Greenfield’s Steve Koziol is a funny guy. Sharp and astute, he is one of those musicians with a unique and kaleidoscopically twisted take on the everyday. So he’s not “goofy funny.” Well, maybe there’s a bit of that in there, too.
Like earlier band Dingo Roi, Span of Sunshine serves as an outlet for Koziol’s takes on the real and the surreal. Koziol says his latest musical incarnation, overflowing with layers of harmony and saccharine instrumentation, was born of thoughts of the ’70s.
“Span of Sunshine might have been spun out of a conversation involving the various flavors of Koogle Peanut Butter, the Nixon presidency, and the graphic design elements of 1974,” he says. “I needed a way to process my original impressions of classic song parts as edited together on Ronco record commercials. And, yes, the ’70s were a hot time.”
To realize his vision, Koziol enlisted the help of friends: “I needed a producer/engineer with a studio and a group of like-minded or sympathetic souls to embark on this journey.”
He turned to Norm DeMoura of Harmonium Studio in Haydenville, who “provided his ears and talent for the music and idea processing.”
Next he needed musicians. “The main Spanners—Hilary Weiner, Dan McGrail and myself—were backed up by Mike Levesque and Scott Haworth on drums, Mark Hoover on triangle, valve trombone and didgeridoo,” says Koziol. “Ernie Wilson played bass on [a few] and Norm DeMoura provided plenty of instrumental sounds on several tracks. A new member to the live band is Dave Hobbs on bass, and Mark Bodah plays drums.”
To Koziol, Span of Sunshine sounds “like They Might Be Giants teaming up with XTC to arrange Frank Zappa versions of Beach Boy songs. There are so many other influences. I might call something I’m working on ‘a Steely Dan song’ and it works for my efforts whether the band agrees with the reference. I think something unique is created in missing the mark, but a true marksman names his target after he hits it.”
The band credits DeMoura for helping things coalesce on This Must Be The Present. “Norm worked with us to get the sound we wanted to hit the mark,” says Koziol. “Decibel nudge by decibel nudge, a couple more beats per minute on the click track, yet another vocal harmony. Like building a tower with toothpicks and marshmallows at times, but very fun and lots of laughs.”
While Koziol’s music is still humorous, that’s not all it is. “We have a new song, ‘Roadside Companion,’ that immediately identifies Sasquatch as that companion,” he says. “This may seem like another funny song from me, but I also try to create a sympathetic character and leave out campy lines from practice. I think humor might have been something to fall back on originally in my songwriting—the same may apply to the bed of vocal harmonies. Anyway, a line I kept in ‘Roadside Companion’: ‘He belongs to nature more than we do; we’re the ones who still remain a mystery.'”
For songs and shows, visit www.myspace.com/spanofsunshineband.
