The Heavy Pets
Encyclopedia
The Heavy Pets are an American jam band based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
who perform rhythm and blues, jazz-funk and reggae fusion with rock and roll. Officially formed in 2005, they appear regularly at music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Langerado
, the New Orleans Backbeat Jazzfest, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival
, and their namesake PetZoo. Currently the group is composed of guitarists Jeff Lloyd and Mike Garulli, keyboardist Jim Wuest, bassist Justin Carney, and drummer Jamie Newitt, with Lloyd and Garulli chiefly sharing vocal duties. In 2010 they released their second studio LP The Heavy Pets. The album was dubbed a “Top 10 Album of 2010” by The Huffington Post
.
in upstate Goshen, New York.
Garulli was in a hardcore
band named Strep Nine when he met Lloyd. Together the trio formed Anthem, the first iteration of their band named after the 1938 Anthem
Ayn Rand
novella. The group practiced under several more names (such as My Friends Band) before sticking with The Heavy Pets, only to fizzle apart when members left for college. While at Syracuse University
Lloyd befriended classmate and keyboardist Jim Wuest. The band partially regrouped after college, but remained a completely underground band.
In 2004 Lloyd got a call from former Heavy Pets bassist Joe Dupell, who had moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
to start an internet marketing company. Dupell invited him to visit, and Lloyd saw it as an opportunity to leave New York. Garulli followed, and The Heavy Pets were officially formed. Wuest arrived soon after.
Lloyd had his first Florida debut jamming with George Clinton
and Parliament
/Funkadelic
on New Years between '04 and '05. Their first South Florida show was late in 2005, on a patio in a Broward County, Florida
condominium just after Hurricane Wilma
. Afterwards the band recorded a demo and began booking at Florida venues such as Fat Cats, Alligator Alley, and Tobacco Road
, Miami. By April 2006, they had already played over 350 gigs and shared the stage with Bernie Worrell
, Oteil Burbridge
and the Peacemakers
, and Tea Leaf Green
.
The lineup changed several times after the release of Whale, with drummer Jamie Newitt joining the group just before 2008 Langerado Music Festival
, right before a heaving summer touring schedule. Dupell left the band suddenly in late 2008, and bassists Mark White of the Spin Doctors
and Felix Pastorious (son of Jaco Pastorius
) began moonlighting at shows. By mid 2009 the band permanently filled Dupell's vacancy with bassist Justin Carney of Los Angeles.
The band's breakthrough came in March 2006. They were selected by popular local vote out of 350 other local unsigned bands to perform at the 2006 Langerado Music Festival
. While there they played along bands such as Ben Harper
, The Flaming Lips
, G Love, and Robert Randolph.
High Times
That May they were selected as the High Times "Unsigned Band of the Week". In July 2006 the band embarked on an East Coast festival tour, hitting as far as upstate New York. That September they also performed at the Symbiosis Gathering in Angel's Camp, CA.
Jam Cruise
The Heavy Pets were invited to perform on Jam Cruise
, specifically the annual music-festival-at-sea's 10th voyage in January 2012. The Heavy Pets will donate a portion of proceeds from Swim Out Past The Sun sales between its release and the band's inaugural voyage upon Jam Cruise in support of Positive Legacy's community outreach projects in Haiti
.
to record a new album. That winter they spent six weeks recording the album in Scott Matthews' TikiTown studio. The band had self-produced everything up to that point, but Matthews produced the album. As a Multi-Platinum award winner, some of Matthews' previous projects have included Brian Wilson
and The Beach Boys
, Johnny Cash
, Eric Clapton
, Joey Ramone
, Elvis Costello
, Van Morrison
, Steve Perry
, Ry Cooder
and Neil Young
. It was mastered by Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller of Universal Mastering Studios NYC, and released on both CD and vinyl. Tom Lueken served as engineer.
John Popper
of Blues Traveler
made a guest appearance on the track "Girl You Make Me Stupid" with a harmonica solo. An old college friend of Wuest and Lloyd, Mike Kammers, arranged horns.
collaborator David Grisman
, Swim Out Past The Sun was produced and recorded by multi-platinum, Grammy and Oscar Award-winner Scott Mathews
and mastered by Grammy Award-winner Vlado Meller. Its cover art was contributed by American painter Mark T. Smith
. It is the band's third studio release and second effort with 102° Records.
, Gathering of the Vibes
, moe.down, Langerado
, Summer Camp Music Festival
, All Good Music Festival
, Wakarusa Music Festival, Bear Creek, Mountain Jam Festival and their namesake PetZoo. They tour the country year round and have played well over 1,000 shows since their late 2005 inception.
The drummer has performed with a mangina maintained through scotch tape since 2007.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
who perform rhythm and blues, jazz-funk and reggae fusion with rock and roll. Officially formed in 2005, they appear regularly at music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Langerado
Langerado
Langerado Music Festival is an annual music festival, taking place in early spring in South Florida, first organized in 2003 by Ethan Schwartz and Mark Brown. In 2008 the festival was held at the Seminole Big Cypress Indian Reservation in the Everglades...
