LITTLE ROCK — After lounging around, drinking Fat Tire, listening to music and chatting, the question you forget to ask is the name. Not the name of the band. The name of the band is Luster, a Little Rock quartet. A four piece that uses alternative rock simply as a foundation. A familiar base to explore other musical genres.
Luster is the name of the band started by guitarist Chris Hemphill and drummer Mark Gorbet roughly six years ago. Gorbet and Hemphill are the friends who met in the early '90s, started playing music together and more than 15 years later still make music together.
Luster is the band that includes Jeff Teague on bass. Teague is the bassist who joined Luster very soon after Gorbet and Hemphill began the Luster project. Teague is the bassist who sometimes creates guitar riffs, such as the bluesy "Victim." Guitar riffs that Hemphill plays. The band is fluid in its songwriting process. Members bring ideas. Members shape the ideas. Members write the tunes. The fluidity defines the band's sound.
"Chris and I decided way back not to establish a sound," Gorbet said. "We always want to be growing in our music. We won't have an identity crisis with our music because we continue to grow and keep it fresh."
The last part of the equation in the name of the band Luster is the lead singer: Amie Jo Bishop. A Hot Springs resident who moved to Little Rock last year, heard of Luster through mutual friends and soon joined the group at the beginning of the year. Bishop is the lead singer of Luster who soulfully unveils her bluesy howl over Hemphill’s riffs, Teague’s melodic bass lines and Gorbet’s steady drumming.
Coming from a folk background, Bishop was searching to rock out. In stepped Luster.
"I was off in folkie blues land," Bishop said. "I wanted to get with a band and was freaking out. I was told by a friend there was this guy named Chris who’s got a group and they work together."
Bishop met Luster.
"She came in here and sang a couple of songs," Hemphill said. "She left out for a little while, and we decided we'd be stupid not to ask her to join the group."
"She started wailing and we were like, 'Wow,'" Teague said.
And what does Bishop think of joining Luster?
"I freaking love this band," she said. "It's so flexible and open."
There's no songwriting rules with Luster. No head songwriter in charge. The songs transform from snippets to songs. Most of them have a heavy bass groove. Some have danceable bass lines. Others are big bottom rock with wah wah. Others are ringing guitar. Or scratching guitar riffs. Or chugging guitar rock hugging tight to a melodic bass line.
The band's tunes evolve. Each practice. Each live show. The band likes to explore new directions.
"Ask us what we sound like and we couldn't tell you," Hemphill said. "Our new stuff just sort of evolves."
"We're always trying to find a new angle. It's never finalized. It's never good enough. We think the songs are better live."
The fluidity in the band's sound means they only have a four-tune EP and two-tune demo to show for their six years of togetherness. But with Bishop in the fold, Luster likes the idea of recording. The band has about 30 songs, written over its six-year history. But 10 tunes since Bishop joined. Teague mentions the band would like to start recording by September.
What you forget to ask is the name of the rehearsal space. A stop-sign-red brick warehouse between downtown Little Rock and the airport. Undistinguished like warehouses often are. A undistinguished warehouse split into several rectangular rooms with cinder block walls and wood ceilings. Other bands practice there.
Gorbet and Hemphill had the space before they had the band. Seven years later, the current room Luster occupies is one of the larger spaces in the undistinguished warehouse. It's got a wall unit set to 60 degrees. A mini-fridge stuffed with Fat Tire. A TV with a PlayStation 2. Marshall stacks. A Fender Telecaster Deluxe. A dry-erase board with the band's 10-song setlist. Framed posters from the band's most recent history with Bishop. A collage of photos including Kris Allen, the cast of the original Star Trek and Taylor Swift. It's got a couch.
The couch has a name. The couch covered with unconnected scribblings in magic marker. Phrases such as "It's not me; it's the PCP," and "I'm old Gregg." You forget to ask if the room has a name. It should have a name.
What do you talk about? The fluidity of the band's music. It's rock. Guitar driven. A solid rhythm foundation. And female vocals. It grows from there.
"We don't want to write the same song twice," Gorbet said.
Six years in, this is where you find Luster. A band experimenting with their melodic sound over a rock foundation. A band of brothers and a sister, who gather twice a week to practice, talk, play, relax, toss the football and cancel out the world in their clubhouse with no name. A band with a new promise.
"We're clicking on all cylinders," Teague said. "Amie has given us a lot of motivation."
See the show:
Luster will perform at the Town Pump on Saturday with Flash LaRue. The music starts at 9 p.m. with a $3 cover.