A Quactus -- combination duck and cactus -- dances on the band's MySpace page. The creature has become their logo and name, but lead guitarist Gabe Weiner wouldn't reveal why. Instead, he laughed and said he'd have to check with bandmates before giving away the story.
The band knew they'd found a name when they found the word "Quactus" and laughed nonstop for about 30 minutes, Weiner said.
Was it an inside joke? Not really.
Regardless, Quactus is nothing to laugh about. These guys, all age 28, are serious about music.
Weiner, originally from Gaithersburg, moved to Los Angeles, Calif., to study music. After earning a Bachelor's degree in classical composition in music theory and a Master's in jazz guitar performance, Weiner is now working on his doctorate at the University of Southern California, his thesis being on Indian classical music and jazz.
"I like things in 5 or 7," he said.
His song "Van Winkle's Dream" is in 7/4.
Guitarist Seth Gordon, meanwhile, studied classical vocal performance as an undergrad, so Quactus members go to him for vocal arrangements. Greg Zachan, their bassist, has studied, too, and continues to take bass lessons.
Their first album, "Once a pond, a spine...," produced by their percussionist, Matt McDuffee (who doubles as an audio engineer), took two years to complete but sounds worth it. The songs vary in style (depending on who wrote them), but whether jammy or jazzy, they're as tight as, well, Phish -- or any group of schooled musicians who fit musically (a 7/4 key signature is typical Phish tactic). They get the comparison often, Weiner said.
"A lot of people come up and tell me I sound like Trey," he said. "And I'm flattered."
They've also been compared to Umphrey's McGee, although nothing on "Once a pond, a spine..." is that heavy. Their heavier songs, Weiner explained, are more difficult to play, and recording them probably would've taken another two years.
"We all have our own styles," Weiner said.
Gordon writes poppy, immediately catchy stuff with lyrics usually about relationships between people.
Zachan's songwriting is more quirky. "Might Be You" is a good indication of his style.
Weiner fills in the gaps with more technically-minded, difficult to play tracks, "music for musicians," as he calls it.
He rarely writes lyrics. "If I do, it'll be one word or one sentence. Like 'Alligator.' I came up with ... the lyric ("alligator"). Because that's all it is."
McDuffee is the only member who doesn't write.
The band formed when Weiner responded to a Craigslist post written by Gordon: "Allman Brothers, Phish, Dead-minded guitarist searching for others" -- or something along those lines.
"It was kind of like the instant music chemistry between us," Weiner said.
They found McDuffee, who had a studio in North Hollywood, jammed with him, and noticed the same chemistry there, too. (Although band members live in various parts of Los Angeles, they meet in North Hollywood to rehearse at the studio, which is in a lock-out, some of them driving over an hour to get there. Weiner explained that L.A. has several of these old warehouses-converted-to-studios, with some 30 rooms in this particular one.)
They also played with keyboardist Michael Russeck, who can be heard on their album but has since left the band.
Zachan joined most recently. The other guys took about four months getting him up to speed, and then they began gigging as Quactus in February 2006.
With a recent win on Jamband.com's New Groove of the Month poll, Quactus gigs locally a couple times each month.
"L.A. is not a great scene for this kind of music," Weiner said. "And it's already over-saturated with music."
They played in Arizona in March and hope to expand their gigging radius soon to include Colorado.
"We've all agreed that if something big happens, we'll drop whatever we're doing," Weiner said, adding that for now they all have day jobs.