented with along the way.

Having finally reached a sense of stability, the band looks to make up for lost time, putting out a two-disc EP to be followed almost immediately with a full-length concept album.

Tabula Rasa solidified its lineup after dropping three different singers in favor of dividing vocal duties between guitarist Logan Davis and drummer Paul Seguna. Next the band added dimension, recruiting Garret Keith on keyboards and guitar. From there, the group developed an all-new catalog that combines aspects of jazz/fusion, metal, post-rock, surf and jam, citing largely instrumental influences such as Mogwai, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson and The Mars Volta, although one can also detect hints of Primus and Man or Astro-man?. While content with its loosely defined direction, Tabula Rasa explains that its evolution is ongoing.

"Through all of the old lineups, all of us felt trapped by aspects of the music we were creating at different times," says bassist Eric Gedenk. "When the third singer we had been working with didn't work out, we all took some time off from the band, entered college, and worked on our respective instruments with more of an individual approach. Finding Garrett, getting rid of our old material and plotting a new audible direction led us to think of Mr. (John) Locke's philosophy, but in the sense that the soundscape we want to create begins as a blank slate, waiting for us to fill it up with what we see fit."

"From each previous lineup, every member better learned his niche in the music," Davis adds. "Besides the individual development of each musician, we have all grown as a collective. Earlier projects helped to lock in on a style by experimentation with a variety of sounds, but we are still figuring out what works. The music creation process has matured and gained focus over the years, but we continue to try new avenues."

One of the benefits of Tabula Rasa's dynamic style is that it lends itself to live performances. With lengthy tracks that are vocally sparse and stocked with extended jams, the band's sets spew improvisation. Hitting the local gig circuit full force since May, the group has yet to play a set the same way twice.

"Playing live, we try to take the songs that people can hear on our MySpace page and fuse them together, jam them out or modify them in some way that can keep even someone very familiar with our music guessing on what we are about to do," says Gedenk. "The best aspects of our music are that a walk-down leaves the listener on the edge, because it can go any number of directions. Our style has always thrived on unpredictability, and we try to use sudden, abrupt changes to fuse styles together, as well as pull a listener in closer."

Tabula Rasa is presently seeking the ideal studio to record its inaugural EP, which will span two discs. The EP will serve as an outlet for the band's grab bag of songs that lack the cohesion to form a fluid album. Soon after its initial release, the group will barely step out of its chosen recording arena before returning to compose a full-length concept album.

"Up to this point lyrics have focused primarily on the human condition and that of the world in which we live," says Davis. "Our words come from reflection, and reflection comes from experience. The songs, however, were relatively independent of each other thematically. We have a new project in the works concerning social commentary on the unspoken power hierarchy in which we exist."

TWO DAYS AFTER TAMARA: Preservation Pub hosts Tamara Brown Monday night. Music begins at 10 p.m. and goes until 1 a.m.

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