Blog | Music/Arts: Long Island Sound & Beyond

It’s Tauk as in Montauk, and the (now instrumental) quartet that is Tauk—bassist Charlie Dolan, guitarist Matt Jalbert, drummer Issac Teel and Alric “A.C” Carter on keys—did not foresee the irony of their namesake:

“One of us was wearing a Montauk T-shirt,” recalls Jalbert, “and we just liked the way that ‘Tauk’ sounded. It’s funny because we’ve had the band name for a while, so when we became all instrumental the name took on a new meaning.”

The Oyster Bay natives did have vocals in the past, but the band knows how to structure its set to keep the audience captivated through music alone. And though the experimental jammers plan on using vocals on some of their new material, Dolan says the style they have now is something they’ve gravitated towards naturally. With elements of jazz, pop, rock and funk, their sound is difficult to classify.

“We’ve never really tried to limit our sound to a specific genre because we have so many different influences we try to incorporate,” notes Jalbert. “Somebody described it as ‘math rock that swings,’ and Issac calls it ‘cinematic rock fusion.’”

Fresh off the heels of some big summer shows, including Bonnaroo and LI’s Great South Bay Music Fest, Tauk is excited to bring their dynamic sound to the Paramount (opening for JD and the Straight Shot) and Jones Beach Bandshell, where they’ll be opening for the Reckoning (a Dead tribute band) in honor of Jerry Garcia’s birthday. Having already shared the stage with Robert Randolph, O.A.R., 311, MOE. and Tea Leaf Green, the foursome would most like to open for groups like Radiohead, Phish and Deerhoof.

The band will be playing music off their entirely instrumental debut full-length, “Pull Factors,” recorded with help from Dave Natale (Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac) and mixed by Jack Johnson’s Grammy-winning producer, Robert Carranza.

“We’ll be playing a lot of stuff from ‘Pull Factors,’ says Jalbert. “We also have a lot of newer material that we’ve been fleshing out, and a cover of ‘She’s So Heavy’ by the Beatles, which has been really fun to play… We’re always trying out new things and the sound is always changing, but there’s definitely a certain thing that happens when the four of us get together that will always be there no matter what kind of song we’re playing.”

Check out Tauk at the Paramount with JD and the Straight Shot on Thursday, August 2nd, and at the Jones Beach Bandshell for Jerry Garcia’s birthday on Friday, August 3rd.
For more info: www.taukband.com and https://www.facebook.com/taukband