Dr. Radical prescribes funk

By Luke Krummel

Posted on Oct. 02, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

Denise Farwell

JAMMIN - Bassist Tim Johnston, drummer Caleb Wheeler, and guitarist Bill Mayo of the band Doctor Radical, perform in Memorial Union last October. The band is currently one of the leading bands on the local music scene. They have played at least three gigs

Since the fall of 2001, funk/ jam band, Doctor Radical has been a staple at the University of Maine. Originally consisting of Bill Mayo, Tim Johnston, Caleb Wheeler and Ryan Foss, the Doc has jammed at many local venues including Bumstock, Ushuaia and the Bear Brew Pub.

Time has taken its toll on these funkaholics, however, losing Foss to the open road, and getting served up a slice of hiatus pie as they only have time to play together when booked for a live show.

The story of this band starts back in the fall of 2001 when Johnston, a bassist, began cruising through some posted ads and came across a flyer by a budding guitarist, Mayo. The two got together and quickly began jamming. With half of the quartet complete, Mayo introduced saxophone specialist Foss to Johnston. Also with Mayo came high school band mate and drummer, Wheeler.

“Caleb and Bill have been playing together forever,” Johnston said. “They are basically inseparable, and hence the foursome.”

With the line-up complete, the only sea left to sail was that of naming the band. According to Johnston, several names were tossed around, including: T. Bob Tubb, The Mass Device, and Tighty-Whities Music Band. Ultimately, the four decided on Doctor Radical.

“It’s really a great name,” Johnston said. “Short, no gimmick.”

But the band hasn’t always been on solid ground. During the summer of 2002, Johnston left for Japan with no plans to return to the band.

“They knew a bassist they liked better, and I figured that would work, but it didn’t,” Johnston said. “We have a lot of personality [and] stylistic conflicts within the band, but honestly, I can’t see myself playing with any other musicians.”

Doctor Radical re-formed in the fall of 2002.

“There are different levels of getting along with people,” Johnston said. “For example, you might hate someone on your swim team, within that team. But taken outside of that setting, with all the swimmers out there, you’d probably choose that guy you hated to swim along side you.”

Fall and spring semesters went by with the band at a standstill as far as writing was concerned. Touring and playing live shows, however, was the best it had ever been.

Foss recently left the band after a cross-country road trip landed him in California. Johnston has found himself in Boston trying to land a steady job. Wheeler and Mayo are currently in their hometown of Waterville, Maine. The band plays on, reforming for the occasional gig.

“We’ll basically play shows whenever people hire us,” Johnston said. “We are so far from each other geographically, that we can’t just jam. If someone asks us to play, we’ll practice a couple of times and go for it.”

Toss a funk band and a jam band into a blender, and what pops out is Doctor Radical. With the bass of a funk band, and extended instrumentals of a jam band, Doctor Radical brings great sound to the airwaves; one that has changed since the departure of Foss.

“We are actually a lot better- sounding than I expected,” said Johnston. “A tad funkier, and less noisy.”

On stage, each member of Doctor Radical contributes equally.

“Ryan looks like the front man, Bill plays like the front man, and I sing like the front man,” said Johnston. “Our show has to be seen to be understood.”

A fair assessment. The band unleashes a fair number of jokes on the audience, which are not always understood.

“After playing to some non-responsive audiences, we’ve just about given up on trying to let people in on the jokes,” Johnston said. “Just because audiences aren’t on the inside of Radical’s circle, doesn’t mean they aren’t having fun at shows. Maybe we sounded shitty, and weren’t funny, but we still entertained people by looking like we’re having fun.”

With the members of Radical so spread out, it may seem hard for the band to maintain their momentum. As long as fans keep reaching for Doctor Radical, rather than Dr. Radical, this band will keep on handing out directions to jam-land.

Q&A with Tim Johnson of Dr. Radical

Maine Campus: Who are some influential musicians and bands to Doctor Radical?

TJ: Phish, Zappa, Weather Report. Bill always says Slash from Guns N’ Roses is his biggest influence. Caleb is a heavy metal drummer, so Tool for him. I like hearing live, local music. We all like Medeski Martin and Wood as well.

MC: Any albums on Doctor Radical’s resume?

TJ: None. Although we’ve recorded most of our shows, and attempted six or seven studio tracks, we just never got anything good enough to have people give us money to listen to.

MC: As a musician, how do you fell that you’ve benefited hailing from UMaine?

TJ: I think we’ve had time to incubate our sound for a while, without the mainstream shooting us down. I think we wasted our opportunity by not getting really, really good. But if we had done the same thing in New York the last couple of years, people would’ve been tired of us after just a few gigs, and we never would’ve been successful.

MC: Are you guys looking to replace Ryan [Foss] at all, or are you going to run with the threesome?

TJ: Run with the threesome. If Ryan comes back, we’d probably pick him back up again.

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