, the New Orleans Backbeat Jazzfest, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day music festival held in early June at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. The festival has been held annually since 2004....
, and their namesake PetZoo. Currently the group is composed of guitarists Jeff Lloyd and Mike Garulli, keyboardist Jim Wuest, bassist Justin Carney, and drummer Jamie Newitt, with Lloyd and Garulli chiefly sharing vocal duties. In 2010 they released their second studio LP The Heavy Pets. The album was dubbed a “Top 10 Album of 2010” by The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.
Early years
Original members Jeff Lloyd, Mike Garulli and Joe Dupell befriended each other at Goshen Central High SchoolGoshen Central High School
Goshen Central High School educates students in grades 9-12 from the Goshen Central School District, which largely overlaps the town and village of the same name in Orange County, New York, USA...
in upstate Goshen, New York.
Goshen (village), New York
Goshen is a village in and the county seat of Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 5,676 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...
Garulli was in a hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band named Strep Nine when he met Lloyd. Together the trio formed Anthem, the first iteration of their band named after the 1938 Anthem
Anthem (novella)
Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics...
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
novella. The group practiced under several more names (such as My Friends Band) before sticking with The Heavy Pets, only to fizzle apart when members left for college. While at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
Lloyd befriended classmate and keyboardist Jim Wuest. The band partially regrouped after college, but remained a completely underground band.
In 2004 Lloyd got a call from former Heavy Pets bassist Joe Dupell, who had moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
to start an internet marketing company. Dupell invited him to visit, and Lloyd saw it as an opportunity to leave New York. Garulli followed, and The Heavy Pets were officially formed. Wuest arrived soon after.
Lloyd had his first Florida debut jamming with George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
and Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
/Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
on New Years between '04 and '05. Their first South Florida show was late in 2005, on a patio in a Broward County, Florida
Broward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
condominium just after Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
. Afterwards the band recorded a demo and began booking at Florida venues such as Fat Cats, Alligator Alley, and Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road (bar)
The Tobacco Road is a bar in downtown Miami, Florida, United States. It is the oldest bar in the city. It opened in November 1912, is still in business, and has operated nearly continuously since opening, having been shut down briefly at times for run ins with the law, such as when the upstairs,...
, Miami. By April 2006, they had already played over 350 gigs and shared the stage with Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell
George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...
, Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
and the Peacemakers
Peacemakers
Peacemakers, was an American pacifist organization. The name of the group is taken from a section of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”...
, and Tea Leaf Green
Tea Leaf Green
Tea Leaf Green is a five-piece jam band from San Francisco Bay Area, comprising Josh Clark , Trevor Garrod , Reed Mathis , Scott Rager , and Cochrane McMillan .-History:Tea Leaf Green began in the fall of 1996, when Scott Rager met Ben Chambers on the...
.
The lineup changed several times after the release of Whale, with drummer Jamie Newitt joining the group just before 2008 Langerado Music Festival
2008 Langerado Music Festival
The sixth Langerado Festival was held March 6, 2008 through March 9, 2008, making it one day longer than the previous year. The festival took place on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, thirty miles west of Ft...
, right before a heaving summer touring schedule. Dupell left the band suddenly in late 2008, and bassists Mark White of the Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....
and Felix Pastorious (son of Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
) began moonlighting at shows. By mid 2009 the band permanently filled Dupell's vacancy with bassist Justin Carney of Los Angeles.
Big Breaks
Langerado 2006The band's breakthrough came in March 2006. They were selected by popular local vote out of 350 other local unsigned bands to perform at the 2006 Langerado Music Festival
2006 Langerado Music Festival
The fourth Langerado music festival was once again held at Markham Park in Sunrise, Fl on March 11 and March 12 in 2006. The fourth installment of this festival series expanded further, with several pre and post festival shows...
. While there they played along bands such as Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...
, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, G Love, and Robert Randolph.
High Times
That May they were selected as the High Times "Unsigned Band of the Week". In July 2006 the band embarked on an East Coast festival tour, hitting as far as upstate New York. That September they also performed at the Symbiosis Gathering in Angel's Camp, CA.
Jam Cruise
The Heavy Pets were invited to perform on Jam Cruise
Jam Cruise
Held annually in January, Jam Cruise is a music festival on a cruise ship. It features artists of the jam band genre playing at multiple venues aboard the vessel...
, specifically the annual music-festival-at-sea's 10th voyage in January 2012. The Heavy Pets will donate a portion of proceeds from Swim Out Past The Sun sales between its release and the band's inaugural voyage upon Jam Cruise in support of Positive Legacy's community outreach projects in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
.
