By
Ian Caruth
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Good Question keeps live music scene of Tucson in full swing
What does one call a rock band that throws jazz, funk, and even of-the-moment electronic elements into their jam-oriented musical melange?
Good Question.
Comprised of four University of Arizona students, Good Question has been building a following throughout the southwest since their conception a year and a half ago. They will be performing this weekend at two local venues including the Rialto Theater.
The band's winding instrumentals draw from many different genres of music and elude simple description.
"We like to call it electro-improvadelic funk," said media arts senior Ryan Porter, Good Question's bassist and one of the three vocalists.
Porter and the rest of the band - lead guitarist/vocalist Andy Tenn, guitarist/vocalist Jeff Toffoli, and Aaron Dubois on drums and "vocal effects" - juggle the demands of musical and academic life, just as their main influence, Phish, did years ago at the University of Vermont.
"I'm doing 18 units and all the booking (for gigs)," said Porter. "We're all pretty hardcore - we're all students, and then on weekends, we pack up and head out."
Good Question has been playing gigs around Tucson and beyond "ever since we've been together," said Porter. The group formed when Porter placed an ad in the Arizona Daily Wildcat looking for improv-minded musicians, and a band was born.
Since their beginning, the band has played in venues as far as San Diego and Flagstaff, with more far-ranging dates planned.
"We should be playing up in Las Vegas at the Legends Lounge on Halloween," Porter said. "Last week we played there, and the whole set was broadcast on www.digitalclubnetwork.com."
The tireless performance schedule - and shrewd promotional ventures like the web broadcast and the band's website (www.gqfunk.com) - have helped build Good Question's reputation on a local and even national level.
"It's been a really good thing," Porter said. "A lot of bands from out of town are getting in touch with us, to open for us or for us to open for them. We have a band from Virginia called Ordinary Way opening for us Friday night - I haven't seen them yet, but I have their CD and it's really good."
Not to be outdone, Good Question has been spending time lately recording their own self-produced CD, to be released in mid-September.
"We took a month and a half off (after last year) and most of the time this summer was spent in the studio," Porter said. "We've been recording in Wavelab Studios (in Tucson). We're mixing and mastering this week."
Including instrumentals, songs with lyrics, and live recordings, the CD should capture many different facets of the band's performance.
Porter seemed hopeful but pragmatic about Good Question's future.
"We all really, really want to do this (as a career)," he said. "We're going to get school done, so we have something to fall back on if it doesn't work. The response we've been getting has been really encouraging, though."
He also commented on the local music scene and encouraged students to support live music.
"There's not that many good local bands right now," he said. "It seems like DJs are really big with people at school, but we think that people who like that could open their minds and could appreciate us."
