UMBER SLEEPING TO PERFORM SATURDAY AT THE NEW FRONTIER LOUNGE >>>

Many times over the course of my career covering music in Tacoma, I've heard Umber Sleeping's Peter Tietjen referred to as the best drummer in town. Having seen Umber's magic live on more than ten occasions, it's hard to argue against it. Tietjen, behind the kit, is a consummate pro - not to mention a badass. He's the rhythmic visionary behind Umber Sleeping's extraterrestrial synths, two tons of reverb - and crapload retro chic.

Oh, and Umber Sleeping is mildly infatuated with Three's Company - which makes things even better.

I caught up with Tietjen this week to get his thoughts on Umber Sleeping's upcoming show this Saturday at The New Frontier Lounge with Seattle's The Little Penguins, and local favorites Blanco Bronco and The Dignitaries. Since it's a bill he helped put together, it only seemed fitting.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: First of all, since you put the bill together, talk a little about the upcoming show and what you were going for. Do these bands compliment each other, or is there a common thread that runs through what this show is about? OR will it just be a mish-mash of damn fine music?

PETER TIETJEN: Well, for me it'll be a refreshing blend. Blanco Bronco is one of our favorite local groups, and The Dignitaries I haven't heard, but a little garage rock is always fun. All these groups are good people and that makes for a good night from our point of view.

VOLCANO: What is new with Umber Sleeping? I feel like I haven't caught up with you guys in forever. Can you give me a rundown of the recent history, and where you guys are at as a band?

TIETJEN: For the last few months Andrew has been bringing his keyboard skills to the group and Steve is also new on bass guitar. James, who played keyboards and/or guitar with the group since about 2005, abruptly moved to Portland - so we though we'd experiment and have bass guitar instead of moog bass that we'd always had. So, I think we rock a bit more now. Also, we've started a new CD that is more live and is being recorded very close to how the group sounds live - with more guitar going on and new deeper songs subjects like MacGyver, those little dinosaurs from Pee-Wee's Playhouse, the tri-clops from the He-Man series, etc. ...

VOLCANO: I've heard you called the best drummer in Tacoma. Thoughts? 

TIETJEN: I play music for love and income, so I play a lot and with very different people; a metal cover group, a Neil Diamond tribute, Umber Sleeping, a surf rock group, soft rock - and even some country last year. Everybody wants totally different things from a drummer, and I'm kind of into figuring out what those groups need to make the music work. I for sure have Umber Sleeping, so I can play exactly how I really want to play drums - which is Tony Williams, Keith Moon, Vinnie Appice, Phil Collins with Genesis and Billy Cobham all wrapped up. Of course, I hear sometimes about me "overplaying". Overplaying? Yeah, hopefully everyone in Umber Sleeping will strive for that. Also, look at The Who.

VOLCANO: The Tacoma scene goes in fits and starts, it seems. Sometimes it feels really promising, only to put us all in our place. How are you feeling about things in Tacoma these days? Can you accomplish everything here that you hope to?

TIETJEN: We need to get out of Dodge for sure. How, I don't know. Someone sign us! There sure are some good bands here for some reason, there just isn't any means here to elevate these groups to where they could be - and I'm not sure many around here know what to do about it either. There are too many angles to really put a quick overview on the situation, with mp3's, the Internet, etc happening these days - but hopefully someone very cool will start a very cool label somewhere around here and the next Sunn or Sub Pop" or Metal Blade or Blue Note will happen out of the Northwest

[The New Frontier Lounge, with the Dignitaries, The Little Penguins and Blanco Bronco, Saturday, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]