Additional Details

Additional details

Been Together Since: 2001

Sounds Like: Sound-trackish, dark and exotic.

Members

Tomas Escalante -- vocals
Claudio Depujadas -- drums, percussion
David Cummings -- piano, keyboards
Kelly Doyle -- guitar
Jay Brooks -- upright and electric bass, percussion
John Daniels -- percussion, fire breathing
Aaron Koerner -- trumpet
Alfred Tam -- trombone
Rhonda Roberts -- ukelele, vocals
Corey Lareau -- saxophone
Ryan Gabbart -- trombone
David Tashery -- drums

MP3S

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Where Are We Now?

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A Most Excellent Flying Death

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The Dance of the Crustaceans

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Noctopia

Audio Interview

Discography

Clouseaux, 2002
Destination Oasis EP, 2003
Lagoon!, 2004
Beyond Good and Evil, 2007

Where To Buy

• Band's Web site

Review

Exotica music shows up in some odd places.

Members of Clouseaux mull over where they've heard it -- car commercials, The Big Lebowski -- but the self-described "Tiki" band leaves out perhaps the strangest place of all: Houston.

Clouseaux is a rare find in a city that, for the most part, likes its live music familiar and radio-friendly.

"We recognize that this isn't a style that people flock to, but I am pretty confident that if someone comes to see us, they're going to recommend us to their friends," vocalist Tomas Escalante says.

This classically trained bunch has roots in the local music scene, with more than a few of Clouseaux's members hailing from two of Houston's successful-but-defunct bands, Middlefinger and the Suspects. Keyboardist David Cummings and bassist Jay Brooks dreamed up the idea of an exotica band and wrote the initial songs. After a false start in 2000, Clouseaux came together a year later.

The band's lineup also includes Claudio Depujadas (drums, percussion), Ryan Gabbart (trombone, percussion), Steffany Johnston (vocals), Steve Ruth (trumpet, percussion), Kelly Doyle (guitar), Andy Salmon (percussion) and John Daniels (percussion and fire breathing). Travis Mixon joins the band onstage for the occasional pyrotechnics.

"Jay and David got the idea rolling with one style, but as the band filled out and we started writing songs as a collective, the sound became more eccentric. Anything goes; a Rubik's cube of music," Gabbart says.

"Kelly adds a surf element. All my stuff ends up sounding Latin. Ryan and Steve are more traditional jazz," Cummings adds.

"Tomas has added a soulful vocal styling," Brooks says, "so maybe it's soul-surf-jazz."

From a layman's perspective, exotica is jazzed-up jazz punctuated with mystery, intrigue and squawks of unknown origin. It's the call of a wild, devil-may-care nightlife. It's full of passion, of something vaguely dangerous yet alluring.

"I think people can understand it as having an Austin Powers vibe, because that's mainstream and relatable. We may touch on that, but we go beyond it," Brooks says.

"We have odd progressions and intense rhythmic combinations that you don't find in the old style of 1950s and 1960s lounge or exotica music. Ours is more complicated," Gabbart adds.

"I envision something maniacal. Like cartoons from the 1930s where there's a lot going on and weird music behind it. People doing handstands and jumping around. Just mayhem," Escalante says.

This musical madness is especially notable on songs like Le Nuit and A Most Excellent Flying Death, which appear on the band's eponymous debut album. Krakatoa delves into the moony realms of space-age lounge, while Where are We Now is a kicky jazz number with a Sex and the City feel.

As for whether or not there is room for Clouseaux in Houston's sonic landscape, the band is confident that it will always find an audience.

"Regardless of musical taste, audiences always seem to like it and get it. I don't know if it's that the music is something different, or if it's the stage show, or that they like the compositions. I think it just has universal appeal," Gabbart explains.

"My two children somehow relate to the music. My grandfather, who is 84, remembers listening to this music when he was a young man in the military. So we're eclectic, but our audience is pretty broad," Escalante adds.

In addition to its weekly gig at the Continental Club, Clouseaux will travel to Palm Springs, Calif., in May to perform at a Tiki festival. With this in mind, the band is working to put out a second album in time to wow aficionados at the festival. And though they may find themselves with a new, national fan base after Palm Springs, a band this large knows its limitations.

"Trying to have rehearsals with 10 people is a constant source of frustration. We all have work, school, families. Everybody can't make every show, and that can compromise our sound. We may never be able to tour, but we could do key weekend shows in New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans," Brooks says.

What else is in store for Clouseaux?

"More fire. More scantily clad women, because that brings people out. Midgets. Animals. The weirdest stuff you can imagine. We'll have our own hotel, cigarettes, matches, clothing company," Gabbart says.

And if you're still not convinced that exotica music can succeed in such a place as Houston, it might help to know that the originator of exotica, a man named Les Baxter, was born in Mexia, Texas. Perhaps the state's mysterious side is starting to reveal itself.

-- Sara Cress | February 19, 2003