Zen Warship is a self-proclaimed Red Hot Chili Peppers / James Brown hybrid whose aim is to give you life! A Zen Warship show isn’t so much a concert as a party: Picture a 1960s happening for the modern era – a rave without the strobe and the monotonous pulse – in which the band and audience members dance, dance, dance to reworked classics and funktastic originals.
“Audiences can expect to be surprised by the way we approach songs,” said guitarist/composer Tyler Moselle. “In the same set, we’ll play an Afrobeat version of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You’, a South African township tune, and a funk version of a ’90s boy band hit, among many originals that range from funk to rock to disco.”
When Tyler moved back to DC from New York City in 2016, he knew he wanted to form a band that would do justice to his roughly 30 original compositions across a handsome spectrum of genres. (“Handsome” is an understatement: Elements of funk, rock, disco, jazz, Afrobeat, post-punk, grunge, heavy rock, pop, reggae, ska, and even scales from Spain and India are all fair game to be playfully assembled, disassembled, then re-birthed, Zen Warship-style.) He found multi-instrumentalist Phil Marnell that summer, followed by Italian bassist Robert Giberti – both of whom contributed their composing chops to the mix – then finally Reuven Sussman (drums), Richie Hertzberg (trombone), and Ben DeVries (trumpet). All battle stations manned, Zen Warship was ready to launch in the spring of 2017, and the DMV has been feeling the funk-rock love ever since.
The members of Zen Warship believe that music can bring bliss and tranquility to a world overwhelmed by present-day pressures – hence the name “Zen Warship”, which was chosen to evoke the duality of music and modern life.
“On the one hand, people seek solace, peace, serenity through music and their actions. On the other hand, people seek aggression, intensity, sometimes violence to express themselves. This is the fundamental problem of existence: these competing tensions and human impulses,” said Tyler. “We want the Zen element of life to always win. Music can be a vehicle to help achieve that end state. So while our band name calls attention to that duality, it can also be interpreted to be a Warship with a single-minded focus of bringing Zen to those who hear our music.”
Let the battle commence! We at Bossa are happy to welcome Zen Warship back to our main stage to help put you in a Zen-like state of mind. This is not your average act-to-audience setup: Sitting down is contrary to reason, and you may just find yourself rubbing elbows with a band member or two – quite literally – as several musicians go wireless specifically to be able to get off the stage and interact with their fans.
“Bossa is one of our favorite venues in the greater DC area,” said Tyler. “We love it because it exudes positivity and creative energy. We want audiences to let loose, have fun, and dance as we contribute to a tradition of people who want to cultivate a vibrant culture that is both local and global.”
Get your dancing feet ready for Zen Warship on our main stage on Sunday, May 6 at 7 pm!
Can’t wait? Check out Zen Warship’s new video for their track “This Time”:
story © yillah 2018
photo courtesy of Zen Warship