Whale (March 2007)
In March 2007 the band released their first studio effort Whale. The album was recorded from September 2005 to March 2007 at Dreamfactory Studios in Boyton, Florida. It featured the original line up, with Ryan Neuburger on drums and Joe Dupell on bass. The double-disc debut has 21 tracks ranging from rock, to reggae, to folk. The hit tracks "Operation of Flight" and "Sleep" were rotated heavily on Sirius Jam-On, earning the band "most-played" status for an unsigned act. They toured heavily in Florida to promote the album in the fall of 2007.Slow Motion Conductor (March 2008)
In 2008 they released a three track EP entitled Slow Moving Conductor.The Heavy Pets (April 2010)
In 2010 the band signed with the label and management team 102° and traveled to Marin County, CaliforniaMarin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
to record a new album. That winter they spent six weeks recording the album in Scott Matthews' TikiTown studio. The band had self-produced everything up to that point, but Matthews produced the album. As a Multi-Platinum award winner, some of Matthews' previous projects have included Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Steve Perry
Steve Perry (musician)
Stephen Ray "Steve" Perry is an American singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Journey from 1977–1987 and 1995–1998. Perry had a successful solo career throughout the late 1980s and early '90s.Perry's voice has garnered acclaim from musical peers and music...
, Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
. It was mastered by Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller of Universal Mastering Studios NYC, and released on both CD and vinyl. Tom Lueken served as engineer.
John Popper
John Popper
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...
of Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
made a guest appearance on the track "Girl You Make Me Stupid" with a harmonica solo. An old college friend of Wuest and Lloyd, Mike Kammers, arranged horns.
Swim Out Past The Sun (October 2011)
The band returned to their acoustic roots on Swim Out Past The Sun. Featuring a three song sit-in by longtime Jerry GarciaJerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
collaborator David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
, Swim Out Past The Sun was produced and recorded by multi-platinum, Grammy and Oscar Award-winner Scott Mathews
Scott Mathews
.Scott Mathews is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and entrepreneur.-Early Days:...
and mastered by Grammy Award-winner Vlado Meller. Its cover art was contributed by American painter Mark T. Smith
Mark T. Smith
Mark T. Smith is a celebrated American painter. He is best known for his colorful, complex paintings and his passion for the application of art into the fabric of everyday life.-Life:...
. It is the band's third studio release and second effort with 102° Records.
Touring
Major festival darlings, THP have taken the stage at Bonnaroo, High Sierra Music FestivalHigh Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...
, Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes is an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrates the Grateful Dead & showcases a very diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles often include; Funk, Bluegrass, Rock, Jam Band, Jazz, Reggae, R&B & Folk music. Since 1996, GOTV has...
, moe.down, Langerado
Langerado
Langerado Music Festival is an annual music festival, taking place in early spring in South Florida, first organized in 2003 by Ethan Schwartz and Mark Brown. In 2008 the festival was held at the Seminole Big Cypress Indian Reservation in the Everglades...
, Summer Camp Music Festival
Summer Camp Music Festival
Summer Camp Music Festival is a jam music festival held each Memorial Day weekend at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. Developed by concert producer Ian Goldberg of Jay Goldberg Events & Entertainment, the first year of the festival was 2001...
, All Good Music Festival
All Good Music Festival
The All Good Music Festival and Camp Out is a weekend-long event held annually in July. Since its inception in 1997, it has been held at venues along the Mid-Atlantic, including Masontown, West Virginia and locations in Maryland and Virginia...
, Wakarusa Music Festival, Bear Creek, Mountain Jam Festival and their namesake PetZoo. They tour the country year round and have played well over 1,000 shows since their late 2005 inception.
Side Projects
- Spaghetti Warhol (full band - all covers)
- Fat Mannequin (Jeff, Mike & Justin - acoustic)
- Lather Up! (Jim, Justin & Jamie - funk/groove)
- DuBBle James (Jim & Jamie - live dubstep)
- Ginger Bakers (Jeff, Justin & Jamie - power trio)
Studio albums
- Whale (May 2007)
- Slow Motion Conduction EP (2008)
- The Heavy Pets (2010)
- Swim Out Past The Sun (2011)
Live albums
- The Heavy Pets Live From the OBX, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
(March 6, 2009) - The Heavy Pets Live From Baltimore (October 17, 2009)
- The Heavy Pets Live From State TheatreState Theatre (St. Petersburg, Florida)Constructed in 1924, the State Theatre is an outstanding example of Beaux-arts style architecture. At the time of its construction, the State Theatre's 6000 sq. ft. made it one of the largest banks in St. Petersburg...
, St. Petersburg, FL (December 4, 2009) - Charlie Miller's Picks (Winter 2010-11)
The drummer has performed with a mangina maintained through scotch tape since 2007.
Current members
- Jeff Lloyd - guitar, vocals
- Mike Garulli - guitar, vocals
- Jim Wuest - keyboards, vocals
- Justin Carney - bass, vocals
- Jamie Newitt - drums, vocals
Previous members
- Joe Dupell - bass
- Felix Pastorious - bass
- Julius Pastorius - drums
- Mark White - bass
- Ryan Neuburger - drums
Management
- Manager: 102 Degrees | Mark Minkin
- Booking: Nimbleslick | Owen Gray
- Media/Publicity: Brotherly Love Productions | Destiny Spang
- Street Team: Blackspy Marketing | Jon Eisenberg
- Road Manager/FOH: Charlie Miller
External links
- Heavy Pets at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....