Being a weeklie podcaste from Madison, Wisconsin featuring several remarkable curiosities therein occurring being a compendium of live music from divers artistes
Show #145: Indigenous
December 11th, 2007
I recall pretty well when Indigenous became popular back in the late 90s. It seemed like half the publicity centered around their hard blues rock sound while the other half focused on the band members’ ethnicity – Native American.
Once you get past the novelty, if you will, of a Native American rock group, you find that these folks really have the chops. I’ve never been a big fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn, one of the band’s biggest influences, but, after listening to this recording a couple times, I finally started to appreciate Indigenous for what they are instead of hearing them as SRV knock-offs. In addition to SRV, guitarist Mato Nanji obviously loves Jimi Hendrix as well. And I think Nanji gleaned a sense of rawness and unpredictiabiliy from Hendrix which appeals to me.
(Photo by Robert Murphy.)
I think Rolling Stone’s 1998 bio of the band is the best that I’ve been able to find:
The group — composed of siblings Mato Nanji (guitar, vocals), Ptcecha (bass) and Wanbdi (drums), and their cousin, Horse (percussion) — hails from South Dakota’s Nakota Nation and is currently the only Native American blues rock group on the scene. And though their race and family ties make for good copy, they’re on the defensive about stressing rock over roots.
“We don’t like to commercialize or record [traditional Indian] music,” says lead singer and songwriter Mato on the phone during the group’s first West Coast tour. “It’s sacred to us and that’s where we’d like to keep it, but it does come through in everything we do.”
Everything they do — some of which is explained on The Things We Do, the band’s debut album on upstart record label Pachyderm — is hammer out traditional blues rock, the kind Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix let drip from their guitars. It’s the type of music that Mato’s father, Greg Zephier, who played in a band called the Vanishing Americans more than twenty-five years ago, had his kids listen to while he taught them the basics. Over the years, Zephier would allow his children — who were raised with traditional Native American values — to practice their respective instruments, but kept them isolated from the discerning public until he felt their prowess was worthy of an audience.
(Photo from Canku Ota.)
This recording was culled from the band’s performance at The Vogue Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana on 24 April 2005. It’s an audience recording and not a great one, but still quite listenable.
Setlist:
I’m Still Here
Now That You’re Gone
You Got Something
I’ll Be Waiting
Little Time
Take Some Time
Rest Of My Days
Things We Do
Six Feet Down
Time for more YouTube glory! This is Indigenous performing “Things We Do” on Austin City Limits.
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