Slightly Stoopid

By Jeannette Madden
Music Editor

Slightly Stoopid comes smoking into Fargo Thursday, May 5, playing at the Venue with the Meat Puppets. With more than a decade of making music together, the members of Slightly Stoopid have perfected one of the rarest and most valuable skills a band can develop: the art of the stealth groove, that knack for quietly, almost innocently, sliding into a composition, and utterly lassoing anyone within earshot by mid-song. 

That’s where the band has come to reside musically: deep in the pocket, that ever-elusive, funky trench where a band can entrance an audience, hypnotize it and hold on to it until the set or CD is finished. Built on a bedrock of nasty, oceanic slabs of dubby bass, meditative vocal harmonies, rock-steady guitar licks and tightly syncopated percussive rhythms, Slightly Stoopid illustrate a case study in underground success. This success is steeped in years of hard touring, an improvisational business model, and a creative process that continues to unwind and push the envelope of a new jam-based genre which the band helped to create.

Slightly Stoopid’s dual front-men Miles Doughty (Guitar, Bass, Vocals) and Kyle McDonald (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), created their own label, Stoopid Records, in the early 2000’s in order to avoid signing a record deal and keep their DIY work ethic and freedom away from music industry politics. The west coast sound pioneers later added musicians Ryan ‘RyMo’ Moran (Drums) and Oguer ‘OG’ Ocon (Congas, Percussion, Harp, Vocals) from the B Side Players, as well as C-Money (Trumpet, Keyboard) and Dela (Saxophone) from John Brown’s Body; solidifying their on stage line up. Slightly Stoopid has built a large n’ loyal fan base, and has soared to one of the most successful independent artists of this decade. The buzz surrounding the group continues to increase with each successive release; their album catalog sales have topped the 700,000 mark and the group continues to fill the most prestigious concert venues around the world.

Ryan ‘RyMo’ Moran says that Slightly Stoopid’s lifestyle is their “biggest influence.” He said, “Most of the guys in the band at this point live in San Diego. About half of us were born and raised in California. The band’s music definitely embodies that style of music. It’s just a natural part of our life, so we sing a lot about just that: having fun with your friends, being out and going to the beach.”

In addition, Slightly Stoopid is known for advocating the cannabis movement and held their annual 4/20 show at Los Angeles’s legendary Greek Theatre this year. “We all grew up around the beach, you know?“ RyMo said. “Along with surfing and skating, it’s just is kind of a natural part of that whole scene. It’s always around, so we just have always grown up with the herb.“

Slightly Stoopid is taking their time with their new album, which is new for them. “We’ve been working on a new one for about the last year,” RyMo explained. “We just built our own studio, so we’ve just been taking our time on the new one, and I’m really happy about it. We’re getting pretty close to complete, so we’re looking to release something probably by early fall this year.” RyMo described how, for the band, its been stressful to have to rent studio time to record albums. Financially and creatively, having their own studio has given Slightly Stoopid the opportunity to make this album the way they want and at their own pace.

RyMo says that their new album will be a “little different in the way that we’re maturing and growing every day. We’ve grown, changed. We have families. Albums are sort of like photographs. They’re relevant for that exact instant in time. It tells you where the band is at that moment.”

When asked to share something about each of the band members, RyMo explained their nicknames for each other. “Our keyboard player – his name is Paul – we just call him Pauley Walnuts. OG is our percussion player. We call him that because his real name is Oguer, so if you want to, call him “Ogre” or “Gogurt.” We had all these names, because we couldn’t pronounce his name. It’s obviously not a very common name, so they just call him OG. And then Chris Welter, our trumpet player, he goes by C-Money. He’s had that name forever. And then DeLa, his last name is De La Cruz, so they just started calling him DeLa. The names just sort of evolved, so that’s just what we go by when we’re onstage.”

When San Diego’s Slightly Stoopid takes the stage Thursday night at the Hub, hopefully they will bring some of their California sunshine and good vibrations with them. And with album names like $lightly Stoopid (released in 1996 and way before Ke$ha came along), Chroncitis (2007) and Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid (2008), this band is known for its live performances where they feed off the fans’ energy and the crazier the crowd, the crazier the show. Catch their video for 2AM here: http://tiny.cc/SSvid and catch their show Thursday night.

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IF YOU GO:
Slightly Stoopid Concert
When: Thurs. May 5 at 7:00p.m., doors open at 6:00p.m.
Where: The Venue
Tickets: $22.50 in advance, $25.00 day of the show